Elder Bill Jones Tells It Like It Is
A First Nations Perspective on Resource Extraction and Fairy Creek |
|
|
BC's old growth forests and all the biodiversity they contain are under extreme threat, with less than 3% of productive old-growth forest remaining. Every day, the equivalent of 32 soccer fields of old growth are logged and over the past year government has increased cutting permits by 43%. Fairy Creek is ground zero for the public campaign spearheaded by the Rainforest Flying Squad (RFS) to protect and preserve the remaining intact rainforest in the San Juan watershed on southwestern Vancouver Island near Port Renfrew. The ancient rainforests are integral to First Nations title, rights and sovereignty and their loss strikes at the heart of their culture and tradition. Fairy Creek lies within Tree Farm Licence #46, tenured by government to Teal Cedar Products, on unceded Pacheedaht territory. Elder Bill Jones is a band member of the Pacheedaht First Nation and it is at his invitation the Rainforest Flying Squad are guests on the land. He is the guiding mentor who leads RFS with a rare wisdom and patience in this collaborative movement of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous citizens. Together they are standing to protect this territory that Elder Bill considers his cathedral and place of spirituality and meditation. In this video, he succinctly shares what is happening in his territories and to First Nations people worldwide and what we can do to change this paradigm and protect our planet from ecocide. Creatively United recently hosted a webinar on forestry and biodiversity in partnership with Elder Bill Jones and Kathleen Code, Vice Chair of the Ecoforestry Institute Society which manages the Wildwood Sustainable Forest near Nanaimo, British Columbia. Read this important Rainforest Flying Squad article from Kathleen Code, and sign the renewed call for a New Forest Framework letter. |
|
|
Season 3 Finale - Video Replay
Enlightened Communications: Making All Voices Matter |
|
|
Season 3 concluded with an all-star panel, featuring bestselling author and award-winning public relations professional, James Hoggan. A tireless advocate for ethics in public discourse and Chair of the David Suzuki Institute, Hoggan founded the influential online news site DeSmog, named one of Time Magazine’s best blogs in 2011. Hoggan became so disenchanted with disinformation on climate change in both the mainstream and social media that he began to reveal how much corporations mislead the public on climate issues. He discovered that strategies that mislead people are more developed and robust than those used to educate people with the facts. Hoggan is now championing new ways to speak, learn, listen and connect to overcome disinformation and polarization. His latest book, I'm Right and You’re an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean It Up, examines why people tend to shout at each other rather than listen to what science is trying to tell us about the climate emergency. Hoggan believes that honest differences of opinion lie at the heart of democracy. He supports that people hold strongly divergent goals and should challenge issues but they should be encouraged to take part in passionate discussion. "We need more warm-heartedness and more compassion," says Hoggan. Without this shift, we will never successfully complete the journey to carbon neutrality by mid-century. Hoggan's other books include: Do the Right Thing: PR Tips for a Skeptical Public and Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming. |
|
|
This webinar also includes short interviews with a variety of community voices, represented by Ella Kim, Naomi Leung and Charlene George, followed by a special in-depth Q+A session and discussion. Ella Kim is a UBC Honours graduate in Sociology, Environment and Society. She will be starting her Masters degree in the Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology (REES) program at the University of Alberta in the fall. Her passions align with environmentalism and social justice, and her recent research interests have been focused on just transitions for workers and communities that will be impacted by green industry shifts. Kim is also currently a volunteer policy analyst for the BC Council for International Cooperation’s youth-led climate change branch. Through her time as a volunteer, she has worked on a survey regarding the climate change related concerns and opinions of BC youth, and a green jobs database for Canadian youth. Ella will share how youth are trying to move the climate change dialogue forward and why it matters. Naomi Leung or 梁珮恩 is a 17 year old climate and racial justice activist. She is a second generation immigrant with parents from Malaysia and Hong Kong and she is a settler on un-surrendered Musqueam and Tsawwassen First Nations territories in Richmond, BC. Naomi is a member of Sustainabiliteens, a movement of youth climate strikers across Metro Vancouver driven by climate justice, who advocated for the passing of Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Action Plan in 2020. She also coordinates Climate Education Reform BC, a youth-led organization determined to see an educational system that prepares students for the Climate Crisis. Charlene George is a member of the t’Sou-ke peoples on the west coast of Vancouver Island and a cultural guide. She believes we must strive to better balance our relationship with each other, Western and Indigenous knowledge systems, and ways of knowing. |
|
|
Where Do We Go From Here? |
|
|
With the conclusion of Season 3's Climate and the Arts webinars, we will take the advice of First Nations cultural ambassador, Charlene George, and "pause and consider what we do next." We all have much to consider. The four speakers featured in this final webinar on enlightened conversations all noted that we have to include absent voices to fill out our conversations. Voices that have a different viewpoint than the dominant participants in the climate debate need to be heard, noted Charlene George; voices that speak to social justice urged Ella Kim and voices of youth concerned about their futures, advocated Naomi Leung. But most of all we need to "speak to truth, but not to punish" said our leading presenter, James Hoggan, quoting Thich Nhat Hanh. We must base out communications on science, but also be willing to listen to other viewpoints and not demean or attack those with different views. Divergent views are inherent in humanity and to democracy. Our Climate and Arts partner, Jon O'Riordan, noted in closing comments that two-thirds of North Americans have some positive feelings for action on climate, but one-third remain doubtful or dismissive. This sets up an inherent dichotomy of emotions in our conversations which we have to overcome through positive engagement. |
|
|
We need a new language in which to communicate. Charlene George shared this approach when she asked all of us to consider how we can become good ancestors - how we need to change our messages if we put ourselves in the shoes as grandparents to the generations who will inherit the Earth we leave behind. The arts are also part of the new enlightened conversations — performing arts, fine arts and visual arts all have a language to communicate and infuse us with hope. Stay tuned as we prepare for Season 4 this fall. We will be reaching out to you in the near future to hear your ideas on what you like, what you would like to see changed, and how we can improve our presentations. Thank you for being part of the Creatively United Community. We hope you will find time to enjoy replays of any webinars you might have missed by subscribing to Creatively United's YouTube channel where you can find all our recordings. Please share the videos and CreativelyUnited.org with your family, friends and networks so we can grow needed conversations, share solutions and create the cultural shift required to ensure a future for generations to come. Here's to being good ancestors! |
|
|
Can doughnut economics help us build a just recovery that is within our ecological limits? Are you a municipal leader or planner? A local business owner? A community leader? An interested community member? Are you working to merge social and environmental values in your work? Hear from Andrew Fanning of the Doughnut Economics Action Lab in Oxford, Julia Lipton, Head of Innovation for C40 Cities in Copenhagen, Councillor Ben Geselbracht from Nanaimo and other municipal and community leaders in regions that are implementing a Doughnut Economics approach. Kate Raworth’s idea of Doughnut Economics, is arousing a great deal of interest. The idea is simple. The economy has to be large enough to provide a decent standard of living for everyone (food, shelter, sanitation, education etc.), but small enough to stay within our ’ecological ceiling.’ Amsterdam has pioneered it, other European and North American cities are following their lead and here in Canada, the City of Nanaimo recently agreed to adopt it. Greater Victoria is coming together to talk about it. |
|
|
Creatively United Solutions Hub |
|
|
Healthy, happy communities begin from the ground up. Help us inspire generations to protect and preserve the natural world and confront climate change, so families, communities and nature can prosper together. |
|
|
About Creatively United & Our Community Partners |
|
|
The Creatively United for the Planet Society is a registered non-profit society. Since 2012, we have brought together more than 10,000 people from throughout the region who care about happy, healthy, and resilient communities. We have done so through eight zero-waste sustainability showcases, numerous community events and educational talks, collaborative partnerships, a video series, and the CreativelyUnited.org free community information network, resource and solutions sharing hub. The Gail O'Riordan Climate and the Arts Legacy Fund, supported by The Victoria Foundation, is dedicated to changing human consciousness towards global environmental change by combining science with the creativity of the performing arts. Creatively United and Climate and the Arts both appreciate the support of the Polis Foundation for its assistance in the production of these webinars. |
|
|
|
|
