One Way to Celebrate David Suzuki's Birthday

David Suzuki is celebrating his 82^nd birthday!  He is almost a household name as the man who has “inspired millions of people to protect the planet.”   The David Suzuki Foundation works to combat climate change, protect biodiversity and secure the right for all people to a healthy environment.

As I was looking through the David Suzuki Foundation website, I came across an article written by Melina Laboucan-Massimo.  She is the David Suzuki Foundation’s Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Change Fellow.  Her article is about the connection between resource extraction and violence towards women.  I thought that this was an interesting connection especially on the heels of International Women’s Day amid the MeToo and TimesUp movement.

Meilina Laboucan-Massimo

Laboucan-Massimo cites studies that demonstrate that where resource extraction (such as the Tar Sands in northern Alberta) happens, there are a lot of men who have left their families behind and who have a lot of money.  This leads to a demand for a sex trade as well as substance abuse.  Women on First Nations near such resource extraction sites are at a high risk for sexual abuse based on racism and the behaviours of men who will not stay in the area and are therefore not accountable for their actions.

She goes on to say that if the Trans Mountain Pipeline extension goes through, then women all along it’s corridor will be at a higher risk for sexual assault while it is being built and maintained.

Laboucan-Massimo urges people to sign a petition to the politicians who are agreeing to this project and points out the other good reasons for not going ahead with this project:

“The federal government approved the Kinder Morgan and Line 3 pipeline expansions. Here are four reasons we want them to rethink their position that strong climate action can happen alongside fossil fuel infrastructure expansion:

1.   Climate Canada can’t meet its Paris commitments and expand fossil fuel infrastructure — such as building the Kinder Morgan pipeline — at the same time.

2.   No social licence Twenty-one municipalities, 59 First Nations, 91 per cent of people surveyed at town halls, and 210,000 petition signers say no. Approval runs roughshod over Indigenous rights.

3.   Environmental damage Tanker and barge traffic would increase sevenfold (up to 408 tankers a year), making bitumen spills more risky near heavily populated areas.

4.   Orca extinction Approval could push the already fragile population of 76 resident orcas on B.C.’s south coast to extinction.

Say no to the Kinder Morgan pipeline. Say yes to saving killer whales, managing our oceans to protect species and communities, and transitioning to renewable energy. This is the future hundreds of thousands speaking against the Kinder Morgan pipeline want.

It’s not too late for federal government to rethink its approval of this pipeline and to walk its climate action talk.”

If you have never signed an on-line petition, they are very easy to use.  When I signed, there were 12,594 signatures and they hoped to get to 15,000.  Just click on this link and follow the prompts.

This is an easy action to take.  It will let you stand up for the environment.  And it will let you add your voice to people who are standing up for the protection of Indigenous women in British Columbia.  The Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Inquiry is listening to the stories of the families and trying to get to the root causes for such a high number of women being harmed.  When you think of the Earth as our mother, then what we do to her, we will do to women as well.  If we take from the Earth without giving back, it will seem okay to do this to women as well.  This is the old paradigm that is changing.  You can add your voice to that change.

  

 You can read “Climate Justice Must Include Gender Justice” by Melina Laboucan-Massimo here.