Latest News
Sweeping exemptions would leave endangered species sliding toward extinction
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- Created on Thursday, 04 April 2013 11:11
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Earthroots, Ontario Nature, Sierra Club
Some 65 species have been waiting and waiting for habitat protection – on average for 19 years
Toronto - Sixty-five species slated to receive mandatory habitat protection this summer under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA) may be out of luck if the government proceeds with sweeping exemptions to the act. A new analysis reveals that these species have already been waiting an average of 19 years to have their habitat protected. Now that wait-time is about to be extended – in some cases, forever.
“Almost every one of these 65 plants and animals is threatened by habitat loss. The vast majority (83%) have been listed as threatened or endangered for more than 10 years. Almost half have been listed for more than 20 years,” says Dr. Anne Bell, director of conservation and education at Ontario Nature. “Yet the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) is proposing to waive ESA protection requirements for a broad suite of activities that would damage or destroy the places where these species survive.”
Grassy Narrows comments on appeals court ruling against Treaty rights
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- Created on Monday, 18 March 2013 19:17
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"I am very disappointed that the appeal court has ruled against protecting our Treaty rights from destructive clearcut logging," said Joseph Fobister, a Grassy Narrows trapper who initiated the legal action. "What meaning can our right to hunt and fish have when the courts allow Ontario to clearcut our forests and poison our fish with mercury?"
“Our community has suffered for too long from the impacts of industry imposed on our people,” said Joseph Fobister*, one of the Grassy Narrows trappers who initiated the legal action. “We cannot allow industry to further damage our way of life and our health by poisoning our water and destroying the forests that we depend on.”
“It is time for Ontario to finally stop wasting time and money trying to force damaging clearcut logging on our community, and to begin the process of reconciliation by respecting our Treaty and aboriginal rights as we defend our forest-based way of life,” said Grassy Narrows Chief Fobister.
Contact: Joseph Fobister 807-407-2745
For background information click here.
Toronto training organization, co-founder, Jessica Bell, awarded Toronto Community Foundation Vital People grant
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- Created on Thursday, 31 January 2013 17:14
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Toronto) - Tools for Change’s co-founder and coordinator, Jessica Bell, was awarded a Vital People grant from the Toronto Community Foundation. The Vital People grant program recognizes valued leaders who are making outstanding contributions working at not-for-profit organizations. Grants are awarded in support of continued training and professional development of the selected leaders.
A project of Earthroots, OPIRG Toronto, and Greenpeace, Tools for Change provides skills-building training to Toronto’s volunteer, activist, and non-profit sector. The program hosts 20 workshops a year. Jessica Bell co-founded Tools for Change in 2010.
Jessica Bell will use the Toronto Community Foundation grant to complete courses in conflict resolution and mediation at York University.
Scugog digs deep for solutions against commercial fill
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- Created on Thursday, 31 January 2013 17:00
Fill symposium held at Scugog Community Centre
Jennifer Walker, durhamregion.com
SCUGOG -- As countless loads of commercial fill are being dumped in the countryside north of the GTA and contaminated fill continues to threaten the integrity of underground water sources, Scugog Township decided to dig a little deeper in hopes of finding a solution.
On Friday, Jan. 25, Scugog Township and Kawartha Conservation held a large-scale fill symposium to discuss large fill operations, consequences, possible solutions and next steps. Nearly 300 people attended.
Ontario appeals landmark Native Treaty rights legal ruling in battle over clearcut logging in Grassy Narrows
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- Created on Monday, 14 January 2013 00:00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Toronto) – Today the Government of Ontario begins proceedings in the Ontario Court of Appeal seeking to overturn a major legal victory for Grassy Narrows Indigenous Nation in their decade long battle for Treaty rights and against clearcut logging on their territory - a practice known to raise mercury levels in fish above safe levels. On August 16, 2011 Ontario Superior Court Justice Saunderson found that the Government of Ontario does not have the power to unilaterally take away the rights promised in Treaty 3 by authorizing industry including logging and mining. That judgment came after 11 years of legal process in Keewatin v. MNR.
Joint Statement Supporting Chief Spence and "Idle No More"
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- Created on Thursday, 03 January 2013 00:00
Indigenous and human rights organizations stand in solidarity with Chief Theresa Spence in her appeal for full respect for Aboriginal and Treaty rights by the government of Canada. There is an urgent need for Canada to demonstrate genuine respect and long-term commitment, initiated by a meeting between First Nations’ leadership, the Prime Minister and the Governor General.
KI to walk from Queens Park to Parliament Hill to say no to treaty violations
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- Created on Tuesday, 01 January 2013 00:00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Toronto, ON – KI community member, Mark T. Anderson will walk from Queens Park to Parliament Hill starting at 8 a.m. on Wednesday to say no to continued treaty violations by the federal government. Anderson, who will be joined by members of the KI leadership and youth, has reactivated his walking team to pick up from his 2100 km walk to Queen’s Park in 2006 to say no to mining.
"The Crown pledged to honor the commitments they made at treaty time, ‘for as long as the sun shines, the waters flow, and the grass grows,’ says Anderson. "God's creation was used to entice our people to sign on to treaty #9 at KI, now Canada, through the actions of the Harper government, wants to continue to violate the treaty commitments through Bill C-45, which will negatively impact our peoples, lands, waters, and environment."
2012 Year in Review
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- Created on Saturday, 29 December 2012 19:47
Thank you for making this year a great success! None of Earthroots' work would have been possible without the help of our dedicated supporters and volunteers.
Give to Earthroots today and receive a tax credit for this year! Whatever you can afford to contribute will make a difference.
Donate through the secure services of CanadaHelps by Monday, December 31st, and receive an electronic tax receipt for 2012. If you miss this deadline, please consider starting the New Year off right by donating to the protection of Ontario's wilderness, wildlife and watersheds in January.
DONATE NOW
Together with our partners, Earthroots made some significant achievements this year.
Here a few highlights from our list of accomplishments in 2012!
Wolf Lake
Earthroots' campaign was essential in stopping the removal of 'forest reserve' status from Wolf Lake, the largest ancient red pine forest in the world.
Click here to read the article in The Star.
To learn more about the campaign and sign a petition, click here.
Grassy Narrows Blockaders Protest Logging on 10 Year Anniversary of Blockade
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- Created on Monday, 03 December 2012 19:37
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kenora, ON - Today, Grassy Narrows Blockaders are peacefully picketing a massive logging operation on the Caution Lake Road, 30 km north of the trans-Canada highway off Highway 671 near Kenora. The action falls on the 10 year anniversary of Grassy Narrows' Slant Lake blockade, now the longest running Indigenous logging blockade in Canadian history. The industrial logging operation supplies Weyerhaeuser's Trus Joist mill in Kenora. Weyerhaeuser is the only multi-national logging company in the region that refuses to commit to respecting Grassy Narrows' right to say 'no' to logging. Grassy Narrows has called for a boycott of Weyerhaeuser products.
“When the forest is destroyed our people suffer. We are hoping the people of Ontario will hear our concern for protecting the forest,” said blockader Judy Da Silva, “because we all depend on the forest for clean air, fresh water, and a stable climate.”
Sacred fire at Queen's Park marks 10 years of the Grassy Narrows logging blockade
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- Created on Sunday, 02 December 2012 00:00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Threat of logging looms as Ontario approves dozens of new clearcuts in logging plan
Toronto, ON - Today, Grassy Narrows Blockaders and their supporters are celebrating the 10 year anniversary of what is now the longest running Indigenous logging blockade in Canada. Supporters in Toronto will light a sacred fire at the provincial legislature at 2 p.m., one of 25 coordinated events happening in cities across North America to celebrate this major milestone in the fight for Indigenous land rights and environmental justice. Grassy Narrows blockaders are holding a pipe ceremony in a new long house built at the Slant Lake blockade site where grassroots youth, mothers, and land users have denied passage to logging trucks seeking access to community's territory for the past decade.
“Grassy Narrows is leading the way towards respect for Indigenous land rights and defending the forests that provide clean air, fresh water, and a more stable climate for all of us,” said Leah Henderson of Earth Justice Action, a Toronto based group that supports Indigenous land defence. “People across the continent are inspired by what the Grassy Narrows blockade has accomplished, and we join with them as they protect their forests, their health, and their culture.”
Earthroots Executive Director receives Lifetime Achievement Award from the Friends of Temagami
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- Created on Friday, 30 November 2012 00:00
Amber Ellis was the recipient of the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Friends of Temagami.
Amber became involved in the effort to protect the Temagami region during the blockade in 1989. It was a pivotal point in the evolution of Temagami advocacy.
It was at this time Amber started working for the Temagami Wilderness Society (TWS), designing posters and helping to organize rallies at Queen’s Park.
It was evident at the onset, that Amber possessed those qualities of a “quiet” leader and organizer. For years after the TWS downsized and morphed into Earthroots, Amber was the “background” anchor of the organization and continues to serve Earthroots as its Executive Director.
Firm abandons plan for mega quarry north of Toronto
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- Created on Wednesday, 21 November 2012 17:13
Renata D’Aliesio
The Globe and Mail
The company behind a mega quarry slated for prime Southern Ontario farmland has decided to abandon its proposal, which faced staunch opposition from many local farmers, environmentalists and high-profile Toronto chefs.
Click here to read the full story.
