SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Cost and logistics nearly prevented David Suzuki's visit, but aboriginal leaders from across the country told the outspoken activist that a stop in the North was a must.

Environmentalist David Suzuki brought his national Blue Dot Tour to Yellowknife on Monday night. Elaine Anselmi/NNSL photo -

"We scaled down the thing, flew up with only three of us, not the whole crew, but I'm so glad that we did because the advice was absolutely right, you can't talk about a national tour without including the Arctic," said Suzuki.

A reason he said the stop was so important is the significant First Nations population who are closely tied to the goals of his tour taking him across the country.

"They have been my biggest teachers. The biggest lessons I've learned about environmentalism have been taught to my by indigenous people all over the world, starting in Canada," said Suzuki. "Our movement is imbued with the thinking of aboriginal people."

With more than 100 people out for the panel discussion at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Suzuki told the audience that healthy land, air and water is their civil right. He encouraged the public to put pressure on all levels of government to ultimately see that right included in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms - the goal of the Blue Dot campaign he's promoting through his travels.

"If we were to enshrine this, it would mean that no new government could come in and water down the legislation. You can only strengthen it but you can't water it down because it is in the constitution," Suzuki told Yellowknifer.

"One of those things that just bugs me is when you get a government that has been in power for one or two terms and you get it thrown out by a different government, the new government always acts as if everything the previous government did was crap and throws as much of it out as possible - this has got to be so inefficient."

With an amendment to the charter, Suzuki said this policy would be guaranteed going forward.

Also on the panel were Mandee McDonald, Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning program manager; Herb Norwegian, Dehcho First Nations grand chief; and Miles Richardson of Haida Gwaii.

All panelists remarked on the importance of the roots of First Nations in Canada. The event was hosted by Dene Nahjo and moderated by Deneze Nakehk'o, who spoke about his own heritage and the significance of the land to the Dene people.

A strong and healthy environment is something McDonald said is key to Dechinta's programming.

"Dechinta is a land-based university, so I think, as an organization who's pedagogy is totally dependent on a clean environment, I think that is really where the connection is between the tour and Dechinta's role in it," said McDonald.

No government representatives were invited to speak on the tour, Suzuki said, as it is focused on seeing change start with the public. Having spent many years lobbying different levels of government, he described it as a "soul-destroying process" as inroads are made, only to see elected officials replaced or moved to different positions.

The goal of the tour is to have local governments adopt a declaration for the protection of the environment, said Suzuki, which a number of communities across the country already have. As a collective, he said municipalities can put pressure on their provincial or territorial governments.

"Then seven provinces with more than 50 per cent of the population can go to the federal government and say, 'We want this in the constitution,'" said Suzuki.

The right to a healthy environment is recognized in more than 100 countries, but in Canada, Suzuki said the resource-hungry culture has become a barrier.

"I think we tend to think of the land and everything on it as a possible resource, we want to exploit it. When people in the Arctic started saying 'Hey, climate change is happening', instead of people in the south going, 'Holy cow, we better do something about it', the response was , 'Oh gee, we'll be able to send ships through the Northwest Passage year round' or 'Hey, we can get at all that stuff that's under the ice,'" said Suzuki.

"It's just the wrong way to look at it, we should have taken the warnings that something was happening."

Through legislation, Suzuki said Canada would be on board with other countries that recognize the importance of not letting resource development negate environmental protection.

"However, the people of this area are going to develop these lands, I think they've got to make absolutely sure the air, water and soil itself and diversity of plants and animals are protected," said Suzuki. "Whatever they do, that has got to be their highest value that determines how the development takes place."

This change in priorities would be a major shift, Suzuki said, adding that there is no set end date for the Blue Dot campaign, but the organization will continue to provide information and support towards making a change at all levels of government.

"I could very well not see it happening within my lifetime, who knows. The important thing is to get it started. The most important thing is the conversation, getting people to realize how important air, water and nature are in our lives," said Suzuki. "We tend to worry about our jobs and not worry that we're compromising the very important things in our lives, so we want to refocus people's attention."

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