All posts by Roy Hales

Nanaimo Hunger Strike Finished: More Forest Events Begin

The night before the Nanaimo hunger strike began, Sabina Dennis had a dream about trees. Mother Earth told her, “Why are you scraping off my skin? Now I am exposed. The sun is harmful to me. My flesh is what protects me from it.” The next morning Dennis read about the hunger strike on the internet. She immediately began a fast, but is very slender and became physically ill after four days. She also reached out to the two Nanaimo men through a mutual friend in Sierra Club BC. Sabina Dennis is one of several environmental leaders planning more forest events.

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What Do The Nanaimo Hunger Strikers Hope To Accomplish?

It is day ten. James Darling is drinking his raspberry leaf tea. His most recent choices have been green, black (for its caffeine) or lemon grass. Aside from that, his only sustenance is water, salts and some drops that have potassium and magnesium in them.  I phoned less than two hours before he and Robert Fuller leave. Last week they demonstrated in from of their MLA’s office. This week it is MLA Doug Routley’s turn. What do the Nanaimo hunger strikers hope to accomplish? 

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The Woman Who Makes FOCI’s Species At Risk Gift Cards

Elizabeth Anderson has enjoyed artwork since she was old enough to hold a pencil or crayon. As a little girl, she used to make paint out of crushed berries. Art was Elizabeth’s major in Berkeley. It has been a passion, albeit not a means of livelihood, throughout her life. One of her most recent projects is a series of Species at Risk gift cards for the Friends of Cortes Island Society (FOCI). 

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Day 5: Will BC Protect Old Growth Forests?

Two Nanaimo men are demanding the province take action. It has been three years since BC’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change was given his mandate letter to “Enact an endangered species law and harmonize other laws to ensure they are all working towards the goal of protecting our beautiful province.” Their political ally, the Green party, is “calling on the BC NDP government to implement a moratorium on all high risk old-growth ecosystems across the province, while a strategy for science-based old growth management is developed.” Will the NDP Government protect Old Growth forests?

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Writing Off Oil Sands Investments

It has been a week since the Supreme Court decided it will not hear an appeal by the Squamish Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Coldwater Indian Band. Trans Mountain currently has 4,919 people working on its controversial pipeline expansion. This project is expected to bring a sevenfold increase in the number of oil tankers plying the waters off Greater Vancouver. Yet even while we read that this project is going forward, another giant oil company is writing off oil sands investments. 

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