The local chapter of the Council of Canadians and Timberline Earth Club have confirmed that environmental speakers Andrew Nikiforuk and Damien Gillis will be keynote speakers at the upcoming public forum “Our Water – Our Future” and all are invited to attend.
The forum, slated for World Water Day, Thursday March 22 from 7-9 p.m. at the Campbell River Museum, focuses on how we can act against local and worldwide threats to our public water supply and the importance of Campbell River becoming a Blue Community. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and admission is by donation.
Nikiforuk is a writer and speaker on economic and energy issues. He has written many books and also for the Globe and Mail; The Tyee; The Walrus, and Macleans. He was the 2013/2014 writer in Residence at Haig-Brown House.
Gillis is an award-winning documentary filmmaker (Fractured Land, Primeval: Enter the Incommapleux) and the co-founder, with the late Rafe Mair, of the online journal The Common Sense Canadian.
As well, on April 9 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, the Council of Canadians will be making a presentation to Campbell River City Council asking them to declare Campbell River a Blue Community joining us with 18 other cities/communities in Canada and others worldwide who have already become Blue Communities. This distinction is awarded to cities/communities that propose to carry out three things:
• Recognize safe, clean water and sanitation as human rights.
• Provide water and sanitation using publicly financed, owned and operated services.
• Phase out the sale of bottled water in city facilities and at city events and encourage the use of refillable bottles, thus reducing the amount of plastic garbage that pollutes our waters and lands.
Come out to the forum at the Museum on World Water Day and learn how we can all work together to keep our water public, safe and pure. For more information on the World Water Day forum and Blue Communities, phone (250) 286-3019 or email surfdust@telus.net