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Canadian Groups Respond to Canada's Bad Faith and Blocking Role at Rio+20 22 June 12

Rio +20 fail Canadians in Rio and back home issued the following statements.

"As environmental non-profit organizations we also know that the Harper govenment's aggressive campaign to silence any dissenting voice, especially from environmentalist, is a far cry from the picture of constructive collaboration that Minister Kent sought to draw in his speech today." said Christian Holz, Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada.

"After it received 5 consecutives Fossils of the years at U.N.'S climate change conference, Canada was the only nation singled out for its destructive policies on energy and extraction at the People's Summit here in Rio. What the Harper Government doesn't realize is that its abdication of environmental leadership and its commitment to a 'greed economy' has put Canada in the bulls eye of international social movements being mobilized through the Peoples' Summit here in Rio," says Tony Clarke, director of the Polaris Institute. (contact Richard Girard 21 79 32 05 12)

"With regards to blocking an agreement on protecting 45% of the planet, the high seas – Canada, already a party to the UN Law of the Sea Convention and an active participant in the past six years of discussions at the United Nations on protecting areas beyond national jurisdiction, has no excuse for its position at Rio." – Susanna Fuller, Ecology Action Center.

"Canada does not attend international environmental conferences in good faith. They pulled out of Kyoto immediately after returning from COP17 and have derailed progress here in Rio, all while gutting environmental regulations at home. Calling that good faith is an insult to people and the planet" – Amara Possian, PowerShift Canada

"20 years ago, our government played a pivotal role in helping foster a new era of international cooperation. Today, our government has become a liability for the reputation of our country. Despite the weak agreement adopted in Rio, we will continue to hold the Harper's government feet to the fire on matters of sustainabiltiy, climate change and fossil fuel subsidies." said Steven Guilbeault of Équiterre.

"Canada has been trampling our rights here in Rio and back home by expanding the controversial tar sands into our homeland and poisoning our water, air and earth, and negotiating on their behalf here at Rio+20. Our First Nation Rights are protected by both the Canadian constitution and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. They guarantee our access our lands to hunt, fish, and forage, as well as our rights to clean air and water. Canada has just been singled out for these horrible environmental and social abuses at the final Assembly of the People's summit here in Rio." Said Crystal Lameman of Beaver Lake Cree Nation and Member of the Indigenous Environmental Network

View June 22, 2012 CBC News blog post
View June 18, 2012 Mongabay.com article
View EarthSummit.ca article
View Canadian Groups Respond to Canada's Bad Faith and Blocking Role at Rio+20
View June 16, 2012 Mongabay.com article
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