The Blessed Unrest and the Public Good in BC
We, meaning government, First Nations, communities, scientists, academics, non-government organizations, industry and citizens, must find a way to pool our collective efforts to responsibly steward the precious natural resources given to us. Blessed Unrest – that’s... Read more
Building Healthy Communities — The Social Dimension
Courtesy of the Times Colonist Photo: A residential neighbourhood in Victoria. ADRIAN LAM, TIMES COLONIST Last week, I suggested our region would be well served by a centre focused on how to create healthy, just and sustainable “One Planet” communities and that it... Read moreUS Election Results – The Impact on Canadians
Leading US political commentator and Washington DC lawyer, Mace Rosenstein, distilled the US election results. Mace was joined by Tom Axworthy, a senior policy advisor to the Canadian Federal government, and Bob Sandford…
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Tree Seedlings Available Nov 2-6
The District of Central Saanich, thanks to the generous donation of Mosaic Forest Management, will be giving out 100 Douglas Fir seedlings the week of November 2 to 6, 2020. The seedlings will be available outside Municipal Hall, at 1903 Mt Newton Cross Road, from 9... Read more
Bhoomitra – Friend of Earth
Songs for River Dolphins of Punjab . Dr Sunny Sandhu aka Bhoomitra in 2011 rediscovered his love for nature while on an exploration of River Beas and its biodiversity. From a medical doctor he turned into full time Climate healer, musician and teacher.
Read moreThe Call for a New Forest Framework
What’s wrong with how forestry is practised in BC today? Why are old growth forests so precious? What are the solutions and implementation timelines? Join Kathy Code, of the Ecoforestry Institute Society, and Jonathan…
Read moreThe US Election from a Canadian Perspective
Washington DC lawyer, Mace Rosenstein, provided answers to the following questions: Who actually votes for the President? What is the role of the Electoral College? What are the opportunities for President Trump to game the…
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Our Fisheries are as Badly Managed as our Forests
Courtesy of the Times Colonist Photo: A fishing boat passes a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter near Fisherman’s Wharf by Darren Stone Here is an astounding statistic: Of the roughly 196,000 tonnes of wild seafood harvested by B.C. fishers in 2018, worth about $476... Read more
Our Forests Are More Than Mere Resources
Courtesy of the Times Colonist Photo of Francis King Regional Park, Darren Stone – Times Colonist Last week, I explored how poorly governments of all stripes have been, at all levels, in protecting nature — and thus in protecting us. British Columbia is renowned... Read more
A Surprising Note of Advice for Voters from The Economist
The primary American research body tracking Global Warming and its affects, NOAA, just noted that September was the warmest September since modern records began in 1880. Seven of the warmest Septembers since 1880 have occurred in the past 7 years. So far, 2020 is the... Read moreArts of Laughing, Arts of Weeping: Equipment for Earth’s Lovers
Bob Haverluck, a Manitoba artist-educator and theologian who works with community groups using the arts, especially comedy to help engage issues of violence against the earth and her creatures; and Gennadiy Ivanov, a…
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OUR PARKS – The Ultimate Essential Service
Our parks and protected areas and their ecosystems that keep us fed, sheltered and alive are the ultimate essential service. They are at risk. The upcoming election in BC is your opportunity to get them on the “Build Back Better” agenda.
Read moreBC Drawdown and Countdown to Change
Many people who are concerned about the oncoming climate crisis and loss of biodiversity ask the following questions: “What can one person do? What can one community do?” These questions and others are addressed in this…
Read moreUnique All Candidates Forum Langford-Juan de Fuca
Unique non-confrontational forum with candidates Gord Baird (Green), Kelly Darwin (Liberal), John Horgan (NDP) and Tyson Riel Sutherland (Communist) in the Langford-Juan de Fuca riding. October 15, 7 pm via ZOOM.
Read moreThe Power of Music
Never in history have we found it as important to turn to music as a medium to inspire us to action and hope. We are in the midst of rapid transformation as we deal with the climate crisis, mass disruption of key ecosystems…
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Counting Down the Climate Clock
Bear with me, there are plenty of numbers here, but they are vitally important and in essence quite simple, with profound implications for our climate and energy policies, and I have not seen the implications for Canada presented as I do here.
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Fairy Creek Blockade- Call to Action!
This is a call for forest defenders from all nations to support and participate in the grassroots non-violent direct action campaign to protect the last ancient temperate rainforests, currently active on unceded Pacheedaht territory, so-called Vancouver island, B.C.... Read more
Fifty Ways to Bring More Urgency to BC’s Climate Action Plans
“We are facing a disaster of unspoken suffering for enormous amounts of people, so please, treat the climate crisis like the acute crisis it is, and give us a future.” – Greta Thunberg For years, Guy Dauncey has tirelessly warned of the urgency of tackling the climate... Read more
South Island Climate Action Network 2020
SI-CAN is a network of local climate action teams and individuals who meet monthly to share ideas and strategize on how to move the dial on climate action within their local municipalities. We unite when needed to amplify our collective voice. If interested in joining... Read more
SAFE Cities Open Call for Graphic Artists
The SAFE Cities movement, hosted by Stand.earth, seeks artists to create graphic art that inspires and engages millions of people around the world in our critical mission. SAFE Cities works with neighbors, local groups, and elected officials to phase out toxic fossil... Read more
Social, Not Ecological Factors Control Our Population
In his 2016 book The Serengeti Rules, Sean Carroll tells us Charles Elton, the 1920s pioneering ecologist, identified four factors that control animal numbers: predators, pathogens, parasites and food supply. Two weeks ago I likened these to the Bible’s four horsemen of the apocalypse.
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50-Year-Old Sci-Fi Novel Eerily Prescient
Contemplating an orange-red noon-day sun almost obscured by the smoke clouds roiling in from America, burning to the south, brought vividly to mind The Sheep Look Up by British author John Brunner, an eerily prescient science fiction novel I read almost 50 years ago.
Read moreThe Transformational Moment: What Have We Learned So Far?
Three of Canada’s foremost practitioners in reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, Merrell-Ann Phare, Michael Miltenberger, and professional planner, project manager, capacity developer and engagement…
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Highlands Community Association Loses Stop-Work Request on Contentious Strip Mine
The BC Supreme Court has denied a stay application filed last month by the Highlands District Community Association (HDCA) to prevent OK Industries Ltd. (OKI) from starting work on a rock quarry in this rural residential community before its day in court.
Read moreCanada’s First Zero Waste Plant Proposed for Esquimalt, BC
Esquimalt Council has declared a climate emergency with a target of 30% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050. These targets will require a transformation in the way the Township manages its waste. Accordingly the Council is exploring the... Read more
BC Government Fails to Defer Road Building and Logging into Fairy Creek Old Growth Watershed
The forest defenders blocking road and logging access to Fairy Creek are devastated that it was not included in the government’s announcement of deferrals of forest areas of the province.
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The Future We Want: The UN We Need
Celebrating the 75th Anniversary of The United Nations One of the goals of The Transformational Moment: Global Reset and the Future of Hope invitation is to lay the foundation for a post-pandemic world in which human self-interest aligns with planetary realities. We... Read more
Commitment to a Shift to Ecoforestry in British Columbia: Protect Fairy Creek Watershed
One of the main ways we can help create the change we want to see, is to send letters and call our elected officials. The more people who do this, the better. To simplify this process, we have drafted this letter which we invite you to cut, paste and share by email and on social media by sharing this post.
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Oneness-Home International Youth Program
Invitation to join a new International Youth Program online with a submission of an expression of art for peace in a special exchange with Japanese students. It can be drawn or painted, photography, computer designs etc. and is open to all age groups.
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Old Growth Logging Must Stop Now!
Direct action – that’s what’s happening at Fairy Creek near Port Renfrew right now as concerned citizens establish a presence to protect the last intact tributary on the San Juan River and one of the few pockets of ancient forest in the region. The Fairy Creek... Read more
Fairy Creek Update
The blockades are still up at Fairy Creek, one of the last remaining unlogged old growth valleys and watersheds in southern BC. One of our camps now has an Elder tent and Elder Bill Jones, spent the night on the blockade on his land the other night. We are meeting to... Read more
The Four Horsemen of Ecology: Regulating Population Size
According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are conquest, war, famine and death, while in the Old Testament’s Book of Ezekiel they are sword, famine, wild beasts and pestilence or plague. (Sometimes, apparently, conquest is interpreted as pestilence or plague.)
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Ecocide Petition Timely
Here is a petition submitted by New Brunswick Green MP, Jenica Atwin, for the federal government to declare its support for an amendment to the Rome Statute to include ecocide as a crime (alongside war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, the crime of... Read more
Making Connections
As the smoke from the fires decimating the entire west coast of the US is stinging my eyes, I am reflecting on 2020. We have learned, at the very least, that we are highly adaptable. Snow and flooding to start the year? We’ve seen that before, and we can overcome. A... Read moreSeason Two Launch: The Barn’s Burnt Down
Award-winning author and philosopher, Dr. Kathleen Dean Moore, launches Season Two of Creative Solutions for a New World – Climate and Artist Series with an inspiring and creative presentation, entitled The Barns Burnt Down…
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Celebrate With Trees – Planting Parties & Celebrations
Do celebrations such as birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries immediately turn your thoughts to the need to buy a gift or hand-out a wish list? As my 70th birthday approached in the spring of 2019, I started looking for a gift idea that would benefit our Mother... Read more
New Community Mural on Fifth Street
Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition is proud to unveil a brand new community mural at their new office on Hillside Avenue and Fifth Street! Painting the mural was a community collaboration, with mural artist Kay Gallivan timing the painting of the mural to coincide... Read more
Stop Using Taxpayers’ Money to Fund Pollution
In May, The World Health Organization released its “Manifesto for a healthy and green COVID-19 recovery.” It is in many ways an astonishing document, because it speaks briefly and plainly to the many global problems we face and how we need to respond.
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World Premiere of Awaken
Although we took a hiatus from our webinar series this summer, we didn’t take a break from standing up for our precious trees and forests. In addition to calling on our government for a New Forest Framework and reminding local governments of the importance of... Read more
Humans Are Deeply Connected With Each Other, and Other Life Forms
Following my reflections last week on Jeremy Lent’s ideas about connections, I found myself musing about beginnings and endings – my own, life on Earth and the universe – and the connections they imply. I thought about and partly wrote this column while sitting under the great trees in Heritage Grove in Francis-King Park, feeling both connected to and in awe of nature.
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Parking in Your Town: On Street Management
Learn about how your place works to keep taxes high and takes opportunities away from property owners across the Greater Victoria area. This is the first of four articles on the seemingly bland subject of parking. And yet, parking policy matters to preventing urban sprawl, and making driving not the convention.
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Making Connections, Finding Balance
In his 2017 book The Patterning Instinct, Jeremy Lent suggests there are three forms of disconnection that lie at the heart of the global challenges we are creating and that are “inexorably leading human civilization to potential disaster.”
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Grassroots Action to Save BC Forests From Extinction
Join communities across BC as we march for the forests on Friday, September 18, 2020. Its time to build a new forest framework that respects nature and gives power back to communities. There is no time to waste and the BC government must be pressed into taking... Read more
Road Crews on Edinburgh Mountain Snarled in Old-Growth Forest Pop-up Blockade
With two camp strongholds maintained into the third week of direct action blockades preventing road incursions into the headwaters of the the unlogged Fairy Creek, the frontline battle to protect what remains of the internationally-significant old-growth temperate... Read more
Bike to Work Week is now Go By Bike Week!
Greater Victoria’s Bike to Work Week is returning September 28th-October 4th, 2020 with a new name “Go By Bike Week” and a brand new website! The new name, Go By Bike Week, is intended to add a new level of inclusivity to Greater Victoria’s largest, free,... Read more
Solutions Guide
For every problem there is a solution. That is why, instead of focusing on the bad news that seems to be everywhere, we have taken a positive approach to showcase what is possible. Welcome to the premiere edition of Solutions where you can quickly and easily find ... Read more
Conversations about values for a One Planet Region
Tip O’Neill, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in the 1980s, famously remarked “all politics is local.” Significant change rarely starts at the top and moves down, mainly because the powerful do very well out of the current situation and seldom have any incentive to change it.
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30+ ways you can stand up for old-growth forests today!
There are so many unique and nourishing ways you can use your personal gifts to stand up for forests. Over the next few crucial weeks, it’s going to take as many of us as possible to shine a light on the danger these ancient trees are in.
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