Sierra Club of Canada
Encyclopedia
Sierra Club Canada is a Canadian
, volunteer-based environmental organization. It is part of the environmental movement
.
The roots of Sierra Club Canada go back to 1963, when environmentalist
s in British Columbia
affiliated themselves with the Sierra Club
of the United States
(many of these individuals were prominent in the founding of Greenpeace
). Sierra Club Canada became a pan-Canadian organization in 1989, and was legally incorporated as a Canadian organization in 1992.
it has approximately 10,000 members and supporters. Its main office is in Ottawa
.
members of the Club.
SCC currently has five Chapters (Atlantic
, British Columbia
, Ontario
, Prairie
s, and Quebec
) and the Sierra Youth Coalition
. It has offices in Edmonton, Halifax
, Montreal
, Toronto
, Vancouver
, and Victoria
.
In addition, SCC includes several local groups working mostly at the municipal level.
The Sierra Youth Coalition is the youth-led wing of the Sierra Club Canada.
SCC is a major member of the Canadian Environmental Network
.
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
project. The SCC, arguing that the research project was a subsidy, influenced public opinion against the project. Canada is now no longer involved in ITER. http://www.iter.org/new_text-Feb04.htm
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, volunteer-based environmental organization. It is part of the environmental movement
Environmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
.
The roots of Sierra Club Canada go back to 1963, when environmentalist
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
s in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
affiliated themselves with the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(many of these individuals were prominent in the founding of Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
). Sierra Club Canada became a pan-Canadian organization in 1989, and was legally incorporated as a Canadian organization in 1992.
it has approximately 10,000 members and supporters. Its main office is in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
.
Organization
Sierra Club Canada is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors, three members of which are elected each year in an election in which all SCC members can vote. http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/aboutus/board.html Two of the seats are reserved for youthYouth
Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...
members of the Club.
SCC currently has five Chapters (Atlantic
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
s, and Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
) and the Sierra Youth Coalition
Sierra Youth Coalition / Coalition Jeunesse Sierra
The Sierra Youth Coalition is a national Canadian organization run by youth for youth, serving as the youth arm of the Sierra Club of Canada since 1996. Its stated mission is "to empower Canadians ages 14-26 to become active community leaders who contribute to making Canada a sustainable...
. It has offices in Edmonton, Halifax
Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia
Halifax Regional Municipality is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The Regional Municipality had a 2006 census population of 372,679, while the metropolitan area had a 2010 estimated population of 403,188, and the urban area of Halifax had a population of 282,924...
, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, and Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
.
In addition, SCC includes several local groups working mostly at the municipal level.
Executive Directors
- 1989-2006: Elizabeth MayElizabeth MayElizabeth Evans May, OC, MP is an American-born Canadian Member of Parliament, environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She was the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She became a Canadian citizen in 1978.May's...
- 2006 - 2009: Stephen Hazell
- 2009 - present: John Bennett
Affiliates and subsidiaries
SCC is also affiliated with the Sierra Club Canada Foundation and the Sierra Club British Columbia Foundation.The Sierra Youth Coalition is the youth-led wing of the Sierra Club Canada.
SCC is a major member of the Canadian Environmental Network
Canadian Environmental Network
The Canadian Environmental Network is an umbrella organization for environmental non-governmental organizations located across Canada. This non-profit organization was mainly funded by Environment Canada and helped to facilitate networking and communication between environmental organizations,...
.
Successes
Over the years Sierra Club Canada has played a prominent role in helping to ensure the success of environmental policy and legislative initiatives. The following list of milestones provides an indication of some of the successful campaigns that Sierra Club has been involved in, both in coalition with others and as a leading advocate.2009
- Reducing smog pollution - Sierra Club Canada initiated and led a joint industry/environmental group coalition that has brought together provincial and federal governments with other stakeholders in a successful collaboration for a comprehensive federal and provincial regulatory regime to improve air quality standards, an air zone approach to managing air quality, and a multistakeholder Air Quality Council to oversee the regime
- Raising public awareness about tar sands development - Sierra Club Canada and Sierra Club Prairie have been at the forefront of campaigns to raise public awareness about the adverse environmental impacts of tar sands development.
2008
- Stopping the Digby Neck Basalt Quarry and Marine Terminal - Working closely with local citizens' groups, Sierra Club Canada and Sierra Club Atlantic persuaded an environmental review panel to oppose construction of a basalt quarry and marine terminal, the ships from which would have damaged threatened right whales and damaged a community committed to sustainability. The federal and Nova Scotian governments accepted the panel's recommendations; the quarry and terminal were never built
- Ensuring that greenhouse gas emissions are assessed in tar sands projects - Sierra Club Canada won a law suit in the Federal Court of Canada requiring that greenhouse gas emissions are assessed as part of the federal environment assessment for a tar sands mine, specifically the Kearl Tar Sands Project.
2007
- The cleanup of the Sydney Tar Ponds in Nova Scotia will not include an incinerator for toxic waste, which would have further polluted local communities.
- The destructive Mackenzie Gas Project has been delayed for five years and may never be built.
- Federal funding has been committed to protect the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, which encompasses a quarter of the Earth’s remaining ancient coastal temperate rainforests.
- Phase-out of a federal tax subsidy to tar sands companies, as well as growing support for a moratorium on new Alberta tar sands projects, which produce the dirtiest oil on the planet.
2006
- The announcement that two million hectares of temperate rainforest would be protected from logging. The Great Bear Rainforest announcement is the culmination of what may be British Columbia’s most significant environmental campaign—a decade-long effort that saw blockades, international markets campaigns, and an unprecedented agreement between as unlikely allies as logging companies and environmentalists.
2005
- Stopping proposal to transport Great Lakes water out of the watershed via the Sustainable Water Resources Agreement.
- Achieving the commitment to a minimum of 5 percent mix of biofuels in gasoline and diesel by the end of 2010.
- The passage of Bill C-15, which is designed to bring an end to the dumping of bilge oil from ships, which results in the deaths of some 300,000 seabirds annually off the coast of Newfoundland alone.
2004
- Both the Ontario Government and the federal government accepted our position against any diversions from the Great Lakes. The plan to allow diversions was halted. We were the first environmental group to identify the proposed Annex from the Council of Great Lakes Governors as a major threat to the lakes
- The federal Ministers of Environment and Natural Resources jointly committed to push the car makers to 25% decreases in greenhouse gas emissions by 2010, directly in response to a Sierra Club of Canada campaign
- The British Columbia government received a report from public hearings, chaired by Roland Priddle, clearly stating that British Columbians were massively opposed to lifting the moratorium on offshore oil and gas development. SCC and our BC Chapter had been heavily involved in the coalition opposing oil and gas
- The Quebec environmental assessment agency (Bureau d'Audiences Publique -BAPE) issued a report harshly critical of the threat to whales from seismic testing - the first step in oil and gas exploration - an issue which SCC had been coordinating and to which we had appeared in order to give evidence. The Quebec government blocked testing at the mouth of the St. Lawrence in the Gulf
- After years of pressure, the federal government came through with $4 billion for the clean-up of toxic waste sites, with a very specific mention of the need to clean up the Sydney Tar Ponds. By May, the federal and provincial governments signed a $400 million agreement to clean up the notorious 300 acres (1.2 km²) toxic site. SCC has been the only environmental group, national or provincial, championing the plight of the local environment and Sydney residents
- The precedent created by Sierra Club of Canada's victory in the Federal Court, quashing a permit for a massive mussel aquaculture facility in Cape Breton, was preserved when the company dropped its appeal. Although the aquaculture facility is proceeding under a new permit, it has been forced to adopt a phased approach
- Nine municipalities drafted pesticide by-laws, and five adopted them in 2004. Often their efforts were supported by our materials and local volunteers. A total of 70 municipalities now have by-laws restricting the use of toxic chemical pesticides for cosmetic purposes.
2003
- Passage of Species at Risk Act
- Reform of the Pest Control Products Act
- Pesticide bylaws in 65 municipalities to date
- Sierra Club successfully intervenes in Supreme Court of Canada which upholds Canadian Patent Board's refusal to patent Oncomouse (Harvard Mouse Case)
- $4 billion committed to Toxic Waste Site Clean Up in the federal budget
- Sierra Club was the only interviner in environmental hearings in Fort McMurray appearing to oppose any expansion in the Athbasca Tar Sands.
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge protected another year
- Failure of the WTO in September in Cancun
- Key role in developing a strong new National Forest Strategy
ITER project
In 2003 Sierra Club Canada lobbied extensively to stop Canadian participation in the ITERITER
ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering project, which is currently building the world's largest and most advanced experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor at Cadarache in the south of France...
project. The SCC, arguing that the research project was a subsidy, influenced public opinion against the project. Canada is now no longer involved in ITER. http://www.iter.org/new_text-Feb04.htm