All Hands on Deck Webinars

Sierra Club Canada Foundation is delighted to present the All Hands on Deck Webinar series, to showcase the diversity of issues and solutions as we come together to deal with the environmental and social challenges of our time. Please find recordings of our past webinars below, and stay tuned for future webinars.

Webinar: Crises, war and the future of global climate cooperation and activism

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has revealed the consequences of the global reliance on fossil fuels. We are at a real inflection point for the world and Canada. Will we entrench our reliance on fossil fuels even further or switch quickly to renewable energy and energy savings as the climate emergency demands?

Champions for oil and gas are attempting to use the war in Ukraine to buttress oil and gas demand and provide cover for approving new oil and gas projects like Bay du Nord. Meanwhile, global climate science indicates the consequences for not confronting the climate crisis are dire.

How can we work together and lead the way toward peace and climate justice?

Join us for a timely discussion of global energy demand and solutions.

With Eddy Pérez, the International Climate Diplomacy Manager at Climate Action Network Canada. 

Our speaker: Eddy Pérez 

In addition to his work with Climate Action Network Canada, Eddy is a lecturer at the University of Montreal and teaches Climate justice and international cooperation. Eddy is an expert on climate diplomacy, analyzing and monitoring international climate negotiations from a Canadian and North American perspective.
He chairs the G7 Climate and Energy WG within the G7 Global Taskforce. He sits on the Canadian Domestic Advisory Group (CEDAG) for the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Eddy holds a Master of Science degree from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique du Québec (INRS).
Eddy loves poetry and attributes part of his passion for climate justice to the work of Eduardo Galeano. One of his favourite quotes from this author is: “Recordar, from the Latin records, to pass back through the heart.

You can also watch our other webinars at: www.sierraclub.ca/en/all-hands-on-deck-webinars

Webinar: Treaty 9 and Development of the Ring of Fire within NAN Territory

We invite you to learn about the historic context and current concerns related to the proposed Ring of Fire mining project in the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Territory. 

Joseph Duncan, an Indigenous member from the NAN Territory and former chair of the Sierra Club's Ontario chapter, discusses the club’s work on a report for the government’s Regional Assessment of the Ring of Fire. Our report focuses on the social, environmental, and economic impacts of the proposed development including a survey of some local residents.

The $60 billion chromite mining proposal, referred to as the Ring of Fire, impacts 5,100 square kilometers of Northwestern Ontario. The area is rich in mineral deposits, peat moss, caribou, and many other species essential to Indigenous nations’ economy and culture. The region is home to the Indigenous people of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, with a population of 45,000. 

Treaty Nine was established in 1905, making the NAN Territory a sovereign nation. 

Repercussions of mining developments have significant impacts on the economy, environment, society and Indigenous nations' natural habitat, impacting their survival. Provincial and federal leaders hail the Ring of Fire proposal as a multigenerational opportunity that can economically and socially benefit communities. Unfavorable repercussions of surface and subsurface mining frequently include toxic waste material, long-term environmental devastations, and human rights violations. 

This presentation highlights parts of the research report Ring of Fire Assessment: An Assessment of Reflections From the Members of Nishnawbe Aski Nation Territory. We recommend you read the report in addition to watching the webinar.

Our speaker:

Joseph Duncan is an Indigenous member from Nishnawbe Aski Nation Territory, situated in Muskrat Dam First Nation. He is a former police officer who served with the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service for 14 years. After an injury ended his law enforcement career he has pursued higher education at Lakehead University completing degrees in Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism and an MA in Social Justice. Joseph is familiar with the political structure of the NAN Territory and ran in the 2021 election for Deputy Grand Chief of NAN. Today, Joseph teaches at Lakehead University instructing Advance Land Relations.

You can also watch all of our webinars at: www.sierraclub.ca/en/all-hands-on-deck-webinars

 

Webinar: Eco-anxiety, eco-grief, and solastalgia - approaches for activists

In this webinar, we will explore emotional responses to environmental collapse, improve our understanding of cultural histories of environmental movements, and explore strategies that communities have developed and are using to manage heavy emotions in their work and mobilize emotion toward positive community-building.

We will explore how our heavy emotional responses to the climate crisis can undermine collective environmental movements, and how we can instead mobilize them effectively to develop a more open, more dynamic activist culture focused on collective action in mutual recognition. Join us!

Speaker:

Dr. Jennifer Baker is the Vice President of the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, a poet, and an Professor in the Department of English at the University of Ottawa, where her research interests include the cultural history of agriculture in Canada, environmental history, literature and the environment, cultural studies, and Canadian poetry and poetics. Passionately committed to knowledge mobilization, she has spoken widely in the field of environmental humanities and was one of the founding speakers on eco-anxiety at the Sustainable Events Forum. Her first chapbook, Abject Lessons, was published in 2014 by above/ground press and her creative writing, essays, and reviews have appeared in various literary publications including Dusie, Ottawater, The Bull Calf, The Journal of Canadian Poetry, and Canadian Literature. Her second chapbook, Groundling, is forthcoming from Trainwreck Press (2021).

Click for a copy of the slides or Dr. Baker's Reading List
 
We regret that the first minute of the session was not recorded.  Jenn has asked us to include her land acknowledgement here.  
 
"I am presenting this webinar from the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. As an uninvited guest on this land, I acknowledge that I have certain obligations: to understand our treaties, to uplift and protect the rights of the original caretakers and knowledge keepers of this land, and to try to build better relations with this land and the traditional stewards of this place."
 

Funding Policies to Protect Wildlife Webinar

The Watch for Wildlife program of Sierra Club's Atlantic Canada Chapter welcomes you to a lively discussion on why it is necessary to implement measures to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions in order to conserve wildlife and protect motorists in Canada.

Webinar speakers will discuss how participants can reach out to their local Member of Parliament to show their support for the recommendations of the Green Budget Coalition. We will deliver a message that the federal government should:

1. Implement a national wildlife-vehicle collision data reporting system,
2. Make highway and railway funding conditional on an integrated wildlife management plan, including any required crossing structures, fencing and other collision-prevention infrastructure.

Click here to learn more about the Green Budget Coalition: https://greenbudget.ca/(link is external)

 

Speakers:

Gretchen Fitzgerald (She/her) is the National Program & Atlantic Chapter Director for Sierra Club Canada Foundation. With an academic background in marine biology, Gretchen Fitzgerald became Atlantic Chapter Director in 2007 and transitioned to National Programs Director in 2016. She led the campaign to successfully stop oil and gas development in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and secured provincial commitments to ban uranium mining in Nova Scotia. Her passions include her daughter, getting out in the garden, and seeing people use their power to bring about change.

David Snider, Past Board President, currently serves as Sierra Club Canada Foundation’s delegate to the Green Budget Coalition. Degrees in physical geography and law provided him with a broad-based understanding of environmental issues. In 2013 David retired from the Canada Revenue Agency after 30 years working on compliance research, strategy, policy and legislation. He is a life member of the Canadian Kennel Club, a lure coursing judge, and a director on the board of his local historical society. David enjoys hiking, skiing, birding, gardening and getting involved in environmental issues.

Healing land and people: native plants, pollinators, and food

Habitat loss, species decline, climate change, food insecurity, and even mental health are all connected by one common thread; the need for change in our agricultural system. With complexities around inequity, corporatization, transport and more, the monolith of the global agroeconomy is far too large to take on in its entirety. But that’s not what this talk is about; let’s chat about something you CAN do to make a positive change in this system. We need more hands to pick, pluck, plant and spread native plants across Canada. Join me, Junaid Shahzad Khan, on a journey into the world of native plants and the solutions their revival can hold for us and our non-human friends. 

Thursday, May 27th, 2021 for 40 minutes at 6:30pm Eastern / 7:30pm Atlantic / 3:30pm Pacific

The speaker: Junaid Shahzad Khan is an ecologist and educator who works with Pollinator Partnership Canada, Birds Canada, University of British Columbia, University of Guelph, and a network of grass-roots land activists to help regenerate habitat and communities across southern Ontario. Junaid has created easy-to-follow and accessible courses to help people of all knowledge levels learn about the wonderful world of habitat creation. His most recent course, At Home with Birds can be found at https://www.udemy.com/course/at-home-with-birds/ 

All Hands on Deck Webinar - How's the Air You're Breathing?

How's the air we breathe today? Most of us would likely answer that question with "It seems fine", assuming that air quality is not something to worry about. You might be right. However, depending on where you live, work and play, every day you may be breathing unhealthy air - air that is potentially dangerous to your health and those around you.

Consider these facts, backed up by credible sources:
1. In Canada, about 14,600 die from dirty air quality every year.
2. Worldwide, only about 5% of us are breathing truly healthy air.
3. Living near a busy intersection can increase the risk of contracting dementia later in life.
4. Air pollution can cause a measurable decrease in IQ for children and a measurable loss in lung function.
5. Across the world, dirty air causes some seven million early deaths annually

The Sierra Club Canada Foundation has a project underway to measure and report on the outdoor air quality (AQ) in the city. While the official, government-operated AQ station in Ottawa reports levels generally in the "Low Risk" category, our preliminary air tracking results are finding areas, or air pollution 'hotspots', where the AQ can be quite dangerous. In this webinar, we will be showing what we've measured so far, what impact this may be having on our health, and we'll talk about possible actions we can take, as individuals and collectively at a city-wise basis, to improve the air we are breathing every day.

The speaker, Jake Cole, is retired from a career in six departments in our federal government. Amongst other roles, he was former Environment Director, Canadian Coast Guard; National Manager, Canada's R-2000 Home Program; Canada's representative for renewable energy projects with the International Energy Agency. He ran a well-received employee health and wellness program for one of Canada's largest federal departments. He co-chaired the national charity, Prevent Cancer Now. He has run for the federal Green Party twice (coming third in his riding in 2008 with one of the highest percentage of Green Party voters in Canada). He is currently with the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, leading a team of volunteer 'Citizen Scientists' on a project to measure and report on air quality in the Ottawa region.

All Hands on Deck webinar - Enbridge Line 5 Pipeline

No one shares more Great Lakes coastline than neighboring Canada and Michigan.  For 67 years Michigan and Canada have also had in common a dangerous pipeline that transports oil through the Straits of Mackinac. The Straits divide Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas, connecting Lakes Huron and Michigan (they are actually one lake).  It’s turbulent waters, shipping hazards and poor conditions make the Straits the worst possible place in the Great Lakes for an oil pipeline rupture and Enbridge’s failures to exercise due care with Line 5 prompted Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to take action:  Line 5 is earmarked by the State of Michigan to go out of operation in May.


What are the facts about Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline and its environmental threats to the Great Lakes?  Why is Michigan acting with urgency to stop the flow of oil in the Straits of Mackinac?  Representatives from the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Oil & Water Don’t Mix campaign will join Sierra Club Canada’s All Hands on Deck for a conversation about Enbridge Line 5.

All Hands on Deck Webinar Series - Marine protected areas and beyond: setting sail for a sustainable ocean

The ocean unites our world in a profound way – and yet, it faces more threats today than ever before in history. All around the world, the need to protect the ocean is clear, from the United Nations to right here in Canada. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an important tool for conservation, protecting biodiversity and habitats from harmful human activities; but, there are some ocean goals that MPAs cannot help us reach. As we strive to protect 30% of Canada’s ocean by 2030, we must look beyond MPAs to see the bigger picture of the ocean and how we use them. Setting sail for ocean sustainability won’t be an easy task, and will need our governments, ocean industries, and coastal communities to pull together toward a common goal. We might be aiming for 30 by 30, but the real ambition should be 100% of the ocean sustainably managed for all. This webinar gives an introduction to MPAs in Canada and explores the different pathways we can take to a healthy ocean now and into the future. 

Our speaker is Julie Reimer, Julie is a PhD Candidate (Geography) at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her research explores marine spatial planning and area-based ocean management as a pathway toward conservation and sustainability goals. She holds a Master of Marine Management and a Bachelor of Science in biology, and brings this interdisciplinary lens to her work with multiple environmental non-profits in Canada. Julie has been recognized as a leader in organizational governance and science-based conservation advocacy. Julie currently serves as President of Sierra Club Canada Foundation Board of Directors.

All Hands on Deck: Citizen Science with Watch for Wildlife

Watch for Wildlife (W4W) is a wildlife-vehicle collision prevention program of the Sierra Club Canada Foundation’s Atlantic Chapter. In this All Hands On Deck webinar, learn the importance of collecting wildlife-vehicle collision data and how you can help contribute using the iNaturalist app. For more information on preventing and responding to wildlife-vehcile collisions visit watchforwildlife.ca

Learn how you can contribute to Watch for Wildlife's citizen science initiative using the iNaturalist app.