CANADA WATER WEEK: MARCH 20 TO 27, 2017 - THEME: HEALTHY RIVERS, LIVING LAKES

Each year since 2011 Canada Water Week has encouraged communities to celebrate water. In a country as vast as ours, each watershed, wetland, lake, river, stream and pond has unique characteristics and reasons to celebrate, and over the years we've seen many inventive celebrations. This year, as we mark our seventh annual Canada Water Week, we are returning to our roots and providing a flexible theme to allow your creativity to soar. We look forward to seeing how you celebrate your Healthy Rivers and Living Lakes this year!

FIND OUT MORE AT:
http://canadawaterweek.com/

MEDIA KIT:
http://canadawaterweek.com/sites/default/files/files/images/Media_Tookit.pdf

Radon is a radioactive gas that is formed naturally by the breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water. Radon is colourless, odourless and tasteless. When Radon is released from the ground outside it mixes with fresh air and gets diluted resulting in concentrations too low to be of concern. However, when Radon enters an enclosed space, such as a house or basement, it can accumulate to high concentrations and become a health risk.

Radon gas can enter a house any place it finds an opening where the house contacts the soil: cracks in foundation walls and in floor slabs, construction joints, gaps around service pipes and support posts, floor drains and sumps, cavities inside walls, and the water supply.

Radon can also be found in groundwater from private or small community wells. Radon produced in the ground can dissolve and accumulate in water from underground sources such as wells. When water containing Radon is agitated during daily household use – showering, clothes washing or cooking, for example, the Radon gas can be released into the air. However, research has shown that drinking water that contains Radon is far less harmful than breathing the gas. The health risk does not come from consuming the Radon, but from inhaling the gas. And in most cases, the risk of Radon entering the home through water is much lower than if it enters through the ground.

Almost all homes have some Radon. The levels can vary dramatically even between similar homes located next to each other. The amount of Radon in a home will depend on many factors. Because there are so many factors, it is not possible to predict the Radon level in a home; the only way to know for sure is to test.

Find Out more about Radon Testing at: http://www.takeactiononradon.ca/radon-testing

Access resources to share with your friends, family, and patients at http://www.takeactiononradon.ca/organizations

  One of the hottest, critical environmental issues in the Canadian and global consciousness this year involves the proposed new Enbridge Northern Gateway Project and Kinder Morgan Transmountain Expansion Project. Three key threats are enfolded in this issue: noxious, toxic Tar Sand mining; pipelines carrying unrefined bitumen across pristine wild country; and super tankers navigating in treacherous waterways. The risks of leaking pipelines and marine oil spills are profound. It is not surprising that many Canadian citizens have rallied together to protest this plan, including many First Nations communities. People listen to nurses - we need to gather our voices together to stop these destructive proposals and help people wake up to the reality – it is time to stop relying on fossil fuels!!!

Read our Press Releases on this issue, written with our Partners

  The Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change is working to build concrete strategies, tools, initiatives and community-based capacity through which individuals and NGO’s ( especially those reflective of the affected racialized communities ) can begin to develop coherent shared action plans, including creating effective coordinated strategies for collaborating with mainstream policy analysts and institutions, anti-poverty advocacy groups, governments, funders and the media so as to best work together to address and redress this disturbing and growing structural or systemic ethno-racial inequality.

  The Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change Steering Committee membership currently includes Access Alliance Multicultural Health & Community Services, the African Canadian Legal Clinic, the Canadian Arab Federation, the Chinese Canadian National Council - Toronto Chapter, the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians, the Hispanic Development Council, Karuna Community Services, the Metro Toronto Chinese & South East Asian Legal Clinic, Midaynta Community Services, the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants ( OCASI ), Sistering, the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office - together with academic and research partners – Prof. Grace-Edward Galabuzi - Ryerson University in Toronto and Uzma Shakir – Economic Justice Fellow of the Atkinson Foundation.

As is well documented the gap between rich and poor in Ontario ( and Canada ) is widening generally, but what is much less well understood is that the impact of this growing gulf is being much more profoundly felt by racialized group members. The increasing “racialization” of all the major social and economic indicators can be gleaned not only from the statistics on income and wealth, but also from any one of a number of different measures – such as the increasing rate of incidence and ethno-racial differentials with respect to targeted policing, inequalities with respect to health status as well as learning outcomes (eg. higher drop out rates among racialized learners), and the re-emergence of racialized residential enclaves. All of these are products of the growing social and economic exclusion of racialized groups from the so-called mainstream of society.

  The historic and growing exclusion of racialized group members in Ontario in particular has in fact led to what some social scientists have described as the racialization of poverty. In the words of Prof. Grace-Edward Galabuzi of Ryerson University, we’re creating an “economic apartheid” in Canada, and the trend will continue until and unless action is taken to address and redress the underlying structural and systemic inequity.

 For more information, contact:

Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change
# 1701 – 180 Dundas St. W., Toronto M5G 1Z8
Phone - 416-971-9676
E-mail - kerr.michael@gmail.com
Web-site - www.colourofpoverty.ca

  June 8th kicks off Rivers to Oceans Week! This year’s campaign focuses on the Dare to Care campaign. Healthy oceans, rivers, lakes and streams are vital to biodiversity, yet this most precious resource is under constant threat from pollution, population pressures, destruction of habitats and oil spills. What can you do? Go to the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s website to find out: http://www.cwf-fcf.org/en/action/awareness/rivers-to-oceans/

  June 8th celebrates World Oceans Day. Canada has one of the longest coastlines in the world, so it makes sense that we would have such a strong connection with the water that surrounds us. Show you care by organizing a community event, helping with a beach cleanup, or conserving the amount of water you use. Visit the Fisheries and Oceans Canada website to learn more: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/oceans/events-evenements/oceansday-journeedesoceans/index-eng.htm

View the Gallery Getting to Know, rich with images of artwork sent in by Canadians to celebrate the 2012 Rivers to Ocean week.

June 5th will kick off Canadian Environment Week in 2017! 2016’s theme revolved around Climate Change There are a variety of activities planned each year, and here is but a sample:

  The week begins with the annual Commuter Challenge, a nation-wide event to convince Canadians to leave their car at home and choose a healthier, greener alternative. Walk, bike, take public transit or carpool! The event is a friendly competition to see which communities, regions or workplaces has the highest percent of healthy commuters. Individuals and organizations can pre-register for the event on the Commuter Challenge website, located here: http://www.commuterchallenge.ca

  June 8th, 2016 was Clean Air Day in Canada, a celebration of environmentally-friendly activities that promote clean air and good health. The goal is to increase public awareness and action on both clean air and climate change. The choices made by individuals, families and communities can lead to significant reductions in air pollutants and greenhouse gases! See the Environment Canada website for more information: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/canadian-environment-week.html

  World Environment Day is June 5th of each year. This global day for environmental action has been ongoing since 1972. This year’s theme focuses on the conservation of biodiversity on the planet. With the dangers of climate change, pollution, issues around food security, threats to clean air and water, now, more than ever the WED movement is vital to the health of the planet and its inhabitants. Check out the latest news, information and events: http://www.unep.org/wed/

To find out more about Canadian Environmental Week visit https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/canadian-environment-week.html

  The Health Message Review Workshop will bring together stakeholders to review substantial issues related to the health messages that accompany the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI). The results from the workshop will be recorded and summarized in a report that will be provided to a new Working Group of the Implementation Committee: The Health Messages Working Group. The members of this working group will be present at the workshop, but will be specifically tasked with taking the findings from the workshop and putting them into practice i.e. wording new messages if required, and presenting recommendations to the Implementation Committee for other changes. We are currently seeking both Anglophone and Francophone volunteers to be involved in this working group.

  The standardized AQHI health messages were developed in 2004 and have been used for 6 years in the piloting and implementation of the index. This workshop has for its objectives:

1. To review the recent evidence related to health messages
2. To review experience with the AQHI health messages by HC/EC and their partners
3. To advise the Health Messages Review Working Group about suggested changes or improvements in health messages.

  This is another opportunity for our partners across the country to collectively improve the index. The scope of the message review will include the standard health messages associated with the index, messaging for advisories and special air quality statements, and include a review of supplementary messages that are currently being used and gaps in the supplementary messages.

DOWNLOAD FULL OVERVIEW AND AGENDA

  The symposium highlighted the tragic extent of asbestos disease in Ontario (around 500 new cancer cases annually) and the importance of screening, early detection and early referral for treatment. The situations here and in India were compared. Dr. Eudice Goldberg of the Canadian Mesothelioma Foundation spoke about the need for a Canadian network of healthcare professionals addressing asbestos cancers. There was also a presentation from a Belgian activist who lost his father, mother and two brothers to asbestos cancer.

Read our former President, Hilda Swirsky's summary of the Symposium

Ontario introduced Bill 100, the proposed Great Lakes Protection Act, on June 6, 2012 in the Ontario legislature. The Act, if passed, will be complementary to COA and will strengthen Ontario’s ability to use various tools to protect the Great Lakes. In addition, the province also released a draft Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy. The draft Strategy has been posted on Ontario’s Environmental Registry for public consultation over the summer months (June 6 to August 7, 2012). With the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement amendment process now nearing completion, Ontario is looking forward to working with Canada on a new COA. The negotiation process will require effective and meaningful engagement of the Great Lakes community, including First Nations and Métis.

Read more about this Issue on the Ontario Ministry of Environment website

Read our President, Hilda Swirsky's summary of the Meeting