[BCFSN] Fwd: Recent Site C decision just a 'bump in the road'

Mon Mar 7 16:58:43 EST 2016

For all Indigenous and farming community members and environmental groups
in Victoria, please go out to this event on Wednesday March 9th in
Victoria.

Share the forwarded message far and wide within your community and regional
networks and policy circles.

Dawn Morrison,

BC Food Systems Network
Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty
C/O 555 East 55th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C, V5X 1N6
Mobile: 778.879.5106
Email: dmo6842 at gmail.com
Website: www.indigenousfoodsystems.org

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stop Site C <info at stopsitec.emailnb.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 7, 2016 at 1:03 PM
Subject: Recent Site C decision just a 'bump in the road'
To: Dawn Morrison <dmo6842 at gmail.com>

Dear Dawn,

As you may have heard, on February 29 BC Supreme Court granted BC Hydro an
injunction against Rocky Mountain Fort Cultural Camp which had been
blockading construction of the Site C dam. But as Union of BC Indian Chiefs
Grand Chief Stewart Philip aptly put it, *“This is just a bump in the
road.”*

There are still three court cases and one judicial review in relation to
Site C outstanding. If the courts declare either the provincial or federal
environmental assessment certificate invalid, Site C will be stopped.

Our campaign to protect the Peace River Valley from this massively
destructive and unnecessary project that will cost British Columbians for
decades to come, *continues!*  As the province proceeds to push the
project, our support and media coverage of the initiatives to stop it just
keep on growing!

*We are not giving up!*

*What we’ve been doing:*

Our organizations, along with Amnesty International and 25 other
organizations, sent a letter
<http://www.stopsitec.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amnesty.ca%2Fnews%2Ftheres-nothing-clean-about-site-c-dam&e=156f3dae54372d0a9189b7dc51960767&utm_source=stopsitec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=not_a_done_deal&n=1>
to Prime Minister Trudeau asking him to halt construction on Site C. We
urged him to rescind work permits and re-examine the previous government’s
approval of this project. We reminded him that it is crucial that the
federal and provincial governments work collaboratively with Indigenous
peoples of the region to reach common agreement on a long-term plan to
protect Indigenous land use in the Peace Valley. More organizations
continue to add their name to this letter.

Additionally, our organizations, along with Wilderness Committee BC, made a
submission
<http://www.stopsitec.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fkeepingthepeace.wordpress.com%2F2016%2F02%2F19%2Fsubmission-to-united-nations-on-site-c%2F&e=156f3dae54372d0a9189b7dc51960767&utm_source=stopsitec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=not_a_done_deal&n=2>
to the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for
their International Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights. We
argued that the action of the BC provincial and federal governments in
approving and proceeding with Site C contradicts several UN Articles,
including those related to:

   - the protection of inherent indigenous treaty rights and titles;
   - mitigating impact of climate change on indigenous peoples and their
   ways of life;
   - free, prior and informed consent; and
   - measures adopted to reduce hunger and food insecurity, in particular
   among indigenous people.

A report with recommendations from the UN is expected this week. We will be
expanding our engagement with the UN, including participating in the World
Heritage Committee/IUCN Monitoring Mission to the Athabasca Delta
(downstream Peace River) in May/June, and publicizing the findings.

*Help us keep up the pressure!**1.     *Amnesty International just posted
this *excellent video
<http://www.stopsitec.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D4uGldrYZwlI&e=156f3dae54372d0a9189b7dc51960767&utm_source=stopsitec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=not_a_done_deal&n=3>*,
with a link to their growing *petition* – please view, sign and share!

*2.     *Please join us this *Wednesday, March 9 in Victoria* for a
powerful speaking event on the potential loss of some of BC’s most precious
farmland. A strong coalition of First Nations, farmer and environmental
groups are presenting a powerful challenge to this colonial-era project.
*When:* Wednesday, March 9 – 7:00 pm
*Where:* First Metropolitan United Church, 932 Balmoral Rd., Victoria
*Presenters:*  Julian Napoleon of Saulteau First Nation, Ana Simeon of
Sierra Club BC, Susan Smitten of RAVEN Trust, and Steve Gray of KAIROS
BC-Yukon.

*Additional speaking events will be held on March 29th in Vancouver and in
April in Vernon, Kelowna and Kamloops.  Details on all of these will be
shared with you soon.**3.     **Join a peaceful rally
<http://www.stopsitec.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fevents%2F979998775400632%2F&e=156f3dae54372d0a9189b7dc51960767&utm_source=stopsitec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=not_a_done_deal&n=4>*
in front of the BC Hydro buildings, 333 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver on March 13th
from noon to 2 pm.

*4.     *Please continue to *share information* with your friends and
contacts.

*5.     **Follow us* on social media including Facebook
<http://www.stopsitec.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FPeaceValleyEnvironmentAssociation%2F&e=156f3dae54372d0a9189b7dc51960767&utm_source=stopsitec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=not_a_done_deal&n=5>,
Twitter
<http://www.stopsitec.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSavePeaceValley&e=156f3dae54372d0a9189b7dc51960767&utm_source=stopsitec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=not_a_done_deal&n=6>
or visit our website
<http://www.stopsitec.org/?e=156f3dae54372d0a9189b7dc51960767&utm_source=stopsitec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=not_a_done_deal&n=7>
for updates.

 *6.     **Commenting on-line or sending letters *to the editors of various
media in response to stories about Site C is always helpful as well.

Thank you so much for your committed and steadfast support!

For the Peace,

Ana Simeon
Sierra Club of BC

Andrea Morison
Peace Valley Environment Association

Candace Batycki
Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative

Stop Site C
http://www.stopsitec.org/
<http://www.stopsitec.org/?e=156f3dae54372d0a9189b7dc51960767&utm_source=stopsitec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=not_a_done_deal&n=8>
-=-=-

Stop Site C · Canada
This email was sent to dmo6842 at gmail.com. To stop receiving emails, click
here
<http://www.stopsitec.org/unsubscribe?e=156f3dae54372d0a9189b7dc51960767&utm_source=stopsitec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=not_a_done_deal&n=9>.

-=-=-

Created with NationBuilder
<http://www.stopsitec.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnationbuilder.com&e=156f3dae54372d0a9189b7dc51960767&utm_source=stopsitec&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=not_a_done_deal&n=10>,
software for leaders.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://bcfsn.org/pipermail/food_bcfsn.org/attachments/20160307/911b392f/attachment-0002.html>