[Org4j-announce] new: Fri Egypt solidarity / Sun Beaver Pond Forest / updates on TFC and CISW

Organizing 4Justice org4justice at gmail.com
Thu Jan 27 19:30:36 PST 2011 

In this message:
* Solidary with Egyptian Revolution
* Pray For The Land, Beaver Pond Forest
* some Tools For Change workshops postponed
* one Consent Is Sexy Week event date/time change

Note:
- if you have any events or notices for us to send out in our next update
for Feb, please email us at org4justice at gmail.com


*FRIDAY 1:30-4pm Jan 28
Rally: Solidarity with the Egyptian Revolution*
at the Egyptian Embassy, 454 Laurier Ave East
"As organizers in Suez and Cairo have said, taking action tomorrow will help
save lives and support the Egyptian revolution."
more (and Mtl/Tor info) at:
http://linchpin.ca/events/Ottawa-Montreal-Fri-Toronto-Sat-Rallies-Solidarity-people-Egypt


*SUNDAY 10am-4pm
Pray For The Land, at Beaver Pond Forest*
at Walden Parking Lot, end of Walden Dr, Kanata
(more info at bottom of this email)


*UPDATE ON TOOLS FOR CHANGE*
- one workshop is at risk of postponement, unless enough people confirm
their attendace with gripocampus at gmail.com
it is:
* Come Hell or High Water: Facilitation and Consensus Decision-Making (Sat
Jan 29)
- three workshops have been postponed until late Feb/early March, details
TBD
they are:
* Undergrad Blues: How to apply to post-graduate programs (was Jan 30)
* Organizing Demonstrations: Strategy and Tactics (was Feb 2)
* Direct Actions and Security Culture (was Feb 3)
more info on TFC:
http://sites.google.com/site/opirggripo/tools-for-change-outils-pour-mieux-revendiquer
(note: the info on postponements has not been posted at this link yet...)

*
UPDATE ON CONSENT IS SEXY WEEK*
- one workshop has had the date/time changed:
* The Task Force on Gender-Based Violence
was: Feb 3rd
now: Tues Feb 8, 11:30am-2:30pm, at the Atrium, Carleton University Centre
more info on CISW: http://coalitionforcarleton.blogspot.com/


*
MORE INFO ON PRAY FOR THE LAND, AT BEAVER POND FOREST:*

What: Day of Prayer for the Land
When: Sunday 30 January at 10h00 – 16h00 (Schedule TBA)
Where: Walden Parking Lot, Beaver Pond Forest, Kanata (at end of Walden Dr)
Why: Let’s get together as a community to celebrate this Forest!
Who: All people and every Faith are called to join together at the Beaver
Pond Forest in Kanata.

http://www.ottawasgreatforest.com
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137508642980661

Respect one another and respect the earth!

As an expression of their concern for the land, the Ardoch  Algonquin First
Nation has called for a day of prayer.

For poster click here:
http://southmarch.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/2011-01-30-pray-for-the-land.pdf

More Info: Pray for the Land

Pray  for the Land began in October 2008 at the Robertsville mine site where
the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and their settler neighbours were
struggling to protect the local environment from uranium exploration and
development. Pray for the Land recognises that our principle  responsibility
to creation is a spiritual responsibility.  All Faiths  and Spiritual
traditions hold that the Creator has, along with life,  given us an abundant
creation on which to sustain ourselves as human  beings.  There was a
subsequent Pray for the Land at Robertsville in  June, 2009.  The tradition
continues in response to the immediate need  to protect the Beaver Pond
Forest, an essential ecosystem in the South  March Highlands, which is part
of the un-ceded Algonquin homeland known as Kanata.

Pray for the Land is an invitation for all people, all  Faith groups and
Spiritual traditions to gather together.  At previous  Pray for the Land
gatherings there have been Aboriginal prayer circles,  Islamic prayer,
Christian worship services, Quaker meeting, Buddhist  meditations, Sweat
Lodges and individual expressions of prayer.

This  is an extemporaneous gathering so we ask everyone who hears about Pray
for the Land to inform their own Faith community, friends and neighbours
and extend the invitation to participate.  If you are a member of a  Faith
group or Spiritual tradition speak to your teachers and Elders and  leaders
and ask them to come and conduct a prayer service in your  tradition.  For
those who cannot come in person or as a community we ask  that you consider
Pray for the Land in your community’s worship or  prayers during this week.
In this way the Circle grows; the spiritual  responsibility for protecting
the land, for holding creation sacred, is  remembered.

If you are coming to Pray for the Land on January  30th  at the Beaver Pond
Forest you will need to come with patience,  openness of mind and spirit,
and compassion for others.  You might also  want to bring a chair or blanket
to sit on.  You will definitely need  warm clothes.  In the spirit of
“loaves and fishes”, bring some food to  share and possibly a gift or two to
give to a stranger who you come to  know as a friend.  There will be an
effort to coordinate some of the  activities, but keep in mind that this is
a natural “organic” gathering  and there may be a whole lot of people who
are there to share the day.  You may want to go into the forest for a quiet
walk.  You may want to  bring a prayer bundle or prayer note to hang inside
the forest to show our commitment to protect creation.  Seek guidance
through prayer before  coming and you will know what to do.

Mìgwetch,

Robert Lovelace
Retired Chief
Ardoch Algonquin First Nation



Email below From: Paul Renaud <paul at renaud.ca>
Subject: South March Highlands

I am writing to you on behalf of the 14, 500+ persons in the multicultural
communities who have come together to protect the South March Highlands from
development in west Ottawa – only 20 minutes from Parliament Hill.

This multicultural community includes over 6,500 Algonquin in the First
Nation communities of Ottawa, Kitigan-Zibi, Bonnechere, Kinounchpirini,
Ardoch, Kichesipirini, and Pasapkedjiwanong who have responded to
Grandfather William Commanda’s call for protection (attached).  The
multicultural communities unified in protecting the South March Highlands
also includes another 8,000 Canadians of non-aboriginal heritage as well as
many non-Algonquin Metis.

We are asking for your support and influence with both federal and
provincial leaders to call for an immediate halt to development and a
reassessment of this situation.

The South March Highlands (“SMH”) has been described in official studies as
a “wild island” of natural landscape within the City of Ottawa (“City”).
Until recently it remained largely in its original natural state because its
rugged landscape was unsuitable for agriculture.  SMH is the southern end of
the Precambrian Canadian Shield outcrop known as the Carp Hills which first
emerged from the Champlain Sea 11,000 years ago.  Its geology is unique to
the National Capital and its wetland-rich land has been described in City
studies as “an island of rugged, heavily-glaciated, rocky, Gatineau
Hills-like habitat”.  The Carp Hills/SMH is the only place in Ottawa where
the Canadian Shield is visible on the Ontario side of the great river.

No other major city in the world includes a vigorous old growth forest with
endangered species.    The closest is perhaps Vancouver’s Stanley Park which
is 1/3 the size, contains ½ the variety of vascular plants, and no
species-at-risk as compared to the SMH which is refuge for 20 documented
species-at-risk of extinction within a small area of only 3 km by 4 km in
size.

The SMH is a candidate Provincially Significant Area of Natural and
Scientific Interest (“ANSI”) for both its Life Science value (895 hectares)
and for its unique Wetland Complex (114 hectares).  It has been valued by
scientists as the “most important reservoir of ecological potential” in the
City because it has the densest bio-diversity and its 30 eco-types of
vegetation provide a wide variety of resources for the renewal of depleted
natural areas elsewhere.  There are 10 distinct habitats within the SMH and
the largest deer wintering yard (925 hectares) in the City.

The SMH is the aquifer for North Kanata and its hydrology is integral to
both the Carp River as well as to the federally significant Shirley’s Bay
wetland complex in the Greenbelt.  The SMH is ecologically unique in the
City, supporting over 440 native species of vascular plants and has the
highest floristic diversity of any natural area in Ottawa.

This SMH is also home to over 269 species of wildlife, including 170species
of birds that are known to breed in this area, twice the number found in
Punta Cana’s world famous ecological park.  The area is also home to the
Monarch Butterfly, another species at risk, however no study of insect or
bryophyte (non-vascular plant) species has ever been performed.  We have
written to the Federal Minister of Justice questioning the lack of authority
granted to the City to authorize a mass killing of wildlife but have
received no response (attached).

The SMH is also rated by the City as having high potential for
archaeological resources.  To-date, 3 archaeological sites have been found
that present evidence of native occupation of the SMH dating back 500
generations.  One of these sites was confirmed by eminent archaeologists but
is tied up in a court case because the developer who commissioned the
research refused to pay for it.  Two of the other sites have been identified
but not been properly assessed to-date.  An archaeological study done by
another one of the developers was reviewed by a former president of the
Canadian Archaeology Association who determined it was “fatally flawed” for
having not adequately considered pre-European-contact cultural resources.
Despite appeals to the Ontario Minister of Culture, nothing has been done
about this.

We have also been working with the National Capital Commission to protect
this area and in conjunction with the Greenbelt Coalition have made formal
submissions which have been accepted by the NCC as part of their Greenbelt
Master Planning process.   Two MPs, Gordon O’Connor and Paul Dewar have
called on the NCC to protect this area, as have Elizabeth May, the Sierra
Club of Canada, and the David Suzuki Foundation.  However, to-date Madame
Lemay has declined to confirm any official NCC support for protecting the
area.

This matter is now urgent as one of the developers is already clear cutting
in the forest and another is about to start at the end of January.  With the
support of the Algonquin Chiefs, the Inter-Tribal Medicine Council has
established a Sacred Fire last week which has been burning continuously to
symbolize that this land is a place of Manitou and is integral to the
cultural heritage of all Anishinabe people.  The Sacred Fire is currently
being maintained around the clock by Fire Keepers representing all the
communities that have been unified in this cause.

More information about the South March Highlands and our efforts to protect
it can be downloaded from the links below.  This includes a couple of short
videos that are well worth viewing.

We ask that you assist us in whatever way you can to bring this to the
attention of both federal and provincial leaders for immediate action.

Please join us by adding your tobacco to our Sacred Fire to protect this
place of Manitou.

Kitchi Megwetch,
Paul Renaud
Coalition to Protect the South March Highlands
613-277-5898


Letters sent by First Nations:
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/2011-01-09-Kinounchepirini_Algonquin_FirstNation_Letter.jpg
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/2011-01-09-SMH_Ottawa_Algonquin_FN_Support.pdf
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/2011-01-10-AAFN_letter%20to_Ottawa.pdf
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/2011-01-14-Ottawa_Letter_From_Kichesipirini_Algonqiun_FN.pdf

And by Grandfather William Commanda:
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/2010-08-24_Circle_of_Nations-South_March_Highlands.pdf
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/2010-12-20-GWC_Letter_To_Council.pdf
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/2011-01-05-GWC-Message_Regarding_Development_at_South_March_Highlands

And by other Elders:
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/2010-08-14-A_plea_for_the_forest-Grandfather_Albert_Dumond.pdf
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/2011-01-14-Grandfather_Lovelace_Letter_to_the_Editor_Revelation18.pdf

Motion passed unanimously by City of Ottawa’s Aboriginal Affairs Advisory
Subcommittee:
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/2011-01-12-Unanimous_AHCAC_Motion_on_SMH.pdf

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZBcLvtcJBY (4 minute documentary video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhSU5heJl5o (8 minute cultural and natural
heritage video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJAezV9Ap6k (6 minute video on Sacred Fire)


Presentations:

http://www.renaud.ca/public/Presentations/2011-01-13-SMH-1-SMH_Overview_v16.pdf
(SMH Overview presentation)

http://www.renaud.ca/public/Presentations/2010-12-07-SMH-2-Stewardship_Plan_Overview_v4.pdf
(Stewardship Plan Overview presentation)

http://www.renaud.ca/public/Presentations/2010-12-07-SMH-3-Advocacy_Overview_v4.pdf
(Open issues overview presentation)

Other Letters of Support may be downloaded from:
http://www.renaud.ca/public/Letters_of_Support/

www.ottawasgreatforest.com (website for the stewardship plan to protect the
SMH)
www.southmarchhighlands.ca (website for the coalition to protect the SMH)

http://onnaturemagazine.com/the-race-to-save-the-south-march-highlands.html
(Article in Ontario Nature Magazine)

http://www.renaud.ca/public/Presentations/2010-09-07%20Greenbelt%20Coalition%20Position%20Paper-for%20NCC%20Review.pdf
Greenbelt Coalition Position Paper to NCC on Emerald Necklace

http://www.renaud.ca/public/Presentations/2010-09-07%20Greenbelt%20Coalition%20Position%20Paper%20App5%20-%20SMH.pdf
Submission to NCC  on South March Highlands
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