Environmental Topic Article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fraser-river-island-purchase-salmon-1.7257260   This article speaks to the loss of spawning grounds within the Fraser River (specifically the region from Mission to Hope). It cites that development has affected 90% of the shoreline, dramatically impacting the availability of safe spawning places. By the Nature Conservancy of Canada purchasing Carey Island, it is believed that one spawning ground will be protected from further degradation. I fully support the conservation efforts that this purchase represents. Mark Angelo speaks to how it is “one of the most productive stretches of river on the planet”; this is a powerful reminder of the…

Beans is a documentary on CBC that follows the story of a young Mohawk girl named Beans in the year 1990. At the time, Beans and her community of Kahnawake, located in what is now known as Quebec, are engaged in a stand-off with government forces. The film takes place during the 1990 Oka Crisis, a standoff between the Mohawk people and the Canadian government over land disputes and the expansion of a golf course onto sacred Indigenous land. Specific to the film, a land-management dispute over the expansion of a golf course onto sacred Indigenous land is what set…

The documentary Fairy Creek: The Last Stand highlights one of the largest and longest acts of civil disobedience in recent Canadian history. Ordinary citizens chose to take direct action, and risked their own safety and freedom to challenge policies and practices that were threatening priceless Canadian old growth forests. Watching this powerful documentary reinforced my belief in the power of civil disobedience as a tool for positive change. I remember when the protests started and had I not been pregnant, I would have been there alongside the protestors, standing up for the protection of these ancient forests. Civil disobedience has…

The environmental movement includes acts of civil disobedience aimed at confronting ecological degradation and influencing policy changes. A recent example is the Fairy Creek old-growth logging protests on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where activists opposed logging in one of the province’s last remaining unprotected old-growth forests. These protests, which began in 2020 and escalated into 2021, led to numerous arrests and heightened public awareness about the importance of preserving ancient forests. 1 Resources in this unit highlight the role of civil disobedience in environmentalism and its historical significance. For instance, the film “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the…

   A recent mainstream media report from The Nation illustrates how the wildfires could reshape the climate movement in California. As the city of Los Angeles debates how it can best address the impacts of increasingly devastating natural disasters, organizers hope to make the most of the moment. The Eaton Fires swept through entire neighborhoods and shifted community understanding of the climate crisis. Both the Eaton and Palisades fires rank among the five most destructive in the state’s history, having destroyed over 12,000 structures and displacing hundreds of families. Civil disobedience has played an important role in the history of…