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The concept is simple: people from all over the world will get together in their communities with friends, family, neighbors, etc. and dedicate themselves to taking actions to cut carbon emissions. Examples of actions include installing solar panels, digging gardens, and laying out bicycle paths. Participants are also encouraged to celebrate with music, food, dancing or community shows.

Through the 350.org website people can view the “Map of Actions” to find a work party in their area. People are also encouraged to start work parties in their communities, if none are already planned. Remember to register it on the 350.org website.

If you register early, 350.org will provide you with resources and support that can help along the way, and connect you with supporters in your area who might be able to lend a hand.

The relocation, now considered an abject failure, saw hundreds of people moved to Churchill from their traditional homes in northern Manitoba.

In a release, the province states the decision to relocate the Dene community at Duck Lake prior to 1956 was in part due to Manitoba wildlife officials who stated the traditional hunting practices of the Dene contributed to a perceived decline of area caribou herds.

After relocation, it was determined the caribou herd the Sayisi Dene had relied upon for generations was in fact healthy.

In less than two decades, nearly one-third of the Sayisi Dene died as a result of illness, violence, poverty and racism experienced on the outskirts of Churchill. The forced relocation of the Sayisi Dene was documented in the reports of the Manitoba's 1991 Aboriginal Justice Inquiry and Canada's 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. An apology and compensation were recommended

"This is an important step on the path to reconciliation and healing," says Chief Thorassie. "We have a responsibility to work together to build the future we want for our children despite a legacy of hurt born of past government mistakes."

Manitoba has proposed to provide more than 13,000 acres of Crown land, separate from any treaty land entitlement, to help address the effects of relocation. The Sayisi Dene were moved to Tadoule Lake in 1973 at the request of community.

"This brief shows that provinces can make significant progress on climate action even in the absence of federal leadership," said David Suzuki Foundation climate change policy analyst Dale Marshall, adding "Premiers need to keep their promise to make climate change a central agenda item at their meetings."

Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-RAC) is calling on premiers to create a climate-change secretariat to better co-ordinate policies and climate actions among the provinces.

"Despite promising initiatives by various provinces and territories, the lack of progress on the climate change file sends some pretty worrisome signals in terms of provinces and territories' ability to tackle this critically important issue together. Is the Council of the Federation condemned to replicate Ottawa's inability or unwillingness to act on climate change?" asked Equiterre co-founder Steven Guilbeault at the closing of the meeting.

"Each jurisdiction has their own plan to deal with climate change," Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger said at the wrap-up of the conference. "We're comfortable with a diversity of approaches which get results."

• Reinforce water conservation, water quality, and adaptation to climate change;
• Make water use more efficient through water conservation and efficiency plans;
• Encourage strong water efficiency, quality standards and a Canada-wide water efficiency-labeling program;
• Enhance water monitoring efforts and share water conservation and water quality information;
• Work with municipalities about water-related emergencies and enhance sharing of community planning tools;
• Encourage Canadians and Canadian companies to lead in development and sale of new water conservation and protection technologies and services;
• Work with public and private sector to make World Water Day - March 22, 2011 - a national event;
• Collaborate with Provinces, Territories and State governments on transboundary issues.

"The Premiers' new Canada Water Charter appears to be an important collaboration for Canada's future water security. Canadians are highly concerned about our waters in the face of climate change and this Charter could be a step in addressing the challenges we are going to increasingly have to confront. The premiers need to be transparent while dedicating staff to a workplan with annual reports, for Canada's new Water Charter," said Gaile Whelan-Enns, Director of Manitoba Wildlands.

The designation is based on population research and habitat data, as well as a recommendation from the Alberta Endangered Species Conservation Committee, which includes ranchers, academics, wildlife managers and conservationists.

The committee recommended the Alberta Grizzly bear be listed as threatened in 2002, but the Alberta government instead set about establishing a recovery plan, which took six years to complete.

The Alberta government's Grizzly Bear Status Report released February 2010, estimates there are 691 grizzly bears in the province, compared to 841 in 2000. By contrast, the grizzly bear population in British Columbia is estimated at about 16,000 animals.

"We share this province with grizzly bears and are committed to ensuring grizzly bears remain part of Alberta's landscape," states Mel Knight, Minister of Sustainable Resource Development.

Grizzly bears are currently not listed under Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA), however the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) lists the Northwestern Grizzly Bears under the designation of Special Concern.

As of June 23, the letter had been signed by 50 members of the House. Many of the signatories sit on the committees for Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources and Transportation and Infrastructure. The letter highlights the fact that the Tar sands mining emit three times more greenhouse gas pollution than traditional oil.

"(This pipeline) cuts through sensitive ecosystems, crosses rivers, invades ranches and farms and could scar this land forever," states Rep. Steve Cohen, one of the lead signatories on the letter. He further stated that the pipeline is slated to pass over the nation's largest underground aquifer, which would leave "irreparable" environmental scars in its wake.

TransCanada, which is building the Keystone and Keystone XL pipelines to transport tar sands bitumen to U.S. refineries, has been pressing for presidential approval of the $12 billion Keystone XL pipeline, which would export up to 900,000 barrels of oil per day.

On July 26, the State Department announced that it was adding 90 days to the comment period for other federal agencies on whether TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL pipeline is in the national interest. Two other pipelines have already been okayed by the State Department – the Keystone pipeline, which will eventually carry crude to Cushing, Oklahoma, and the Alberta Clipper pipeline, which runs from Canada to Superior, Wisconsin.

If all three pipelines are built, the tar sands would make up 15 percent of U.S. fuel supply, up from the current four percent today.

Compiled by ecologist Dr. Kevin Timoney, with the support of Greenpeace Canada, Sierra Club Prairie, Keepers of the Athabasca and Global Forest Watch Canada, the database shows a consistent pattern of infractions going unpunished by government regulators.

"The databases serve as an example of the government's failure to uphold the public trust," said Dr. Timoney. "If the database prove useful, they may in some small way contribute to replacing a culture of impunity with one of responsibility. When Albertans decide they will no longer tolerate bad government, things will get better. Until then, corporations may continue to pollute at will, sure in the knowledge that they operate outside meaningful controls and are immune from prosecution."

Timoney, who holds a PhD in ecology, is a longtime critic of the Alberta government's environmental management of the oilsands. After spending years prying the information free, Timoney hopes private researchers and environmental groups can now use it to paint a clearer picture of the oilsands' environmental toll.

"There is a paucity of relevant data available to the public. Scientifically-independent data are difficult to obtain because tar sands leases, while public lands, are administered as private property, patrolled by security; public ground access is prohibited," explains Peter Lee, Executive Director of Global Forest Watch Canada.

Winnipeg is the only major Canadian city to conduct a large-scale spraying effort against adult nuisance mosquitoes. The recommendations include:

• reducing buffer zones (residence of an individual who chooses to opt out of the mosquito-spraying program)
• a reduction in number of days mosquito count traps need to be above 25 nuisance mosquitoes before spraying can commence
• a shortened period of public notification before spraying.

All three recommendations require approval from the Manitoba Government Environmental Assessments and Licensing Branch to amend the City of Winnipeg's current Pesticide Use Permit.

On July 27, 2010 Resource Conservation Manitoba (RCM) launched a letter writing campaign to prevent the Manitoba Government from approving alterations to the City of Winnipeg's current Pesticide Use Permit (see link below for sample letter).

"What (the government) needs to do is ensure there's opportunity for public comment and a review of any changes to the pesticide permit," said Josh Brandon, the Living Green co-ordinator at RCM.

Malathion is the only chemical presently approved in Canada by the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency for spraying adult mosquitoes in urban areas. Studies have shown that malathion destroys populations of insects other than mosquitoes, and its long-term effects on human health are unclear.

"People tell me to mind my own business, but I'm concerned for my own family and other peoples' families. It's not good for children to be exposed to these chemicals." Said Anne Lindsey, Executive Director of the Manitoba Eco-Network.

The report pulled together data from 10 climate indicators measured by 160 research groups in 48 countries. The scientists compared the figures decade by decade as far back as possible, more than 100 years in some cases. The report found the past decade was 0.6 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1960s, and 0.2 degrees warmer than the 1990s.

"The conclusion is unmistakable – yes, the planet is warming," said Derek Arndt, a co-editor of the report.

Of the 10 measurements, the report said seven are rising – air temperature over land, sea-surface temperature, air temperature over oceans, sea level, ocean heat, humidity and the temperature of the troposphere (atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface). Three indicators are declining – Arctic sea ice, glaciers and spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere. All point to a warming trend.

Dr. Peter Stott, head of climate monitoring and attribution at the Met Office, said "Despite the fact people say global warming has stopped, the new data, added on to existing data, gives us the greatest evidence we have ever had."

Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are small, clam-like, aquatic animals. Native to Eastern Europe and Western Asia, the mussels were transported to the Great Lakes in the ballast water of ocean-going ships in the early 1990's. They've now spread all the way west to California as well as the Mississippi River system and its tributaries down to the Gulf of Mexico. The mussels' only predators are smallmouth and largemouth bass, but zebra mussel reproduction far exceeds bass appetites.

The species generates immense financial burdens. "They get into pipes, pumps and into propellers, and they certainly impact our native species of clams and other organisms," said Wendy Ralley, a water-quality specialist at Manitoba Water Stewardship.

To slow the advance of the mussels, the Manitoba government has established an invasive species hotline (1-877-867-2470) and is asking people who take their boats to areas with zebra mussels to check them thoroughly when they return home.

Although a definite concern, zebra mussels remove suspended sediments and toxic substances within the water, making it cleaner and clearer. This has allowed a number of native plants in the Great Lakes to make a comeback.

"When the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights was written, no one could foresee a day when water would be a contested area. But in 2010, it is not an exaggeration to say that the lack of access to clean water is the greatest human rights violation in the world," declared Maude Barlow, who chairs both the Council Of Canadians and Washington based Food and Water Watch.

"Canada's abstention from the vote will not excuse it from the work that needs to be done to maintain and improve its public water and sanitation systems for all peoples living in Canada, including Indigenous communities who have lived for generations without adequate infrastructure," says Meera Karunananthan, national water campaigner at the Council of Canadians.

"We are calling for actions on the ground in communities around the world to ensure that the rights to water and sanitation are implemented." Added Anil Naidoo, Blue Planet Project organizer.

Some 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water, more than 2.6 billion have no basic sanitation and around 1.5 million children under age 5 die each year from water- and sanitation-linked diseases.

The coalition of First Nations states the situation is dire. The government of Canada failed to issue a recovery plan for Woodland Caribou by it's own mandated deadline of three years ago, and most of Alberta's Woodland Caribou populations are in decline.

Recent research showing two specific caribou groups face extinction within 10 to 15 years time prompted a coalition of four First Nations to urge Jim Prentice and Environment Canada to take immediate action to protect the caribou, or else face legal action.

The letter, produced by Woodward and Co, to Environment Minister Prentice states:
"... You have 45 days from the date of this letter to comply with your mandatory statutory duties under s. 80(2) of the Species at Risk Act, by recommending to the federal Cabinet that it make an emergency order to protect woodland caribou and their habitat from any further industrial development in the full ranges of the remaining herds in northeastern Alberta (or in a wider area)."

Should Environment Canada fail to issue the emergency protection, the First Nations will seek a court order forcing the Canadian government to protect the endangered Woodland Caribou.

"We are calling on government to immediately halt the destruction of our lands, lands that sustain our caribou and our people. It is difficult for me to express the anger I feel at the loss of this noble animal in our territory. Our traditional land is dwindling. We need habitat for our animals to ensure there is a healthy surplus. These animals sustain us and, as they die, our future becomes uncertain. We must act now to take care of Mother Earth," states Al Lameman, Chief of the Beaver Lake Cree Nation.