SEPTEMBER 2019 PEACE RIVER VALLEY: STRUGGLE TO PROTECT ANCESTRAL LANDS CONTINUES First Nations people of the Peace River Valley have been campaigning to Andrea Morison, PVEA © protect their ancestral lands from Site C, a proposed $10 billion dam project that would flood the valley. “We’ve never said no to the production of energy. We’ve said, let’s protect the valley. It’s the last piece of our backyard that’s relatively untouched,” said Chief Roland Willson of The Peace River Valley in northeastern British West Moberly First Nations. Columbia is a unique ecosystem that First Nations Last summer, the West Moberly First Nations was in court rely upon for hunting and fishing, gathering berries trying to get temporary limits placed on the construction of the Site C dam—at least until the court could determine and sacred medicine, and holding ceremonies. whether flooding the Peace River Valley would breach their Their ancestors are buried in this land. The proposed Constitutionally-protected Treaty rights. West Moberly First Nations’ request for an interim $10 billion Site C dam would flood more than 80 km injunction was vigorously opposed by the British Columbia of the river valley. The severe impact on Indigenous government and was ultimately rejected by the court over peoples is beyond dispute. A United Nations concerns about the financial cost. As a result, BC Hydro has plunged ahead with clearcut logging, road construction and human rights body has condemned the project. other activities in preparation for the eventual completion Craig Benjamin, Amnesty Canada’s Campaigner for of the dam. Over the last year, construction activities have disrupted and devastated areas that West Moberly had the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, reports on identified as sacred sites and crucial habitat for the plant the latest in the struggle to stop the dam. and animal species on which they depend. (continued on page 3) 9 Stolen Sisters 10 USA: End family separation 12 Climate change IN THIS ISSUE 2019 USA: End family BRANCH FINANCIAL UPDATE AGM Report separation 6 10 Fundraised revenue for the first five months of 2019 amounted to $5.594 million, less than the amount of National Inquiry Mexico: Mothers of $5.841 million which had been targeted in the budget, the Disappeared into Missing 11 resulting in a shortfall from budget for fundraised revenue and Murdered of $247 thousand. Income from other sources amounted to Indigenous 9 Strike to stop $45 thousand, resulting in total revenue for the five-month Women and Girls 12 climate change period of $5.639 million. Expenditures for the same period amounted to $5.908 million, an amount which is less than the budgeted GRETA THUNBERG AWARDED amount of $6.031 million. In spite of the negative variances to date with respect to fundraised revenue, the Branch is AMNESTY’S HIGHEST HONOUR in a healthy financial position going into the second half In June, Amnesty International presented the 2019 of the year. Ambassador of Conscience Award to Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future climate strike movement. Table of Revenue & Expenditure (in 000s of dollars) Starting in 2018, Thunberg, who at the time was aged 15, decided to miss school every Friday to protest Actual to Budget to outside the Swedish parliament until it took more serious May 31 May 31 action to tackle climate change. Her efforts to raise Revenues awareness of the climate crisis quickly went global, Fundraised 5,594 5,841 with more than one million young people from all over Other 45 30 the world taking part in the Fridays for Future school strikes. On September 20, there will be a global climate Subtotal 5,639 5,871 strike. See page 12 for information on how you, too, Expenditures 5,908 6,031 can participate. Net Deficit (269) (160) As the table depicts, there has been an actual net deficit from operations for the five-month period of $269 thousand as compared to the budgeted net deficit of $160 thousand. Due to the nature of the Branch’s annual cash flow forecast, it had always been anticipated that the Branch would have a deficit by this time of the year. However, the most productive months of the year from a fundraising standpoint are from September to December and it is expected that the Branch will be in a good financial position as of © FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images © FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty the end of the year. SEPTEMBER 2019 National Office AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S Published by Amnesty International 312 Laurier Avenue East, Canadian Section (ES) Ottawa, ON K1N 1H9 VISION AND MISSION PHONE 613-744-7667 or EDITOR: David Griffiths 1-800-AMNESTY Amnesty International’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys ([email protected]) (1-800-266-3789) all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Activist is the result of the FAX 613-746-2411 Rights and other international human rights instruments. In pursuit of collaborative efforts of numerous E-MAIL [email protected] WEB www.amnesty.ca this vision, Amnesty International’s mission is to undertake research and people. Many thanks to everyone who helped with this issue. action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of these rights. Toronto Office NEXT PRINT ISSUE 1992 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor The next issue will be mailed by Toronto, ON M4S 1Z7 RECEIVING ACTIVIST MAGAZINE November 7, 2019. The deadline PHONE 416-363-9933 to submit content for that issue FAX 416-363-3103 To receive Activist magazine, phone 1-800-AMNESTY (1-800-266-3789) is October 10, 2019. E-MAIL [email protected] and confirm you are a supporter. Published in print three times a Canada Post­­–Canadian Publications Mail Vancouver Office year, Activist is free to all Amnesty supporters who request it. Change Product Sales Agreement 40065443 Suite 430, 319 West Pender of address or problems receiving Activist? Contact Sue McNamara at Vancouver, BC V6B 1T3 our National Office by email at [email protected] PHONE 604-294-5160 E-MAIL [email protected] 2 AMNESTY.CA PEACE RIVER VALLEY: STRUGGLE TO PROTECT Chief Roland Willson of West Moberly First Nations with Dr. Gay McDougall, ANCESTRAL LANDS CONTINUES vice chair of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in Vancouver in June. Chief Willson said, “The UN’s top anti-racism body has recognized that continued construction of the Site C dam is a serious threat to fundamental human rights. This latest statement from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination makes it clear that the federal and provincial Amnesty International governments have no claim to being human rights champions so long © (cover story continued) as they continue to ignore the impacts of Site C on our Treaty rights.” The construction of the Site C dam represents such blatant disregard for the rights of Indigenous peoples It’s this kind of skewed logic—and minimization that the United Nations’ top anti-racism body has twice of Canada’s human rights obligation—that has led spoken out to call for a halt to the dam. CERD to also urge Canada to seek independent, expert In 2017, during a regular review of Canada’s human advice on how to interpret and implement international rights record, the UN Committee on the Elimination standards for the human rights of Indigenous peoples. of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed concern over the “irreversible damage” that would be caused by flooding the Peace River Valley. The Committee also condemned the fact that the dam was approved “despite the vigorous opposition of indigenous peoples The construction of the Site C dam represents affected by this project.” such blatant disregard for the rights of When construction continued, CERD issued a new Indigenous peoples that the United Nations’ statement in December 2018—under its Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure—again calling for a halt to top anti-racism body has twice spoken out the project so that Indigenous rights could be protected. to call for a halt to the dam. The condemnation from this UN human rights body is particularly significant given that both the federal government and the province of BC have committed to fully implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of At this point, however, there is no excuse for the Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration seeks to protect federal and provincial governments getting things so Indigenous peoples from government decisions that badly wrong in the Peace River Valley. As Dr. Gay ignore or undervalue their rights by requiring that McDougall, an international renowned expert on race development projects proceed only if free, prior and and human rights, and the vice chair of CERD, said informed consent is given. These standards in the UN during a recent public lecture in Vancouver, “Consent Declaration draw from longstanding work by CERD, is when you give it, not when you refuse it. It’s not a which has advocated for free, prior and informed secret formula.” consent for the last three decades. Despite the devastation that has occurred over the Canadian officials have tried to convince CERD that past year, the West Moberly and Prophet River First the destruction of the Peace River Valley is consistent Nations have not given up the fight to protect the Valley. with Canada’s human rights obligations because they Chief Roland Willson of West Moberly says that he has gave the First Nations the opportunity to agree to taken heart from concerns expressed by CERD and that the project. he believes the dam can still be stopped. ACTIVIST – SEPTEMBER 2019 3 In Toronto, on May 26, Amnesty’s Business and Human Rights and Indigenous Rights Group was at the Pedestrian Sundays event in Kensington Market to promote Amnesty’s campaign actions for earth, land and water defenders in Latin America.