Philippe Morin
Northern News Services
Monday, July 23, 2007

BEAUFORT DELTA - Let's explain one thing about media before we begin.

If you're trying to get articles written about environmental issues -- say, calling a newspaper saying you're concerned about climate change - you need an angle.

Call an editor, a reporter, a news desk, any television or radio station and they'll say. "Sure, we know about climate change, polar bears, melting ice. It's a sad story, it's important. But we've already written about that. Why do it again? What's new about it?"

As a result, it seems the NWT -- and the rest of Canada -- is seeing an increasing number of activist stunts.

Consider Ontario's Jay Morrison for example. On July 16, he arrived in Inuvik after paddling most of Canada, from the St. Lawrence river to the Mackenzie in a thin wooden kayak decorated with wildlife.

Does that get your attention yet?

While there is no doubt Morrison is a brave traveller, one has to wonder why it's all necessary.

Since July 2006, Morrison said he's had 50 interviews with reporters across Canada.

Publications from Ottawa to Toronto to Winnipeg to Fort McMurray have written about his trip, and maybe thrown in a few sentences about pollution.

For Morrison and activists like him, these small mentions make the sacrifice worthwhile.

"To be honest, I know how the media works," Morrison said when asked about the nature of the canoe stunt.

"The media loves a man vs. nature kind of story, and that's why I tried paddling the length of Canada in one year, because it had never been done before. It's a new angle," he said.

He is hoping his new angle will help the campaign to increase the size of the Nahanni National Park.

But, do stunts like these actually do anything to further a cause? What's the actual link to climate change and wetland preservation?

When asked about this, Morrison spoke about capturing people's imaginations, and the activist standard of "raising awareness."

Like the many others who organize activist events in the NWT -- protests, marches, hunger strikes, motorcycle journeys, charity marathons -- he said it is not so much the action itself which matters, but its coverage in the media.

A cynical view, perhaps, but who can argue with 50 interviews?

For better or for worse, people "raising awareness" of something in the NWT are probably planning a bigger and larger stunt -- soon arriving, no doubt, up the Dempster Highway or the Mackenzie River in some amazing fashion.