Answers, Questions, Weirdness, News
Janice Abbott: Stop Making Sense
Women in leadership roles have been described variously as being emotional and/or unreasonable. Instead of fighting that label, Janice Abbott has embraced it.
Abbott is the Executive Director and CEO of Atira Women’s Resource Society and Atira Property Management Inc, a non-profit group that provides shelter and care for women and children affected by violence. During her tenure with Atira, Abbott has learned how to make due with dwindling government funding and is not only willing to think outside out of the box, but smash the box into tiny pieces, if need be.
Abbott will be speaking on the importance of being unreasonable as part of a conversation about women’s role as leaders at Bioneers, a three-day conference focusing on visionary and practical solutions for environmental and social change. She also answered a few unreasonable questions from us:
What is the importance of being unreasonable?
For me it’s the way one needs to be in order to get things done, particularly when you’re involved in change. The Atira Resource Society is an organization that provides programs and services for women and their children who have been impacted by violence, but we also advocate for change. I think in order to do that, particularly when you’re working with people who are marginalized, it’s not only important to be unreasonable, it’s imperative.
What’s your definition of being unreasonable?
I think that unreasonable means not taking ‘no’ for an answer. It means not accepting the way things are. It’s about making sure our voices are heard because historically women’s voices have been marginalized.
Can you think of an example where being unreasonable has worked to your benefit.
A recent example is we opened a new service, which is a transition house for elder women. We were told there would be no funding, we were told that we would get no support and we went ahead and did it anyway. We raised the money to purchase a house. We opened it without funding. We ran it on donations and volunteers and over the space of two years we ended up with the funding that we requested. Many folks thought that what we were doing was not reasonable, that we were crazy. But we saw the need and decided we were going to go ahead and do it anyway. If we waited until someone gave us the go-ahead, it may never have happened.
How have provincial funding affected women over the last few years?
Women find it harder to feed themselves and their children. They’re caught between a hard and a hard place. They have less access to childcare, less access to job training yet they’re expected to get jobs. And we end up having to support those women. They’re often angry, they’re often desperate and we see the impact of all of that.
You proudly declare yourself a feminist, yet many women have disavowed that label. How do feminists change some of the negativity that’s attached to the word ‘feminist’?
I don’t care. Maybe this is a place where someone might describe me as unreasonable, but I don’t care because there will always be critics and primarily they consist of folks who see themselves as having something to lose. The rest of the time, we do good work. We’re a group of amazing women doing really good work. That’s our response to those criticisms.
Abbott will be speaking at BC Bioneers Conference, Oct. 14-16. BCIT Downtown Campus (555 Seymour). Cost: $25-$125. Info: cypressworks.ca/bcbioneers
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Shared News
Loopholes Big Enough to Drive a Car Through
New fuel efficiency regulations in the U.S. could have an impact on an agreement between the Canadian government and the auto industry.
The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards have been re-written in an attempt to improve fuel efficiency regulations. But Sierra Club Canada’s senior policy advisor, John Bennett, says these new standards will classify cars by weight rather than size, which will create loopholes for the auto manufacturers. “Adding a bigger bumper on each end of an SUV will move it from one category to another without making any substantial difference. They’ll have met the rules but not improved fuel efficiency in any way.”
The bigger threat, however, may be that the new regulations will prevent individual states from imposing stricter fuel efficiency standards than the federal government’s. For example, this would affect a California law that is intended to limit greenhouse emissions by as much as 25 per cent, beginning in 2009. As many as nine other U.S. states are planning to join California in imposing stricter standards.
And if those U.S. states are not allowed to tighten their regulations, it could have an impact on a voluntary deal the Canadian government made with automakers to reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions by 25 per cent over the next five years. At the time the deal was struck in April, it was believed that California and the other U.S. states, as well as Canada, could band together to form an integrated North American market that could force the auto industry to comply with its stricter standards. However, if U.S. states are no longer allowed to impose such standards, Canada could be left to battle the car manufacturers on its own.
Bennett believes the notion of an integrated North American car market could backfire on Canada. “This change in the States is a signal to the Big Three automakers to play the game by U.S. rules and come back to Canada and say, ‘You’re not big enough.’”
Bennett believes the Canadian government should go back to the drawing board with the automakers and insist on making new regulations that are not tied to U.S. standards.
“The argument that the car companies gave was that we are an integrated North American market and the Canadian market wasn’t sufficiently large to actually dictate vehicle standards, which is absolute nonsense. It is not a small market. Companies like Toyota make cars specifically for the Canadian market all the time,” says Bennett. (Jon Azpiri)
Garbage … Keeping it in the Neighbourhood
Say that Capers has loads of oranges that are getting over ripe and it’s time to move them out. They and other grocery stores will often give that produce to non-profit organizations such as Quest, a group that receives food from businesses and donates it to charity. The problem is that a lot of the food Quest receives can’t be passed on.
“Quest has to cull it to see what is usable,” says Muggs Sigurgeirson, on behalf of the Strathcona Gardeners Association. “If they get a tonne of oranges, they can maybe use half of them; the other half they have to pay [to take away] as garbage.”
That’s where Sigurgeirson’s group comes in. For years, Strathcona Community Gardens in Vancouver has been receiving rotting or inedible produce—up to a point. They found they were getting more compostable material than they could process and the stuff they couldn’t accept ended up in a landfill.
But thanks to a grant from EcoAction, an Environment Canada funding program, the Strathcona Gardeners were able to build one of Canada’s few mid-sized composting facilities. The compost they now efficiently crank out is used to enrich the soil on their six-acre property, which features hundreds of fruit trees and an herb garden, as well as individual and shared garden plots. This community-based composting facility processes six to seven tonnes of unwanted food from a nearby food bank.
The story gets even better. The system also reduces gas emissions. Here’s a quick science lesson: if left in a landfill, organic waste can produce methane, a particularly noxious type of greenhouse gas. If composted, however, organic waste releases carbon dioxide, which is 20 times less toxic than methane.
Over the course of the two-year trial project, the gardeners believe the composting system will have the same environmental impact as taking more than 100 cars off the road.
While most composts are in backyards or are large-scale systems such as the one at UBC, Strathcona’s facility is one of the few designed to help smaller community groups. Sigurgeirson hopes their composting system will serve as an example to other small communities.
“It would be good if we had more of these,” she says. “It’s not that complicated. There are solutions. They’re not always mega-solutions but they can be done on a small scale.” (JA)
Staying in Kiddie Land
Vancouver COPE School Board chairperson Adrienne Montani has opted not to seek re-election this November. But she still has a firm grip on issues involving kids. Montani wants to spend more time with her family, while continuing her work with First Call (B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition), a group dedicated to raising awareness of child and youth issues.
During her six years with the board, Montani says she is most proud of improving labour relations, strengthening ties with community groups, and preventing cuts to inner-city schools. (JA)
Made to Order
Elizabeth May, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour. Others invited into the Order include former B.C. premier Dave Barrett, Nanaimo-born jazz singer Diana Krall, and broadcaster Peter Jennings. (JA)
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Business News
Whistler’s Glaciers: A Slippery Slope
Last year’s ski season at Whistler Blackcomb featured historically bad skiing conditions. Operators there are hoping the upcoming season will be better—lots better. Arguably, last year’s disappointing weather may or may not have been connected to global warming. Nevertheless, Whistler officials, including Arthur DeJong, are not refuting that global warming could have a long-term impact.
“We’re certainly not indifferent or uncertain about climate change. It’s here, there’s no question,” says DeJong, Whistler Blackcomb’s Planning and Environmental Resource Manager. “We’ve witnessed that since the early ’90s, as far as accepting it as a reality. The reason I say that is that glaciers are the ecosystem most sensitive to temperature change, and we have issues in the Whistler area. The glaciers have been retreating for over a century. We’ve been addressing it for some time.”
DeJong and his team at Whistler are dedicated to trying to leave as small an environmental footprint as possible on the resort’s giant glaciers. The company has attempted to augment its glaciers by adding artificial snow and building snow fences to guard it against wind erosion.
DeJong is also keeping a close eye on many resorts in Europe, where glacial melting has become a serious concern. For instance, the Andermatt resort in Switzerland has gone so far as to cover 2,500 square metres of the glacier ramp with a special tin foil that makes the glacier look like a giant baked potato.
While Whistler Blackcomb is far from taking such extreme measures, it has worked to reduce its fossil fuel consumption by using fuel-efficient snowmakers and vehicles. The park is also studying wind-generated power and is working on a run-of-river hydroelectric generating facility on Fitzsimmons Creek, between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. The project would divert a portion of water from the creek, put it through a turbine station, and then return it into the creek. The facility could generate enough electricity annually to energize 3,000 homes.
“We are very focused on energy because I really believe that, when we look at the global condition, the tumour is energy,” says DeJong. “We can keep doing a head-to-toe assessment of the global patient, if you will, but if we don’t arrest that tumour, everything else will eventually die anyway.”
DeJong sees last year’s poor conditions, which were caused by a jet stream of Gulf air that blew away much of the snow pack, as something of a mixed blessing, since it allowed his team to learn how to deal with future erratic weather that could arise due to climate change. DeJong is happy with the progress the resort has made but feels his job is far from over.
“We’re in focus with sustainability. We get it. But, at best, we are on first base and home plate is sustainability. It’s going to be a lifelong pursuit.” (Jon Azpiri)
Get a Load of This Garden Ornament
While most composters can be a rather bland part of any green space, the Quebec-based company BluePlanetSmart has created a blue globe-shaped composter that will add style to your garden while providing it with nutrients.
The composter was designed to not only look good but also to be more efficient than the traditional models. The spherical design gives it a small surface-to-volume ratio, which prevents the loss of heat that speeds decomposition. It also features an internal wheel system that aerates the compost material.
The composter costs about $250 and is available at
blueplanetsmart.com. (JA)
The Body Shop’s All-Call
The Body Shop Canada successfully launched a campaign asking customers in its 112 stores across the country to donate old cell phones during the month of August. More than 6,000 phones were donated and then passed on to ReCellular—Canada’s largest recycler and reseller of used wireless phones—where they will be refurbished and resold. The campaign raised more than $18,000 for the Canadian Women’s Foundation, which will use the money for violence prevention and recovery programs. (JA)
He’s in Heaven and So Are We
A patch of green space on Granville Island has been named after Ron Basford, the late Vancouver-area MP who helped turn the waterfront development into a model of urban planning. During his nearly two decades as a member of parliament, Basford, who died in January, worked to convince the federal government to redevelop the land. Last year, Granville Island was named as North America’s best neighbourhood by the U.S.-based organization
Project for Public Spaces. (JA)
We’re Not Just Recyclers!
Not that recycling isn’t a big deal, but let’s get down to earth… or something like that. The Delta Recycling Society is digging in with expanded goals and is wearing a new, more suitable name to better reflect its vision.
Welcome to the DRS Earthwise Society. As well as continuing its long-standing educational programs on recycling, the non-profit group is introducing new initiatives, such as its recent partnership with the Delta Chamber of Commerce to create a native plant garden in front of the Chamber office. (JA)
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Web Sightings
Diary of a Disaster
vancouver.ca/usar
An online diary of the Vancouver Urban Search and Rescue Team’s trip to Louisiana to help the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
New Orleans Is Sinking
cyberjournalist.net/news/002862.php
A comprehensive collection of blogs and first-hand accounts of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
What Rhymes With Crap?
fema.gov/kids/femarap.htm
Many critics have wondered why FEMA took so long to respond to Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps it was because they were writing and performing this “FEMA Kidz Rap,” an ill-conceived rap song written for kids with lyrics including “For floods, tornadoes, or even a ‘quake/You’ve got to be ready—so your heart don’t break.”
Ecology For Kids
www.nceas.ucsb.edu/nceas-web/kids/mmp/home.htm
A site where children can learn about ecology, including an impressive learning lab.
Would you Like Fries With That?
keaggy.com/sandwich
One man’s catalogue of every sandwich he eats.
It’s All in Your Head
latrinalia.org
A collection of graffiti found in bathrooms stalls around the U.S.
StoryCorps
storycorps.net
Since 2003, thousands have taken part in this massive oral history project. The site gives advice on how to interview and record your family or friends, as well as offering a place to preserve their stories.
Why Did Mr. Bill Know More Than Mr. Bush?
www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2678951
A video of a 2004 public service announcement featuring Mr. Bill—the clay character featured on Saturday Night Live in the ’70s—about how hurricanes could destroy New Orleans’ levee system. After Hurricane Katrina, U.S. President George W. Bush stated, “I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees.” Clearly, a clay doll knew more than the President, the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) director, and the Director of Homeland Security. Reassuring, isn’t it?
