A conspiracy of RAVENs
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, 02 November 2016 16:15
- Written by editor
www.raventrust.com | (250) 383-2331
RAVEN’s CIRCLE OF ALLIES members are the best!!!!
We are absolutely thrilled that monthly donors, who are members of RAVEN's Circle of Allies, have allowed us to hire a Fundraising Campaigns Manager (first time ever) AND plan to move into an office that will have space for all of our desks!! (PLUS a sink...luxury!) If the exclamation marks didn’t give it away we are excited to enhance our capacity, with just a little more elbow room.
Seriously, thanks to each one of you for your consistent financial support this year. Our goal was to find 100 people who would be willing to support RAVEN’s work on a monthly basis, and together you are 126 strong.
Meet Ana Simeon, RAVEN’s new Fundraising Campaigns Manager: 
Ana has a background in journalism, communications and community organizing. She has worked for a wire news service as a journalist and editor, the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal as legal translator and reviser, and most recently for Sierra Club of BC as acting communications director (2013-2014) and Peace Valley campaigner.She holds a Certificate in Conflict Resolution (Mediation/Third Party Intervention) from the Justice Institute of BC, and a Certificate in Process-Oriented Psychology from the Process Work Institute in Portland, Oregon. Ana Simeon (BA, Cert. Con. Res., Cert. PW) brings over 20 years of international experience in communications and a spirit of dedication to the environment. During the 1991-1995 war in her birth country, Croatia, she worked as a journalist with a wire news service in English and was involved in civil rights advocacy.
She still has strong ties both to her native city of Zagreb, and to the Netherlands, where she lived for six years working for the UN International Tribunal for War Crimes. After she moved to Vancouver in 2003, Ana was involved in a number of environmental projects, including the Council of Canadians’ campaign against genetically modified food. Ana’s articles have been published in Monday Magazine, the Times Colonist and the Island Parent. Ana is also a mediator in private practice and a member of Mediate BC Civil Roster.
Ana enjoys hiking, birdwatching, creative writing and movement arts. On cold, rainy days, she keeps to her fireside with a book from her extensive collection of 1930 British detective fiction.
RAVEN's Cases:Campaign Updates: Treaty 8 – Site C Dam: Thanks to the generous support of many, many donors, the Join the Circle – No Site C campaign met and exceeded the goal of $250,000! In fact, RAVEN donors have raised a total of $306,000 for West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations’ legal challenges to the proposed BC Hydro Site C dam project, and ensured the Nations’ full representation at the Federal Court of Appeal hearing in Montreal last September. The momentum that Join the Circle donors generated will enable these Nations to continue raising funds as they await the outcome of federal and provincial appeals. The West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations extend their gratitude to each and every RAVEN donor, and are now taking over the fundraising campaign. If you are interested in continuing to support any future legal actions, you can do so via the Yellow Stakes charitable entity set up for this purpose: http://www.stakeinthepeace.com/plant-your-stake.
Tsilhqot’in – Teztan Biny/Taseko Mines: The court dates for this have been set for the week of January 30, 2017. The fundraising target for this legal effort was $100,000, and with funds from foundations like Donner Canadian Foundation (thank you!), and from individual donors, we reached that goal this month. We will continue to update you and donors committed to this cause, and campaigning will be more active in the weeks preceding the court hearing. Ana is in touch with the Xeni Gwet’in and Yunesit’in Chiefs and the Tsilhqot’in National Government, and the team is preparing for two events the week of the court date. It is expected that further funding will be required for appeals.
Tsleil-Waututh Nation – Kinder Morgan: A RAVEN team (Susan, Ana and Andrea) travelled to Tsleil-Waututh Nation to meet with representatives that are part of the TWN/RAVEN Joint Working Group, and met briefly with Chief Maureen Thomas. TWN is planning its legal course once the federal government announces its decision on Kinder Morgan in early December.
Beaver Lake Cree Nation: RAVEN donors have given over $1,000,000 for legal actions between 2009-2014. Incredible!! The current goal is to raise an additional $125,000 to help BLCN shoot a video that will be used by their legal team to assist the judge in visually understanding how Beaver Lake Cree way of life is affected by development. It will ensure that elderly community members can have their stories documented for later use in court, and it will be used by the community generally for education and by community advocates to raise awareness of the issues faced by BLC members. The video will include four shooting sessions throughout the year to capture seasonal land use.
Lake Babine Nation – Morrison Mine: Lake Babine Nation has opposed this mine since BC’s original environmental assessment, and has steadfastly urged BC to stand with it in rejecting the project. The BC government did just this in September 2012, after an unusually expensive, multi-year provincial environmental assessment. The Ministers for the Environment and Energy and Mines rejected the mine on the basis that it carried unacceptably high environmental risks and that it was problematic in light of what BC described as Lake Babine Nation’s “moderate to strong” Aboriginal title claim to the area and opposition to the project. However, the proponent Pacific Booker Minerals (“PBM”) challenged the Ministers’ rejection of Morrison Mine in BC Supreme Court, arguing that the rejection was unfairly based on a secret negative recommendation from the Environmental Assessment Office (“EAO”). In December 2013, the BC Supreme Court sided with PBM and ordered BC to reconsider the application and provide PBM with an opportunity to respond to any negative recommendation by the EAO. On July 7, 2015, BC completed this court-ordered reconsideration and ordered that the Morrison Mine undergo “Further Assessment” to address significant information and analysis gaps in the original project application. Thus, after a rejection and reconsideration, the Morrison Mine application remains under provincial assessment, at taxpayers’ and Lake Babine’s expense.
Enbridge/Pull Together: Canada and Enbridge did not file leave to appeal to the SCC. Instead, Canada hopefully will announce more consultations with Nations. We are waiting for news from the legal teams. The scope and parameters of another round of consultation have not been divulged. Stay tuned!
In the spirit of our growing education program, here are some links we shared this week on social media that resonated with many of you. Remember what your mama used to tell you: Share, and share, and like!
* A Reconciliation Reading List
* The legal thinking behind indigenous consent
* The math behind the myth: we don't need new pipelines
It's such a joy to share what RAVEN is able to do thanks to your support. We so appreciate your messages and comments on our website, Facebook page and in response to these newsletters. Keep working for justice, and keep helping us be better at reaching out to broaden our circle.
In solidarity,
Susan Smitten
RAVEN Executive Director
(250) 383-2331
PS - There are many different ways you can support RAVEN’s important work. Please check our website or give us a call for more information on:
- How to give through stocks and securities
- Making bequests
- Annual giving
- Monthly giving
- 1% For the Planet business profit-sharing
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