Sierra Club exclusion hard to understand
Letter by Donna Montgomery-Frizzell
Cape Breton Post
Thurs, Feb. 10, 2005
It is difficult to understand the
logic behind the exclusion of Sierra
Club of Canada from the Sydney Tar
Ponds Community Liaison Committee.
Sierra Club of Canada is a
respected national environmental
group that has existed since 1963. It
has about 10,000 members, supporters
and youth affiliate members
across Canada who support communities
on issues such as industrial
farming, sustainable forestry, sustainable
mining and contaminated lands.
Sierra Club people may not be
timid about standing up for what
they believe in, but when it comes to
public health issues and the environment
they are definitely kind and nice.
Sierra Club has a long history of
working together with communities
on tough environmental issues and
has maintained a strong voice for
the community in the long saga of
the Sydney tar ponds. Sierra Club is
not trying to hijack the process but
is providing a well-informed alternative view.
It appears as if the Sydney Tar
Ponds Agency is using past incicidents
where environmentalists were
excluded as an excuse to exclude
Sierra Club representation at this
time. Sierra Club has many members
who are more than capable of
bringing serious discussion to the
table, and has a wealth of knowledge
and resources to draw from.
People in this area want representation
by someone who will
bring unbiased reports back to the
community.
Given that David Suzuki,
an internationally recognized
scientist, endorses the work of the
local chapter of Sierra Club on the
Sydney remediation, perhaps the tar
ponds agency should reconsider
what appears to be a very biased and
exclusionary stance and do what is
best. Make room at the table for Sierra Club.
Donna Montgomery-Frizzell
chair, Stewards of St. Ann's Harbour Association
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