smoke screen
These days, It’s not just rock stars making cigarettes seem cool — health orgs are alarmed at new pro-smoking phone apps page 12
ottawa
WEEKEND, November 2-4, 2012 News worth sharing.
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Enviro groups downsize over snub from feds Shut out. Sierra Club converts Ottawa space to social-media-campaign office, while David Suzuki Foundation refocuses on regional presence Graham Lanktree
Alienating?
“With this government, they have decided who their friends and enemies are. That’s very alien to how environmental issues have been pursued in Canada since the 1960s.” John Bennett, executive director of Sierra Club Canada
graham.lanktree@metronews.ca
hoop dreams National Circus School student Laurie Adornato practises an aerial routine with a hoop in this photo provided by the school. The Montreal-based school, which boasts alumni who have gone on to work with troops such as Cirque du soleil and Les Sept Doigts, is visiting Ottawa on Sunday for student auditions. For more on the story, see page 4. contributed
Environmental groups have downsized their offices in the capital to shift their focus to the provinces and public awareness after getting the cold shoulder from the federal government. “We do no lobbying at all anymore,” said John Bennett, executive director of Sierra Club Canada. “That used to be my full-time job. Our office in Ottawa is less than half as big as it was five years ago.” The group has responded by rethinking the purpose of its national office, he said. “This office used to concentrate exclusively on the federal government. It’s been converted to a social- media-
campaigning office.” Bennett said that his group has recently been shut out of government advisory committees that it used to be consulted on. “There was a roundtable on the Endangered Species Act a week ago Friday. When the minister decided who he would talk to, we weren’t on the list,” Bennett added. “We have been a member of this special advisory committee since its inception in 2002.” Since the Sierra Club’s inception in 1989, Bennett said, the group has avoided being partisan. “We work with whatever political persuasion was in power. With this government, they have
decided who their friends and enemies are. That’s very alien to how environmental issues have been pursued in Canada since the 1960s.” Other groups are rethinking their strategies too, said Peter Robinson, CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation. “We do have a smaller office in Ottawa than we did three years ago. We’ve made changes to how we’re structured. We’ve moved to a regional presence. We’re looking at how we can work with the provinces on some of the issues. They’re still trying to create policies that are moving forward.” Environment Minister, Peter Kent’s office disagreed with both group’s assessments. “Minister Kent regularly meets with a wide variety of Environmental NGOs, participates in roundtable discussions with them, makes announcements with them and attends and speaks at their events,” wrote Adam Sweet, the minister’s press secretary, in an email. Follow Graham Lanktree on Twitter @MetroGraham
Giving the Wicked ’wich Fallback you didn’t know Saturday position boss the finger Bet is National Sandwich Day Law firm introduces biometric monitoring to keep tabs on staff’s whereabouts page 22
— celebrate with grilled chicken and pesto on crusty Italian bread page 34
Standard time begins on Sunday, so don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour