Defenders of the Dawn: Green Rights in the Maritimes

DEFENDERS OF THE DAWN: GREEN RIGHTS IN THE MARITIMES

Do we have the right to clean water? That's the question In Harrietsfield, NS, where seepage from a dump pollutes dozens of wells.

Do we have the right to clean air? That's the issue in Pictou, NS, where the pulp mill belches choking emissions for months on end.

Do we have the right to reject reckless oil exploration and extraction? That's the issue in Elsipogtog, NB and Inverness, NS, where citizens and First Nations have been blocking highways, sabotaging equipment, burning police cruisers and facing off with overwhelming numbers of heavily armed Mounties.

And the answer is No. We do not have those rights. Of the 193 countries in the United Nations, 180 have some form of green rights. But not Canada.

But now Canadians are demanding those rights. Their movement is led by environmental organizations like Ecojustice, and energized by David Suzuki's Blue Dot tour, hosted in the Maritimes by author/broadcaster Silver Donald Cameron (www.silverdonaldcameron.ca) Dr. Cameron operates www.TheGreenInterview.com, a web site of searching, hour-long interviews with environmental leaders from around the world – including citizens and lawyers who have used environmental rights to win important battles in countries ranging from the Philippines to Argentina, from Ecuador to the European Union.

Defenders of the Dawn follows Silver Donald as he visits ecological hot spots and conflict zones across the Maritimes -- the territory whose Mi'kmaw inhabitants are known as the "people of the dawn" -- capturing the sorrow, rage and frustration of people who lack these fundamental rights. Contrasting sequences from South America, Asia and Europe demonstrate the successes of citizens who do have those rights. We see English, Acadian and Indigenous people demonstrating together, organizing, defying corporate force and going to jail to defend their own right to healthy air and water. We hear from Maritime farmers, business owners, householders and pensioners, demanding that our region – and our country – reshape the law to accord with human needs, values and dreams.

Ordinary people doing extraordinary things, taking personal responsibility for the world that sustains us all. Fighting back where they live. And winning.