It is my experience that the top dogs dismiss whatever the peasants have to say regardless of validity.
I think that the lower down dogs are much more susceptible to the truth delivered, in person, by analogy.
The tar sands tailing ponds holding 1.5 trillion litres of toxic waste are uphill in the Mackenzie River watershed. They are a giant boulder on a steep mountain side, held in place only by small often porous dykes, just waiting its chance to destroy the Mackenzie.
Prepare a motion:
whereas the tars sands tailing ponds are an unmitigated danger to the Mackenzie River watershed and whereas 1..5 trillion litres of ... etc
and whereas etc...
now therefore be it resolved that the Municipality of xxxxx declares the unmitigated tars sands tailing ponds are an existential threat to the Municipality and its residents
and be it further resolved that
unless adequate and secure remediation of tar sands tailing ponds begins immediately the municipality will seek the collaboration of all the other municipalities in the Mackenzie watershed to request a court injunction halting further releases of tailings into the tar sands until such time as adequate remediation has commenced.
Send this motion to resident groups in every municipality in the Mackenzie watershed to present to their municipal councils. These councils are guaranteed to be have better hearing than the folks that received your open letter. Especially given the motion's call for collective action across jurisdictional boundaries. The folks further along the Mackenzie have no skin in the tar sands game.
You and Charlie are both grassroots advocates. The municipalities are the closest to the grassroots. It is my submission that that fact is important for grassroots success. Organize and collaborate at the municipal level. Engage the municipalities for help. Get personal. Organize municipally
Question the Canadian "democracy that" allows today's CBC entry "Carney to choose Germany and Norway to build Canada's submarines". Trump needs executive orders to get things done. In Canada he would not have to bother. Why is that OK in a "democracy"? These are the more fundamental questions that are no so easily ignored by the entitled dogs at the top.
Beyond idea to me. It is a deliberate method. A true realization of democracy that is beyond the reach of party politics because it is too decentralized to control.
It also has the advantage of automatic geographic recognition. People associate with their municipality by default. There is no need to create new structures that have no name recognition . The municipal government also automatically has more chachet than a "mere" citizens organization.
The operational vehicle for this would be the citizen''s assembly. B.C. has used this mechanism. The citizen's assembly is ideal because it can be named the 'municipality's name' Citizen's Assembly so it is readily identifiable but needs absolutely no permission for its formation.
There are about 4000 municipalities in Canada. They are existing geographic structures and they normally do not cross either federal or provincial riding boundaries so they form natural groups to communicate with MPs and MLA/MPPs. Because of their number wide geographic distribution they are difficult to infiltrate.
Also Citizen's assemblies would not make decisions by voting. That is a topic unto itself that can be discussed in a separate note.
p.s. The Water not Coal petition is also a prime candidate for province wide municipal recognition.
Regards,
Paul
( Electrical Engineering 66, past Deputy-Reeve Denbigh, Abinger and Ashby )
Thank you for doing this and sharing with us, Jenny!
Thanks for accepting me into the environmental justice community. 💗
Powerful comments Jenny - thankyou! I hope you sent these to his office also...
David
Much appreciated, David.
You bet, I sent to the indicated recipients at the same time! I hope others follow suit.
Hello Jenny,
It is my experience that the top dogs dismiss whatever the peasants have to say regardless of validity.
I think that the lower down dogs are much more susceptible to the truth delivered, in person, by analogy.
The tar sands tailing ponds holding 1.5 trillion litres of toxic waste are uphill in the Mackenzie River watershed. They are a giant boulder on a steep mountain side, held in place only by small often porous dykes, just waiting its chance to destroy the Mackenzie.
Prepare a motion:
whereas the tars sands tailing ponds are an unmitigated danger to the Mackenzie River watershed and whereas 1..5 trillion litres of ... etc
and whereas etc...
now therefore be it resolved that the Municipality of xxxxx declares the unmitigated tars sands tailing ponds are an existential threat to the Municipality and its residents
and be it further resolved that
unless adequate and secure remediation of tar sands tailing ponds begins immediately the municipality will seek the collaboration of all the other municipalities in the Mackenzie watershed to request a court injunction halting further releases of tailings into the tar sands until such time as adequate remediation has commenced.
Send this motion to resident groups in every municipality in the Mackenzie watershed to present to their municipal councils. These councils are guaranteed to be have better hearing than the folks that received your open letter. Especially given the motion's call for collective action across jurisdictional boundaries. The folks further along the Mackenzie have no skin in the tar sands game.
You and Charlie are both grassroots advocates. The municipalities are the closest to the grassroots. It is my submission that that fact is important for grassroots success. Organize and collaborate at the municipal level. Engage the municipalities for help. Get personal. Organize municipally
Question the Canadian "democracy that" allows today's CBC entry "Carney to choose Germany and Norway to build Canada's submarines". Trump needs executive orders to get things done. In Canada he would not have to bother. Why is that OK in a "democracy"? These are the more fundamental questions that are no so easily ignored by the entitled dogs at the top.
Regards,
Paul
Great idea, Paul.
Hello Jenny,
Beyond idea to me. It is a deliberate method. A true realization of democracy that is beyond the reach of party politics because it is too decentralized to control.
It also has the advantage of automatic geographic recognition. People associate with their municipality by default. There is no need to create new structures that have no name recognition . The municipal government also automatically has more chachet than a "mere" citizens organization.
The operational vehicle for this would be the citizen''s assembly. B.C. has used this mechanism. The citizen's assembly is ideal because it can be named the 'municipality's name' Citizen's Assembly so it is readily identifiable but needs absolutely no permission for its formation.
There are about 4000 municipalities in Canada. They are existing geographic structures and they normally do not cross either federal or provincial riding boundaries so they form natural groups to communicate with MPs and MLA/MPPs. Because of their number wide geographic distribution they are difficult to infiltrate.
Also Citizen's assemblies would not make decisions by voting. That is a topic unto itself that can be discussed in a separate note.
p.s. The Water not Coal petition is also a prime candidate for province wide municipal recognition.
Regards,
Paul
( Electrical Engineering 66, past Deputy-Reeve Denbigh, Abinger and Ashby )
Such courage Jenny. As a Grandmother of 7 living here in AB, I thank you for the courage of your knowledgeable convictions. Truth to Power. ✅