Author: Tamiko Suzuki

CUC Dismantling Racism Study Group

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Members of the Canadian Unitarian Council’s “dismantling racism” study group are preparing for their audit of anti-racism work in Canadian congregations. The group plans to distribute a survey on this topic to Canadian Unitarians, with its release tentatively set for January. Rev. Julie Stoneberg of the Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough, co-chair of the eight-person group, says they are hoping for the broadest possible participation by Canadian clergy and laypeople.

Doug Ennenberg and  Tamiko Suzuki from UCV, and Catherine Strickland from NSUC, are the western representatives in the group.

https://cuc.ca/enews-november-26/?utm_source=Canadian+Unitarian+Council+List&utm_campaign=0ac6efa9c1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_12_15_08_49_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9434666947-0ac6efa9c1-328231665#dismantling

A look back at 2018-2019, It was a very busy year

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Looking back on 2018/2019, it’s easy to see that the Environment Team has been very busy! We put on a series of highly successful events in addition to fundraiser lunches and monthly forums. If that wasn’t enough, members were busy throughout the year taking part in anti-pipeline and Climate Change rallies and attending film nights, workshops and fundraisers to protect the Environment and support Indigenous groups.

Check out what we did!

Interested in joining the Environment Team?

Contact environment@vancouverunitarians.ca

Green New Deal Town Hall a success!

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Above: a full house at the Town Hall Meeting in Hewett Centre on the Green New Deal

On Friday, May 24th, the Vancouver Unitarians Environment Team hosted a Town Hall for the Pact for a Green New Deal in Canada. An enthusiastic group of about 100 participants generated a wealth of ideas for what the Pact should and shouldn’t include. We capped the evening singing “Make a Green New Deal”, a familiar tune with new words by Patrick Dubois. Our Town Hall was one of about 150-200 being held across the country, and the overall results will be collated for all to use in demanding urgent political action.

Make a Green New Deal Today
Lyrics by Patrick Dubois — May 2019
Sung to the tune of “We Shall Overcome”

(Verses 1 and 3)
Make a Green New Deal.
Make a Green New Deal.
Make a Green New Deal today.
oh, We take a stand.
We all demand:
Make a Green New Deal today!

(Verse 2)
True equality.
Bio-diversity.
We can build a better way.
oh, We take a stand.
We all demand:
Make a Green New Deal today!

Canada Needs a Green New Deal

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The Enviro Team is hosting a Green New Deal Town Hall
Friday, May 24th 7:30pm, Hewett Hall
Unitarian Church of Vancouver
949 49 AVE W, Vancouver, BC

The climate crisis is here. Arctic permafrost is melting, forests, towns, and Indigenous territories are burning. States of emergency – declared for once-in-a-century floods – are becoming commonplace, and millions around the world already face dislocation and starvation.But that’s not the only thing keeping us up at night. Many of us are struggling to find an affordable place to live, or a decent job to support our families. Hate crimes and racism are on the rise. And promises to Indigenous peoples have yet to be implemented.

We need an ambitious plan to deal with multiple crises at the same time.

A bold and far reaching plan to cut emissions in half in 11 years in line with Indigenous knowledge and climate science, create more than a million good jobs you can support a family with, and build inclusive communities in the process.

We need a Green New Deal — for everyone.
We need everyone to be a part of building it.
Come join us for the first Green New Deal Town Hall in Vancouver!

This event is one of many Green New Deal town halls being held in communities across the country in May 2019. The conversation is being led from the ground up through town halls bringing together people from all walks of life to discuss our vision for a new economy — one that cuts global warming pollution, sees the full implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Right to Free Prior and Informed Consent, and the TRC recommendations, creates millions of green jobs, and makes sure no one gets left behind.

The input from these town halls will be used to inform a vision for a Green New Deal for all. Please RSVP

Intergenerational Dinner a Success!

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Photo

Above: Food prep for the Intergen gathering in March 2019

Over 70 participants and volunteers had a great time at last Friday’s  March 15 Intergen gathering.

The evening started with a delicious dinner of appetizers, vegan curry, minestrone soup, spinach salad, organic bread, and  a table’s worth of desserts.

Thanks UBC Sprouts-Community Eats for your donation of produce! A big thanks to the volunteers from the Environment Team and Love Soup who planned and cooked the dinner, and cleaned up.

Dinner over, our stomachs full, we were eager to hear what the evening’s program would bring and we weren’t disappointed.

Vivian Davidson emceed the evening.

  • Tamiko Suzuki explained to the non-Unitarians in the audience about Unitarians having a long history of being loving  **** -disturbers.
  • Quoc Nguyen from Leadnow, spoke of the mental health benefits of volunteering in these uncertain times.
  • Dr. Dave Steele of EarthSave spoke with passion and emotion about animal cruelty in industrial farming.
  • Dr Tara Cullis, president of the David Suzuki Foundation, spoke of the campaigns with First Nations in the Amazon and up the coast of BC fighting to save their lands from dams, and logging.
  • Lorimer Shenher, writer and ex-member of the Vancouver Police Department, touched on racism, sexism, and mental health in his time working on the Missing Women portfolio in the DTES.

Above: Discussion circle with Tara Cullis

Above: Discussion circle with Lorimer Shenher

After they gave their 15 minute ‘elevator speeches’, the guest speakers spread out in Hewett Hall and the audience was invited to go sit at one of their circles to listen, ask questions or share stories. They could get up and check out another circle whenever they want which kept the energy level high.

The photos taken of these circles all show people deep in thought or listening intently but there really was movement between the circles.

The speakers said they wished they too could have been able to sit in on the other discussion circles as the topics were so varied and fascinating!

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The event wrapped up with a group of Sto’lo and Haida guests who sang a few songs to close out the evening
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Guests were urged to take home some of the produce that hadn’t been used for the dinner; a head of broccoli, a bunch of bananas, or whatever was left in the boxes as a parting gift!

Intergenerational Activists Gathering. What Is This?!

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Above: Intergenerational Dinner at Hewett Centre, January 2017

On Friday March 15, the UCV Enviro Team is hosting its
Third Intergenerational Activists Gathering

What’s this “Intergenerational thing-a-ma-jig?” you wonder.

We’re glad you asked!

Aside from the somewhat unwieldy name, the “Intergen dinner” (short hand title) first arose in 2017 from a chance encounter that UCV member, Tamiko Suzuki, had with a group of young environmental activists in the community.

The young women were complaining of burnout, feeling isolated and unheard, and were wondering if their efforts were worth it.

Coincidentally, Tamiko had been hearing the same complaints from the UCV Environment Team as veterans of past campaigns such as Clayoquot sound, and the anti-nuclear and anti-war movements wondered who would take up the battle after them.

1st Dinner

Tamiko proposed inviting the young activists to share dinner and stories in Hewett Hall with the Environment Team and the first Intergenerational Activists Gathering was born.  Karl Perrin of the Environment Team, and Anjali Appadurai of West Coast Environmental Law, were the key note speakers.  The E Team put on the dinner, and guests were given a series of questions to discuss at their table and encouraged to ‘be brave’ and share emails.

2nd Dinner

At the second Intergen dinner in the fall of 2018, the definition of ‘activist’ was broadened to include supporters and anyone who cared deeply about the environment.  Millenial speakers from UBC (Andrew Sheroubi, Arman Mottaghi ) and the community (Nada Grocery) were invited who could share their stories of how they were working to solve environmental and social justice issues.  UBC Sprouts-Community Eats, which  focuses on food sustainability and food security issues, provided the food.

3rd Dinner

The third Intergen dinner, which will happen Friday March 15, will be different again, but promises to be just as fun and interesting! This time, four veterans will be speaking:

  • Dr Tara Cullis, president and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation
  • Dr David Steele, vice-president of Earthsave Canada
  • Quoc Nguyen, organizer Leadnow and director, Humanity Refugee Society
  • Lorimer Shenher, acclaimed author and advocate for marginalized people and police reform.

At this evening’s event, to contrast with the previous dinner which was about ‘success stories’, the topic will be: Lessons Learned When Things Went Wrong.

Failure, near failure, or simply when things don’t turn out as expected, can often teach us more than if everything worked out perfectly.

You won’t be sitting quietly and listening to the speakers all evening, however. During dinner, you will have a chance to meet and chat with your table companions, some of whom will hopefully be of a different generation from your usual friends.

After dessert, the keynote speakers will stand up and each give their 10 minute “elevator speech” on the evening’s topic. They will then move to sit at 4 different tables and the audience is invited to circulate among them. It will be a free flowing hour with everyone encouraged to move about, sit with the speaker for a while, ask questions, and share stories.

Once again UBC Sprouts/Community Eats will provide the food. Entry is by donation with proceeds to be shared between Community Eats and the Environment Committee Green Fund to further their projects.

To volunteer or if you have questions, contact: environment@vancouverunitarians.ca

As this event will be very popular, and seating is limited, it is recommended you reserve a seat through EventBrite.

Get RADICAL With The Environment Team

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With breathtaking cinematography, The RADICALS is a documentary film that follows four snowboarders and surfers driven to become social and environmental stewards through their connection with the environments in which they play.

At least 80 people braved our snowy Vancouver weather on Friday, Feb. 15 to come watch the incredible movie “The Radicals” – where environmentalism meets action sports. — The event introduced the audience to members of a new generation of activists in British Columbia.

The filmmaker and some of those involved in the film provided commentary and answered questions. Over $1200 was contributed to the three Indigenous groups featured in the film.

Another successful event from the Environment Team!

Three Environmental Events Coming to UCV

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Above: Connecting to the environments in which we play. — Image from The Radicals

Whether you are a longtime environmentalist concerned about oil tankers and other issues, a social justice activist supporting First Nations concerns — or if you know nothing about these topics and feel now is a good time to start learning — the Environment Team is hosting three upcoming events for you!

EVENTS

(1) Ravens People Rising
(2) The Radicals — by Beyond Snowboarding
(3) Intergenerational Activists Dinner

RAVEN PEOPLE RISING
Saturday January 19th, 2019
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Location the Sanctuary

This is a film screening, fundraiser and discussion with Heiltsuk Nation members about their court challenge to enshrine governance of their homelands and waters into law.

With the Unist’ot’en conflict in the news every day, hearing about the Heiltsuk case is relevant and important for us to gain an understanding of Indigenous issues in BC and Canada.

Click here for more information.

The RADICALS — by Beyond Boarding
Friday February 15, 2019
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Location the Sanctuary

The RADICALS is a documentary film that follows four snowboarders and surfers driven to become social and environmental stewards through their connection with the environments in which they play.

Follow them as they show the Tahltan fight for the Sacred Headwaters, BC Hydro’s destruction of salmon waters in Xwísten territory, art as resilience on Haida Gwaii, and a coastal uprising against fish farms off the coast of Vancouver Island. Each Indigenous community teaches the athletes to understand what it means to be truly Radical.

Intergenerational Activist Dinner

Friday March 15, 2019

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Location Hewett Hall

Following the success of the fall 2018 Inter-generational Dinner, we are holding another gathering.

This time the topic: Lessons Learned When Things Went Wrong.

Come join us in Hewett Hall for dinner (courtesy once again of UBC Community Eats). We will follow dinner with stories from some seasoned environmental and social justice activists as they talk of lessons learned from past campaigns. This is a great chance to make new connections, share stories, and learn from their experiences.

News from the Environment Team!

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The Environment Team, also known as the Environment Committee, met in September to plan activities for the new year. Topics discussed ranged from  pipelines to Sunday lunches, exciting new monthly Forums, another Intergenerational gathering of old and young activists, educational events on Alternative energy sources, a  small appliance repair table, Religious Education workshops on new ways of talking about Climate change and other controversial topics, and brainstorming ideas for Earth Day 2019! We tossed around a lot of ideas for one year  but the Enviro Team is a community with a range of different skills, connections, passions, and experience.

From left to right. Back row: Mary, Cindy, Dianne, Elizabeth, Karl, Hanno. Front row: Olga, Catherine, John, Rob, Tamiko

Keep an eye out for announcements in the Order of Service, on the UCV website, and on posters in Hewett Hall this fall as we put on some highly entertaining and educational events!

One more thing–We are high energy but we are also friendly and welcoming! If you want to join us or just learn about what we are up to, come to our monthly meeting in Biddle room every third Sunday at 12:30 pm.

Meet the Kinder Morgan Arrestees!

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Sunday October 7 Forum, 12:35pm
Four UCV members chose to cross the injunction line at the Kinder Morgan site and face arrest, jail time, and fines. One other member faces a lawsuit and potential bankruptcy.  Why did they do this? Hear their personal stories and their experiences with the police and legal system. We will also hear from a lawyer who will speak on the legal implications and potential future developments now that the company has been bought by the Canadian government.
Sponsored by the Environment Team