Conservation council to celebrate 40th anniversary Friday in city
Published Thursday October 15th, 2009
Members of the New Brunswick Conservation Council will gather in Fredericton on Friday to mark the organization's 40th anniversary.
Over the last four decades, the group has helped shape provincial environmental legislation, pushed for the creation of the Clean Water Act and succeeded in having a marine-protection area established at Musquash.
"I think unquestionably we've been at the forefront speaking out and advocating for better protection of our environment in New Brunswick," said Julie Michaud, the organization's climate action co-ordinator.
"That's better than "¦ throwing up your hands and quitting, saying there are too many obstacles."
And while the event will be an opportunity to look back on successes, members will also be looking back on things they can improve.
"There are things on a daily basis that we shake our heads at."
They're things such as air pollution in Saint John and insufficient clean up of industrial waste in Belledune, Michaud said.
"We've exposed some of those. Maybe things are better today than if we hadn't, but they're certainly not completely solved."
The council was one of three environmental organizations founded in Canada in 1969, marking the beginning of the country's modern environmental movement. The group was formed over concerns about widespread pesticide use and the release of raw sewage into the St. John River.
On Friday, about 175 of the group's 700 members will help mark the milestone.
St. Thomas University's environment and society program will co-sponsor a symposium entitled Environmental Activism in a Time of Climate Change with the council on Friday at McCain Hall.
Speakers will include Morag Carter from the Suzuki Foundation; Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada and former executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada; Peter Brown from McGill University and author of Building a Whole Earth Economy; Tom Mann from the New Brunswick Union; and longtime environmental activist Lois Corbett, who served as senior policy adviser to three Ontario environment ministers.
Premier Shawn Graham and Lt.-Gov. Graydon Nicholas are to speak at an anniversary party for the organization at the Delta Fredericton Hotel on Friday evening.
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