TheGreenGazetteJunJulAug2015

13/ Water—The Heart of the Problem at Mount Polley Mine On May 6, a ten-person delegation from Alaska, including Aboriginal leaders, nongovernmental organization reps, and the State‘s Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott, came to see the devastation of the mine breach first hand and speak to those affected by the catastrophe. - by Sage Birchwater 15/ Where the Ghosts are Alive: A Barkerville Story Why was Monsieur Blanc compelled to travel up the treacherous Cariboo wagon road to the Cariboo goldfields, where life was very hard and good fortune, while spectacular when it came, was not a common theme? - submitted by Louis Blanc Studio 27/ Big Bear Ranch Raises Healthy Food from Healthy Soil Cows, sheep, pigs, and turkeys flourish at Big Bear Ranch, and everything is born on the ranch except for the turkeys. Free-range, grass-fed, and nurtured with natural, quality nutrients from the land, the animals have a great quality of life and provide pure nutrition for Big Bear customers throughout the province. - by LeRae Haynes 28/ Bees in Trouble Bees are dying. Why they are in trouble and what you can do to help. - by Heather Clay 31/ CHAAPS: Hope and Freedom on the Back of a Horse Seeing the world from the back of a horse can be a life-changing experience, especially when it means leaving a wheelchair behind in the dust—even for a moment. - by LeRae Haynes 32/ The Care and Feeding of Soil Most gardeners are familiar with nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Many are under the mistaken notion that putting those nutrients into the soil is all there is to feeding the soil. - by Bill Chapman

Publisher / Editor-in-Chief Lisa Bland lisa@thegreengazette.ca Senior Editor Jessica Kirby Contributors David Suzuki, LeRae Haynes, Margaret-Anne Enders, Caitlyn Vernon, Brianna van de Wijngaard, Ciel Patenaude, Erin Hitchcock, Sharon Taylor, Lisa Bland, Van Andruss, Devon Chappell, Bill Chapman, Heather Clay, Ron Young, Jasmin Schellenberg, Terri Smith, Danielea Castell, Jessica Kirby, Sage Birchwater, Dr. Anthony Miller, Adam McLeod, Oliver Berger, Rod Marining Advertising Lisa Bland Creative Directors Lisa Bland / Teena Clipston Ad Design Teena Clipston, Rebecca Patenaude, Leah Selk Published by Earthwild Consulting Printing Black Press Ltd. Cover Copyright: gorillaimages Index Photo Submitted by Pearl Gotttschalk

PO Box 164 Horsefly, BC, V0L 1L0 www.thegreengazette.ca info@thegreengazette.ca

TheGreenGazette is published by Earthwild Consulting. To subscribe email info@thegreengazette.ca or visit our website at www.thegreengazette.ca © 2015 all rights reserved. Opinions and perspectives expressed in the magazine are those of authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the ownership or management. Reproduction in whole or part without the publisher‘s consent is strictly prohibited.

16/ Pearl Gottschalk - Sacred Activism - Working with the World‘s Indigenous People One remarkable person that has devoted her life to furthering the voice of indigenous people and the environment, is Pearl Gottschalk, Lush‘s Charitable Givings Ambassador. Her life and work reflect a degree of courage and compassion that is rare in our self-oriented society. - Lisa Bland

05/ Summer is Here, Release yourself - by Lisa Bland 05/ March Against Monsanto - by Erin Hitchcock 06/ Mission Possible: Happy hiking with kids - by Jessica Kirby 08/ Radical Acts - by Margaret Anne Enders 08/Mulch Your Garden - by Brianna van de Wijngaard 09/On How to Change the World - by Rod Marining 10/ Batteries Not Included - by Ron Young 11/ Celebrate Canada! - by Sharon Taylor 12/ Milkweed is a Monarch‘s Best Defense - by David Suzuki 19/ Pull Together: First Nations challenges against Enbridge - by Caitlyn Vernon 21/ Glory Days Goji Berry - by Devon Chappell 22/ Raising Amadeus - by Terri Smith

23/ Oceans Day - by Ciel Patenaude 24/ Cuba 2015 - by Van Andruss 25/ Central Cariboo Landfill Ban on Recyclables 26/ Cancer Expert Warns Against RF Exposure - by Dr. Anthony B. Miller 26/ Thoughts from a Passionate Recycler - by Oliver Berger 29/ National Aboriginal Day - by LeRae Haynes 29/ Creativity and Play - by Danielea Castell 30/ Sugar and Cancer - by Adam McLeod 30/ Confessions of a Farmer: The Good Life: Unplug and adopt a vole - by Terri Smith 33/ Summer Events Calendar 34/ The Green Collective 35/ Nourishing our Children - by Jasmin Schellenberg

Rafting the Fraser Canyon. Photo: Jeremy Williams Fraser FEST is a province-wide series of family-friendly festivals in communities along the banks of the Fraser River. Festival-goers will be able to learn about the Fraser River‘s history, culture, and the issues threatening its health, as well as solutions for change.

Between festivals, there are opportunities for people to take part in unique 1-, 2-, 3-, 6-, 9- or 13-day excursions on the Fraser. These trips are an ideal adventure for people who would like to experience the river from off the beaten track.

2015 marks the 20th anniversary of Fin Donnelly‘s first swim down the Fraser.

The Friends of the Fraser campaign has been formed to organize Fraser FEST, a multi-faceted initiative to mark this anniversary and celebrate BC‘s most important inland waterway by informing the public about the environmental, historical, and commercial importance of the Fraser River.

Everyone lives in a watershed. Come celebrate yours.

By Erin Hitchcock

Lisa Bland Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief

D

ear Readers, Summer is finally here, and it‘s busy times. There is something about this time of year that speaks loudly to our physical-ness in the world. Whether you are digging in the garden, preparing beautiful fruits and vegetables, swimming around in lakes, climbing in forests and up mountains, or running your bare toes through the grass, the sensuality of summer can‘t be ignored. These precious months, when our world has come completely alive, it‘s important not to miss out and watch it pass by watching it from a window, locked onto a computer screen, or held captive by the million to-dos we pile onto our shoulders. It‘s time to embody the world—allow it to reveal its mysteries through our senses. This Earth is our home and summer is our invitation to get outside and play!

Lately, I‘m noticing more the modern day obsession with busyness and avoidance of direct experience for virtual reality or constant work. Sometimes we are vividly shown, through personal challenges or loss, that it‘s our moments and memories that add up to living, not how hard we worked or how perfect our projects were or how much money we saved up. There will always be another project and another to-do.

Sometimes we need to step back and ask if we‘re even behind the steering wheel. Summer is a reminder to live now.

In this issue, it seems that we have a greater than usual number of personal stories, which seems fitting for the summer and our times. Our stories and personal experiences are our realities. Our senses are part of a biological inheritance that has kept our bodies in tune with the natural world for millennia. In a time of rapid, terrifying change across the Earth and far reaching impacts for our future, the idea of simple and direct – even joyful – experience, starts to feel like the most rational approach. Our research is important, but our ability to act is even more important. Our culture teaches us to hide behind our rationalizations and spend time and resources gathering facts rather than risk stepping out. But our hearts and our bodies are telling us something is awry. We need to care about our world, trust our senses—and we need to slow down. So rather than gather the facts together on a lengthy topic and present it with a logical, coherent, so called unbiased perspective, I am letting summer speak through me with this poem.

Enjoy time outside and indulge your senses. Celebrate the wonder of being in a physical body, and that you are here today, alive. You have just as much right to breathe the air, feel the wind on your skin, eat food that comes out of the Earth, and appreciate this incredible world as anyone.

www.123rf.com/profile_norgal

“

―

...Ah....sweet summer I'm running through your cherry stained fingers and going straight to work to finish writing that message but there are raspberries falling off the branches and everyone's sweaty and off swimming.

I rush out the door and forget my list, my plan.

You are there whispering don't miss this day to celebrate the bumblebee in the clover.

Let nature grab hold, and rattle your cage of self imprisonment.

More than anything, she needs you now.

Be seduced by her sweetness and rhythms soon enough she'll leave you in a barren room alone looking out at the frozen land.

For now, let her turn you upside down, launching into a lake, covered with sticky peach juice, caressed by warm flower nights in the moonlight.

Get bitten, watch what the spider, the dragonfly, have in mind.

Turn off the radio, TV, you don't need to know the news each hour.

Listen to what's new in your heart.

Appreciate the wind on your skin and allow your dreams to catch hold of the goddess of summer.

She'll guide you somewhere beautiful ...promise.

Step out of your cage, fill your cup. ~Lisa Bland

March Against Monsanto participants get ready to march for food freedom and GMO labelling on Saturday, May 23 in the Cariboo Growers parking lot. More participants joined the march after it began and it‘s believed more than 75 took part. The march has been held globally since 2013 but is a first for Williams Lake. Photo: Aaron Watts

T

he first ever March Against Monsanto was held in Williams Lake on Saturday, May 23 to raise awareness about Monsanto and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Many protesters held signs demanding genetically modified foods be labelled, while others raised concerns about the health impacts of Monsanto‘s engineered seeds and herbicides such as Roundup.

More than 75 participants, including children and a few dogs, took part in the march that began from the Cariboo Growers parking lot.

Hoping to raise awareness, marchers hollered, cheered, and shouted, with some using a megaphone to be heard (as an addition to being seen) by motorists and other passersby.

The key message portrayed was that Monsanto‘s practices are unacceptable and the federal government needs to listen to the people, not corporations—which nonGMO advocates believe are taking over our food supply, poisoning our environment, and potentially causing illnesses.

The March Against Monsanto is a global protest that began in 2013. This year, the grassroots cause spanned six continents, 48 countries, and 421 cities with hundreds of thousands of individuals uniting to stand in solidarity for food sovereignty and the banning and/or labelling of GMOs. According to Rachel Parent, teen founder of the Kids Right to Know Club, Health Canada says GMOs are not substantially different from other foods and therefore don‘t need to be labelled. However, Parent argues the government relies on information provided by the companies, rather than on independent studies, to come to its conclusion that GMOs are safe.

Parent also notes not all data is provided from the companies, due to it being proprietary information.

Recently, the World Health Organization declared glyphosate, the active ingre-

dient in Monsanto‘s Roundup, is likely carcinogenic, yet many of the foods sprayed with this chemical are ending up on the grocery shelves.

Studies are also showing this chemical is making its way into in our bodies and causing other diseases. Feed the World recently launched a global glyphosate testing for the general public (urine, water, and soon breast milk). For more info on the scientifically validated test, visit feedtheworld.info.

Other concerns relating to the GMOs and herbicides/pesticides issue include contributions to colony collapse disorder in bees, a decline in the Monarch butterfly population, and Monsanto‘s patents on seeds.

While this year‘s march has come and gone, plans are underway for 2016, as well as for other fundraising and educational events possibly taking place later this year.

For more information and updates on local March Against Monsanto events, visit w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / MarchAgainstMonsantoWilliamsLake.

By Jessica Kirby, Senior Editor of TheGreenGazette

I

magine it: a long, lazy wander through a forested park, patches of blue sky winking through the forest canopy, and a well-worn path at your feet. Smells of pine and moss whirl in the air, and the world is alive with rustling—birds, squirrels, and bunnies scamper about close enough to touch. The wind in the trees is a melodious whisper, a bird calls, deer dash off in the distance—the scene is idyllic and peaceful, until a stark, wailing interrupts your reverie … clearly, it‘s time to take the kids home.

Hiking with children is not for the faint of heart. Their legs are shorter, their minds wander, and their tolerance for things like bugs, excessive sunshine, and tripping is very low. A moment of peace interrupted by a complete and final severing of patience and rationale is painful in any scenario, but out in the bush, five kilometers from the car, it can mean total chaos.

But the benefits of taking kids for a hike are so plentiful, Canadian parents buckle down and take the risk every, single day in just about every True North locale you can think of. Besides the obvious benefits of exercise and fresh air, kids who play in nature are calmer, have a greater sense of restfulness, feel more connected to the Earth and her bounties, are better problem solvers, have longer attention spans, and are more likely than their Xbox-wielding counterparts to find wonder in small things. Parents, of course, cling to this reasoning when they head out into the bush to create wellrounded children, but without a good sense of creativity, patience, and how to abort mission before explosion, the best-intended mission can end in a crash landing.

Beware the Evil Eye Everyone has that Facebook friend who riddles their page with award-winning photos of themselves and a gaggle of children, smiling and care-free as they tramp 200 miles through the wilderness in a single weekend. Rest assured, if these photos are indeed accurate, and not just taken in the parking lot at the trailhead before everything went to hell in a handbasket, these parents have worked hard at creating a good experience. If you are just starting out on this hon-

Left: Jessica, Keana, Kaeden, and Bishop Kirby take an ―energy stop‖ on the Abyss trail near Nanaimo, BC. Right: Kaeden, 9, and Keana, 5, never pass up the chance to geocache, play Tracker, or take a trail run on the Extension Ridge trail in Nanaimo, BC. Photos : Jessica Kirby

orable endeavour, don‘t compare yourself to the experts and stay focused on your own mission: keep it simple, set realistic limits, and have a back-up plan.

Basic Commandments Remember basic safety tenets: stay together, watch for steep inclines or rocky ground, dress in layers, stop and hug a tree if you get lost, and blow your emergency whistle if everything else fails. Come equipped with a healthy mix of protein and natural sugar snacks: nuts, jerky, peanut butter sandwiches, dried or fresh fruit, chopped veggies, or simple plant-based electrolyte gels. Bring sunscreen, hats, and a change of socks, and if possible, let the kids carry a camera to take their own pictures.

Empowerment Rules Let the children carry a pack—it gives them a sense of purpose. Their packs can contain water, a small snack, and a few bandages and should be equipped with an emergency whistle. If the terrain and weather calls for it, you can add spare socks and a hat or toque. Let them choose from two or

three pairs of sturdy, closed-toe shoes. ―Put your runners on‖ doesn‘t have the same appeal as, ―Do you think the red runners or the pink runners would be better Deep Woods Super Hero attire?‖ and remember that sandals or flip flops should not be part of the equation.

Live in Reality Ideally, you will have access to a route with several distance options so you can reevaluate the plan along the way, but if not, plan an out-and-back or loop that takes into account your children‘s fitness level and experience. Five km might seem small to you but like a marathon to little ones. Keep it short and sweet until they build up their resilience and strength.

Tell the Creative Truth The most important tip for hiking with kids who aren‘t keen to get outside or walk longer distances has got to be: ―Don‘t call it hiking.‖ Call it wandering, adventuring, searching for forest treasure, evading pirates, or exploring new lands—anything that conveys fun, adventure, and excitement without a clear indication that walking a longer distance may be involved.

Geocache Your Way to Fitness The first time we heard about geocaching was right around the time my son proclaimed he was never going to walk again, ever. ―Okay,‖ I said, non-committedly while casually mentioning there were tiny treasure boxes filled with goodies all around the neighbourhood … ―But hey,‖ I said. ―No biggie. We can go in a few years when you‘re feeling more rested …‖ Needless to say, it took less than 20 minutes to download the app, change clothes, fill the snack packs, and head out the door. We went for three hours, found four caches, and had a pretty amazing picnic in a maple grove. Enough said.

Have Fun Once you get out there, let the games begin: you might be searching for treasure or evading capture. We often play a game of scavenger hunt where everyone has to find things like a stick shaped like a Y, a fiveleaf branch, something yellow, or sign of an animal. I Spy and 20 Questions are classic and effective favourites, and with older kids try Tracker or hide-and-seek, where someone runs ahead and hides beside the trail and others have to find the hiding person. If they pass him or her, the hiding person wins.

Important here is to make sure no one gets too far ahead—kids can be paired with an adult for safety.

Enthusiasm and Excitement Around Every Bend If you‘re excited, they will be excited.

Build anticipation about what is around every bend—a waterfall, a meadow, a great climbing spot. Let the terrain be the mystery and the reward. Instead of taking breaks, stop regularly for ―recharging‖ or ―energy stops.‖ These can be places to snack, fuel up on water, and plan the next leg, while secretly evaluating whether a meltdown is close at hand. And speaking of which, end your adventure on a good note, before everyone is exhausted. You are more likely to gain compliance next time if everyone remembers the ride home in a positive note.

Hiking with your kids is like doing anything with your kids—the more effort you put into making it fun and age-appropriate, the more you will get out of it. Kids trust their parents and will do whatever you appear to be having fun doing. So if your lifestyle is active and appreciative of the outdoors, they will want the same. If you are easily rattled and are visibly agitated at the first sign of trouble, they will follow suit.

Take a breath, be creative, and remember that every moment together in nature is irreplaceable. Happy hiking!

By Margaret Anne Enders

J

ust when the troubles of the world get me down and feelings of powerlessness loom large, along come people who, with radical acts, offer inspiration and hope. Two stories have been on my mind lately.

Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments, cut his own million dollar salary down to $70,000 and raised the minimum salary of each and every worker in his company to the same $70,000. His concern for the welfare of his employees led him to do what he felt was the right thing.

The second story is that of Jurgen Todenhofer, a former judge and political correspondent from Germany, who risked his life by spending 10 days embedded with Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq. To me, he is a hero of a different sort. He was distressed by the threat of and spread of IS and stated, ―As a former judge I have learned to speak with all sides, so I met all the players but I didn't know exactly what IS was.‖ He went to hear directly from them what they hope to accomplish and why they are acting in such extreme ways. It was a dangerous and difficult mission and he had many heated conversations about IS‘s violent methods and their interpretation of the Quran, but he also learned directly from them what their issues are and why those issues are important to them. His bravery and the learnings encountered as a result could change the course of history.

What strikes me is that these acts entailed a generosity of spirit rarely encountered. With Dan Price, it was a monetary generosity, along with an understanding of how to make the lives of those in his company less stressful and help address the wage disparity that is a growing problem in our

By Brianna van de Wijngaard, Community Liaison, Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society

H

ere at the Water Wise headquarters, in the basement of the Phoenix building, we‘re always trying to find ways to decrease summer water use, because it increases so much in July and August—up to 50 per cent, compared to other months. Of course, some of the primary culprits are lawns and gardens, and – as many of you know – there are ways we can have both.

This how-to piece is on mulching, arguably one of the top dogs of garden tasks.

Mulching for Water Conservation Mulching holds more water in the soil for longer periods of time, so the amount and frequency with which you water is less. Simple as that. When you don‘t mulch, you can lose up to 35 per cent of the moisture in your soil to evaporation, as well as introduce a number of other problems, such as compaction, erosion, and weed growth, noted below.

It‘s best if you can lay drip tape under the mulch, rather than water from overhead, as this will penetrate the soil better (especially if you use a less permeable mulch, such as polyethylene plastic). But organic mulches, such as lawn clippings or leaf litter, can also hold water for later release.

society. In Todenhofer‘s case, it is an extreme act of generosity to try and understand one‘s enemy. While he expressed horror about the goals of the IS and the methods used to attain those goals, he had a sense of compassion about the alienation they face and the years of colonial bullying in the Middle East.

In the face of such radical generosity, I find it tempting to wallow in selfdepreciation, feeling unable to make such a difference with my life. However, I can‘t let myself off that easily, so I look closer at the essence of those radical acts. With such enormous acts of generosity, both Price and Todenhofer demonstrated their care and respect for the recipients. Their actions showed the employees and the IS militants that they are valued as people, deemed worthwhile.

There is no substitute for feeling valued, feeling worthwhile. In families, such empathy is foundational for raising secure children and nurturing healthy relationships. In workplaces, it is key for maintaining productive and fulfilling collegial ties, and in the community, it creates a sense of belonging.

Framed in that way – demonstrating care and respect, communicating that I value other – this is something that I can do, that we all can do, in our own communities.

This time I am reminded of a story closer to home. A month ago, the Women‘s Spirituality Circle‘s 2nd Annual Gathering happened in Williams Lake. It was a wonderful two days filled with inquiry and connection.

Many women have since spoken about moments of inspiration and heartfelt interaction that happened throughout the gathering.

One experience stands out. It was the final half hour of the event and the participants were gathered together waiting for the closing circle to begin. Cat Prevette, a par-

Photo: Brad Ford Smith ticipant and workshop facilitator, was walking toward the stage when she fell and twisted her knee. She writes, ―As I was sitting in the last minutes of the Circle Conference, I remember thinking how cozy and warm the atmosphere was in the auditorium area. It was inviting, soft, and allencompassing.‖ And then came her fall, an experience that could have tainted the whole event. However, she listed the care she received in the moments after her fall: first aid, Feldenkrais, Reiki, an ice-pack of frozen berries, Rescue Remedy, pillows, and prayer. ―I pondered how wonderful the caring had been, by not just 'female' but 'spiritual' women. That extra, amazing energy in the connection to the Divine was palpable. I am so grateful.‖ In those moments, countless women offered what they could. And their offerings brought a richness of connection and spirit that would not have been otherwise expressed. Their actions showed Cat that she was valued.

So this is what I can do for others: show them their value. Demonstrate that they are worthwhile. Such acts need not be big. They need not change hundreds or thousands of lives, and they need not change the course of history, but rest assured, with a generosity of heart and an openness of mind, they can indeed be radical.

In her work with the Multicultural Program at Cariboo Mental Health Association, as well as in her life as a parent, partner, faithful seeker, left-leaning Christian, paddler, and gardener, Margaret-Anne Enders is thrilled to catch glimpses of the Divine in both the ordinary and the extraordinary. To find out more about the Women‟s Spirituality Circle, call her at (250) 305-4426 or visit www.womenspiritualitycircle.wordpress.co m or on Facebook at Women‟s Spirituality Circle in Williams Lake.

Other Benefits of Mulching: Reduced Erosion and Compaction Elements like wind, rain, and foot traffic are hard on soil. That‘s why it‘s rarely bare in nature. Protecting from these elements with a mulch will lessen stress on plant roots, and improve plant health.

Maintenance of Optimal Soil Temperatures Mulches act like insulation for the soil, buffering fine roots from extreme temperature fluctuations. This is most important for new seedlings and transplants that have not yet grown a more established root system. It also keeps soil cooler in hot conditions and warmer in cool conditions.

Increased Soil Nutrition Living and organic mulches can increase soil fertility depending on the mulch type, soil chemistry, and the particular nutrients of interest. Some examples of living and organic mulches are grass clippings, manure, leaf litter, and straw. Be sure to use certain mulches such as manure sparingly, so as to not over-fertilize a given area of your garden.

Improved plant establishment and growth Mulches are used to enhance the establishment of many woody and herbaceous species.

According to an article titled, ―Impact of Mulches on Landscape Plants and the Environment‖ which appeared in Journal of Environmental Horticulture, there are hundreds of

A bed of Lacinato kale mulched with leaf litter. Photo: Russell Nursery, North Saanich, BC. www.russellnursery.com

controlled studies demonstrating that mulches improve seed germination and seedling survival, enhance root establishment and transplant survival, and increase overall plant performance when compared to unmulched controls. This means healthier full-grown plants.

Disease Reduction Mulches prevent overhead irrigation from splashing onto plant stems and foliage. This is important because water (rain or tap) can carry spores of disease organisms, and/or create ideal environments in which disease can flourish. Mulch will also protect microbial populations which can then suppress soil pathogens through either direct competition, or chemical inhibition. Selecting the proper mulch in this case is important, however— plastic mulch with wood chips, for example, has been shown to increase certain plant diseases.

Weed Control Quite simply, mulches block more light than the soil (and weed seeds within it) would get otherwise, thus inhibiting germination.

So mulching not only saves water. It saves time and your plants, too. If you‘d like more info on Water Wise gardening, check out our tips and info found at http://teggiev.wix.com/ cccs#!water-wise/c7ss. Thanks for being Water Wise this summer!

Brianna van de Wijngaard is the Community Liaison for the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society. She manages the organization‟s website, social media, communications, and lots of Water and Waste Wise event and project planning. Check out their work at www.ccconserv.org.

By Rod Marining

W

hen someone comes up to you and says, ―I want to spend over $400,000 doing a documentary of you and your friends‘ lives, and we are going to call the documentary, How to Change the World, it is somewhat unbelievable. ―Why would you spend such a horrendous amount of money on this?‖ I said to the producer. He replied, ―The story is begging to be told.‖ Seven years later, along with hundreds of thousands of dollars and an amazing amount of work, the How to Change the World documentary hits film festivals around the world. It is already racking up awards.

How to Change the World begins in the Cold World Era with the US government setting off a nuclear bomb. It is a bomb so big it is hard to put into words. Let‘s say the Hiroshima Nuclear Bomb was 12,500 tons of TNT. A one-megaton nuclear bomb would be 80 Hiroshimas. In 1971, the USA was setting off its biggest underground nuclear test ever and it was a five megaton bomb, or 400 Hiroshima bombs crammed into one biggie. The site was at Amchitka Island in the Alaska panhandle and the island sat on an earthquake fault line that extended down the west coast of Canada to Vancouver.

In Vancouver, I was part of a group that gathered in the basement of a church to try to figure out how to stop such a bomb... and the answer was to sail a Canadian fishing boat into the test site. Greenpeace was picked as the name for the 85-foot halibut fishing boat we chartered. The name became the brand name for environmentalism in years to come, and it was formed at the beginning of many new social movements in North America.

Greenpeace did not stop in 1971—they sailed ships into atmospheric nuclear test zones in 1972, 1973, and 1974. In 1975 they began their voyages to ―Save the Whales,‖ which eventually brought about an international ban on all commercial whaling in 1982.

In 1977, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) split off from Greenpeace with Captain Paul Watson at the helm.

SSCS now has nine fully functional 200foot ships to police the world‘s oceans. (See Animal Planet‟s ―Whale Wars‖). The United Nations has only a few thousand land base soldiers. Yet, the UN has created hundreds of laws governing the oceans with no enforcement. The UN does make provisions in its charter for organizations to take

Left: Robert Hunter in the iconic 1975 "Voyage to Save the Whales," which lead to the 1982 United Nation's ban on commercial whaling. Right: A June 17, 1976 file photo of Bob Hunter (left) and Rod Marining (right) preparing for a Greenpeace press conference in Hawaii in 1976 before they embark on their second leg of a journey to chase both the Russian Whaling and Japanese Whaling Fleets. Photograph by: Ralph Bower, PNG up a policing roll. Both Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace fly the UN flag from the tops of their masts, showing their aims to enforce UN laws.

The documentary How to Change to World centers on Greenpeace‘s leader Robert Hunter‘s (Bob) trials and tribulations, his charm, and political savvy. The film captures the reality of his life and his friends‘ journey. For me, it is amazing to watch the film and feel our connection throughout our lives, as each grows old… from youth to 65 years and beyond. No makeup was used—just real life people with gray hair and wrinkles.

Today, Fortune magazine reports ―Greenpeace International‖ global annual budget at $406.2 million. Greenpeace has offices in 52 countries. Each day I receive, on average, 18 published stories on Greenpeace actions. It‘s my proof that others are still fighting for our one and only home.

It is wonderful see this film and personally capture the feeling of this early part of my life. It is also a good feeling to know that we are beginning to understand that if we ruin this planet, there ain‘t others we can go to. We are in the process of making our bed and we will have to lie in it, when all is done.

Rod Marining was the first vice-president of Greenpeace from 1972 to 1982. He was on the first ship, Greenpeace, to the Amchitka Island nuclear test zone.

He later transferred onto the second ship, Greenpeace II, a chartered 130 ft. ex-Canadian Minesweeper from World War II, which came within a few hundred miles of the test zone. He now resides between the Cariboo Region and Vancouver.

Film Synopsis How to Change the World chronicles the adventures of an eclectic group of young pioneers—Canadian hippie journalists, photographers, musicians, scientists, and American draft dodgers—who set out to stop Richard Nixon‘s atomic bomb tests in Amchitka, Alaska, and end up creating the worldwide green movement. Greenpeace was founded on tight knit, passionate friendships forged in Vancouver in the early 1970s. Together, they pioneered a template for environmental activism that mixed daring iconic feats and worldwide media: placing small rubber inflatables between harpooners and whales, blocking ice breaking sealing ships with their bodies, and spraying the pelts of baby seals with dye to make them valueless in the fur market.

The group had a prescient understanding of the power of media, knowing that the advent of global mass communications meant that the image had become a more effective tool for change than the strike or the demonstration. But by the summer of 1977, Greenpeace Vancouver was suing Greenpeace San Francisco and the organization had become a victim of its own anarchic roots saddled with large debts and frequent in-fighting.

How to Change the World draws on interviews with the key players and hitherto unseen archive footage that brings these extraordinary characters and their intense, sometimes eccentric and often dangerous world alive. Somehow the group transcended the contradictions of its members to undertake some of the bravest and most significant environmental protests in history.

The film spans the period from the first expedition to enter the nuclear test zone in 1971 through the first whale and seal campaigns, and ends in 1979, when, victims of their own success, the founders gave away

their central role to create Greenpeace International. At its heart is Bob Hunter, a charismatic journalist who wrote his first science fiction comics at the age of 10.

Somehow Hunter managed to bind together the ‗mystics and the mechanics‘ into a group with a single purpose, often at huge cost to himself.

The story is framed by his first person narrative, drawn from his writings and journals about the group, voiced alongside animations based on his own comics.

How to Change the World is an intimate portrait of the group‘s original members and of activism itself—idealism vs. pragmatism, principle vs. compromise.

They agreed that a handful of people could change the world; they just couldn‘t always agree on how to do it. www.howtochangetheworld.squarespa ce.com/contact/

By Ron Young

S

tudying the past can inform us about lives that have caused a sea of changes in the course of human history. Such men as Galileo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Henry Ford come to mind, but it is often much more difficult for us to identify modern day geniuses.

Steve Jobs is one who many regard as a modern day visionary, but you can get into an argument on any street corner about that and only time will tell. Another who some consider a modern visionary is Elon Musk. Mr. Musk was the co-founder of Paypal, and the founder of Tesla Motors and SpaceX. Each of those companies has brought about significant and dramatic progress in their respective fields.

In matters of renewable energy and sustainability the electric car is going to be a very big player in coming years. While Elon Musk didn‘t invent the electric car he is the man who has captured our imagination with his production of the Tesla Model S, arguably one of the finest motorcars ever built.

The heart of electric cars is a viable battery pack that is efficient in energy, size, and cost and that is the big nut to crack to ensure future success, with the emphasis being on co$t. Wide consumer acceptance of the electric car will only take place once cost is in line with the average pocketbook.

Accordingly, the electric car battery has to become much less expensive, more efficient, and available in large quantities so Mr. Musk has decided to take a huge risk and lay his fortune on the line, something he has done many times in the past. He is building a massive electric battery factory in the US called the Gigafactory that will manufacture electric car batteries at a scale

that will bring the cost down and make the electric car a viable proposition for the rest of us.

Henry Ford was a man who always worked at ‗vertical integration,‘ which is a concept where existing resources are used for more than their intended single purpose.

A great example of this is where Ford insisted that crates used to ship him parts for his automobiles would be made of a certain type of wood and have holes drilled in specific places so that when the crates were disassembled the boards could be used as floorboards in the Model T. Musk, in a similar fashion, is using vertical integration to market his electric car battery to a whole different segment of the market; homeowners who want to have electricity independent of the electric grid. The battery will be re-packaged into what Musk has termed a Powerwall battery, an attractive package that will mount on your wall and interconnect with your household loads to give you power. The battery will be paired with solar panels for charging and will also re-charge from the electric grid when necessary.

While the overall investment including solar panels will still be a big-ticket item, it has captured the attention of many people who are concerned with the uncertainty of electricity supply and rising rates. Pre-orders for the Powerwall product, which won‘t be shipping for many months, have, according to one pundit ―gone off the hook.‖ The idea has gone viral.

Information and clear specifics on total cost and capability of the Powerwall are not yet forthcoming, but Elon Musk has the ability to capture our imaginations in a very powerful way, almost hypnotic, and other companies who have had similar products in

Elon Musk, entrepreneurial wiz, creator of the Powerall battery, co-founder of PayPal and Zip2, and founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors. Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/

development are ramping up their own marketing and production to meet the upcoming demand. Panasonic, for example, is running a huge marketing campaign in Australia, one of the most solarized countries in the world.

I think that the big application of the Powerwall will be to offset what are called ―time of use charges.‖ In the US, many states have implemented much higher electricity rates during certain daily periods when demand is much heavier. The difference in cost can be easily .48 cents a kilowatt hour compared to regular rates of .11 cents. The ability to offset time of use rates would rapidly make the Powerwall a useful product. You can shut off your demand for grid electricity and use the Powerwall batteries until you are out of the period of high demand; as long as you can keep your electricity use within the strict limitations of the 2 kW battery pack.

While none of this technology is new, it is repackaging of existing technology in an

exciting way. In my own home we have had a solar powered battery pack for many years and it provides us with power whenever it can store energy from the sun. When the stored energy is gone, the grid is reconnected automatically. With Elon Musk‘s Powerwall product he is repackaging the power storage idea in the same way that Steve Jobs repackaged the personal computer and the personal music device—in a way that we can all use, high in cool factor, low on cost, and a huge benefit for the environment.

Ron Young is a renewable energy professional that designs and sells solar, wind and micro-hydro systems. He operates the earthRight store in Williams Lake, BC and can be reached at info@solareagle.com Copyright Ron Young 2015

By Sharon Taylor, Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society of Prince George-Williams Lake Branch

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he last week of June gives us an opportunity to Celebrate Canada! with four days focusing on four different elements of Canadian culture.

The first is National Aboriginal Day, June 21. Many Aboriginal cultures traditionally celebrate around the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. June 21 was declared National Aboriginal Day in 1996 to recognize the many different cultures shared by peoples of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis heritage. Watch for the Annual National Aboriginal Day Parade and Celebration in Boitanio Park on Sunday, June 21.

The second is St. Jean Baptiste Day, June 24, celebrating the culture of French Canadians on the day dedicated to the patron saint of French Canadians with parades and music. This feast-day celebrates Francophone identity, culture, history, and achievements. On June 24, wish your French-speaking friends, ―Bonne SaintJean-Baptiste!‖ The third is Canadian Multiculturalism Day, June 27. The 1988 Multiculturalism Act states, ―multiculturalism reflects the cultural and racial diversity of Canadian society and acknowledges the freedom of all members of Canadian society to preserve, enhance, and share their cultural heritage,‖ as well as being ―a fundamental characteristic of the Canadian heritage and identity and that it provides an invaluable resource in the shaping of Canada's future.‖ In 2002, then Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, herself an immigrant, declared June 27 a day to celebrate Canada‘s rich diversity as people combine their cultural traditions with Canadian values of respect and equality for all.

People from many countries have come to the Cariboo for the beautiful natural surroundings and for a safe place to raise a family: countries such as Germany, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Finland, Norway, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Iran, Turkey, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Bermuda, Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Brazil, El Salvador, the United States, and more.

All this cultural diversity is added to Aboriginal people of the Secwepemc, Carrier, and Tsilhqot'in Nations, and Métis heritage, and to people whose families came from Europe and Asia to settle in the area two, five, or even eight generations ago. The cookbook, Spicing up the Cariboo, was compiled by the Multiculturalism Program staff of the CMHA–Cariboo Chilcotin Branch, and features over 45 Cariboo -Chilcotin residents of various cultural backgrounds flavouring traditional family recipes with stories of hardship, celebration, love, and resilience.

The final day of Celebrate Canada!

Week is Canada Day, Wednesday, July 1.

This year in Williams Lake, the Canada Day planning committee celebrates cultural diversity with a variety of foods and entertainment. We look forward to having local performers and food vendors from many different traditions share their culture and

Photo: Canada and BC flags blowing in the breeze, Williams Lake, BC. Photo: Sharon Taylor

talent at the Gwen Ringwood Theater in Boitanio Park between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. We‘ll also be hosting a ―Could YOU become a Canadian?‖ quiz, testing participants on their knowledge of the information on the Canadian Citizenship test. For more information about applying to be a performer or vendor, contact Suzanne Cochrane, Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex at (250) 398-7665 or scochrane@williamslake.ca.

As much as we appreciate and honour the cultures we came from, it is necessary in Canada to be able to integrate comfortably into the broader Canadian culture as well. If you have any questions about Settlement issues (finding housing or employment, preparing government forms for permanent resident status or Canadian citizenship, or any other needs) or want to improve your English, please contact Sharon Taylor, Settlement Practitioner, Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society of Prince George-Williams Lake Branch (at the corner of 1st and Borland) by phone at (778) 412-2999 or by email at sharont@imss.ca.

The Williams Lake Branch of the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society of Prince George offers support to people

People ages 18 – 54 need to prove an acceptable level of English or French in order to apply. There are three kinds of proof accepted:  Provide high-school or college transcripts proving education in English or French from a country with English or French as an official language. This is not always enough—some people have been requested to provide additional proof.  Complete an approved Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program (about 150 hours), and write an assessment test. In Williams Lake, these classes and assessments are available free at IMSS.  Achieve the appropriate level in a language evaluation test through one of two approved English language proficiency tests: CELPIP or IELTS, or an approved French language test. These tests are mostly offered in the Lower Mainland, take about three hours to complete, and cost around $300.

Once the application for citizenship has been accepted, people between 18 and 54 must also complete the Canadian Citizenship test. This is a 20-question test, and people must get at least 80% to pass (16 out of 20 questions). A book, Discover Canada, is provided and people must be prepared to answer questions about Canada‘s history, geography, legal and government systems, as well as prominent people who have made contributions to Canada and the world. There is a lot of information that people need to study, and nearly 30% of people fail the test the first time. The tests are usually scheduled in Prince George, Vancouver, or Kelowna.

The age limits for both the Language requirement and the Citizenship test will change in 2015, from 18 – 54 to 14 – 64.

IMSS – Williams Lake offers free monthly Citizenship sessions to help people become familiar with the information in the book, and learn more about ways Canadian systems work in our daily lives.

Everyone is welcome to attend. Contact us for upcoming dates.

who wish to become Canadian citizens.

The process takes some time and planning, but we are always happy to see people complete all the steps and proudly display their Canadian Citizenship papers.

Lots of people think that marrying a Canadian is a fast track to citizenship, but that is not true. Applicants are judged on their own merits, and the process for a spouse is the same for anyone else. Applying to become a Permanent Resident (the first step to becoming a citizen) involves filling out many forms, and processing times can take as long as five years or more. Sometimes it is faster for a person married to a Canadian to apply for permanent resident status from outside of Canada, but it can still take more than a year.

The Canadian spouse has to be accepted as an appropriate sponsor before the immigrant‘s application is considered.

In order to apply for citizenship, Permanent Residents must have lived in Canada at least three out of the past four years (1,095 days). Sometime in 2015, the Citizenship Act will change so that people will need to live in Canada for four years For more information about becoming a (1,460 days) out of six years, and at least Canadian citizen, please contact Sharon at 183 days in each year. Applicants will also (778) 412-2999 or sharont@imss.ca have to prove that they intend to live in Canada once they become citizens.

Science Matters:

By David Suzuki

T

he monarch butterfly is a wonderful creature with an amazing story. In late summer, monarchs in southern Canada and the US northeast take flight, travelling over 5,000 kilometres to alpine forests in central Mexico. The overwintering butterflies cling to fir trees there in masses so dense that branches bow under their weight.

The monarch‘s multigenerational journey northward is every bit as remarkable as the epic southern migration. Three or four successive generations fly to breeding grounds, lay eggs, and perish. The resulting caterpillars transform into butterflies and then take on the next leg of the trip.

Monarchs arriving in Canada in late summer are often fourth or fifth generation descendants of butterflies that flew south the previous year.

What may be the monarch‘s most striking quirk is its caterpillars‘ reliance on milkweed as its sole food source, a phenomenon called ―monophagy.‖ Milkweed plants contain small traces of cardenolides,

bitter chemicals monarchs store in their bodies to discourage predators, which associate the butterflies‘ distinctive colouration with bad taste. But relying on a single type of plant for survival is a risky strategy that has put monarchs in grave danger.

In the mid-1990s, the eastern monarch population was more than one billion. In winter 2013, the population had dropped by more than 95 per cent to 35 million, with a modest increase to 56.5 million this past winter. As University of Guelph postdoctoral research fellow Tyler Flockhart notes, a single severe storm could extinguish the entire monarch population. A 2002 snowstorm wiped out 80 million butterflies. A similar trend has been occurring west of the Rockies, where the western population overwinters in California and migrates as far north as central BC. Much of the monarch butterfly decline

has been pinned on virtual eradication of its critical food source throughout much of its migration path by profligate use of a glyphosate-based weed killer called Roundup, which corn and soybean crops have been genetically modified to tolerate.

Blanketing fields with the herbicide kills plants like milkweed. As a result, several US Midwest states – the heart of monarch breeding territory – have lost most of their native milkweed, causing monarch reproductive rates to drop by more than 80 per cent.

A recent study suggests glyphosate is merely the first of a one-two toxic punch from industrial agricultural operations. The second is neonicotinoids, the controversial nicotine-based insecticides that have been identified as a chief culprit in the decline of honeybees, along with a host of birds, bees, and butterflies. It appears that even at one part per billion, these chemicals can affect monarch caterpillar development, delivering a potential knockout blow for the imperilled insects.

The good news is that many jurisdictions are catching up with the science. Ontario‘s government has proposed regulations to reduce neonic use by 80 per cent over the next couple of years. In early April, the US Environmental Protection Agency issued a moratorium on new applications to use neonicotinoids. I hope this marks the turning of the toxic tide, but time is running out.

What can you do to help? While government agencies in Mexico, the US, and

Canada are scrambling to hatch plans to save monarchs, the scientific community has been clear: a lot of milkweed must be planted over the next few years. One great opportunity is the many thousands of kilometres of linear corridors – rail, road, and hydro rights-of-way – that run throughout the migratory landscape and can be modified to grow milkweed and other pollinator -friendly plants.

Yards, school grounds, and parks are also perfect for butterfly gardens and milkweed patches, and planting milkweed in your backyard or balcony garden is a great way to help. Be sure to call your local garden centre or nursery to ensure they stock native milkweed plants this spring.

Find out more about milkweed and information about how to bring monarchs back from the brink at davidsuzuki.org/ gotmilkweed, the David Suzuki Foundation‘s Got Milkweed campaign website.

You can also donate to support Foundation volunteers planting milkweed in the Greater Toronto Area.

Planting milkweed may seem small, but the combined actions of thousands of concerned Canadians stitching together parks and yards with schools and rights-of-way into a glorious tapestry of butterfly corridors could usher in a new, hopeful era for monarch butterflies.

Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation communications specialist Jode Roberts. Learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.

By Sage Birchwater

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he Mount Polley Mine breach that sent 25 million tons of mine waste down nine kilometres of Hazeltine Creek and into Quesnel Lake last August 4, has garnered international attention.

On May 6, a 10-person delegation from Alaska, including Aboriginal leaders, nongovernmental organization reps, and the State‘s Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott, came to see the devastation of the mine breach first hand and speak to those affected by the catastrophe.

BC government approval for five large mines in the headwaters of the Taku, Stikine, and Unuk Rivers, set off alarm bells that the billion dollar Alaskan fishing industry and lucrative tourism interests could be threatened by lax British Columbia mining regulations.

When the Mount Polley breach occurred last August, these concerns went viral.

Heather Hardcastle, co-ordinator of Salmon Beyond Borders, said there is no mechanism for compensation if BC mines contaminate Alaskan rivers. ―It‘s not if, but when a breach will occur,‖ she warned. ―Geotechnical experts have said when you use this technology of wet tailings, they are going to fail.‖ Hardcastle said her group has been given no assurances from the BC government. ―It‘s a sovereignty issue,‖ she says. ―We‘ve been treated like just another stakeholder, but we maintain we‘re not just another stakeholder. We‘re another country who shares these resources. We share the water; we share the salmon. We‘ve not had a seat at the table to talk about how these watersheds are managed.‖ The visitors were hosted by Jacinda Mack, who led the response to the Mount Polley breach for the Northern Secwepemc Tribal Council. In April, she went to a Salmon Beyond Borders event in Juneau, Alaska, and that‘s where she met Lieutenant Governor Mallott, tribal leaders, and groups concerned with adverse effects of BC mining. They accepted her invitation to visit the Cariboo.

At a meeting with Tsilhqot‘in chiefs in Williams Lake, Lieutenant Governor Mallott said his main concern is to ensure that the water quality of the rivers entering Alaska from British Columbia is maintained at a level that continues to sustain life in those rivers.

He said he would like Alaskan interests officially represented at the decision-making level with the BC government. ―We want to advise and counsel to the degree that that is

Left: Tsilhqotìn leaders Francis Laceese, Percy Guichon, and Marilyn Baptiste welcome Tribal leaders from Southeast Alaska, Michael Hoyt, Jennifer Hanlon, Richard Jackson, and Raymond Sensmeier, and Alaska Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott to discuss protection of salmon habitat from mining. Jacinda Mack hosted the Alaskan delegation, and flew out to Mt Polley Mine with Lt Gov Mallott and Salmon Beyond Borders co-ordinator Heather Hardcastle to inspect the cleanup. Photo: Sage Birchwater Middle Back: Heather Hardcastle, Jacinda Mack, and Lt Gov Byron Mallott. Front: Jill Weitz (Southeast Alaska co-ordinator for Trout Unlimited) and Jennifer Hanlon (environmental specialist with Central Council Tlingit & Haida of Alaska.) Photo: Sage Birchwater.

Right: Mouth of Hazeltine creek flowing into the Quesnel River at the site of the Mt. Polley mine disaster. Newly constructed channel for Edney Creek to Quesnel Lake on left. Settling ponds 1 and 2 on New Hazeltine Creek (NHC), before it reaches Quesnel Lake. Photo: Jacinda Mack

appropriate and doesn‘t violate the sovereignty of your country,‖ he said.

Jennifer Hanlon, a Tlingit from Yakutat, explained that the United Tribal Transboundary Mining Work Group is a coalition of 13 federally recognized tribes working to promote awareness of their concerns. ―We‘re going to need the help of First Nations on this side of the border,‖ she told Tsilhqotìn leaders. ―We‘re here today to establish that connection.‖ Tsi Deldel Chief Percy Guichon told the Alaskan delegation that salmon tie Aboriginal people together. ―Protecting salmon was the focus of our big fight against Taseko Mines Ltd. at Teztan Biny,‖ he said. ―It‘s the same salmon that go out from our country into the ocean and support the fishing industry where you live. The Mount Polley catastrophe was a big wake up call.‖ Michael Hoyt, a Tlingit educator and clan leader from Wrangell, said one of the most powerful moments for him occurred at the Xatsull fishing site on the Fraser River with Jacinda Mack. ―This is where her ancestors have walked and fished for generation upon generation. I‘ve been on similar land we have near Wrangle, and I know how powerful that is. The thought of that way of life being threatened is beyond heartbreak. Being able to see that connection is very moving.‖ Jacinda Mack accompanied Lieutenant Governor Mallet and Heather Hardcastle on a helicopter flight to Mount Polley to view the cleanup effort and speak with company officials. Steve Robertson, vice-president of corporate affairs for Imperial Metals, the parent company for Mount Polley Mine Corporation (MPMC), met them there.

Mack says her bird‘s-eye view of the rehabilitation work confirmed that the company has done a ton of work. ―Misinformation put out by some people that no work has been done just polarizes the issue and focuses on dissent rather than the solutions,‖ she says. ―They‘ve been working their butts off up there since the breach happened.‖ Despite the herculean effort by MPMC to restore the integrity of Hazeltine Creek, one of the root causes for the breach hasn‘t changed. There is too much water on the mine site.

The mine is located in the interior rainforest of British Columbia, where six million cubic metres of water accumulates annually on the mine footprint. The question remains: what level of treatment will this contaminated water receive before it is discharged into the environment?

Many people are worried that in the aftermath of the worst mining disaster in Canada‘s history, the mine will continue polluting for perpetuity.

Lee Nikl, senior environmental scientist for Golder Associates, the company hired by MPMC to co-ordinate the rehabilitation work caused by the breach, says treating the mine effluent water so it is safe for drinking and aquatic life is difficult and expensive.

He says scientists are proposing to passively treat mine-contaminated water with lime to precipitate out some metals then pipe it directly to Quesnel Lake to dilute the remaining toxicity.

Hubert Bunce of the Ministry of Environment, says MPMC was issued a discharge permit in 2013 to annually release 1.4 million cubic metres of dam-filtered water into Hazeltine Creek between the months of April to October. In the fall of that year the company applied to discharge a further 3 million cubic metres of mine contact water into Polley Lake, treating it by reverse osmosis.

That application was pending when the breach occurred. MPMC subsequently withdrew that application in favour of its current proposal to passively treat the water and pipe it directly into Quesnel Lake.

At Hazeltine Creek, Heather Hardcastle asked Steve Robertson whether the company required a discharge permit before the mine started operating. The answer was no.

Jacinda Mack says a fundamental problem in the mine permitting process in BC is that mines apply for discharge permits after they are up and running. She says mines start small then expand as new deposits are found and commodity prices are high. ―With those expansions a mine is soon outside of its original design plan,‖ she explains. ―That‘s what happened at Mount Polley. They had a closed circuit system where no discharges were permitted to enter into the environment for many years, but when they expanded the site, that plan no longer applied.‖

She says these mine expansions happen in incremental phases. ―One guy described it as death by a thousand cuts. You lose the forest for the trees until it all comes crashing down.‖ Mack says the mine permitting process is backwards. ―The discharge permit should be the first thing you look at when a mine wants to start up. Mine planning and ecosystem management of a proposed mine should start by looking at the long-term effect of discharges into the environment, and if it meets environmental and local community standards, then engineer it backwards from there.‖ So what assurances do the folks in Alaska have that BC mines in the headwaters of their salmon bearing streams won‘t negatively impact the health of their billion dollar industry?

Under BC mining policy these mines may not initially be permitted to discharge effluent into the environment. But the question remains, what happens later once these mines become saturated with contaminated water and have nowhere to put it? Many fear a situation like Mount Polley where the only choice is between a major breach and a perpetual trickle of contamination.

Also up for discussion is whether there should be newer, tougher regulations forcing mining companies to treat mine effluent so that metals like copper, selenium, cadmium, lead, arsenic, and magnesium are not released into the receiving environment. ―Mine discharges should meet drinking water and fish quality standards,‖ Mack says. ―There is a higher level of scrutiny over what metals can be released into an aquatic ecosystem. We need to look at the sensitivity of the tiniest organisms within that ecosystem. ―Salmon are so many levels above the support system beneath it. We are further up the food chain from salmon. It would be a huge hardship, but we can choose not to eat salmon. Other species don‘t have that option.‖ Sage Birchwater moved to the CaribooChilcotin in 1973. He spends his time freelancing, authoring books, and with Caterina, hanging out with their dog and cat, gardening, and being part of the rich cultural life that is the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast.

Green Business Feature:

Submitted by Louis Blanc Studio

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n 1868, a photographer named Louis A. Blanc travelled to the Cariboo to seek his fortune. We know very little about Louis, but here‘s what we do know: he was a trained goldsmith and his home country was the French area of Switzerland. He made his way to Victoria in the mid-1860 and attempted to make a living practising his trade. While apparently not very successful in Victoria, he bought some used photographic equipment from a gentleman in that city, got some training, and decided to head to the Cariboo goldfields.

Why was Monsieur Blanc compelled to travel up the treacherous Cariboo wagon road to the Cariboo goldfields, where life was very hard and good fortune, while spectacular when it came, was not a common theme? This was a place where hardy young men often died in their mid-30s from a combination of a lack of good nutrition, overwork, and terrible working and living conditions. But Barkerville was also a happening place. This was place of terrible drama and intense excitement—a place that would draw the hearts of adventurous young men across continents and oceans.

Blanc was reasonably successful, as a photographer in Barkerville for several years – taking the likeness‘ of miners so they could send a remembrance to loved ones left behind – and recording the claims and mine workings on the goldfields. He built himself a studio and called it the Louis A. Blanc Photographic Gallery, but shortly after it was completed it burned to the ground along with much of Barkerville during the great fire of 1868. He carried on for a while, but in the early 1870s most of the easy gold was gone and mining activity was winding down. Blanc decided to move on but after selling most of his possessions and leaving Barkerville he was never heard from again. In some ways this was a tragic loss for the history of the Cariboo as Blanc probably had many of his remaining photographs with him when he left. It is an enduring mystery, what may have happened to them and to Monsieur Blanc.

In 1983 when Barkerville Historic Town was under the operational responsibility of the Ministry of Parks, the management decided to turn their Louis Blanc photo studio display into an operating studio and advertised a Park Use Permit for that purpose. In that year, 32 years ago, Ron and Pat Young applied for the permit and have operated a successful business in Barkerville every season since. Thousands of families from around the world have had their photo taken at the studio. Ron estimates they have taken over 60,000 photos and dressed over 200,000 people in period costume. ―Every one of those photos was a memory and a keepsake for those people,‖ he said. ―We still get re-orders for photos taken 20 years ago.‖ When Louis A. Blanc ran his Photographic Gallery he took pictures using what is called a wet plate process and made pictures on tin, leather, or glass. The picture was taken by removing the camera lens cap for several seconds and the exposed plate was then treated with a chemical to bring out the image that could be either printed or displayed with a special backing.

When the Youngs started the 1983 version of the Louis Blanc studio they used a Polaroid process in a 1930s press camera.

Because photographs taken indoors in the 1870s were taken by available light,

usually from a skylight window, the attempt was made to duplicate that by using fluorescent tubes in a frame disguised to look like windows. Due to lighting restrictions and low film sensitivity, the pictures often had to be taken several times to get one where the subjects were not blinking and had good expressions. Eventually a modern studio lighting system was added, but concealed as much as possible.

Printing the photos in the first several years was a chemically intensive process.

Over the course of a season lasting several months, a lot of used chemicals were disposed of and used Polaroid film discarded.

In the early 90s, Ron and Pat purchased a very expensive $70,000 digital printer that put an end to the chemical pollution. ―We had to pay for that system over several years but the end result was elimination of the environmental toxins and vastly improved quality of the photo for the customer,‖ said Ron. As digital photography was still in its infancy in the mid-1990s there were no satisfactory cameras that could be used in the studio, so the Polaroid remained the only option for the fast results that were needed. The Youngs actually purchased an early Kodak professional digital camera for $12,000 in an attempt to remove the wasteful and polluting Polaroid system, but it proved unsuitable. It wasn‘t until the early 2000s that a suitable professional digital camera became available and conventional film was no longer used. The digital system was completed with a sophisticated computer workstation and the quality improvement took another leap forward. All this equipment had to be concealed as much as possible to maintain the ambiance of an 1870s photo studio; for example the digital camera is housed within a replica of an 1839 Daguerrotype camera that Ron built himself.

Over the years that Ron and Pat have operated the Louis Blanc Photo Studio in Barkerville, they have always had one eye on the environmentally friendly target.

When compact fluorescent bulbs became available they replaced more than 20 of the bulbs in the studio in an effort at conservation, even though in the early days of availability those bulbs cost close to $30 each.

The environmental savings over time translated into real cost savings with many of the early CF bulbs still in operation years later.

As they reach the end of their life they are being replaced with even more efficient LED light bulbs.

In 2013, the Youngs incorporated a composting toilet into the studio facilities.

The toilet, which uses no water and composts the waste into useable fertilizer, has worked flawlessly for three years serving the needs of up to five staff members, seven days a week, over a period of more than four months each season.

There has been much speculation about the possible demise of Louis Blanc of 1871, including one rumour that he was killed at a gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona (photographers were often present to record a likeness of the victor). But while we may never know the true story, his legacy is preserved in Barkerville Historic Town, and the operating photo studio under his name continues to create likenesses and memories for all comers.

See the Louis A. Blanc Photographic Gallery on Facebook.

Pat & Ron Young operate the Louis A. Blanc Studio in Barkerville Historic Town.

They have been photographing visitors in period costume since 1983.

Photo submitted by Louis A. Blanc Studio, Barkerville

By Lisa Bland

O

n August 9 each year, the International Day of the World‘s Indigenous Peoples is recognized to promote and protect the rights of the world‘s indigenous population. The United Nations first recognized the day in 1994, to be celebrated every year for a decade. In 2004, the UN proclaimed the decade of 2005–2015, with the theme, ―A Decade for Action and Dignity.‖ People from different nations are encouraged to participate in observing the day with educational activities to gain an appreciation and better understanding of the world‘s indigenous peoples.

One remarkable person that has devoted her life to furthering the voice of indigenous people and the environment, is Pearl Gottschalk, Lush‘s Charitable Givings Ambassador. Her life and work reflect a degree of courage and compassion that is rare in our self-oriented society. I caught up with her for a conversation on Bowen Island, BC last year.

Pearl kicks off her flip-flops and her tanned feet sink into the muck at the low tide mark in the bay near her Bowen Island home. Her black hair flutters in the breeze and she stands at the tide line and waits as I pull off my shoes and grab the other side of the dingy. A nearby swan is oblivious, preening its white feathers as we wade into the murky, sulphur smelling water. We hop in, push off, and head for the sailboat, red oars banging against the hull of the dingy as we lurch into the bay. ―I‘m surprised I haven‘t gone overboard yet,‖ she says, laughing. ―I‘m getting better, though. I took the sailboat out the other day.‖ Once on the sailboat, Pearl pulls a couple of blue cushions from the hold onto the deck. ―I spend every moment I can out here on the water," she says. ―It relaxes me, calms my nervous system.‖ She hands me a couple of carrots, apples, a jar of almond butter, and a handful of dates for lunch. Anchored in the bay, we stretch out in the sun, breathe in the salty air, and gaze at the houses dotting the hills as the boat gently rocks in the swell. Pearl lies back on her cushion and in between bites of carrot tells me what led her on the long road to activism and caring for other cultures—and why she believes we live in a time when the eagle and the condor can fly together in the same sky.

Pearl Gottschalk has spent the last decade immersed in education and training around issues of global poverty, environmental degradation, youth restorative justice, conflict resolution, famine relief, war affected youth, and gang violence. She has travelled to over 44 countries doing aid development work, and her involvement in initiatives—such as the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary and War Affected Children of Sierra Leone and Women‘s development programs in Ghana—have put her on the front lines of challenges globally disadvantaged people and species are facing.

Today, as Lush‘s Charitable Givings Ambassador, Pearl manages a $2 million-a -year international small grant fund for

Pearl Gottschalk, wearing traditional Mayan clothes sewn by villagers, and holding a little boy with special needs at a special-needs school in Guatemala. LUSH visits the school each year on their trip to Guatemala. Photo submitted by Pearl Gottschalk over 150 charities and travels regularly to international project sites. I‘ve managed to catch her just before she heads off to Tanzania to visit a project.

At first glance, Pearl seems quiet and mild-mannered, quite unlike the sort of person you‘d imagine wading into the darkest corners of society and the environment to face the suffering and despair of what is lost, discarded, and broken. A bit taller than average, with dark eyes and a sprinkle of freckles across her nose and cheeks, she appears sun kissed beyond the reach of damp Vancouver winters. It‘s easy to imagine Pearl in an exotic locale; she has an air of restlessness about her, like a world traveller might. Regularly making the rounds with prominent activists and leaders, Pearl is as comfortable salsa dancing as she is sitting in ceremony in the Amazon jungle in a circle of Indigenous elders. ―I think I always knew since I was little that I would do work internationally,‖ she says. At five years old she was watching World Vision on TV during the Ethiopian famine. It was 1984, a time when International Aid hit the world stage with humani-

tarian relief efforts, and Pearl decided she wanted to go to Ethiopia. ―I remember reading books about being a missionary and seeing a group of children living in a garbage shack and standing outside smiling,‖ she says. ―I always wanted to help people. I didn‘t know what that meant, but it‘s all I ever wanted to do.‖ At 21, while completing her Bachelors of International Development studies under full scholarship in Winnipeg, Pearl travelled to Ethiopia as a volunteer for the Food for the Hungry International and Canadian Foodgrains Bank. When she landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, or travelled to Asia for the first time, Pearl felt at home. ―I‘m just standing there in a crazy sea of people, and all I have is a map in my hand.

I felt completely anonymous but was so comfortable,‖ she says.

Pearl‘s desire to travel, work with Indigenous people, and help others grew out of her early church experiences. A woman of strong faith, Pearl‘s mother was involved in the Baptist church, which helped support her as she raised her three children alone. The church often worked with tribespeople and Pearl remembers visitors

coming from the Amazon. When she was 12, Pearl wanted to escape Winnipeg and go travelling. She wrote a letter to the southern Baptist missionary asking if she could join the mission. ―I was devastated when they said no, come back when you‘re 18,‖ says Pearl.

Prayer and spirituality have always been a strong theme in Pearl‘s life. Her mother prayed every day that each of her children would attend university. When Pearl was 19, her mother landed a job at a high school attached to the University of Winnipeg and one of the benefits was free university for each of her three children.

Her childhood friend, Evonne Plett, remembers meeting Pearl at 14 and working together at a Bible Camp. ―I was very drawn to Pearl because of her spirit. She seemed so full of love and life, beautiful from the inside and out,‖ says Evonne. ―She always finds something valuable and beautiful, whether it‘s in a person, place, cause, or event. Who‘s the most interesting person I know? Hands down it‘s Pearl.‖ After completing her Bachelors degree, Pearl launched herself into the world and underwent a period of intense seeking of knowledge in humanitarian, political, and environmental issues. She describes this decade of her 20s as heart-breaking and heart-wrenching. During this time she travelled to 44 countries, worked in international aid development, organized social and environmental campaigns, completed her Masters in Dispute Resolution, and was invited to present her research at a 2008 UN Conference on people disabled by war in Sierra Leone.

For a long period of time Pearl took in the devastation around her with no way to release it or let it go. ―When I see the earth or a person suffering it‘s as if it‘s my own body and I can‘t draw a distinction between the two. That‘s what compels me to want to act and to do something,‖ Pearl says. ―Whether I‘m carrying around thoughts of albino children having their body parts cut off, or a woman being attacked by acid in Bangladesh, or the devastation of the Amazon rainforest, the more I travel the more I care, and the more it affects me energetically in my body.‖ Without a spiritual practice or teaching or spiritual grounding to help pass the energy, Pearl explained that over time it became stuck in her body and made her sick.

Pearl retreated into nature and the wilderness to heal. ―I had no choice but to move to this little island and leave the city with its noise and pollution and intensity.

Nature is the only place that calms me and reminds me why I do what I do. Solitude is obviously what I do for fun,‖ she laughs. ―But it‘s not like I‘m being a hermit and I‘ve left the world. I still work in the city.‖ Pearl now practices a more grounded and spiritual approach to activism like that taught by author and scholar, Andrew Harvey in his work with sacred activism, and attends regular local Indigenous sweatlodge ceremonies for grounding and balance.

Pearl Gottschalk with Borneo Chief, Ledjie Taq and Hereditary Chief Phil Lane Junior, founder of the Four Worlds International Institute for Human and Community Development.

LUSH provided support to Chief Ledjie Taq's communities in Wehea Dayak, threatened by deforestation due to palm oil clearing and illegal logging. Photo submitted by Pearl Gottschalk

Pearl Gottschalk with Mayan children in Guatemala where she leads LUSH's international employee volunteer trip to build plastic bottle schools in remote Mayan communities. Photo submitted by Pearl Gottschalk

Pearl Gottschalk with two Achuar leaders in the village of Wisum, Peru.

Photo submitted by Pearl Gottschalk

Pearl Gottschalk with Chief Raoni of the Kayapo people of Brazil. Chief Raoni has fought internationally for the preservation of the Amazon rainforest since the 1980s. Lush helped support his opposition to the Belo Monte Dam projects in the Amazon. Photo submitted by Pearl Gottschalk Looking back at the way the environmental and social justice movement has changed, Pearl feels we‘re coming to a time of collective wisdom and balance, where the heart and mind align, heralding the time where the eagle and the condor may fly together in the same sky. The Eagle and the Condor prophecy originates with traditional indigenous cultures of North, Central, and South America, and describes a time where human societies split into two paths—the Eagle, the path of the mind, industry, technology, and masculine, and the Condor—the path of heart, earth based knowledge, intuition, and the feminine. It describes the 1490s as beginning a 500-year period where the Eagle path becomes powerful and overtakes the Condor people, but in the next 500-year period, beginning in 1990, there is the opportunity for the Eagle and the Condor to fly together.

Pearl describes the history of BC‘s environmental politics, passing through the days of large protests such as Clayoquot Sound, to today, where First Nations people stand together and grandmothers are getting arrested. ―Activism has always been about polarizing and the fight,‖ she says. ―I‘ve seen a lot of victories in our time. But living with contrariness all the time isn‘t good for the body. You‘re al-

ways in a cycle of opposites.‖ She believes it‘s important to blend spirituality and caring for the world into one, otherwise it leads to burnout. ―I do not talk about pipelines and tar sands after 5 p.m.,‖ she laughs.

In 2012, Pearl attended the Rio+20 Earth Summit, an event preceding a monumental change in global activism as well as in her own life focus. Thousands of indigenous people gathered together in traditional ceremony from the Americas, including the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers. Later, Pearl travelled into the Amazonian rainforests of Peru with Amazon Watch to meet elders of the Achuar people who had invited their allies to help in the struggle against Talisman Energy in their traditional territory. The Achuar people had asked them there to help dream a way out of the potential destruction of their homeland.

Pearl describes the approach of the Achaur people as one of listening and not creating strategies. ―Everyone came together and prayed, putting all their focus on dreaming a solution and a better way between the north and south,‖ she says. ―Two months later Talisman energy withdrew from their territory.‖ When asked about her feelings of hope for the future, Pearl is encouraged by indigenous youth stepping into leadership

roles, such as 12-year-old Ta‘Kaiya Blaney from the Sliammon First Nation in BC, who actively advocates for greater responsibility towards our Earth and waters. In the last three years, Pearl‘s focus on sacred activism, prayer, and the teachings she‘s received from First Nations people during sweatlodge, sundance, and pipe ceremonies have helped her rejuvenate and reset her spirit. ―Everything we do is part of a collective energy and sometimes I think when we stop trying to figure out the strategy and actually just use a different way of being to address a problem, something that draws on ancient wisdom or collective thought, it‘s a very powerful way to change the world and help protect what we have,‖ says Pearl.

On her most recent journey in April 2015, Pearl was near Kathmandu, Nepal volunteering with one of Lush‘s partner charities, building earthquake proof schools and visiting a charity called the Women‘s Foundation of Nepal, when the 7.8 earthquake devastated the region and left more than 8,800 dead and 23,000 injured.

When the earthquake first hit, Pearl was teaching a group of kids to do the ho key- po key. ―So meo ne ye lled, ‗Earthquake!‘‖ says Pearl. ―Most of the

kids escaped the building quickly but those of us who couldn‘t get out, knelt down in the middle of the room and us two remaining adults tried to cover the kids with our bodies, and we just prayed.‖ They escaped the building once the first rumbling of the earth stopped, and then waited the next five hours huddled together for warmth as continuing aftershocks rocked the earth.

It was a harrowing journey, but Pearl made it safely back to her home in Vancouver a few days later. While it was extremely hard for her to leave the people and their rebuilding efforts behind, Pearl continues to work on aid projects to support the Nepalese people. ―My job is to continue to support the charities I was working with in Nepal and Lush has made a major donation to the relief efforts with a focus on women‘s needs, pregnant mothers, and birthing centers in honor of all the mothers who have lost loved ones in this tragedy.‖ Pearl suggests donating to Nepali NGOs such as the Women‘s Foundation of Nepal (www.womenepal.org) or groups that support those most affected through this disaster. To read more about current r e lie f e ffo rt s go t o ht tp :/ / www.womenepal.org/blog/

P

erformances in the Park is the place to be on a Thursday night. From July 2 to August 20, 2015, the Gwen Ringwood Theatre in Boitanio Park will light up each Thursday evening with awesome musical performances from 6 – 8 p.m., along with food vendors, a children‘s art corner, and a farmer and vendors‘ minimarket.

Performances in the Park is a true community event. It is presented by the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society in partnership with the City of Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District, and is supported and sponsored by business and media partners.

Each event sees between 300 and 400 spectators bring their lawn chairs and blankets to enjoy the summer evenings and fantastic acts by talented local, national, and international performers.

Aside from local food vendors and the Community Arts Council of Williams Lake sponsored Children‘s Art Corner, new for this year is a farmer and vendors‘ mini-market that will set up between 5 and 8 p.m. at the Performances in the Park venue. Road‘s End Farms and Puddle Produce will be there to distribute their box-a-week program, and will have fresh veggies and herbs for sale to the public. Come on out and be surprised!

The team behind Performances in the Park gets into high gear in early January to assure a fun-packed, family-friendly series. Angela Sommer of Angelkeys Music Studio, Performances in the Park co-ordinator, is co-ordinating the event, but she couldn‘t do it without the staff and volunteers of the Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Society and all their help.

The business community in Williams Lake has once again been more than generous in sponsoring the performances. We couldn‘t do it without them, so please take note of our wonderful sponsors and be sure to thank them for their support. In addition to the support from local businesses and individuals, we received sponsor fund matching through the artsVest British Columbia program, which is run by run by Canadian Heritage, the Government of British Columbia, and Business for the Arts.

Come out and enjoy the great music, fun atmosphere, tasty food, and new mini-market on Thursday nights in July and August. And, don‟t forget to bring your friends!

By Caitlyn Vernon, Sierra Club BC Campaigns Director

North West Watch, a community group in Terrace, BC, launched the Pull Together campaign with a spaghetti dinner in Terrace that raised $2000 for First Nation legal challenges against Enbridge. Photo: North West Watch

W

ho knew stopping a pipeline could be so much fun?! Or that it would include chocolate bars, concerts, beer tastings, wilderness trips, and pancake breakfasts?

The Pull Together campaign was launched last year on the heels of the federal government‘s approval of the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project pipeline and tankers. Community groups in Smithers and Terrace hosted small scale fundraisers to support the seven northern First Nations who initiated legal challenges to stop the Enbridge pipeline. These northern communities knew firsthand what was at stake, and the power of standing with First Nations. They approached Sierra Club BC and RAVEN Trust to create a campaign and challenged the rest of us to step up. Pull Together is a tangible way individuals, communities, and businesses can provide financial support to First Nations and moral support to everyone on the front lines against Enbridge.

What started as a spaghetti dinner in Terrace has raised over $350,000 in the last year to support the First Nation legal challenges against Enbridge. Our goal is to raise $250,000 more, to support the Heiltsuk, Kitasoo-Xai‘xais, Gitga‘at, Haida, Gitxaala, Nadleh Whut‘en, and Nak‘azdli Nations as they go to court this October. And we need your help!

Pull Together is marking the one year anniversary of the federal decision to approve Enbridge Northern Gateway with a Week to End Enbridge, June 13-21: a week of events around the province to raise funds for the First Nation legal challenges. (It won‘t end there—you can help support Pull Together right up until the court hearings this fall.)

Individuals, community groups, and businesses have donated and organized events ranging from music shows and film screenings, to paddles and bake sales. Community events this spring in support of Pull Together have included an art auction and beer tasting in Terrace, a seafood festival and community dance on Haida Gwaii, a climate change cabaret in Nanaimo, and music concerts in Victoria and Vancouver. Who knew stopping a pipeline could be so much fun?!

Stopping Enbridge Northern Gateway is also serious business—over 70 businesses across the province have signed on to support the campaign. The list keeps growing every day. These businesses understand that pipelines and tankers are not good for our economy. An oil spill would be catastrophic for the many farming, tourism, and fishing jobs that depend on healthy land, healthy rivers, and an oil-free coast.

Cafes, bakeries, yoga studios, and stores throughout BC have signed on in solidarity to donate a portion of their proceeds to the campaign. ―I am proud to support the Pull Together campaign,‖ says Daniel Terry, president of Denman Island Chocolate. ―I believe First Nations deserve our full support in their legal battles against Enbridge‘s proposed pipeline and tanker project. We have been given a unique opportunity. We can work to prevent the potentially devastating environmental impact of this sort of industrial development, and we can also engage with First Nations in a way that honours their traditional ties to the land. They are fighting for their survival and for ours too and it is essential that we do everything we can to bolster their efforts.‖ Hardworking farmers are also pulling together—several farms have already offered to donate a percentage of their farm sales from the full season. Outfitters and tourism businesses are standing with the First Nations as well. Spirit Bear Lodge will donate the full package price on behalf of the next two guests who request that their trip cost be donated to Pull Together. ―The Spirit Bear and the Great Bear Rainforest are too precious to all of humanity to let Enbridge take chances with the future of the coast,‖ said Spirit Bear Lodge general manager Tim McGrady. ―The Kitasoo/ Xaixais have worked too hard to build a sustainable future based on tourism and their marine resources to see it put in jeopardy by the Northern Gateway Project. We fully support the Pull Together campaign.‖ With a strong majority of British Columbians opposed to the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and tankers, people across the province have been answering the call to action. In the words of Marilyn Slett, elected chief of the Heiltsuk Nation: ―We‘re a small community; we‘re doing what we can to stop this project. We don‘t have the resources that big corporations do, or the government has, so every little bit helps. We‘re just so grateful for people helping. Every dollar that‘s raised will help our communities and help our people take this stand.‖ Will Williams Lake and the Cariboo Regional District join Pull Together, for the Week to End Enbridge or beyond? Together we can stop this pipeline and tankers, and build a future we can all be proud of. For more information or to get involved visit www.pull-together.ca. If you‘d like to organize a community event or know of a local businesses interested to participate, please contact galen@sierraclub.bc.ca.

Please also check out this https://vimeo.com/126887351.

video:

Recipes:

By Devon Chappel

W

ell, ladies and gentlemen, enthusiasts, entrepren eu rs, f arm ers, friends, and other fine folk! Spring has arrived, evolved, and seems to be turning into another glorious sunshine-filled summer. Some of us will have been preparing for this by trying to recover our ―beach bods,‖ while others of us have kept eating clean to battle the winter blues. And then there are those of us who have hibernated from the chilly winter winds, chowing down on comfort foods to keep warm.

However you spent the colder months, it‘s time to get ready for the splendid days of summer.

The cliché, ―you are what you eat,‖ couldn‘t be more apt. Whether your state of mind, your physical body, or your enjoyment of life, every aspect of our lives is informed by what we ingest. Have you spent the last few seasons worrying about your health, vitality, or beauty, or longing for the perceived better days of the past?

Are you feeling the effects of an overworked body or are you feeling like you‘re ―getting old‖?

If you‘re looking for a little sip from one fountain of youth, there‘s a special little bush-grown berry found close enough to home that you can easily get your hands on it without the help of Indiana Jones. This divine little life-enhancer goes by the official name goji berry.

Other common names are wolfberry, desert thorn, matrimony vine, or boxthorn.

This raisin-sized berry is tough. While it grows superbly in the tropics and harsh dry deserts, the goji berry will withstand freezing temperatures in places such as Nova Scotia and British Columbia. The goji has ovate (egg-shaped) leaves and a sometimes thorny-stemmed bush, and grows up to around six feet tall with a diameter of three feet. The goji berry family contains an estimated 85 native species throughout Asia and 15 species in Central and North America. These may have migrated from Asia either by boat or the Bering Land Bridge. Exceptionally similar, all species have earned their way to the top of the superfood chain with their plethora of health-giving properties and histories. As well as being an adaptogen, goji berries have anti-aging proper-

Any recipe can be played with, doubled, or personalized. That‘s one of the great things about adding superfoods to your diet—they add an exciting new dimension to food and the many inventive ways to use them are yours to discover.

Goji berries are so versatile as an addition to favourite shakes and foods, you'll find adding them easily becomes automatic.

Once you begin to use them, you‘ll love them not only for their flavour, but especially for their marvelous benefits. You‘ll be so healthy it will become hard not to laugh happily just because you feel so good! I find that a handful is a reasonable daily intake.

The goji berry's leaves fill out beautifully in the spring season with pale-white to purple flowers during the summer. In the fall and winter the bush loses most, if not all of its leaves. Photo: www.jardiland.com./

ties, and have been known to increase longevity, enhance stamina, improve strength, and increase sexual energy. It‘s no wonder these little berries whose colour can range from pale yellow and dark, sun-fire orange to deep red have been cherished for around 5,000 years.

With the sun getting stronger, many of us turn exclusively to a bottle of sunscreen to protect ourselves externally from the UV rays of summer sunshine. But before you automatically slather your body‘s largest organ with the contents of a bottle labelled with a full page of unpronounceable ingredients, think about the number of toxins that are going to be absorbed through your pores. Using sunscreen sparingly, covering up with light clothing and a hat, along with protecting your body from the inside can keep you healthier and your body cleaner. What you consume can strengthen you from the inside out. Being a great source of antioxidants, goji berries can go a long way towards providing the body with the nourishment needed to protect against DNA damage caused by free radicals and exposure to toxins and radiation.

Gojiwater Simple and delightful to use as an additive or to just have around for a quick smile.  Handful of goji berries  3 cups water (spring water is best) Let berries soak for 2 to 4 hours. Give them a stir now and again. Strain. Now add this water to whatever you can conjure up.

Goji-great Lemonade High in antioxidants for the protection of your skin, this beverage will leave you with a radiant complexion.  2 Tbsp Goji berries  1 ½ cups water  1tsp ginger root, grated (frozen works well)  1/2 Tbsp lemon juice  raw honey for sweetness (optional) Let berries soak in water for an hour or until soft. Add berries, water, lemon, and ginger to a blender and mix. Pour over ice into a glass with lemon wedge. Breathe: you are alive!



3 cups gojiwater (see above), plus the soaked berries  400 ml organic coconut milk  1/4 cup aloe vera juice  2 organic bananas, frozen  1 mango  1 cup blueberries, frozen  shaved ginger root to taste, frozen  1/2 cup cacao nibs  1/4 cup Maca root powder  1/4 cup coconut oil Toss, place, smash, add, bless (or whatever you‘d like) all ingredients into a blender, pulse, and watch the magic. Pour into your favourite glass, and high five, bud! That‘s delicious! Store extra in fridge or freezer (if there is any).

Quick and Slick Sorbet For a fun and fantastic dessert, try this superb sorbet. I recommend buying fresh fruit in season, then chopping it into desired-sized chunks to freeze for future use in smoothies and such.  1/4 cup raw walnuts  1 cup gojiwater (see above)  1 cup frozen mango  2 frozen bananas  3/4 cup pineapple  3/4 cup goji berries Blend walnuts together with gojiwater until smooth. Add fruit and blend until silky-thick. Love each perfect, cool, summery spoonful.

And while you‘re enjoying these goji greats, remember: Benefits from goji berries include:  Longevity and healthy hormones  Enhanced libido and sexual function  Antioxidants  Improved vision  Healthier immune system  Hydration  Brain and neurological health support  Cardiovascular health support  Keeps all vital organs healthy Have a great summer!

Smoothie Splendor Smoothies are fantastic! They are the perfect combination of everything good with just a quick whip of the blades. Refresh yourself any time of the day, morning or night, breakfast or dinner. Remember to keep forever creative; choices are yours to make in life. Here‘s a creation that I made to keep my mind flowing while writing this article.

Devon Chappell is something of an impressionist with therapeutic hands. He holds a focus on what is real when it comes to food. He has a personal interest in nutrition and art and when he is in his element, Devon brings nature to the kitchen.

By Terri Smith

―Ask me straight out what floats my boat, I'll say: ‗Amadeus the Goat!‘‖ Photo: Lisa Bland. To watch a video of the Seedy Saturday performance go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HPlv50Gq9E

―

When you lose your heart, there‘s no turning back. Everything‘s changed I promise you that…‖ In case you missed it, those lines are part of the chorus to the song LeRae Haynes wrote about Amadeus and which she sang along with the women‘s ukulele group and the Angel Keys children‘s choir at Seedy Saturday in May. She wrote the song over a year ago now and has sung it with countless children and adults, including a ukulele group in Hawaii while she was on vacation earlier this year. It‘s an incredibly catchy tune, and those first few lines of the chorus never fail to bring a tear to my eye.

I don‘t know how she managed to capture the feeling of what it‘s been like to be Amadeus‘ surrogate mother in a few simple lines, but she has. From the time I first rescued him my life changed. I know many of you must think I am absolutely ridiculous; and you would be absolutely right. However, ridiculous or not, to love another being unconditionally, be it a human, a dog, a goat (or any other little creature), is always a positive thing. I did lose my heart to this little guy but I‘m pretty sure I‘m not the only one.

At Seedy Saturday, Amadeus made his first public appearance in a year. As he has

grown and become healthier and stronger, he has also become less grumpy, which means he is less inclined to greet people with his head. This is a definite asset when bringing a goat out in public! I also realized once again that he loves his stardom.

When I brought him over to the truck that morning, he was noticeably excited and happily leapt into the back seat (he‘s a bit big to fit in the front seat these days). When we arrived in the park and the children began to arrive to have their photos taken with him, he happily lay down and just ate up all the petting and the handfuls of sunflower seeds. From the time that he was three days old and first came to town with me he has brought joy and laughter to so many people of every age (though he does love children best). It makes me so happy to see people‘s faces light up when they realize that what they thought was a dog on a leash turns out to be a goat!

“Ask me straight out what floats my boat, I‟ll say: „Amadeus the Goat!‟” Terri Smith is an organic vegetable farmer in the Cariboo with Road‟s End Vegetable Company. She has a Bachelor‟s degree in Literature and a diploma in Art.

For June, some activities will be longer. Bring a lunch and be prepared to give $5 or under to your driver if they are transporting you or your bike/kayak for any distance.

In June, we will leave the Sam Ketcham Complex at 9 a.m., so come around 8:45 to get organized. Outings begin from there on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, so you can fill out a membership form and pay your $10 annual fee if you wish to join us. Once you‘re a member, you will receive emails with schedule and schedule changes. Schedules and updates are also on Facebook.

By Ciel Patenaude

I

n the first week of May, I travelled to Mayne Island, one of the more southern Gulf Islands just off the coast of Vancouver, to visit my parents. Riding the ferry across (as I have done hundreds of times before) I was hit with the salty bite of the ocean air – a smell I have always so loved – and blown away once again by the pristine waters of Georgia Strait. The scenery was so perfect that one could have assumed those clear waters extended in an infinite manner in both directions, both teeming with and entirely supportive of life. But given what I do know about the state of our oceans worldwide, there was a bittersweet recognition of the ocean that day: incredible memories of how I knew it as a child and growing adult and what it appeared to be that day, and a swelling sadness for what I know it really is.

We have likely been dumping our waste into the oceans since we began making it— given the size of that amount of water, surely it will just deal with it?—and as a result not one of our recognized oceanic bodies is now without some sort of ‗garbage patch‘ floating within it. From the Pacific Trash Vortex – an area of rather indeterminate size (though suggested to be twice the size of the continental United States) that is filled with chemical sludge, pelagic plastics, and other debris in the upper water column – to the Indian and Atlantic Ocean Garbage Patches, both first documented in 2010 and containing roughly the same types of materials but in a smaller area. These areas have been increasing dramatically in size (the Pacific patch was the size of Texas in 2006, and now sits less than 500 miles off the coast of the US, filling almost the entire ocean), with no end in site as the world continues its consumption of cheap plastics, bottled water, and petrochemical products.

The challenge with these garbage patches is that they‘re made up of particles that are generally so small it seems like it‘s not a big deal, and yet they‘re choking the life out of our oceans. Animals of all sizes – though especially the filter-feeders and oceanic birds – eat the plastic particles assuming that they are a form of food. Those animals are then found washed up on the shores of the mainland with stomachs full of disintegrated Pepsi bottles and baby soothers—another sacrificial offering to the gods of capitalism and blind consumption.

Our planet cannot survive without the oceans, and the oceans cannot survive without the micro and macroscopic organisms that are contained within them. Populations of zooplankton, who also consume the particulate plastic matter floating throughout and are thus being challenged, are responsible for supporting the whole of the food chain, which in turn is intimately linked with oceanic currents and from there with global weather patterns and atmospheric composition. We could imaginably make the whole earth ‗crash‘ in its homeostatic mechanism by the destruction of that one species.

Despite the fact that in the CaribooChilcotin we are far from the ocean, the effects of the destruction there will be, eventually (and in many unexpected ways

Wednesday, June 10 – Walk behind Bond Lake Thursday, June 11 – Friesen Road bike (Fox Mtn.) Tuesday, June 16 – Old Sheep Creek Hwy/Water Turn hike (Shuttle involved) Wednesday, June 17 – West Fraser Road bike Thursday, June 18 – Lower Snakes & Ladders Trail walk (off Birch Lane) Tuesday, June 23 – Yellow Lake walk Wednesday, June 24 – McLeese Lake kayak with coffee to follow at Gail's.

Thursday, June 25 – Mountain House Road bike Tuesday, June 30 – Mission Road bike Photo: Jimmy Baikovicius

most likely), felt up here. We will come to see just how the waters that flow throughout the earth are the same that flow through our bodies, and we poison ourselves just as we continue to do the earth. Perhaps we already see, as we are certainly witnessing increased cancer rates and other chronic illnesses linked repeatedly to our global environmental status, and yet seem to do very little to stop it, exceedingly more concerned with our daily mundanities than long -term survival and consciousness.

June 8 is World Oceans Day, a UNrecognized yearly event aimed at encouraging awareness and action with regards to the oceans of this planet. The theme this year is Healthy Oceans and Healthy Planet, thematically in line with what I presented above: we need the oceans to live if we want to live.

How many times has June 8 come and gone without much concern for what the world‘s waters and water creatures are experiencing? How often have you stopped to wonder what you can do to assist or at least offer less damage to our oceans? And how often have you acted upon those answers?

I don‘t imagine that there will be many functions happening in the area on June 8 to celebrate, and so I propose here a challenge for us all to take on individually but with collective intent: stop buying plastic. No more plastic water bottles (please, please stop), no more plastic shopping bags (perhaps we could even lobby our cities to have them banned, as many municipalities have already done), an active practice of choosing bulk items over heavily packaged ones—let us make a commitment to being conscious and aware citizens who vote with their dollars for a system that does not operate with these products.

It is hard to make such changes, yes, and it might inconvenience your easy-topack lunches or cause you to have to think ahead when heading to the grocery store, but it must be done. If we are to choose a different path and attempt to reverse the damage that has already been afflicted, we are going to have to inconvenience ourselves, and put the needs of the whole system and the long-term view over our desire for luxury and speed.

Ciel Patenaude is an Integrative Health & Shamanic Practitioner based in Williams Lake, BC. A highly trained and naturally gifted intuitive healer, Ciel holds a BSc in Biology, an MA in Integrative Healing, and is a certified Yoga Teacher & Wellness Coach.

Members‘ Monthly Breakfast Social Our no-host breakfast get together for conversation and new ideas for outings will be Thursday, June 18, at 7:30 a.m. at The Gecko Tree.

By Van Andruss

M

y partner Eleanor and I visited the Emerald Isle for the fourth time this past winter. I would like to offer bits of what we learned there while enjoying a change of scene.

Even before we flew into Havana, we heard the news about Obama‘s intention to ―normalize‖ relations between the US and Cuba. Embassies will open in both countries.

At least one ―conversation‖ had been held with US officials in Washington, DC, with more to come. The last three of five Cuban patriots had been returned after spending years in a US prison on charges of spying.

This act alone was greatly celebrated in Cuba. Fidel himself hobbled out of retirement to give the ―Cuban Five‖ a hug. Some optimists predict that the embargo will be lifted.

So, that was the big news upon our arrival. Otherwise the daily life of the great majority of Cubans continues as per usual— which isn‘t to say that changes in government policy are not already occurring under Raul. The trend is distinctly towards liberalization. While until recently almost every enterprise in Cuba was owned by the govern- Above: A horse and buggy, the typical form of transportation in ment, there is currently a definite move to- the countryside outside of Havana. Below: Havana, Cuba looking down at the Malecon and the famous Hotel Nacional. wards granting permits to private businesses.

Photos: Karl Scheuring Restaurants are opening daily. Someone told us there are 2,000 new ones in Havana. Hundreds of those famous vintage cars from the 50s are convertThey don‘t accumulate big debts. They pay no ing into privately-owned taxis. Havana is full of mortgages, no taxes, no whopping charges for eduthem and they‘re always busy. cation, and no hospital bills. Phone, water, and elecAnother significant change is that people are tricity are cheap. You might pay a dollar a month allowed to sell their houses. Incidentally, they‘re not for electricity if you don‘t have air-conditioning. A cheap. A house up to Canadian standards will cost certain amount of food is handed out free with a over $100,000. Since there‘s money in the trade, ration book that comes out once a month. You drop houses are being built at an accelerated rate. As for by the store (bodega) to pick up given staples: rice, building materials, they have always been the propbeans, a bit of chicken, soy burgers (with maybe a erty of government and only now are they being sold little blood in them), sugar, salt, bread (one small in stores, but they are difficult to come by and lots of bun per day), even cigarettes (low grade), coffee items are not available at all, like nails. (chicory), and odds and ends like soap, toothpaste, My son-in-law, who is Cuban, tells me the govand condoms. There‘s milk powder for children up ernment has granted these changes due to heavy to nine, allowances for people with health problems pressure from below. Although the Cuban state relike diabetes, and special rations for the elderly. The mains a dictatorship, all-controlling, the revolution downside is that items are frequently unavailable. of 1959 is long past, and several generations have Foreign visitors travelling outside the standardintervened. Young people are interested in joining ized comforts of Varadero will tell you they want to the world at large. Many have ―virtually‖ joined anysee the real Cuba before Fidel dies, before the gates way through the use of iPods, the ubiquitous cellopen up to the wider world of commerce and indusphone, and by following international fashions. Still, try, forces likely to erode valued cultural differalong a highway, tired political slogans are likely to ences. How is Cuba to change, loosen the grip of appear , fo r exa mp le, ―S o c io l is mo o government control, make a little money for its peoMuerte!‖ (Socialism or Death!). You wonder, in ple, yet remain itself? How is it going to handle reality, how many youths resonate with that suggesChinese investment or an influx of cheap commodition. Enthusiasms fade along with everything else in ties without being overwhelmed? Change it must, history. for its survival, but to what end and by what stratAt the tourist site of Varadero, hot water taps egy? Such is the dilemma facing Cuba. work and toilets flush properly. Outside this haven, Meanwhile, the daily life of this feisty strongFirst World conditions are rare. The vast majority of hold of socialism remains much the same. It is true Cubans are poor. Only government officials have that the opening to massive foreign influences is riches, and maybe athletes and entertainers. Midwidening. There will be consequences. But for now, dling benefits can be expected for anyone directly to be themselves and keep up their spirits, the Cuserving tourists. Ordinary government jobs fall short ban people will continue to rely on their music, their of a living wage. Even doctors only earn around arts, family ties, and the beauty of a tropical island. forty dollars American per month. This explains why corruption is the rule in Cuba. Everyone needs a scam to get by, to make up the difference. No wonVan Andruss is editor of the magazine Lived Exder visitors have a hard time figuring out ―how perience. He enjoys the bioregional life and commuthings work.‖ nity in historic Moha outside of Lillooet, B.C If the majority of Cubans don‘t earn a living wage, on the other hand they don‘t live by credit.

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he BC government has been regulating recycling in BC for as far back as 1970 with the introduction of a mandatory deposit-refund system for soft drink and beer containers. In 1991 programs for lead-acid batteries and tires came into place. Since 1994 over 14 additional Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs have been added to the regulation including medications, household hazardous waste, used oil and used oil products, thermostats, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, alkaline, UPS and lithium batteries, e-waste, appliances, lighting products, power tools, cell phones, packaging and printed paper.

EPR is an environmental management strategy guided by the principle that whoever designs, produces, sells, or uses a product takes responsibility for minimizing that product's environmental impact at the end of its life. The idea behind EPR is sensible; the businesses that make products, and the users of these products, should pay for recovering and recycling materials.

In British Columbia, industry‘s response to EPR is product stewardship.

The product stewardship model is comprised of several key players – manufacturers, retailers, governments, and consumers – working together, ultimately with the goal of diverting products from landfills and ensuring they are responsibly recycled at their end-of-life.

The Cariboo Regional District‘s (CRD) role in product stewardship is to limit stewardship products from entering the landfill; Bylaw 4950‘s landfill ban on recyclables will help the CRD to achieve this. Starting on July 4, 2015 at the Central Cariboo Transfer Station on Frizzi Road in Williams Lake, a landfill ban on recyclables will come into effect.

Any load of waste (garbage, wood, or demolition and construction) containing more than 10 per cent by volume of recyclables will be charged the greater of a $25 fine, or $200 per tonne as per the new bylaw.

Recyclables include, but are not limited to, deposit beverage containers, pharmaceuticals, empty oil containers, oil filters, paints, lead-acid batteries, antifreeze, antifreeze containers, electronics, and electrical products including batteries and accessories, passenger and

light truck tires, large and small appliances, scrap metal, corrugated cardboard, packaging, and printed paper (household recyclables). Residents who generate any of these recyclables will need to develop alternate disposal methods to ensure they are being recycled. To view the full content of the Bylaw, visit the CRD website at cariboord.ca.

Bylaw 4950 has been established, and will be enforced, to protect the environment and manage tax dollars responsibly.

Diverting recyclables from the landfill conserves landfill space; keeps harmful substances out of the environment; reduces methane gas production; and conserves resources.

Education for residents will also play a key role in diverting product stewardship recyclables from the landfill. Additional staff will be on site at the transfer station to help inform residents and answer questions.

Information on drop off locations for stewardship items can be found at rcbc.ca as there are numerous depot drop -off locations throughout the Cariboo Region.

From January to the end of April 2015 over 95 tonnes of packaging and printed paper (household recyclable) was collected from the Central Cariboo, the 150 Mile House, the Frost Creek and the Wildwood Transfer Stations combined.

This is more than the almost 94 tonnes that was collected from the City of Williams Lake‘s curbside collection over the same time frame.

Did you know that when you purchase recyclables, you also pay for the cost of recycling them? If the recyclables end up in the garbage, you as a taxpayer, pay again to landfill them. Put your money to good use and recycle!

Waste wise education is delivered to students in the CRD, but the CRD would like to make waste education available to everyone, as we all have the ability to change our waste handling habits for the better. For more info on Waste Wise call 250-398-7929 or find details on Waste Wise activities and events at www.ccconserv.org.

Part of the Cariboo Regional District‘s Solid Waste Info Series: Becoming Waste Wise

Please join us this year to become waste wise and make a difference. For direct access to our monthly topics ―Like‖ us on facebook at www.facebook.com/ caribooregion, or visit us online at www.cariboord.ca.

“There is

By Dr. Anthony B. Miller

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n March and April, 2015, the Canadian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health invited international experts to testify about Safety Code 6—Health Canada's exposure guideline on non-ionizing radiation from cellphones, WiFi, cordless phones, baby monitors, smart meters, and other electromagnetic sources. These doctors, scientists, and researchers almost unanimously denounced Safety Code 6 as outdated and inadequate for protecting the health of Canadians. Below is the testimony presented by Dr. Anthony B. Miller, Canada's foremost expert in radiation and cancer.

Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to present on Health Canada's review of the evidence for Safety Code 6, which I believe has led to unsafe conclusions.

I am a physician and epidemiologist specializing in cancer etiology, prevention, and screening. I have performed research on ionizing radiation and cancer, electromagnetic fields and cancer, and other aspects of cancer causation. I have served on many committees assessing the carcinogenicity of various exposures, including working groups of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, commonly known as IARC, of which Canada is a member. I was the first Canadian member of their scientific council.

I was a visiting senior scientist in the monographs program in IARC in September, 2011 until January, 2012, where as part of my duties I reviewed the scientific literature that was used by a working group to designate radio frequency fields as a class 2B carcinogen, that is, a possi-

a potential risk of rapidly progressive and more malignant tumours.”

- Dr. Anthony B. Miller ble carcinogen. I was also one of the peer reviewers invited by the Royal Society of Canada to review the draft report of the Royal Society panel on Safety Code 6.

I have a number of concerns over the documents that have recently been released

by Health Canada on Safety Code 6 and the document called ―Rationale.‖ What Health Canada has said in its latest iteration of Safety Code 6 is that it should be distinguished from some municipal and national guidelines that are based on socio-political considerations. I find that a strange statement because it seems to provide no room for emerging evidence on health hazards, which surely should be considered if the safety of humans is the objective.

Since the IARC review, which identified radio frequency fields as a possible human carcinogen, there had been a number of studies that have been reported. In my view – and that of a number of colleagues who have written a couple of papers with me on this issue, one of whom will present to you next week – these studies, we believe, reinforce the evidence that radio frequency fields are not just a possible human carcinogen but a probable human carcinogen, putting it in the category 2A. It would be impossible to ignore such a hazard in regulatory approaches.

One of the most important was a study in France, a large case-controlled study, which found a doubling of risk of glioma, the most malignant form of brain tumour, after two years of exposure to cellphones.

After five years it was five times the risk.

They also identified the fact that in those who lived in urban environments, where there are probably a number of other carcinogens that could impact upon brain tumours, the risk was even higher.

That brings us back to Safety Code 6 and the document that Health Canada contracted to produce a review of the evidence.

This was the document produced by the Royal Society panel. I feel that panel was

conflicted. As you probably know, the chair changed and the panel had insufficient expertise in epidemiology. My friend, Paul Demers, was called in to be chair of that panel. I believe he presented to you fairly recently. I feel he was put in an impossible situation.

If you read that document carefully, it says that the panel did not have adequate time to do a full review of the data, they therefore relied on reviews of other people and they did not do a detailed evaluation of the studies. That led them, I believe, to false conclusions.

It is important to recognize that there are no safe levels of exposure to human carcinogens. Although risk increases with increasing intensity of exposure, and for many carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, even more with increasing duration of exposure, the only way to avoid the carcinogenic risk is to avoid exposure altogether.

This is why we tend to ban carcinogens from the environment. Asbestos is one particular example of why much effort is taken to get people, particularly young people, not to smoke. Further, we now recognize that people vary in their genetic makeup, and that certain genes can make some people more susceptible than others to the effect of carcinogens. It is those who are susceptible that safety codes should be designed to protect.

As an epidemiologist who has done a great deal of work on breast cancer, one of the most concerning factors that have come to light is a series of case reports, starting with some reports from California and recently with the identification of a similar case in Saskatchewan. In all, there are now seven case reports of women who developed unusual breast cancers in the exact position where they kept cellphones in their bras. These are unusual tumours. They're multifocal, which means they occur in several places. They seem to mirror where the cellphone was being kept. The radiation from the cellphone seems to have increased in these women the risk, which they presumably already had, of developing breast cancer. They were all relatively young women. This is a most unusual occurrence that must concern us greatly.

We have brain cancers and parotid gland tumours, which are tumours of the salivary gland. There have been several instances of people who have developed this. In Israel recently, a study identified increasing risk of these cancers, particularly with increasing exposure.

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sort recyclables from garbage. And for our outlying residents, we have many cleanly operated recycling stations throughout the Cariboo Regional District (CRD). Surely, with all these resources and our knowledge, every single citizen in and around Williams Lake is on board and diligently sorts out their trash, right? Not yet. So, we are back to choice.

I often wonder how one can choose to keep life balanced. We can go on about the topic of balancing our playtime with our work schedule, but I'm talking about recycling here. I believe we need to make a conscious choice to try and complement our use of products with our disposal of products. If I think about the impact I put on this Earth everyday... driving, staying warm in my home, consuming water, turning on a light bulb, throwing out garbage, etc., how much of that do I actually give back?

Dr. Anthony B. Miller is Professor Emeritus at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. A physicianepidemiologist, he has formerly held senior positions in national research bodies in Canada, USA, and Germany. Currently, Dr. Miller is a consultant to the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the World Health Organization and Chair, Occupational Cancer Research Centre Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Miller is a recipient of multiple international awards, and has authored many medical publications since 1978. His recent book, What Causes Cancer, offers a clear and concise overview of the main types of cancer.

Full transcripts and audio recording: https://openparliament.ca/committees/ activities/5150/ (Dr. Miller testified on April 23, 2015).

Recycling is a great start. I quickly noticed a vast reduction of the volume of garbage in my trash bin. Next I collected my food scraps and used the compost in my garden. At home, more and more, I wondered why I threw some things away that, with a little creativity, are perfectly usable for a second time. Dresser drawers can become planters, old skis can serve as part of a fence—okay, maybe that one is not for everybody ... or scraps from a renovation project can become amazing bird- or doghouses. The possibilities become endless!

Just like a dead tree becomes nutrients for decades of years for fresh fauna, we, too, can spring new life into an old product by recycling!

By Oliver Berger

onverting waste into reusable material – recycling – some people do it, others don‘t. It is a choice, like so many things in life. I've been to parts of the world, (South-East Asia, Spain, Eastern Europe) where recycling isn't even in the vocabulary and littering is the normal thing to do. Yet in Switzerland or Japan, recycling is the only option for your waste.

Why do some parts of the world care so much and others don‘t have the knowledge or resources to participate? That is a global question. As a ―Laker,‖ I ask, ―Where do we stand?‖ I am proud of how many places we have today, compared to ten years ago, to deposit our paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metals, Styrofoam, wood scraps, compost, and other materials. For people within city limits, the blue bins make it very easy to

Given the long natural history of cancer and the fact that human populations have not been exposed for a sufficient length of time to exclude a carcinogenic effect, it is in my view extremely important to adopt a precautionary approach to the exposure of humans, particularly children, to radio frequency fields. We should note that an individual, if appropriately informed, can reduce their exposure to radio frequency fields from devices that use WiFi, but in the case of cell towers and smart meters, the exposure they receive is outside their control. Then, with the people who manufacture these devices and those who promote WiFi in all sorts of instances, we're reaching a situation where homes are being saturated with radio frequency fields.

It will be very difficult to prove conclusively an effect. Spread over a large population, if the normal occurrence is relatively rare – and it is relatively rare for brain tumours to occur – even if you double the risk, triple the risk, or even quadruple the risk, it will be difficult to identify that precisely. We need to do these studies.

In the meantime, to avoid a potential epidemic of cancer caused by radio frequency fields from WiFi and other devices, we should strengthen the codes that are meant to protect the public. In my view, Health Canada has not done an adequate job. Safety Code 6, in its current iteration, needs to be re-revised.

Oliver Berger holding up a fellow recycler's creation. Photo: Oliver Berger

To honestly give back as much as I take sounds like an impossibility. There is only one answer to ―I can‘t‖ and that is to start, little by little, changing our habits to give back to the earth what we can.

Oliver has a 33-year degree in life, starting out in the Spokin Lake area, spending adolescence in Williams Lake, and then venturing throughout the world on a quest of always learning new things. After spending a summer working at the recycling facility in Williams Lake last year, his priorities include dedication to and education about waste management.

Green Business Feature:

By LeRae Haynes

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ainer Krumsiek at Big Bear Ranch in Horsefly believes that raising perfect animals for perfect food starts with perfect soil. His holistic ranching approach focuses on a balance between land, plants, animals, and people, and highlights the importance of humane and respectful treatment of animals.

Cows, sheep, pigs, and turkeys flourish at Big Bear Ranch, and everything is born on the ranch except for the turkeys. Freerange, grass-fed, and nurtured with natural, quality nutrients from the land, the animals have a great quality of life and provide pure nutrition for Big Bear customers throughout the province.

Krumsiek works 1,200 acres with the help of his son Florian and daughter-in-law Steffi. Their innovative, holistic ranching style has resulted in a list of approximately 600 happy customers in BC, including many young families, who see the importance and the benefits of meat raised the Big Bear way.

Meat from the ranch is delivered once a month on a route that covers Williams Lake, Cache Creek, Kamloops, Vernon, Winfield, Kelowna, Merritt, Hope, Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Surrey, Burnaby, North Vancouver, Vancouver, and Steveston.

Krumsiek, his wife Gigi, and their three children moved from Germany to Kelowna in 1993 and bought the property in Horsefly in 1995. He said in Germany they had a huge garden and raised their own vegetables, had chickens, and hunted wild game.

After owning a high-end landscaping business in Germany for 25 years, they felt burned out and decided it was time for a change. ―We got 106 cows our first year here on the ranch,‖ he explained. ―The only thing I knew about cows was what I learned as a kid going to my uncle‘s dairy farm during holidays. At that time they brought the cows to a pasture in the summer and went out with a tractor to milk them in the pasture. These cows were moved from pasture to pasture, and sometimes we had to move them across a public road. That‘s what I knew about cows. ―And then we moved here and I learned from Duncan Barnett how to move cows with low-stress livestock handling.

Rainer Krumsiek believes that a happy animal is a healthy one, and that producing high quality natural food begins with healthy soil. Photo: LeRae Haynes Not with hitting and yelling, but with your body.‖ He said in the beginning they would buy and raise two weaner pigs a year for meat, but added that more and more people asked about pork. ―When the time came that it was almost impossible to get the pigs to raise, we got a sow and bred it with the neighbor‘s Duroc boar. ―We got a pair of sheep and started raising them for meat, too, and we bring in turkey chicks to raise. We do 100 turkeys every year and they are sold out for Thanksgiving and Christmas.‖ He said healthy soil cannot be stressed enough—that it is the first secret to healthy plants, healthy animals, and healthy meat. ―Healthy soil starts with electric fence system so that you have control over where your animals are; especially in the fastgrowing season it‘s important to have them no more than two days in the same spot,‖ he explained. ―Even though grass can grow two or three inches a day, a cow has certain plants she prefers to eat, so she goes back the next day to her favourite plant. The plant may have grown back a little, but when it‘s eaten down again it takes reserves from the roots. Then the cow comes back and the process repeats again and again, and fi-

nally the plant dies. Poor-growing plants and weeds come in and take over.‖ He said because the root system takes far longer to recover than the plant itself, the grass may look like it‘s ready to graze, but the root system is not. ―I found out that 60-90 days of rest is the minimum,‖ he said. ―In some areas where it‘s rockier, though, it might take a year. Now that I have this figured out I can take the same field and graze it twice in a year and make hay on it once.‖ He noted that the second thing for healthy soil is a water system you can move with the animals. At Big Bear there are moveable water troughs with a hose system, where water troughs are placed under the fence between the field where the animals are and the field where they‘re going the next day. ―When an animal has that kind of grazing it is far more content because it has a higher plain of nutrition,‖ he added. ―It enables us to finish them in the second year.‖ He also explained that rotating species is a good way to keep animals healthy. ―Pigs are the best for improving a pasture—you buy the certified organic pig feed and 80-90 percent of it goes into the soil as droppings and it helps with parasite control,‖ he said. ―Every species has different parasites with a certain lifespan.

Parasites in cattle, for example, multiply every four weeks, and with continuous grazing, there is more of a worm load. If you move the animals, with a 60-90 day rest for the pasture, that‘s enough time for the parasites to die off. ―Ranching this way means far lower vet bills for treating parasites. We‘ve had a zero vet bill for worming since we have used Management Intensive Grazing.‖ Because life in the soil is destroyed the moment you add artificial fertilizer, Krumsiek said he adds excellent natural compost to a pasture by species rotation. ―We have sheep in the barn over the winter and end up with a two-foot layer of hay and droppings that we move outside in the spring.

The pigs dig in it and move it around – it gets moved a few times – and it creates

excellent compost in the pasture,‖ he said, adding that he feeds three to four tonnes of kelp, and four tonnes of Redmond Sea Salt to all his animals each year. ―When we eat meat grown in this way it is huge health benefits to us,‖ he said. ―There are high conjugated linoleic acid levels, the Omega 3-6 ratio is right, and there are healthy photon levels from the sun.‖ Organic agriculture doesn‘t mean choosing between environmental benefit and financial benefit, said Krumsiek, adding it has been proven that organic agriculture can feed the world, and you make more money at it than you do with industrial agriculture. He noted that the cost of producing is so much lower per acre—you spend less on fuel, fertilizer, and pesticides, and your yield is higher.

He said today more and more people want to know what‘s in their food. ―If people buy quality, they recognize it and they keep on buying it,‖ he said. ―What surprised me when selling at the farmer‘s market over the years, and on our delivery route, was the kind of people who bought it. I thought it would be people my age, but most are between 25 and 40 years old.

Young families having kids are really caring and trying to learn about food. It‘s getting better and better. ―And there are more and more young people getting into farming. It‘s uplifting to see.‖ It‘s important to be careful with labels, said Krumsiek, even ones that say ‗organic.‘ He explained that most people think ‗organic‘ is not doing something bad, and that‘s okay, but that it really means doing things better, and with a higher standard. ―Every week I have new inquiries on my website. People ask me about three things: are the animals grass fed, how are the animals handled, and is it certified organic? In that order,‖ he added. ―Organic is in third place, to my surprise.‖ Big Bear Ranch has applied to A.W.A. or Animal Welfare Approved, which is a food label for meat and dairy products that come from farm animals raised to the highest animal welfare and environmental standards. The program was founded in 2006 as a market-based solution to the growing consumer demand for meat, eggs, and dairy products from animals treated with high welfare and managed with the environment in mind. Krumsiek said they are coming in June to inspect his ranch, as well as the butcher he uses. ―How my animals are treated matters a great deal to my customers,‖ he said, ―and it matters to me.‖ For more information about A.W.A. or Animal Welfare Approved, visit www.animalwelfareapproved.org and for more information about Big Bear Ranch visit www.bigbearranch.com, email Rainer Krumsiek at info@bigbearranch.com, or call (250) 620-3353.

LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, song writer, community co-ordinator for Success by 6, member of Perfect Match dance band, and instigator of lots of music with kids.

situation of unsustainable industrial agricultural practices is global in reach. Is there anything that can be done to assist pollinators at the local level?

Here are three important things you can do to help bees:

By Heather Clay

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ees are dying. Why they are in trouble and what you can do to help?

One third of every bite we eat depends on the pollinating activity of many species of insects. We would have a very bland diet if it was not for the most prolific pollinator, the honey bee, transferring pollen from flower to flower and initiating the production of fruit or seeds. Our food would be limited to wind pollinated plants such as wheat, rice, corn, or oats. It goes without saying that we need healthy bees in adequate supply to pollinate the great variety of fruit and vegetable crops that keep us healthy.

Bees are in trouble around the world.

Over the past decade beekeepers have experienced increasingly higher losses of their honey bee colonies. The reasons for bee mortality are complex and a single smoking gun has not been found. There is growing evidence that a new class of agricultural pesticides, called neonicotinoids (often shortened to ―neonics‖) is a serious risk to honey bees. These chemicals are so highly toxic to insects that only a tiny amount is required for the treatment of a plant. Indeed, this is a selling feature of products such as imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, or chlothianidin. Because a lower quantity of the active ingredient is required per hectare it appears that they are more environmentally friendly than the less toxic older pesticides. The active ingredient is applied to seeds or sprayed on the leaves of the plant. The neurotoxin spreads throughout the plant, to all parts including the pollen and nectar collected by honey bees.

Neonics are persistent and last for the life

Honey bee pollinating an early apricot blossom. Photo Diane Dunaway of the plant. Bees are particularly sensitive to this new mode of insecticide action and die if they come in direct contact. Research also suggests that ingesting the chemical affects the bee's gut bacteria making it more susceptible to stress and other diseases.

In Canada, Ontario beekeepers have called for a ban on neonicotinoids because honey bee mortality in corn and soybean growing areas has skyrocketed since the use of seed treatments. The cause has been attributed to exposure to contaminated dust from pesticide-treated seeds during planting. A second source of the pesticide is when the corn plant sheds pollen from its tassels. Corn is not pollinated by honey bees but it is an early source of pollen to feed young bees when other sources are not available. A third source is contamination of water from soil runoff into streams or from guttation water on plants where bees collect water.

Average winter loss of honey bee colonies has been as high as 58% in Ontario during 2013-14. This is on top of unreported summer and fall losses. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released the results of its annual honey bee

health survey. While winter mortality across the US continues to be around 23%, a new and alarming trend is being reported.

Summer mortality of bee colonies was over 27%. In response to this unprecedented number, Dick Rogers, former provincial apiculturist for Nova Scotia, now working for Bayer CropScience, released a statement: “This is only the third year that the USDA has reported on summer losses, so it is difficult to identify any potential trend.

Summer losses are expected and common, however, because of Varroa, other disorders, queen issues, and pesticide residues in hives, especially high residues of bee protecting Varroacides. Experts have yet to agree on what's a normal range for summer losses.”

The PR spin on the summer mortality figures is to be expected from a corporation that has a lot to lose if their lucrative neonicotinoid products are banned. Global profit from these chemicals netted the companies over $2.6 billion in 2009.

The fact is that summer mortality is not common for Canadian beekeepers. According to respected bee expert Dr. Gard Otis, University of Guelph, ―In the absence of pesticide kills, 10% summer mortality would be unbelievably high and 27% is off the charts!‖ Clearly, something is killing young honey bees in summer. The problem of climate change is not going away and the

Reduce Pesticide Use  Support a ban on the prophylactic use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Lobby your nursery to stop using the product on house plants and do not buy any product with the active ingredient imidacloprid.  Support a ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides. Bees love dandelions – there is no need to poison the plants.  Lobby for municipalities to stop spraying public areas with insecticides and herbicides.  Reduce your use of synthetic pesticides and look for less toxic alternatives.

Keep Bees  Become a beekeeper, learn the joy of working with these amazing creatures, help maintain genetic diversity, and perhaps become a queen bee supplier.  Provide undisturbed sites in your garden for pollinator shelter and nesting sites.  Learn more about bees and beekeeping at www.urbanbeenetwork.ca.

Plant for Bees  Plant pollinator-friendly flowering plants, shrubs, and trees. Choose species with different flowering periods and a variety of floral shapes and colours. Some great choices prepared by Barb Scharf, Hill Farm Nursery, for the Cariboo region can be found at ht t p://www.ur banbeenet work.ca/ images/pdfs/CaribooPlants.pdf.  Encourage municipalities to plant for bees, reduce mowing, and leave wild areas for bees especially along roadsides, railways, parks, cemeteries, and public areas.

Read this article online at www.thegreengazette.ca, including links to further articles and research on bees.

Heather Clay was CEO of the Canadian Honey Council and recently founded the Urban Bee Network, a project to provide

By LeRae Haynes

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ommunities come together this summer to celebrate First Nations history and traditions at events that span National Aboriginal Day (NAD) weekend and continue with the 33rd annual Secwepemc Gathering in July. From babies to elders and teens to toddlers, there is inspiration and fun for everyone with the opportunity to celebrate some of the richest history in Canada.

National Aboriginal Day is celebrated in Canada on Sunday, June 21, the result of a royal proclamation in 1996 by Governor General Roméo LeBlanc. National Aboriginal Day celebrates the unique heritage, diverse cultures, and outstanding achievements of the nation‘s Aboriginal communities: the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

In Williams Lake, National Aboriginal Day is celebrated with a parade and events in Boitanio Park. Festivities are organized and hosted by the Northern Shuswap Tribal Council, which is made up of 17 bands representing the biggest land area in BC, according to Secwepemc gathering coordinator Mike Retasket, who is an entrepreneur and former Bonaparte Indian Band chief who helps with both events. ―Recognizing the importance of our heritage and traditions is very significant for Canada—we haven‘t always been very high on the scale,‖ said Retasket, adding that as a full-blooded Indian he has duties and responsibilities to pass on these traditions to future generations. ―Our youth are learning why it‘s important to pass on the heritage and traditions,‖ he explained. ―That‘s what I want to see in the numbers of young people partaking in things like National Aboriginal Day and the Secwepemc Gathering. I want to see them seize the moment and get involved.‖ Besides co-ordinating the Secwepemc gathering, Retasket has participated in the National Aboriginal Day parade and has been the Master of Ceremonies for the park

By Danielea Castell

I

t turned out to be my last campaign as an activist. The world was preparing for Y2K and I was living on Salt Spring Island when Texada Corporation became the new owners of 40,000 hectares of pristine forest which they promptly announced they were going to clear cut. Every cell in my body screamed ―NO!‖ and I leapt into action along with a few others to organize the Direct Action group. A committed fundraising group formed soon after, and raised enough money to buy the remaining unlogged land from Texada Corporation.

My learning moment came one morning as I was standing in front of my closet looking for something to wear. I caught myself sighing deeply, and realized I had been working for sustainable forest practices fulltime for the past four months but I‘d let my own life become unsustainable. I hadn‘t had paid work in four months, I was exhausted and depleted, and here I was organizing yet another rally.

With this new realization, I said to myself, ―So what feeds and sustains me?‖ And I heard myself say, ―Creativity and play.‖ Uttering those words was like the wave of a magic wand in a Harry Potter book. Suddenly I was filled with energy and imagining myself going to the rally dressed as a French professor carrying a piece of wood that talked to humans about North American forestry practices in a thick French accent. I

Northern Secwepemc te Qelmucw leaders celebrate at last year's Aboriginal Day: Harold Harry, David Archie, Bev Sellars, Hank Adam, Dean Tenale, Allan Adams, Mike Archie, and Ann Louie. Photo: Submitted by Marg Casey, Northern Shuswap Tribal Council

events. He plans events for children at both NAD and the annual gathering, and said that it‘s very positive for kids to take part in the drumming, dancing, and singing. ―I have been dancing for 28 years,‖ he said. ―A lot of dancing is about prayers for healing—we all have need of healing. There is a balance between forgiving and being forgiven: that‘s why dancing is done in a circle. It‘s perfectly balanced. ―I want everyone to know they‘re welcome to these events, and I want them to take away a ‗wow‘ when they go. The Creator made sure there is enough room for everyone to come together and this is a good time for that to happen.‖ He said another opportunity for the community to come together to celebrate First Nations history is the Secwepemc Gathering on July 24-26, hosted by the Xatsull Indian Band, which is made up of Soda Creek and

Deep Creek tribes. The event will take place at Whispering Willows camp site and at the Xatsull Heritage Village. ―All bands are welcome and it‘s open to the public,‖ he explained. ―There will be a powwow, a puppet show, a talent show, and stick games. The Unity Riders will arrive from Canoe Creek and the Iron Horse Unity Riders on motorcycles from Adams Lake.

There will be many children's events, including puppet making and carved wooden mask displays and a DJ dance event run by the kids.‖ Northern Shuswap Tribal Council community services co-ordinator Marg Casey said National Aboriginal Day events have become a real Williams Lake highlight. ―The parade has grown every year, and now people really look forward to it, and go out early to set up chairs along the route,‖ she said. ―It includes things like the Little Chiefs

have a background in improv theatre so this wasn‘t a big stretch for me. I found the perfect clothes and props and hitchhiked to town.

I had so much fun that day. Every conversation I had with adults and children was creative and meaningful; each exchange generated more energy, possibility, and enthusiasm for me and others. This in my books is sustainability. Even just thinking about that adventure right now I am grinning and I have a big burst of energy. So why am I telling you this?

In 2012, I realized my full-time job was to help restore a conscious relationship between people and Water. It seemed logical to begin by saying Thank You to Water during each interaction. For three years I‘ve been talking to Water 30-40 times a day as it flows out of taps and down rivers. And over that time I‘ve watched my use of Water get less and less. I now use less than a ¼ cup of Water to brush my teeth, wash my hair once a week and shower only two times week to name just a few of the many changes I‘ve made.

Based on my experience, Water Gratitude practices lead to better Water stewardship, but how to bring that message to the general public? I thought I had to start a non -profit society but after two years I still had very little flow happening in the Water Gratitude Project. Once again I found myself advocating for sustainability and my own life is not sustainable. Arghhhhh. Back to the fundamental question, ―What feeds and sustains me?

―Creativity and play,‖ I hear myself say.

And then, ―Sing to Water and beautify its sites and sources, share the songs and stories about my meetings with Fraser River.‖ And suddenly I am filled with energy and grinning again. Within days my phone starts to ring with offers for work. I begin collaborating with other eco-artists and musicians, create a concert series, and most fun of all, begin working with children again.

And here is the best thing: people are experiencing a shift in their relationship with Water simply from me sharing the truth of who I am and my unorthodox relationship with Water. An elder wrote me after my Prince George concert to say, ―I so enjoyed the concert last night. It touched my soul. I will never see Water and rivers the same again. Thank you.‖ A school counsellor emailed, ―What an impact your concert had on me last night! I have always felt such a strong connection to bodies of water and the energy that comes from them, but I never thought to talk to them! Thank you so much for opening up my world. I am finding that since your concert, everything is so sacred.‖ And a teacher emailed me after Earth Day and my interactive performance with the children to say that her grade 3-4 students are spontaneously reminding each other to remember to say ―Thank You, Water.‖ Oh, and she‘s hiring me to come to her classroom in June to share more of my Water Gratitude tools and songs.

So the reason I‘m sharing this story? I invested a lot of time and energy trying to be

from Sugarcane, horseback riders, sports teams, the First Nations fiddlers, and many more. ―There will be fun events for children, including face painting and giveaways.

There is dancing, drumming, singing, and food vendors, and last year there was a Lahal tournament.‖ She said the event in the park is a great opportunity for First Nations fundraising groups, who can set up a booth at no charge simply by phoning her to pre-register.

The parade leaves the Elks parking lot just before 11 a.m. with a welcome by the Williams Lake Indian Band, winds its way up to Oliver Street, and then continues to Boitanio Park where events go on until about 2:30 p.m.

National Aboriginal Day on June 21 also coincides with the annual Father‘s Day Powwow weekend at Sugarcane by the Williams Lake Indian Band. ―What I want most for people at these events is a sense of pride and unity between the nations,‖ said Retasket. ―People talk about unity, but often each nation is off doing its own thing and sometimes those things make people disagree with each other. Songs bring everyone together. Once we show we can come together for a song, we can come together for other things, too.‖ For more information about the Secwepemc gathering July 24-26, phone Mike Retasket at (250) 989-2323 ext. 114 or visit www.xatsull.com. For more information about National Aboriginal Day events, including booking a free vendor table, contact Marg at the Northern Shuswap Tribal Council at (250) 392-7361 ext. 208 or visit www.northernshuswaptribalcouncil.com.

For more information about the Williams Lake Indian Band Father‘s Day powwow visit www.williamslakeband.ca.

LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, song writer, community co-ordinator for Success by 6, member of Perfect Match dance band, and instigator of lots of music with kids.

Danielea singing to Fraser River and participants of the BC Rivershed Society leadership program as they begin their journey down river. Photo: Helen Styles

a non-profit administrator when I‘m really an artist. All we need to do is be ourselves, share our gifts, and follow love. Trust that we are exactly what our world needs, exactly as we are now. I am.

Join me in celebrating our Fraser watershed at Fraser FEST on Sept. 4, 6, 7, 8 and on Rivers Day September 27 at a Bank of Gratitude event near you.

Danielea Castell is a singer, sound healer, and artist living in Quesnel, BC. She is the founder of the Water Gratitude Project and creator of the Bank of Gratitude annual Rivers Day event hosted in nine communities in 2014. Visit www.thebankofgratitude.net

Photo: Barta IV, Photographer

By Adam McLeod, ND, BSc

I

tell virtually every cancer patient that they should avoid sugar as much as possible. Some doctors insist sugar has no effect on cancer. This is simply not what the scientific literature states. If you are trying to fight cancer or prevent the recurrence of cancer, then you should make an effort to reduce your sugar intake.

Study after study has demonstrated a direct connection between sugar intake and cancer risk. There is a wide range of cancers associated with increased sugar intake. Cancer cells often have significantly more insulin receptors than normal cells.

In other words, they respond very rapidly to insulin and they will always be more effective at grabbing sugar from the blood stream and utilizing it as an energy source.

Cancer cells will always grab the sugar before normal cells due to this fundamental shift in their metabolism.

By Terri Smith

L

ike many in the Cariboo, I live out of town. About an hour out of town. I love living here. I love the silence, the wilderness, the animals, the ability to ‗get away from it all,‘ just by driving home. But there are times when it‘s tough to live off-grid and a long way away from everyone else.

Take the last few months, for instance.

Like many who live out of town we have satellite Internet, and like many of you have probably found, it doesn‘t always work very well. In fact, for the last two months, it wasn‘t working at all. Originally, when the receiver dish was installed they attached it to our balcony railing. This was fine except that our balcony railing also holds the solar PV array and is rather old and tired and it tends to move and shift with the changing of the weather. This meant that when it was sunny it worked just fine, but as soon as it clouded over, the railing would move and we would lose signal. To make a long story short, it would have cost us $250 to have them come all the way out here and move it, and while I know we shouldn‘t have just taken matters into our own hands, we did.

This is the Cariboo, after all. We are of pioneer stock. We‘re not the type to pay for something if we can do it ourselves (or, more accurately perhaps: we‘re not the type who can afford to pay for something if there is any other way to do it). It just so happened that while we were trying to figure out what to do – and this time of year it can take a long time to deal with

The sugar acts as a direct source of energy for the cancer cells. These abnormal cells are often dependent on a constant supply of sugar, which is pushed through anaerobic glycolysis to provide them with energy. Essentially, the sugar acts as fuel which directly stimulates the growth of cancerous cells. The fundamental challenge is that normal cells also require sugar and it is simply not possible to eliminate sugar completely.

It turns out that although sugar acts as fuel to cancer cells, the mechanism for the enhanced tumour growth from sugar is different than you would expect. There is a big difference in the metabolism of a food rich in simple sugars compared to a food that contains complex carbohydrates.

When you eat a food rich in simple sugars such as candy, the body rapidly absorbs the sugar. This causes a rapid and significant elevation of the sugar concentration in your blood. In response to this sugar spike, the pancreas secretes insulin, which circulates through the entire body in an effort to bring the sugar levels back to normal.

Insulin interacts with the receptors on the surface of both normal and cancerous cells. Upon interacting with the cells, it helps them to pull sugar in from the blood until the blood sugar level drops back to a

normal level. Remember that cancer cells have more insulin receptors, so they will always take advantage of this insulin spike more effectively than normal cells. It is this spike in insulin and insulin-like growth factors that stimulate the growth of cancerous cells. In other words, it is not the sugar content that is stimulating growth; it is the response to sudden increases in sugar levels.

Complex carbohydrates are metabolized very differently in the body. They do not cause a sudden spike in blood sugar levels. The sugar in complex carbohydrates is slowly released as the food passes through the gastrointestinal tract. As the sugar is being slowly released, it is also being metabolized by cells within the body at a similar rate. As a result, it is not necessary for the pancreas to secrete as much insulin because there is no spike in blood sugar that needs to be controlled.

this sort of problem – we had a friend from France visiting who said he could fix it.

Don‘t try this at home, as I‘m sure it is greatly frowned upon, but he seemed to know what he was doing so with a bit of help he moved the dish onto the house and then showed us a phone app we could use to line it up with the correct satellite (I had no idea until this happened just how many satellites are out there). We now have perfect signal—better than it was when they installed it. In fact, because it was perfect but still not working, I was just on the phone with Explornet again this morning and the woman I spoke to complemented me on our signal strength. I told her what we‘d done and she responded with, ―Of course, you‘re not supposed to do that yourself, but you have a much better signal even than we have here in the office. Well done!‖ So it would seem we solved one out -of-town, backwoods-home problem only to find one more bit of necessary interaction in our incredibly interactive house.

Because our house is exclusively solarpowered (with a back-up generator), we don‘t leave anything plugged in. Everything is on power bars or gets unplugged when not in use. Most people aren‘t even aware of these ―phantom draws,‖ but when you‘re off-grid you notice. So because we constantly turn off the modem, it has trouble turning on. It seems to get online we must turn it on, wait until all the lights come on, unplug it and wait one full minute then turn it back on again. I like to think of this house as having a series of secret handshakes you must know if you want to do anything involving the outside world. There

are tricks to checking voicemail, (and the phone won‘t ring if it rains for more than two days in a row), tricks for flushing the toilet, cellphones work at the top of the driveway or on the balcony but only if you stand on one leg and slowly turn in a circle while humming ―Old MacDonald Had a Farm.‖ Okay, I made that last part up, but you get the idea.

Yet in spite of the myriad ups and downs of troubleshooting contact with the outside world, I wouldn‘t trade this life for any other. For one thing, it is nice to unplug for a while. It is a good feeling to wake up and know that all that you have is the day and it is up to only you to make the most of it. Facebook can lure me in as much as it can any of us and I find it both incredibly useful and a huge time-waster.

I also love that what I do in a day allows me to not only unplug, but to rescue and care for the surprisingly large numbers of orphaned creatures that seem to come my way. At most jobs in town I‘m sure there‘s some sort of unwritten rule that employees are not to show up to work with two baby meadow voles in their pocket.

But out here, who cares? Oddly enough I have declared war on voles and am constantly setting traps for them around the garden or helping my very eager dogs to hunt them; yet, a few days ago when I was uncovering one of my garden beds I was suddenly faced with two tiny babies who had only just opened their eyes. My first impulse was to scoop them up before the dogs could get them (which is why they were orphaned in the first place), and once I had picked them up I bonded with them

Despite the overwhelming evidence, some skeptical health care professionals insist that avoiding sugar makes no difference because everything we consume has sugar in it. Although it is true that virtually everything we eat contains some sugar, this simple logic is completely incorrect and demonstrates a lack of understanding of the mechanism. The sugar is not directly stimulating the growth of cancer, but there is no question that our body‘s response to sugar does stimulate cancer.

Dr. Adam McLeod is a Naturopathic Doctor (ND), BSc. (Hons) Molecular biology, First Nations healer, motivational speaker, and international best-selling author. He currently practices at his clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia where he focuses on integrative oncology. http://www.yaletownnaturopathic.com.

Terri Smith with her two adopted baby voles, before plunking them back in a temporary home in a teapot lined with cashmere goat fiber. Photo: Lisa Bland pretty much instantly. I couldn‘t just let the dogs eat them now. But fortunately since I am my own boss, I gave myself a good talking to, and then went back to work with two little voles nestled in a handful of cashmere goat fibre in my pocket. And now that I‘m back online, I look forward to sharing pictures of these cute little guys with all my friends on social media.

Terri Smith is an organic vegetable farmer in the Cariboo with Road‟s End Vegetable Company. She has a Bachelor‟s degree in Literature and a diploma in Art.

By LeRae Haynes

S

eeing the world from the back of a horse can be a life-changing experience, especially when it means leaving a wheelchair behind in the dust—even for a moment.

Cariboo Hoofbeats Assisted Activity Program Society (CHAAPS) provides therapeutic riding and animal assisted therapy for children, youth, adults, and seniors from a diverse range of backgrounds including intellectual disabilities, cognitive challenges, chronic mental illness, emotional difficulties, acquired brain injury, autism, developmental delay, cerebral palsy, and physical disabilities.

As well as riding, the kids spend time grooming and caring for the horses. They can also enjoy positive interaction with dogs in the CHAAPS Literacy and Education program. The programs are held at the Pen-y-Bryn Farm just outside of Kersley, BC with an outdoor arena and access to a round pen and a bunkhouse.

Program director Angela Mezzatesta started with CHAAPS in 2012 as a volunteer, becoming a certified instructor and then accepting a position as program director. ―I have always had a love of horses— was around them from when I was a child.

I got a taste of a therapeutic riding program when I was a support worker, and learned about CHAAPS while working with AXIS Family Resources: some of our kids were enrolled,‖ she says.

Working with CHAAPS is incredibly fulfilling, challenging, and rewarding, she adds, explaining that kids can take the benefits and successes in the program into other areas of their lives. ―We see huge changes in the kids during the program, and the feedback is very positive,‖ she says. ―There was one girl who was very timid and uncertain when she started riding with us, who went through all the levels in our program and graduated last year. She has become very confident and capable, qualified to take a test through Equine Canada and now volunteers in our program. Her goal is to become one of our instructors. Her mom says this helped both her daughters so much— trying new things in their lives, setting goals, and enjoying success,‖ she continues.

She describes one rider who would only work with dogs at first and wouldn‘t

Left: People of all ages and backgrounds enjoy freedom, independence, and companionship on horseback through Cariboo Hoofbeats Assisted Activity Program Society (CHAAPS). Photo: CHAAPS. Right: Riders at CHAAPS enjoy time with horses and with trained volunteers, gaining unique experiences and self-confidence that can benefit the rest of their lives. Photo: LeRae Haynes

even touch a lead. ―The plan was to move him to horses, but it took eight weeks for him to get comfortable being around them,‖ she says. ―The first time he was willing to sit on the horse, his mom sneaked a peek and saw how thrilled he was. Now he rides independently for his riding lessons.‖ There is a careful screening process, including a doctor‘s note, for participants to ensure that the activities won‘t harm them.

The horses in the CHAAPS program are screened, too. They undergo temperament testing and the vet has a list of activities she puts them through. ―For example, we find out if they spook at things, have reactions to yelling, or are not sensitive to people,‖ says Mezzatesta.

Horses currently in the program are Porqui, a Percheron cross, Quarter Horse Suzie, and Sam the Thoroughbred. ―We school the horses every week, doing things like riding the edges of the arena banging on things, waving pool noodles, and flapping things,‖ she says. ―We roll a yoga ball

around them, under them, and behind them. We want to make sure they‘re okay with everything. ―The feedback from volunteers is very positive, too. We had a volunteer who came from Prince George once a week for a year for several seasons, and she said our program was fantastic and extremely wellstructured,‖ says Mezzatesta. ―CHAAPS volunteers get as much benefit as the participants. They enjoy a ‗horse‘ environment and they love seeing the smiles on the faces of the riders.‖ Volunteers are the backbone of CHAAPS, says Mezzatesta, adding that they are currently welcoming new ones to join the team. ―We provide all the training, and you don‘t need horse experience.

There‘s a lot of variety in what you can do with us. You have the chance to work with horses and share that with a child. We call this ‗ordinary people doing exceptional things,‘ and are more than happy to answer any questions you have.‖

She also says horses are a natural choice for this kind of program. ―Horses are big, but they mirror us. If you give trust, they give trust, and when you ask them the right way, they give you everything you ask for. ―When kids are up on a horse they‘re just like anybody else; they can be free of a wheelchair or other device,‖ she added. ―One boy said that he learned what it feels like to have the wind in his face because he‘s trotting on a horse, and another child said, ‗When I‘m on a horse, I‘m painfree.‘‖ For more information about the CHAAPS, including how to volunteer, phone (250) 983-4005, become a friend on Facebook, and visit them at www.chaaps.ca LeRae Haynes is a freelance writer, song writer, community co-ordinator for Success by 6, member of Perfect Match dance band, and instigator of lots of music with kids.

By Bill Chapman, PhD Research Soil Scientist

I

n this life there are two kinds of creatures—those which digest their food inside their gut (most of the big animals) and those which digest their food on the outside (most of the rest of life on earth). Outside of the oceans, most of the external digestion of food takes place in the soil. In fact some people would argue that guts of bigger creatures are simply sacks for carrying soil around to aid in digestion. Whether in the soil or in a gut, we know that microbes are responsible for much of the final breakdown of food. Some would say that soil is like the stomach of the earth and just like our stomachs, it needs to be fed.

Most gardeners are familiar with nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Many are under the mistaken notion that putting those nutrients into the soil is all there is to feeding the soil. Just as with people, the major nutrient that the earth needs is energy. Energy fuels all the processes of life and soil gets all its energy from the organic things that fall onto and get incorporated into the soil. Energy (think calories) has bad rap with people as so many of us have excess reserves aplenty. However, due to modern practices, it is rare indeed to find a fat soil. All the energy-rich leaves, stems, trash, and manure—unused parts that used to go back into the soil are often burned, taken away for recycling, or, heaven forbid, composted before returning the remnants to the soil.

While the remnants may be high in some nutrients, they are not high in the most important nutrient, which is energy.

Composting needs a special mention.

Composting was designed to heat up organic matter to rid it of pathogens and weed seeds before returning it to the soil. If there are no weeds or diseases to contend with then as far as the soil is concerned, it would be much happier to be converting your vegetable matter into rich humus rather than having it done in your bioreactor. The reason that soil needs to break down your organic matter itself is that it derives energy from the process. Composting should only be done to the point of killing the undesired organisms, but that is a story for another day.

Left : The creature here is syrphid or hoverfly larva, which preys on ant larvae and is a local Cariboo denizen. Syrphid adults are important pollinators and the larvae of some species are voracious predators of aphids and other garden pests. The larvae of many syrphids live in the soil where they may be found eating the fungi found in decaying organic matter or preying on creatures such as ants. Middle: Collembola: soil fungus grazer, nutrient mineralizer, all around soil good guy. Right: Beneficial fungi growing from roots in the soil. Photos: Bill Chapman

So, if you feed your soil with energy, what do you get in return? Research from Colorado State University reveals the typical amounts of various organisms living in the soil in Table 1.

As Table 1 shows (and it is by no means complete) soil is very much alive.

Soil needs energy and in return for that energy, soil structure is improved, diseases and some pests are suppressed, nutrients are released as plants need them, and the tilth of the soil is improved which means that generally everything about the garden‘s soil gets better. Each one of these topics could be discussed in detail but just to explain briefly: Soil structure refers to the way that soil is bound into aggregates. Aggregates are small lumps and they are good because they allow air, water, and roots to move freely in the soil. One of the first signs of unhealthy soil is that it becomes dense and heavy. Not feeding your soil properly in combination with excessive cultivation breaks down the structure and speeds up its decline. Fungal hyphae, glues exuded by bacteria, and digesting of the soil by mites, worms, and others all serve to bind the soil into stronger aggregates, which resist breakdown from tillage. Progressive gardeners have been known to feed molasses to their soil to improve structure, but for most of us returning fresh organic (not overly composted) matter, manure, or green manure (plowed in crops) is sufficient to maintain structure.

Suppressive soil refers to the ability of soils to keep certain diseases or pests in check. This phenomenon has been known

of for hundreds of years and research has shown that suppressiveness stems from populations of certain organisms that live within the soil. Suppressiveness can be transferred from one fat soil to another but not so easily to a skinny soil. One of the best ways to boost your soil‘s suppressiveness is to plant a green manure crop like mustard which is plowed into the soil before it goes to seed. There are many advantages to using locally acquired energy in your garden rather than bringing it in from afar, and perhaps those will be discussed another time.

We all know about adding nutrients to the soil but there are some benefits to adding nutrients as undigested organic matter.

As organic matter breaks down (as, for example, in composting) the nutrients are mineralized which means they become available for every creature to use. Some of these readily available nutrients may be washed away, others may be denitrified and lost to the atmosphere, and weeds may grab some of the nutrients intended for your vegetables. By keeping your nutrients in organic form you increase the odds that they will end up where you want them, which is in your crop.

Tilth is a mysterious quantity. It refers to all the qualities that allow a soil to foster plant growth. It refers to structure, aeration, the ability of roots to penetrate the

soil, ease of water to infiltrate and stay in the soil, and other properties besides.

Farmers from the dawn of farming have understood that the key to managing soil tilth lies in managing soil organic matter.

No less a personage than Thomas Jefferson wrote on the extreme importance of regular additions of organic matter to the soil.

Feed energy to your soil and it will become fat and happy—and you may, too.

Bill Chapman has a PhD from UBC. He is a soil scientist with the BC Ministry of Forests who studies all aspects of plant interactions with an emphasis on how soil organisms influence plant growth and disease. Bill, Louisa and their family are in their third decade of Cariboo living. They can often be found picking mushrooms in the area and if approached will bore you with endless stories on how fungi are essential to the growth and well-being of plants and therefore all terrestrial life.

June – October: Williams Lake Farmers Market in Boitanio Park. Fridays 9 a.m – 2 p.m. Shop local, shop fresh. Fresh baking, arts and crafts, plants, eggs, local fruits, veggies, and meats. Live music. To become a vendor or busker call Lindae at (250) 3980580. See our Facebook page at Williams Lake Farmers Market for more info.

June 5 – 27: Station House Gallery sponsor Thyme for Tea / The Yellow Umbrella presents Tea Ceremony. Fiber artist Maureen Lebourdais leads a multi-media, multiartist, exploration of all things tea. For more info visit www.stationhousegallery.com.

June 13: Chickadee Early Childhood and Learning Centre Open House 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Miocene Hall on Horsefly Rd. Registration for kindergarten and grades programs beginning September 2015. Registration for Summer Drama Camp. For more info contact (250) 296-3265 or cegwest@gmail.com.

June 14: Williams Lake River Valley Birding. Join Phil Ranson for a morning walk in the river valley. Learn songs of birds nesting in the valley. $5 day membership required for non-members. Meet in lower parking lot (Frizzi Road past the transfer site and down into the river valley) at 8 a.m. Contact Phil Ranson (250) 3987110.

June 16: Tsilhqot‘in Nation 2nd Annual Walk Run Event, 5 or 10 km in Tl‘esqox (Toosey). Start 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. depending on category. Prizes, water stations, and healthy snacks. For more info contact Connie Jasper at (250) 392-3918.

Registration required. Sponsored by First Nations Health Authority.

June 20: Women‘s Spirituality Circle outing to Father‘s Day Weekend Powwow at Chief Will-Yum campground. Meet at Gendun Drubpa Buddhist Centre at 12 noon for carpooling. Families welcome. For more info, contact Maggie at (250) 620-0596.

June 21: Ride Don‘t Hide. The Canadian Mental Health Association invites Canadians to ride their bikes and raise funds for mental health. Williams Lake River Valley Trails, 5k, 10k, 15k, & 20k Ride. Registration at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. start. To register or donate go to www.ridedonthide.com or contact Loretta (250) 398-8220 ext. 2001 or Ashlee at (250) 392-4118 for more info.

Start a team and invite your friends, family, and coworkers.

June 26 & 27: Ravishing Roots Speakeasy and Ball in Williams Lake. Music, burlesque, and scandalous good times. Friday eve with Bottoms up Burlesque and Demon Squadron at Elks Hall. Saturday live music at Potato House. Tickets at Station House Gallery. Visit The Potato House Project on Facebook for more info.

June 29 – September 4: Boitanio Day Camp for kids in Williams Lake. Kindergarten to 12 years. See ad in this issue or contact Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex at (250) 398-7665 for more info.

July 2 – August 20: Every week day. Nature Fun summer day camp for kids aged 3-

13. Games, outdoor play, arts & crafts at Scout Island Nature Centre. See our ad in this issue for details. Contact (250) 3988532 or scoutisland@shaw.ca for info.

July 2 – August 20: Performances in the Park. A summer concert series in Boitanio Park, Williams Lake. Every Thursday 6 p.m. More than just music; it‘s a whole community experience. Children‘s corner, mini farmers market, and vendors. For more info see ad this issue or go to www. fac e boo k.co m/ performancesinthepark.

July 3: Presentation on native bees and bee/ flower coevolution by Gord Hutchings at Scout Island Nature House at 7:30 p.m.

Contact Peter Opie (250) 392-1440 or Ordell Steen (250) 398-5017 for info.

July 3 – August 29: Station House Gallery sponsor Zone 4 Hairstyling and Tanning presents HAIR. This multi-media, multiartist exhibition pays tribute to hair in all its beauty and mystery through painting, sculptures, photography, and more. For more info visit www.stationhousegallery.com.

July 4: Walk in the Williams Lake River Valley with Gord Hutchings to look at native bees and the variety of bee species that occur in different habitats. Meet 9 a.m. at Scout Island Nature House. Contact Peter Opie (250) 392-1440 or Ordell Steen (250) 398-5017 for info.

July 5: Road trip with Gord Hutchings to Farwell Canyon with stops along the way to look for native bees, other insects, birds, and plants. Meet 9 a.m. at Scout Island Nature Centre. Contact Peter Opie (250) 392-1440 or Ordell Steen (250) 398-5017 for info.

July 9 – 10: Potato Range overnight backpacking trip, with possible 3rd day. Day memberships required. Details will be tailored to participants‘ requests. Contact Katie McMahen katiemcmahen@gmail.com or Frances McCoubrey fmccoubrey@gmail.com for more info.

July 10 & 11: 10th Annual Arts on the Fly Music Festival in Horsefly, BC. Global Performers, Kidzone, food & wares market, local arts, workshops. See ad in this issue for more info or visit www.artsonthefly.com.

July 11: Cariboo Kennel Club Promotion Day. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Williams Lake Stampede grounds. Meet breeds of dogs, obedience, rally agility and schutzhund demos. Contact Kim at (250) 989-4221.

July 12: Golden Eagle Hike – 45-minute hike from Hanceville—an observation point on top of a peak to view Golden eagle nests and, with luck, parents with young. Meet at Scout Island Nature Center at 7:30 a.m. to carpool. $5 day membership required for non-members. Contact Jon Gaztelumendi (250) 305-8095 or gazteaxpe@gmail.com.

July 12: Cariboo Kennel Club Fun Dog Show. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Williams Lake Stampede grounds baseball diamond. Free for spectators. BBQ burgers with Scott Nelson at 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Contact Kim at (250) 989-4421 for more info.

July 15: Fire Ecology Jaunt. Visit the site of a 2013 lightning-generated fire at Knife Creek and see the many ways that natural succession is taking place. Good chance to encounter the fire-adapted black-backed woodpecker. $5 day membership required for non-members. Meet at Scout Island Nature Centre at 6:30 p.m. to carpool. Contact Cathy Koot (250) 392-4250 for info.

July 18: Nature Photography workshop with Pat Teti and Kris Andrews at Scout Island Nature Centre. Train your eye, get acquainted with your camera, and learn how the pros get those priceless shots. Time TBA. Contact neptune@goldcity.net for info and registration.

July 27 – 31: Summer Drama Camp for kids ages 5 to 8. 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Miocene Hall, Horsefly Rd. For more info or to register call (250) 296 3265 or cegwest@gmail.com August 8: Native plant technologies in Shuswap Culture. Walk the Williams Lake River Valley with elders Jean William and Ceclia DeRose. Traditional and modern plant uses as food, medicines, and construction material. Meet at 10 a.m. at Scout Island Nature Centre. Contact Ordell Steen (250) 398-5017 or Peter Opie (250) 3921440.

August 14 – 16: Robson Valley Music Fest.

Dunster, B.C. Free camping. See ad this issue or visit www.rvmf.ca for more info.

August 23: Dry Farm to Grinder Creek hike – mostly gentle downhill walk (about 6 km) from Blackdome Mine through ecosystem restoration area, open grassland, and riparian forests to the Empire Valley Road.

A joint trip with Friends of Churn Creek. $5 day membership required for nonmembers. Meet at the parking lot at the Y (by A&W) 7 a.m. Contact Ordell Steen (250) 398-5017.

June 21: National Aboriginal Day Parade and Celebration in Boitanio Park, Williams Lake. Parade, local performers, food vendors. 10 a.m. parade from downtown Williams Lake to Boitanio Park. Family activites in the park from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

For more info contact Marg at (250) 3927361 ext.

208 or visit www.northernshuswaptribalcouncil.com.

July 24 – 26: Secwepemc Gathering, hosted by the Xatsull Indian Band, at Xatsull Heritage Village, north of Williams Lake off Hwy 97. All welcome. Pow wow, puppet show, talent show, stick games, and many other events for the family. For more info contact Mike Retasket at (250) 989-2323 ext. 114 or visit www.xatsull.com.

Sept 4 – 27: FraserFEST. Celebrate your watershed. Events in Prince George, Quesnel, Xatsull Heritage Village, and Williams Lake. Live music, kids play zone, salmon BBQ, First Nations drumming and singing, booths. Rafting trips on the Fraser River.

Visit www.rivershed.com for dates and times.

Your Green Shopping Directory

Distribution Details

Green Locations TheGreenGazette can be found in print at the fine locations below, as well as online at www.thegreengazette.ca or by subscription .

Bean Counter Bistro & Coffee Bar, 250 305-2326 180B 3rd Ave. North, Williams Lake Organic Coffee, Fair Trade, Local Foods

The Hobbit House, 250 392-7599 71 First Ave. South, Williams Lake Juice Bar, Natural Products, Essential Oils, Teas, Crystals, Gemstones, and more.

100 Mile House Donex Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza Chartreuse Moose Higher Ground Nat. Foods KFC Nuthatch Books One Another Coffee House Safeway Save-On-Foods A&W

Big Bear Ranch, 250 620-3353 Steffi, Florian, and Rainer Krumsiek Grass finished beef and lamb, pasture raised pork, and turkey. Certified organic since 2004. www.bigbearranch.com

Intuitive readings using Flower Essences, 250 267-7499 Contact Jessica at jessicawalters3631@gmail.com Helping to heal and harmonize body, mind and soul.

108 Mile House 108 Mile Esso 108 Mile Mall 108 Mile Supermarket Hills Health & Guest Ranch

Canadian Tire, 250 392-3303 1050 South Lakeside Dr., Williams Lake Recycling Initiatives, Renewable Energy Solutions, Organic Cleaning Products: Blue Planet, Green Works, Method, Nature Clean, Seventh Generation

Potato House Sustainable Community Society 250 855-8443 or spuds@potatohouseproject.com In an age of apathy and a sense that change is all talk and no action, The Potato House Project is a friendly bastion of doing, sharing, learning and playing. Call us with your ideas and to find out ways to get involved.

150 Mile House 150 Mile Mall Husky Station Marshall‘s 150 Mile Store

“

Cariboo Growers Coop, 778 412-2667 3rd & Oliver St., Williams Lake. 100% Natural & Organic Foods, Non-Profit Farmer‟s Coop Cleanway Supply, 1-800-663-5181 275 South MacKenzie Ave., Williams Lake Organic Cleaning Products Dandelion Living, 778-412-9100 271 Oliver St., Williams Lake Local & Original, Reclaimed & Repurposed, Natural & Organic Products Day Spa Champagne, 250 305-1249 124A North Second Ave., Williams Lake Quiet, relaxing, personalized atmosphere. A Zen experience. Four Types Massage, Reflexology, Manicures/Pedicures & More.

Debbie Irvine B.Sc. (Agr.) RHN Registered Holistic Nutritionist 250-392-9418 or dirvine@thelakebc.ca SPRINGHOUSE GARDENS - Organically grown market garden veggies; Grass fed/finished beef - no hormones, no GMOs. Enquiries welcome. earthRight Solar, 1 877 925-2929 3rd & Borland, Williams Lake Renewable Energy Solutions, Eco-Friendly Products, Composting Toilets Flying Coyote Ranch, 250 296-4755 Ingrid Kallman and Troy Forcier Grass-fed Angus beef No shots, no hormones, organic fertilizer By the quarter or side, hamburger .

The Gecko Tree, 250 398-8983 54 N. MacKenzie Ave. Williams Lake Serving healthy, local foods Halls Organics, 250 398-2899 107 Falcon Rd. (North Lakeside), Williams Lake Indoor and Outdoor Organic Gardening Products, Alternative Traditional Products, Teas anHerbs, Hemp Body Products

.”

San Jose Cattle Company, 250 296-4592 Clint and Karen Thompson Sustainable Agriculture, Raised Naturally/Local Beef, No antibiotics, hormones, chemical fertilizers or herbicides.

Scout Island Nature Centre & Williams Lake Field Naturalists, 250 398-8532 www.scoutislandnaturecentre.ca www.williamslakefieldnaturalists.ca 1305A Borland Rd, Williams Lake Nature on the city‟s doorstep. Bird sanctuary, arboretum, trails, Nature House, natural history programs for children and adults.

Smashin‘ Smoothies, 778-412-2112 102-41, 7th Ave North, Williams Lake Juice, Smoothies & Expresso Bar Fresh, Organic, Whole Food.

Sta-Well Health Foods, 250 392-7022 79D 3rd Ave. North, Williams Lake Organic Foods, Water Distillers, Natural Medicines, Emergency Freeze Dried Foods.

Williams Lake Food Policy Council, 250-302-5010 GROWING THE SEEDS OF CHANGE! www.facebook.com/WLFPC foodpolicycouncil@hotmail.com. Building a strong local food economy and promoting a healthy and sustainable community Williams Lake Water Factory, 250 398-5201 Pure Bottled Water. Home & Office Delivery.

955 S. Mackenzie Ave, Williams Lake, BC. Come see us on Toonie Tuesday!

Zed-Tech Electric, 250-267-4868 For all your residential and commercial needs.

Joe Zombori zedtechelectric26@gmail.com Zirnhelt Ranch, 250 243-2243 www.zirnheltranch.ca or susanzirnhelt@yahoo.com Producers of Grassfed/Finished Beef. Pasture Raised Pork.

Contact us today to list your Green Business - info@thegreengazette.ca or lisa@thegreengazette.ca

Alexis Creek Alexis Creek General Store Anahim Lake Anahim Lake Trading Mclean Trading Bella Coola Coast Mountain Lodge Kopas Store Moore‘s Organic Market Valley Inn & Restaurant Big Lake Big Lake General Store Clinton Clinton Coffee House Dog Creek Mount View Handy Mart Red Dog Pub/Liquor Store Hanceville Lee‘s Corner Store Horsefly Clarke‘s General Store Post Office Horsefly Hardware Horsefly Service Station LacLaHache Race Trac Gas Lac La Hache Bakery Red Crow Cafe McLeese Lake Deep Creek Service Station The Oasis Motel Cafe Nimpo Lake Nimpo Lake General Store Prince George Ava Maria Gifts and Health Foods Books and Co. University of Northern BC College of New Caledonia Quesnel The Green Tree Barkerville Brewing Bliss Cafe Booster Juice Carryall Books Holistic Health Care Clinic Karin‘s European Deli Granville‘s Coffee Shop Quesnel Bakery Quiznos Safeway Save On Foods Tourism Info Center

Redstone Kinikinik Williams Lake Adorn Naturally A&W All-ways Travel Amanda Enterprises Barking Spider Mtn. Bikes Bean Counter Bistro Beaver Valley Feeds Body Connection by Joe CanWest Propane Cariboo Growers Coop Cariboo Ski Community Futures Concrete Fitness Conservation Society CJ‘s Restaurant CRD Library Creative Scissor Dairy Queen Dandelion Living Day Spa Champagne earthRight Elaine‘s Natural Foods 4 Sure Bistro Factory Direct Furniture Greyhound Bus Stop Haines Office World Handi-Mart Joey‘s Grill KFC Halls Organics Integrated Elements Wellness Clinic The Hobbit House Husky Restaurant Karamia‘s Donairs Kornak & Hamm Pharmacy The Laughing Loon The Legion Manna Cafe Margetts Meats McDonalds New World Coffee Oliver‘s Bar & Grill Porky‘s Deli Quality Tax Solutions Red Shred‘s Bike & Board Shed Rona Home Centre Safeway Save-on-Foods SBL Liquor Store Scout Island Nature Center Senior Citizens ActivityCenter Shopper‘s Drug Mart Spa Bella Station House Gallery Sta-Well Health Foods Subway Sutton Cariboo Realty Taylor Made Cakes The Gecko Tree The Open Book Tim Hortons Tourism Info Center Trattoria Pasta Shoppe Thompson Rivers Univ.

Tsilhqot'in National Gov`t Walmart Williams Lake Physio WL Veterinary Hospital Williams Lake Water Factory *please note that we are in the process of revamping our distribution process to better serve our clients. If TheGreenGazette is not being displayed at any of the above locations please contact us so that we may rectify the situation.

By Jasmin Schellenberg HEALTHY SNACKS Rhubarb Slush This is a refreshing spring time beverage.

Ingredients  6 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped  2 cups brown sugar  6 ounces fresh or frozen orange juice  6 ounces fresh or frozen lemon juice  3 cups water  2 liters of carbonated water, chilled Method Place rhubarb in a large saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until tender.

Drain and mash or puree in a blender.

Stir together the rhubarb puree, sugar, orange and lemon juice, and water. Freeze.

Place scoops of the frozen mixture into serving glasses, and fill the rest of the glass with lemon-lime soda. Enjoy.

NUTRIENT DENSE MEAL Pot au Feu (Boiled beef with vegetables, serves 6) Ingredients  2-3 lbs beef brisket, shoulder, or neck roast  2 marrow bones  1 Tbsp salt  500 gr leek, cut into 4-inch sticks  500 gr whole carrots  200 gr celery sticks  2 onions, quartered  5 pieces of garlic  2 cloves  salt and pepper to taste Method Fill a large cooking pot with cold water.

Add salt, meat, and marrow bones. Simmer on the stove, skimming as the cooking progresses. After one hour, add the vegetables, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 3 more hours.

This dish is eaten in two stages: first, the meat with the vegetables and bread or with potatoes, and next, the soup the next day.

Enjoy.

MYTHS UNVEILED (Synopsis of an article from the Wise Tradition magazine, spring 2015) How to rectify today‘s toxic lifestyle?

Is it possible to turn the wheel back?

Pollution is a problem. Foods contain pesticides, herbicides, and excess hormones. GMOs are everywhere. Formaldehyde is coating our clothing; flame retardants are infused into our mattresses. When travelling by air we are exposed to radiation. But the worst of all toxins are prescription and over the counter drugs, which we so willingly take.

If we educate ourselves about what we might be exposed to and how to avoid the worst of it through our choices as consumers, we can make a big difference. Understanding this will greatly affect the health of our children and their children.

Often when one thinks about detoxifying, images of a rigid, three-day juice fast or the like comes to mind. Detoxifying in this day and age should be an ongoing process. The organs that need the cleansing the most are the liver and gallbladder, the kidneys, the lungs, the colon, and the skin.

Gentle detoxification is the answer.

There is no better way to ensure an optimal cleanse than to nourish the body properly.

For the liver to function at optimum levels, a nutrient-dense diet of unadulterated, nongenetically modified, real food must be consumed. This diet should be high in fatsoluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2 from pastured animals, highlighted by mineral-rich full fat, raw dairy products, homemade bone broths, and an abundance of organi-

cally grown vegetables, fruits, and properly prepared soaked and fermented grains. A diet like this is taught by Weston A. Price Foundation and Dr. Natasha CampbellMcBride.

Avoidance of unnecessary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, toxic dental materials, chemicals, personal care products, household cleaners, clothing, and furnishings is another key aspect of supporting your body in daily cleansing. Go to biodynamicwellness.com and receive a ―non-toxic product‖ list.

Movement is a gentle therapy which will stimulate the lymphatic system and improve immune support.

Castor oil packs are another traditional remedy to support the lymphatic system, providing a soothing, cleansing, and nutritive treatment.

Dry skin brushing is also a gentle therapy stimulating the skin and therefore the underlying lymphatic system. (Always brush towards the liver, ideally at bedtime.)

There are several liver tonics. My favourite is beet kvass. It protects against infection, is a great probiotic and digestive aid, and contains many liver-supporting properties and valuable enzymes, ideal for detoxification.

Here is the recipe from Sally Fallon‘s book: Ingredients  3 medium beets, coarsely chopped  ¼ cup homemade whey juice from yogurt  1 tablespoon sea salt, double if no whey is available Method Add ingredients to a 2 quart jar and fill with water. Stir and leave at room temperature for 3–4 days for fermentation, then refrigerate and enjoy one once a day.

Another gentle detoxification is the dry sauna, also dating back to ancient Rome.

All internal organs detoxify during a sauna while the body is in a relaxed state. It is important to shower after a sauna to prevent the skin from reabsorbing the toxins (from the sweating). Also, always drink plenty of water with a pinch of sea salt after a sauna, as you lose lots of salt during sweating.

If you have any severe health conditions consult your doctor before beginning sauna therapy.

At new moon, the body‘s capacity for detoxification is at its highest. This is a perfect time for a cleansing salt bath. The saltwater bath has a de-slagging effect, similar to a four-day chamfering cure. Use sea salt or Epsom salt.

Keep in mind that detoxification is an ongoing process, not a once a year event.

TIP: The day of the full moon, the body‘s healing process is at its peak as is its absorption potential. At full moon, the body will absorb the most minerals from the salt bath. The mineral materials penetrate and are absorbed into the skin in the form of ions. Bioenergetic weak points are harmonized and the body‘s own energy flow is activated.

Brought to you by Jasmin Schellenberg. Inspired by and resourced from Nourishing Traditions

by Sally Fallon; and: www.westonaprice.org.