Sierra Club Canada (SCC) is a Canadian environmental organization.
Terry A. Simmons incorporated the Sierra Club BC in 1969, affiliating the local organization with the
Sierra Club of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Several members of the club were prominent in the founding of
Greenpeace. In 1989, Sierra Club Canada spread to the entire country and was legally incorporated as a Canadian organization in 1992.
, it has around approximately 10,000 members and supporters with its head office in
Ottawa.
Organization
Sierra Club Canada is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors, three members of which are elected each year in an election in which all SCC members can vote. Two of the seats are reserved for
youth
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...
members of the Club.
SCC currently has five Chapters (
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
,
Prairie
Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...
s, and
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
) and the
Sierra Youth Coalition
The Sierra Youth Coalition (SYC) (french: Coalition jeunesse Sierra) is a national Canadian organization run by youth for youth, founded in 1996, and serving as the youth arm of the Sierra Club of Canada Foundation. Its stated mission is "to empo ...
. It has offices in
Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Halifax,
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
,
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, and
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
.
In addition, SCC includes several local groups working mostly at the municipal level.
Executive Directors
# 1989–2006:
Elizabeth May
Elizabeth Evans May (born June 9, 1954) is a Canadian politician, environmentalist, author, activist, and lawyer who is serving as the leader of the Green Party of Canada since 2022, and previously served as the leader from 2006 to 2019. Sh ...
# 2006–2009: Stephen Hazell
# 2009–present
John Bennett
Affiliates and subsidiaries
SCC is also affiliated with the Sierra Club Canada Foundation and th
Sierra Club British Columbia Foundation
The
Sierra Youth Coalition
The Sierra Youth Coalition (SYC) (french: Coalition jeunesse Sierra) is a national Canadian organization run by youth for youth, founded in 1996, and serving as the youth arm of the Sierra Club of Canada Foundation. Its stated mission is "to empo ...
is the youth-led wing of the Sierra Club Canada.
SCC is a major member of the
Canadian Environmental Network The Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN) is an umbrella organization for environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) located across Canada. This non-profit organization was mainly funded by Environment Canada and helped to facilitate ne ...
.
Work
Sierra Club Canada has influenced environmental policy and legislative initiatives. The following list of milestones provides some of the campaigns that Sierra Club has been involved in, both in coalition with others and as a leading advocate.
2009
* Reducing
smog pollution – Sierra Club Canada initiated and led a joint industry/environmental group coalition that has brought together provincial and federal governments with other stakeholders in a collaboration for a comprehensive federal and provincial regulatory regime to improve air quality standards, an air zone approach to managing air quality, and a multi-stakeholder Air Quality Council to oversee the regime
* Raising public awareness about oil sands development - Sierra Club Canada and Sierra Club Prairie raise public awareness about the adverse environmental impacts of oil sands development.
2008
* Stopping the Digby Neck Basalt Quarry and Marine Terminal - Working closely with local citizens' groups, Sierra Club Canada and Sierra Club Atlantic persuaded an environmental review panel to oppose construction of a basalt quarry and marine terminal, the ships from which would have damaged threatened right whales and damaged a community committed to sustainability. The federal and Nova Scotian governments accepted the panel's recommendations; the quarry and terminal were never built
* Ensuring that greenhouse gas emissions are assessed in oil sands projects - Sierra Club Canada won a lawsuit in the
Federal Court of Canada
The Federal Court of Canada, which succeeded the Exchequer Court of Canada in 1971, was a national court of Canada that had limited jurisdiction to hear certain types of disputes arising under the federal government's legislative jurisdiction. O ...
requiring that greenhouse gas emissions are assessed as part of the federal environment assessment for an oil sands mine, specifically the
Kearl Oil Sands Project
The Kearl Oil Sands Project is an oil sands mine in the Athabasca Oil Sands region at the Kearl Lake area, about north of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada. The project is being developed in three phases with the first phase completed mid-2013.
...
.
2007
* The cleanup of the
Sydney Tar Ponds
The Sydney Tar Ponds were a hazardous waste site on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Located on the eastern shore of Sydney Harbour in the former city of Sydney (now amalgamated into the Cape Breton Regional Municipality), the Tar Ponds ...
in Nova Scotia will not include an incinerator for toxic waste, which would have further polluted local communities.
*The Mackenzie Gas Project has been delayed for five years and may never be built.
* Federal funding has been committed to protect the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, which is a quarter of the Earth’s remaining ancient coastal temperate rainforests.
* Phase-out of a federal tax subsidy to oil sands companies, as well as growing support for a moratorium on new Alberta tar sands projects.
2006
* The announcement that two million hectares of temperate rainforest would be protected from logging. The
Great Bear Rainforest
The Great Bear Rainforest is a temperate rain forest on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada comprising 6.4 million hectares. It is part of the larger Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion, which is the largest coastal temperate rain ...
announcement is British Columbia’s decade-long effort that saw blockades, international markets campaigns, and an agreement between as unlikely allies as logging companies and environmentalists.
2005
* Stopping proposal to transport
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...
water out of the watershed via the Sustainable Water Resources Agreement.
* Achieving the commitment to a minimum of 5 percent mix of biofuels in gasoline and diesel by the end of 2010.
* The passage of Bill C-15, which is designed to bring an end to the dumping of bilge oil from ships, which results in the deaths of some 300,000 seabirds annually off the coast of Newfoundland alone.
2004
* Both the Ontario Government and the federal government accepted Sierra Club Canada's position against any diversions from the Great Lakes. The plan to allow diversions was halted. The Sierra Club was the first environmental group to identify the proposed Annex from the Council of Great Lakes Governors as a major threat to the lakes
* The federal Ministers of Environment and Natural Resources jointly committed to push the car makers to 25% decreases in greenhouse gas emissions by 2010, directly in response to a Sierra Club of Canada campaign
* The British Columbia government received a report from public hearings, chaired by Roland Priddle, clearly stating that British Columbians were massively opposed to lifting the moratorium on offshore oil and gas development. SCC and our BC Chapter had been heavily involved in the coalition opposing oil and gas
* The Quebec environmental assessment agency (Bureau d'Audiences Publique -BAPE) issued a report harshly critical of the threat to whales from
seismic testing – the first step in oil and gas exploration – an issue which SCC had been coordinating and to which we had appeared in order to give evidence. The Quebec government blocked testing at the mouth of the St. Lawrence in the Gulf
* After years of pressure, the federal government came through with $4 billion for the clean-up of toxic waste sites, with a very specific mention of the need to clean up the Sydney Tar Ponds. By May, the federal and provincial governments signed a $400 million agreement to clean up the notorious toxic site. SCC has been the only environmental group, national or provincial, championing the plight of the local environment and Sydney residents
* The precedent created by Sierra Club of Canada's victory in the Federal Court, quashing a permit for a massive mussel aquaculture facility in Cape Breton, was preserved when the company dropped its appeal. Although the aquaculture facility is proceeding under a new permit, it has been forced to adopt a phased approach
* Nine municipalities drafted pesticide by-laws, and five adopted them in 2004. Often their efforts were supported by our materials and local volunteers. A total of 70 municipalities now have by-laws restricting the use of toxic chemical pesticides for cosmetic purposes.
2003
* Passage of Species at Risk Act
* Reform of the Pest Control Products Act
* Pesticide bylaws in 65 municipalities to date
* Sierra Club successfully intervenes in Supreme Court of Canada which upholds Canadian Patent Board's refusal to patent Oncomouse (Harvard Mouse Case)
* $4 billion committed to Toxic Waste Site Clean Up in the federal budget
* Sierra Club was the only intervener in environmental hearings in Fort McMurray appearing to oppose any expansion in the Athbasca Tar Sands.
* Arctic National Wildlife Refuge protected another year
* Failure of the WTO in September in Cancun
* Key role in developing a strong new National Forest Strategy
ITER project
In 2003, Sierra Club Canada lobbied extensively to stop Canadian participation in the
ITER project. The SCC, arguing that the research project was a subsidy, influenced public opinion against the project. Canada is now no longer involved in ITER.
Archives
There is a Sierra Club Canada
fonds
In archival science, a fonds is a group of documents that share the same origin and that have occurred naturally as an outgrowth of the daily workings of an agency, individual, or organization. An example of a fonds could be the writings of a poe ...
at
Library and Archives Canada.
Archival reference number is R8161.
References
External links
*
Sierra Club Canada FoundationSierra Youth Coalition
{{Authority control
Sierra Club
Environmental organizations based in Ontario
Organizations based in Ottawa