Advocacy

Getting to Know You

June is Indigenous History Month, and Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21) is a time all to honour the cultures and contributions of Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Inuit, and Metis).

As I was reflecting on what I wanted to put into this blog, the song “Getting to know You came to mind.  It is the one that Julie Andrews sang to the children in “The King and I”

Perhaps some words of the song can apply to our growing relationship with Indigenous peoples.  It has been and is a process of “getting to know” each other and “getting to know what to say” when entering into the Indigenous ways of knowing.

June 21st is National Indigenous Peoples Day in which we honour the Indigenous peoples, Elders and ancestors to commemorate the Indigenous culture, language, land and ways of being.

It was first self-declared Indian Day in 1945, by Jules Sioui and chiefs from across Turtle Island (North America). In 1982, the National Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of First Nations) called for the creation of a National Aboriginal Solidarity Day to be celebrated on 21 June.

Sometimes, critics say of the indigenous Peoples that “they need to get over it” when the topic arises about the residential School system, the “60’s scoop”, the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, 2 spirit, and gender diverse people (MMIWG2S). “Getting over it” is not what it is about. Journeying together, Indigenous and non-Indigenous/settlers through those painful years of history is what it is about.

It is important to remember, not forget what has happened and continues to happen in the unjust treatment of Indigenous peoples.

It is about re-member-ing.  And to better understand at a heart level what was done TO the first peoples when the settlers came. We all are called to re-mem-ber that we are one people with diverse ways of being, knowing and enriching each other.

By journeying together in openness, respect, humility, love, truth courage, honesty and wisdom, we can come to a new united people on this land.

Healing must be part of the process of being reconciled, being one.

The colonizer needs to be healed from the shame that exists about what the early colonial ancestors did. Education about the true history of colonial and Indigenous relationships is absolutely necessary, followed by a commitment not to have this treatment repeated.

Many of the First nations Peoples do not even know the truth of their past, because Residential School survivors never spoke of their experience.  When the truth is told, there is more of a chance of reconciliation.

The peoples of the 14th and 15th Century, Indigenous and colonizers, were taught by the Doctrine of Discovery, that the first peoples were savages, inferior.  They believed it of themselves, and the colonizers were thereby justified in taking the land and resources.

Healing for the Indigenous involves dealing with the anger, sense of loss, frustration, through the various Indigenous ways of healing. 

The colonizers also need healing, through education and by ensuring that what was done so cruelly in the 14th century to the present, is never repeated.

Forgiveness is an act of the Creator, where restoration to a new order happens after the victim is able to remember the atrocities, and to choose to move beyond the anger even to a point of forgiveness of the wrongdoer. (see pp. 17-19, 11 in The Ministry of Reconciliation: Spirituality and Strategies by Robert Schreiter, C.PP.S

Once the wronged Indigenous person can forgive, the wrongdoer can be moved to express true sorrow and reshape his/her actions.

So, on this day of honouring the Indigenous peoples of this part of Turtle Island, called Canada, let us embark on a journey together.

For example, some of the opportunities available to us as non-Indigenous, are attending a POW WOW...these are open to the public; visit a friendship Centre; attend webinar or a Teaching and Sharing circle online, visit a reserve in your area.

“Getting to Know You” begins with Education.  In the words of former Senator, Murray Sinclair,

“It is education that got us here, and it is education that will get us out.”

-Sister Kathleen Lichti, CSJ

Groups Urge Trudeau and Biden to Transparently Report Logging Emissions

Today we joined 80+ US & Canadian groups in urging President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to transparently report GHG emissions from logging - a critical step towards effective climate action, forest protection & climate-safe forestry.

View the letter here.

View the Press Release here.

March 22, 2023

Dear President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau,

As more than eighty organizations and scientists from both Canada and the United States, we are writing to urge your governments to transparently account for and report on greenhouse gas emissions from industrial logging. While we applaud your governments’ commitment to 2030 climate targets and stated support of natural climate solutions, the fact that emissions from industrial logging are not separately and transparently reported jeopardizes the integrity of these 2030 targets and hinders the advancement of truly ambitious forest protection policies.

Transparent and accurate reporting of greenhouse gas emissions is the bedrock of scientifically driven climate policy. Annual greenhouse gas inventories are the foundation from which countries both chart progress toward Paris Agreement targets and derive information about appropriate policy measures to reduce the impact of high-emitting sectors and transition to more sustainable economies. Unfortunately, both Canada and the United States’ inventories have a substantial reporting gap, omitting clear and transparent reporting on the impact of industrial logging.

Industrial logging1 is a high-emitting sector, with a climate impact on par with that of other sectors included in the inventories. In Canada, the logging industry clearcuts more than 550,000 hectares of forest each year,2 much of this in high-carbon primary forests. A recent conservative estimate, based on government data, placed the logging industry’s 2020 net emissions at approximately 75 Mt CO2 annually–roughly equal to emissions from Canada’s oil sands production.3 In the United States, the Forest Service found that “timber harvesting, and not land use change or fire, was the largest source of gross emissions from U.S. forests between 2006 and 2010.”4[4]

Despite the logging industry’s status as a high-emitting sector, the U.S. and Canadian inventories do not separately and transparently report on its climate impact. Instead, the logging industry’s emissions are subsumed under broader reporting on land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF). This practice makes it exceedingly difficult to discern what carbon fluxes are attributable to the logging industry and, more specifically, what logging industry practices offer the greatest potential for mitigation.

The policy impacts of logging’s omission from Canada and the United States’ inventories are sweeping. It has resulted in a “climate-blind” forest decision making process divorced from the climate ramifications of the logging industry’s practices. Decisions to forgo forest protections, allow certain annual allowable cuts, or directly subsidize logging industry expansion do not factor in climate considerations because the necessary information is not available. It also prevents the implementation of incentives to drive climate-friendlier logging practices or invest in new sustainable economies.

Separate and transparent reporting will not only facilitate data-driven policy making, but also allow for the recognition of progress toward mitigating logging industry emissions. We have been encouraged by your governments’ recent commitments advancing the preservation and restoration of forest ecosystem health. As you continue to build on and implement these commitments, transparent logging industry reporting will allow your governments to reflect successful efforts to reduce these emissions and track the sector’s progress toward our countries’ 2030 climate goals.

As you meet to discuss the most pressing issues our countries face, we urge you to jointly commit to transparently reporting on emissions from industrial logging. There is significant progress our two countries can make together to advance forest protections domestically and globally. Clear and transparent disclosure of industrial logging’s climate impact will ensure the United States and Canada can lead with policy that is robust and data-driven, while modeling best practices for forested countries around the world.

Here is a link to the final letter and all the signatures.

1 Encompassing emissions and removals associated with tree harvesting, post-harvest regeneration, and the storage and decay of carbon in harvested wood products. 2 National Forestry Database (Canada), “Forest Area Harvested on Private and Crown Lands,” http://nfdp.ccfm.org/en/data/harvest.php, accessed March 15, 2023. 3 M. Bramley & G. Saul, “What are the Net Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Logging in Canada?” Nature Canada & NRDC, October 2022, https://naturecanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Report-What-Are-Net-GHGEmissions-From-Logging-in-Canada.pdf. 4 United States Forest Service, “The U.S. Forest Carbon Accounting Framework: Stocks and Stock Change, 19902016,” November 2015, https://www.fs.usda.gov/nrs/pubs/gtr/gtr_nrs154.pdf. 2

Encounters on the Trail

The rewards of walking on London, Ontario’s trails exceed that of mere exercise.   I meet friendly cyclists, walkers, pedestrians, and dogs.  I listen to birds, search for frogs in springtime, and experience the constant changes in the weather and scenery.  Occasionally there is an intriguing encounter. 

Image: Unsplash/Blake Lisk

Today I met a man, whom I will name, Joseph, who was walking up a slope from a tent on the river’s edge. He had descended to the tent to check on the welfare of the occupant because of the very cold temperature.  The tent’s owner was absent, and the walker expressed hope that the tent-dweller was in a safe, warm place.  Joseph spoke about his regular walking tours of London’s trails. He described having urged a tent dweller on another trail to seek temporary shelter; this man had declined the suggestion, stating that several blankets kept him sufficiently warm and that staying in a men’s shelter was too dangerous.  Joseph spoke of another occasion in which he had met a young female tent dweller, convinced her to leave her unsafe location, and assisted her to find refuge from her alcohol-addicted boyfriend. Walking the trails in London to search for people in need is a regular practice of this good Samaritan.  

We conversed together about the difficulties for people who have no homes, the lack of adequate resources, and the failure of past efforts to remedy a grievous problem in our city. We also noted the anonymous donation of twenty-five million dollars for a new effort to overcome homelessness, the willing cooperation of several organizations to remedy an untenable situation, and the skilled leadership from the city that together provide hope that London can, at last, overcome a longstanding calamity. 

Patricia McKeon, CSJ