[All] How Gren can help the Aamjiwnaang First Nation

[Louisette Lanteigne]

      Hi folks

Before I get to the concept of how GREN can help, here is the background info:

Aamjiwnaang First Nation has filed a claim in
 the Superior Courts against Suncor because their pollution is a violation of the Charter of Human 
Rights and Canadian Environmental laws. It's a ground breaking case and the evidence is in the people themselves.

Suncor's petrol plant surrounds the traditional reserve of these people. The air born pollution 
is entering into the reserve. Concentrations are not measured, 
but modeled. It's failed process with no guarantees of actual compliance. Industry can't guarantee air quality is safe for the people of the reserve. 
Adverse health impacts are evident.

The birth ratio on this reserve is one of the lowest in the world. They suspect miscarriage of boy embryos is partiality blame. 40% of all women experience miscarriages and in the population that are born, there are issues because xeno estrogins are impacted, so there is the feminization of males, testicular cancers, undecended testis, gender identity etc.

The impacts are randomly 
distributed, and gender variants exist within the community. 
In In this case it is clearly the Endocrine disruption which is the strongest evidence but there are concerns with how this matter will be viewed by the greater public. Will it be an issue that involves homophobia or the view that these people are somehow freaks. These are real people being affected. Real communities and families. It's a delicate issue.

The endocrine issues are not limited to humans. Sex ratio in fish, bird and turtle are also affected in this same location. Long term impacts due to chronic low dose exposures to toxins are to blame.

Beyond gender issues this reserve has 17% adults and 22% of kids with Asthma, 25% of all adults with high blood pressure and head aches.40% of the women have experienced
miscarriages or stillbirths. There are learning disabilities among the kids.

    


      
        
  
          
      
      
  

      
    
    To read more about the Aamjiwnaang First Nation's lawsuit, visit here: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Environment/2010/11/01/15905101.html

Here is what I would like to propose.

I would like to see GREN sponsor the rental of a room at RIM Park to allow this woman to share this story with the people of Waterloo Region. The rental costs would provide us with chairs, podium and access to sound systems and projector for a power point display.  I'm certain that with the Universities and ecological groups at our end we could draw in many listeners and we could set up donation boxes to help them with their lawsuit. 

We could have CKCO and the media interviewing them. There are so many people at our end interested in issues like this and the more PR this case gets, the better for their cause. I would be willing to help coordinate this and GREN can lend volunteers to help get the world out and to volunteer the night of the presentation. What say the group? I'd like this issue raised at our Next Gren meeting. 

Lulu :0)




      
        
  
          
      
      
  

      
    
    
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20110104/fca3975a/attachment.html>