The Council of Canadians is pleased to announce we are hosting a major event in Vancouver on June 1st and 2nd, 2012. Shout Out Against Mining Injustice is a two-day international conference aimed at exposing the appalling environmental and human rights abuses of Canadian mining companies. Through workshops, panel discussions and strategy sessions, we will raise awareness, build resistance and strengthen our networks of solidarity.

Our Shout Out will feature engaging sessions with leading activists and representatives from mining-impacted communities in Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador and Canada. The conference starts on Friday, June 1st with a Public Forum featuring high profile speakers, community activists and musical acts. Saturday, June 2nd will offer delegates the chance to engage in discussion on vital issues ranging from the right to water, Indigenous rights and environmental justice within the context of mining. We will share experiences, explore campaign strategies and build alliances to strengthen the movement against mining injustice.

Who Attends?

The events will bring together participants including: representatives from mine-affected communities, Indigenous communities, grassroots organizers, human rights activists, civil society groups, and concerned individuals from Canada, the United States and Latin America.

Shout Out Against Mining Injustice Public Forum
Maritime Labour Centre
1880 Triumph Street, Vancouver, BC
Friday June 1, 2012 | 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Shout Out Against Mining Injustice Teach-In
Harbour Centre, Simon Fraser University
515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC
Saturday June 2, 2012 | 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Please help us spread the word by bringing a friend or a group of friends and share our event through Facebookand with the Twitter hashtag #soami12.

Click here to register for the conference now! Admission to the Friday Public Forum is a suggested donation of $20 or what you can afford. All donations will greatly help to offset the cost of the conference.

If you are unable to attend the conference, but wish to make a donation, please click here.

Visit this site often for conference updates.

Join us in Vancouver and find out how you can get involved in our campaign to stop mining injustice.

On Sunday, April 22, Mother Earth Day, the Council of Canadians Vancouver Burnaby Chapter and the Occupy Vancouver Environmental Justice Group co-sponsored an event called ‘Climate Crimes OR Real Solutions – Fracking, Tar Sands, Pipelines, Tankers’. Speakers included Ben Parfitt, Resource Policy Analyst with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – BC Office; Tria Donaldson, a youth Indigenous activist with a strong focus on climate justice; and Eric Doherty, a transportation planner and environmental consultant.

To see the videos, visit http://occupyvancouvervoice.com/videos-climate-crimes-or-real-solutions-mother-earth-day-2012/

Energy extraction is wreaking havoc on our environment . Come and bring your friends to this important meeting . Learn about the links between the tar sands, fracking, pipelines and tankers and the alternatives to their destructive impacts.

Climate Crimes OR Real Solutions?

Fracking, Tar Sands, Pipelines, Tankers

Mother Earth Day, Sunday April 22, 7:30 pm

Alma VanDusen and Peter Kaye Rooms, Vancouver Public Library Downtown – 350 West Georgia Street

Do you know how fracking (hydraulic fracturing) for natural gas is connected to the Tar Sands?

Find out about the systemic solutions the 1% and Big Oil and Gas don’t want us to talk about!

Ben Parfitt is the resource policy analyst with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives — BC Office.    He is the author of the Climate Justice Project report Fracking Up Our Water, Hydro Power and Climate: BC’s reckless pursuit of shale gas.

Tria Donaldson is a youth Indigenous activist with a strong focus on climate justice. She has been involved with the goBeyond project, the Sierra Youth Coalition, and the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition.

Eric Doherty is a transportation planner and environmental consultant. He co-authored the Climate Justice Project report Transportation Transformation: Building Complete Communities and a Zero-Emission Transportation System.

Organized by the Council of Canadians Vancouver-Burnaby Chapter and the Occupy Vancouver Environmental Justice Group

System Change Not Climate Change!

More info:

VancouverCouncilofCanadians.ca

OccupyVancouver.com

SystemChange.ca

PolicyAlternatives.ca/fracking

Please check out these new materials on fracking from the Council`s national office, and please sign the petition against fracking.

In solidarity,

Norman

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Don’t frack with our water, say majority of Canadians in new poll

The controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, is facing mounting opposition across the country. A new Environics Research poll commissioned by the Council of Canadians has found that 62% of Canadians support “a moratorium on all fracking for natural gas until all the federal environmental reviews are complete”. Read media release here.

Fracker Tracker

Fracking is expanding at a phenomenal rate across Canada. From the advanced projects in the Horn River Basin to industry land grabs in Ontario and Newfoundland, a full picture of fracking in Canada is only beginning to emerge. The fracker tracker is an interactive tool that maps where fracking is happening in Canada. The information provided by governments and industry sometimes provides an incomplete picture on what’s happening. The fracker tracker is intended to be used by people tracking the industry to help give a sense of the status of fracking in Canada. It is an interactive map where you can provide information about a project in your community or province. To see the Fracker Tracker, click here.

Don`t FRACK with our water petition

Take Action! Tell the federal government “Don’t frack with our water!”

Fracking is a controversial method of extracting natural gas that is trapped deep inside shale rock formations. Millions of litres of water, sand, and tens of thousands of litres of toxic chemicals are blasted into the ground at extremely high pressure, creating cracks that allow pockets of natural gas to be released.

Communities across Canada are saying “no” to these projects. Council of Canadians members and chapter activists have been at the forefront of fights to stop this dangerous industry and protect their water from contamination from the toxic chemicals used in the fracking process. Sign our “Don’t frack with our water petition” and tell Prime Minister Stephen Harper that the federal government has a responsibility under federal laws – such as the Environmental Protection Act and the Canada Water Act – to ban fracking until full safety reviews are conducted.  Fracking has serious health and environmental impacts and puts people’s well-being and health at risk. The federal government has a duty to protect the safety of Canadians.

By Eric Doherty, January 26, 2012