Consumable Earth – Kamloops

Sunday April 25, 2010
Doors open at 5:30, dinner at 6pm
520D Seymour St, Interior Community Services, beside Moviemart

Please bring:
A Vegetarian or Vegan dish** for about 8 people
Eggs and dairy are ok
Recipe or list of ingredients is mandatory
Your own plate, cutlery, and cup
A suggested $3 donation
Your own creative Nametag

**Prizes for Best Dish, Best Dessert**

After dinner: “Incorporating edible plants within the ornamental landscape” by Elaine Sedgeman

Earthcare Kamloops is a non-profit group of caring citizens who promote a plant-based diet, and support sustainable, local farming practices. We strive to create a healthier, more connected community by discussing environmental and health issues at our monthly Vegetarian potlucks. (last Sunday of month, Sept-May)
contact email: earthcarekamloops@yahoo.ca

I’m very pleased to announce the upcoming Earth Day (April 22) launch of a new site called SharedEarth.com. It is a free website that connects land owners with gardeners and farmers. Land owners
share their land with someone they trust and get free fruits, vegetables and flowers. Gardeners and farmers get free access to land and the opportunity to grow what they love. The produce is shared between the two parties as they see fit. The result is a more efficient use of land and a greener planet.

Much like online dating sites, SharedEarth.com users create their own profile and find matches based on criteria such as location, years of gardening experience and the type of produce to be grown. Gardeners and farmers find the service useful because they are able to gain free access to land. Land owners find the service useful because they often lack the time, experience or commitment needed to cultivate a productive garden on their property.

Despite the fact that we haven’t officially launched yet, we already have over 19 million sq feet of land registered. (We couldn’t be happier.)

The Shuswap Watershed Project has lined up an impressive list of speakers for its upcoming Watershed Conference to be held on April 23rd from 2 to 11 pm. at the Sullivan Campus of Salmon Arm Secondary School . Conference participants will have an opportunity to listen to and question speakers representing conservation organizations and all levels of government. The objective for this event will be to examine how best to conserve, protect and restore the Shuswap watershed.

Salmon Arm Secondary – Sullivan Campus
This conference is free thanks to the sponsorship of the Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union and Shuswap-North Okanagan School District #83

DRAFT AGENDA

1:00-2:30 pm Poster Session
The conference begins with a poster session, where participants have an opportunity to view the posters and displays set up by government agencies, conservation groups, and students, as well as meet with representatives from these groups. After the opening welcoming addresses by a local First Nation leader and Salmon Arm Mayor Marty Bootsma, students will read their winning essays about what they can do to help protect the watershed. Mayor Bootsma will also be speaking about the work of the Fraser Basin Council, which works to promote environmental and economic sustainability throughout the region.

2:30 pm – Welcoming address by a local First Nation leader, followed by a welcome from Salmon Arm Mayor Marty Bootsma

2:40 – 2:45 Brief talk by Jim Cooperman about the Shuswap Watershed Project

2:45 – 3:15 Essay contest winners read their essays, hosted by Kim Fulton, Shuswap Watershed Project Education Coordinator

3:15 – 3:20 – Mayor Marty Bootsma will talk about the work of the Fraser Basin Council

3:20 – 3:50 – Keynote speech by Craig Orr, Exec Director of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society, titled “Water, salmon and resilience: maintaining healthy watersheds in the face of climate change” followed by Michelle Walsh, with the Secwepemc Fisheries Commission, who will talk about their work on the connection between groundwater and salmon.

3:50 – 4:00 A song by Old Man’s Beard guitarist Jesse Cooke and short break

4:00 – 4:05 – Hiking, biking, canoeing and kayaking the Shuswap to experience the watershed first hand by Shuswap Trail Alliance Executive Director Phil McIntyre-Paul

4:05 – 5:30 – Panel discussion “What needs to be done to best protect, preserve and restore the watershed?” Five minute talk by each panelist, followed by a question period (using written questions submitted by conference participants and allowing for discussion between panelists)
Conference participants will then have an opportunity to pose questions to a panel comprised of staff from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Ministries of Environment and Forests, the CSRD and King Campbell with Ducks Unlimited Canada, who will provide their perspectives on what actions are needed to protect the watershed. The conference will end with a summary talk by Dr. Warren Bell about what was learned from the presentations and what needs to be done in the future.

Panelists:
Carol Danyluk, Environmental Protection Officer, Ministry of Environment
Bruce Runciman, Habitat Management Biologist, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Jan Thingsted, Planner, Columbia-Shuswap Regional District
Kimm Magill-Hofmann, Forest Technician, Ministry of Forests and Range
King Campbell, Agricultural Program Head, Ducks Unlimited Canada

5:30 – 5:40 Warren Bell, Conference summary by Dr. Warren Bell and “Where do we go from here?”

5:40 – 6:15 free networking time (tables set up for dinner)

6:15 – 7:15 dinner by Cookshack Creations
A low cost dinner comprised mostly of food sourced locally from Shuswap farmers and prepared by Cookshack Creations will be served to conference participants after the talks. The event will finish with a concert that begins with the Song for the Shuswap songwriting contest winners followed by an all-ages dance to Old Man’s Beard sponsored by Askews.

7:15 – 7:30 networking time (tables down and chairs set up)

7:30 – 8:30 concert beginning with “A Song for the Shuswap” winners

8:30 – 8:45 break (chairs moved to make room for dancing)

9 – 11 dance to Old Man’s Beard

The conference will be free thanks to the sponsorship of the Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union, but early pre-registration is recommended as seating will be limited. Registration forms are available at Wickett Business Services, Salmon Arm Observer and Bookingham Palace and participants can also register online at www.shuswapwatershed.ca.

For more information, contact:
Jim Cooperman, Project Leader, 679-3693
Kim Fulton, Project Educational Coordinator, 546-3644
Monica Gail Kriese, “Celebrate the Shuswap” Event Coordinator, 833-6100

I thought that it was important to share this with any who might read and get a better sense that we are working towards a collective in which everyone is equal and we respect the knowledge that is gained in doing so.

We are non-Indigenous supporters of Defenders of the Land, a network of
Indigenous communities in struggle for land and self-determination
across Canada, founded at a historic meeting in Winnipeg from November
12-14, 2008.

As non-Indigenous supporters, we are allies of Indigenous peoples
asserting their rights and sovereignty. We offer our support for the
demands of Defenders of the Land expressed in their Basis of Unity, a
signpost on the path we walk together. We believe in taking leadership
from Indigenous communities, who have the right to determine their
destinies in accordance with their own beliefs, customs, laws, and
traditions.

As non-Indigenous supporters, we recognize that the history of Canada is
a racist and genocidal one, marked by the forced dispossession of
Indigenous peoples’ lands and resources, the suppression of their
governments and laws, and the assimilation of their cultures and
identities. In the bricks of residential schools and the borders of
reservations, these ongoing policies are a long scar drawn cruelly
across the land. Across the area known as Canada, Indigenous peoples’
territories are subject to unbridled exploitation for profit -
crisscrossed by railroads and highways, carved up by ski hills and
subdivisions, polluted by mineral and oil extraction, and devastated by
clear-cut logging and hydro-electric projects. Canada’s fundamental
agenda remains the same as it was at the country’s birth: the
assimilation of Indigenous peoples as distinct nations, and the
extinguishment of their rights and title to the land.

As non-Indigenous supporters we bear witness daily to the violent
severing of the connection between Indigenous peoples and their lands,
and how it has resulted in the devastation — socially, politically,
economically, spiritually, and environmentally — of Indigenous
communities. Indigenous people disproportionately experience poverty,
illness, homelessness, and imprisonment. Unprecedented numbers of
Indigenous women have gone missing or have been murdered. Despite the
traumas inflicted by generations of colonial policies, Indigenous
communities have always been the first line of defense against
destruction of the land. For their attempts to forge a more sustainable
future for all of us, Indigenous activists have been criminalized by
federal and provincial governments.

As non-Indigenous supporters, we have come from different places and we
have come for different reasons. As multiracial settlers, migrants,
refugees and descendants of slaves, we came across many oceans or
continents, four hundred years ago or yesterday. Many of us feel deeply
attached to places across Turtle Island, but we recognize that our homes
are built on the ruins of others. We are on the lands of Indigenous
peoples: lands unjustly seized, unsurrendered lands, treaty lands, and
urbanized lands. This reality is visible in the names of our streets,
our towns, our monuments – erasing the genuine identity of the Original
Peoples of this land.

As non-Indigenous supporters, we affirm that when Indigenous peoples
stand to defend their land and to protect Mother Earth, we will stand
alongside them. We commit to doing our part to actively decolonize
ourselves by recognizing our own complicity and taking responsibility to
change this society that privileges us. Our role as allies extends to
work within our own communities to oppose unjust practices perpetuated
in our name and to develop customs and structures that will guide just
relations with Indigenous peoples. We believe in the fundamental
principles of social justice and equality, and strive to create a
co-existence with respect for the autonomy and dignity of all groups and
individuals. We welcome the promise of movements that are based on the
recognition of Indigenous self-determination and build an informed base
of support – ranging from anti-poverty groups to environmental justice
mobilizations, from farmers to faith groups, from queer liberation to
immigrant and refugee justice, from working class movements to anti
capitalist and anti imperialist struggles globally.

With deep humility and gratitude, we thank Indigenous land defenders for
their resilience and the knowledge they have kept alive – through
ceremonies and struggle — that has protected the places that we and
future generations hope to share as our homelands.

Young Leaders sought for ‘Trip of a Lifetime’ down the Fraser River!

Live-Learn-Lead

Journey 1,400 km down the Fraser River, one of the most diverse river basins in North America. Travel through ten of BC’s fourteen biogeoclimatic zones; spend evenings camping along the banks of the Fraser River. Breathtaking scenery greets you along the way, from ancient rainforests and grasslands, to sage brush and floodplain.

Passion-Commitment- Change

Through the program you identify issues you are most passionate about, recognize your talents and gain the
skills and confidence to make a difference in your community.

Change Starts Here!

Personal leadership is the first step toward community action. Supported by the RSBC’s network of SLLP alumni and staff, you return home having developed a new relationship with the Fraser, an understanding of river issues and a vision for change.

Apply Today!

Visit our website to register and for complete program details.

Scholarships available.

APPLICATION DEADLINE May 31st

March 27, 2010 – 8:30 pm

During Earth Hour, hundreds of millions of people around the world will come together to call for action on climate change by doing something quite simple—turning off their lights for one hour.

Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future.

The Earth Run is a grassroots run that will launch for the first time in Kamloops this Spring on April 24th at Riverside Park Bandshell. Other runs were held last year, for the first time, in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. Kamloops is one of only six official Earth Run locations in 2010.

The Earth Run Foundation ( the parent/national organization) is committed to raising funds to be used for local, regional and national environmental issues. The Earth Run is a new annual awareness and fund raising initiative that will help bring people together to build green communities and promote sustainable lifestyles.

The Earth Run is centered on a 5K community run/walk fund raising event with the two major elements of Education and Fund raising. National charities are the David Suzuki Foundations and the Earth Run Foundation. Locally, the Organizing Committee has chosen to support the Grasslands Conservation Council.

We will have a mini-expo of sponsors and other environmental initiatives on site for the participants to enjoy before and after the run. The idea is for the event to be zero (or minimal) impact. We are not handing out paper materials of any type and have asked our exhibitors to minimize waste and use only recyclable or compostable materials. We’d like our “carbon footprint” to be as small as possible.

We are hoping for between 100 and 200 participants and their families. Registration will mainly be done online but we will have some promotion of the event in the media and a couple of on-site registration opportunities at Nature’s Fare, our major local sponsor. We are also hoping to set up for one day at the Farmer’s Market.

Registration Tables will be set up at 8:30am and the run will start at 10:00am.
With the event wrapping up around 12:30pm, perhaps sooner if the weather is uncooperative.

On Saturday, April 17th 2010, the City of Kamloops will be hosting a public forum on planning for sustainability in the community. It will run from 9am to 5pm at the Interior Savings Centre. I hope many people will attend to share their thoughts and to converse with other citizens.

This is a message that those of us who were part of a Facebook Group called ‘Opposed to Creosote Burning in Kamloops’ received this morning:

March 19, 2010 at 10:36am

Subject: Congratulations Everybody

Whoever said that the people don’t have the power haven’t come to Kamloops, because we proved a lot of people wrong. It is confirmed that the ACC has pulled out of their gasification proposal in Kamloops, thanks to all of you. There are so many people to thank and dedicated citizens behind this that I hope we can get the chance to give them the thanks that they deserve. SaveKamloops website took alot of chances being created and those behind it did vast research. Ruth Madsen is a veteran at standing up for the environment and the health of citizens, so chalk up another victory. Derek Cook and many of the faculty at TRU got us educated at the public forums, and our city councilor Dennis Walsh fought this the whole way. Thanks to our mayor and rest of city council for sticking up for your decision as well, and thanks to our doctor for caring. There has been so many other people doing huge amounts of work that have been unrecognized, so I hope they also get the acknowledgment they deserve.

Well that’s all for now and thanks for being part of this group. Stay involved if you can, cause I’m sure there might be more ordeals down the road that requires us to come together. If the title of this group changes I’ll let you know.

Cheers

It truly is an amazing thing what people can do when they come together. I for one am proud to live in a community that contains such powerful and brave spirits.

Training and Support for the BC Community Development Movement
Monday, May 17 to Wednesday 19, 2010
First Nations Longhouse, UBC

This conference is for anyone involved in building community in BC who wants to develop knowledge and skills, network with others, and help shape the future of the community development movement in BC.
Frontline community developers to organization decision-makers, from across the province, wanted themes on community learning, capacity building and governance.

Here is a taste of what is included:

• Collaboration and Partnership Building
• Theatre and Community
• Change (Headlines Theatre)
• Peer Led Learning (PeerNet BC)
• Learning for Change (Storyteller’s Foundation)
• Cooperatives and Community Economic Development (SFU Centre for Sustainable Community Development)
• and a highlight will be an evening film and discussion featuring Finding our Way: The Journey for Colonialism to Partnership (Leonie Sandercock, School of Community and Regional Planning, UBC)

Challenges for this movement will be discussed: Thinking Like a Network (Community Foundations of Canada), What have we Learned about Putting Population Health into Practice, Putting Fun and Evaluation in the Same Sentence (Rock, Paper, Scissors), Future of funding for Community Development in BC (Panel Discussion).

Time for highly valued networking is built into the conference and the following groups are taking up that opportunity: Community Social Planning Network of BC, population health practitioners in BC, Youth Activities Network, and your group can as well.
After March 16th, for more information, go to: www.sparc.bc.ca/community-developers-conference-2010
Presented by the Capacity Development Consortium and the Community Social Planning Network of BC, with support from the Community Capacity Building Strategy led by the Canadian Cancer Society, an initiative of the BC Healthy Living Alliance, and SPARC BC