About The Big Wild™

The Big Wild™ is an initiative launched by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) to mobilize Canadians to demonstrate support for the protection of Canada’s publicly-owned wilderness. The vision of the movement is that Canada will protect at least half of our wilderness from industrial development.
www.thebigwild.org

Contact:

Sophie Paradis
Communications manager
CPAWS-Quebec
514 278-7627 ext 221
www.snapqc.org
 

"This is an international black eye for Canada's reputation as a place to do business and as a fair and just society. First Nations should have the right to balance mining with other values, including the option to say "no" to mining when warranted," commented Janet Sumner of CPAWS Wildlands League. "Values such as conservation planning, climate change and Aboriginal Rights need to be put on par with mining. We are living in the 21st century with a mining law that dates back to the colonial era. It needs to be reformed."

The current system of granting mineral claims without prior consultation and accommodation conflicts with constitutionally protected Aboriginal and treaty rights and disregards conservation planning or other land use priorities. Seven First Nations' leaders are currently serving extended jail
sentences for preventing mining exploration on their traditional lands. Their plight has brought national attention to the antiquated mining law. The weekend story brings the problem to a broader international audience, most importantly, international investors.

The Financial Times ranks among the world's most influential, international financial newspapers. The paper is based in London, one of the world's leading mining investment centers. The Financial Times' circulation is second only to the Wall St. Journal among the world's financial newspapers.

Read the full story at:
http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto050920082209063362

For further information:

Anna Baggio
Director Conservation Land Use Planning
CPAWS Wildlands League
(416) 453-3285
anna@wildlandsleague.org;

Jacob Ostaman
Acting Spokesperson for KI
(807) 537-2263;
 
Co-Chief Mireille Lapointe
Ardoch Algonquins
(613) 273-3530;

Chris Reid
lawyer for KI and Ardoch Algonquins
(416) 666-2914 cell

The Northwest Territories Chapter of CPAWS (CPAWS-NWT) is seeking an Executive Director who will be responsible for the overall leadership and management of our organization.

Collaborative relationships are key to conservation success in the Northwest Territories (NWT). We need an Executive Director who will build and deepen our robust relationships with Aboriginal organizations, decision makers and other partners.
 
Our new Executive Director will be a dedicated, successful leader with a track record of collaborating with diverse parties to work successfully toward shared goals. S/he must be flexible and creative to effectively lead our organization through the changing landscape of complex multi-stakeholder land use and conservation issues. Knowledge of land management systems in the NWT, as well as the economic and cultural contexts in which we work, is essential.

Our Executive Director will help to build the future of the NWT and of CPAWS-NWT. This is a time of great opportunity for conservation in our territory, which is both unprecedented and time-limited.

For full details, please visit www.cpawsnwt.org.

Position Type:  Full Time                                 
Location:  Ottawa, ON     
Start Date: June 9, 2008

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is Canada’s pre-eminent, non-profit wilderness protection organization.  The organization has been involved in securing the protection of many important wilderness areas in Canada for over 45 years.

The Donor Data Base Manager reports to the National Executive Director and is responsible for maintaining the organization’s database.  As well, this position is responsible for the handling of charitable tax receipts and gathering data used in the Direct Mail Program.

The following skills are required from this team player role:

• Knowledge of Raisers Edge software is essential with a minimum 3 years experience
• Experience with handling donations through mail and online
• Proficient at producing and analyzing reports on Raisers Edge
• Ability to input data accurately and in a timely fashion is essential
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office suite
• Knowledge of website and intranet software
• Must be a team player but be capable of working independently without constant supervision
• Ability to supervise volunteers when necessary
• Excellent communication skills in English, and a facility with French an asset
• Able to respond to donor inquiries

Salary Range - $30,000 - $35,000

If you are committed to a dynamic team of staff and volunteers working to protect Canada’s Wilderness and will excel in a challenging and rewarding environment please apply in writing or by email by May 12, 2008 to:

Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
506-250 City Centre Avenue
Ottawa, ON  K1R 6K7
Fax:  613-569-7098
email: vdimillo@cpaws.org
www.cpaws.org

We thank all those that apply but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Across Canada, over the next two weeks major city dwellers from Victoria to St. John’s will see their urban streets literally going wild. With rooftop parking lot campsites, people rappelling from downtown buildings, and morning canoe commutes to work, a spectacle of kayak and paddle toting wilderness lovers will be inviting passersby to add their voice to The Big Wild – a new social movement founded by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and Mountain Equipment Co-op to advance large-scale wilderness protection in Canada.

“The Big Wild movement is a new way for everyone who cares about our country’s wilderness to voice their support for protecting it. We are encouraging every citizen to participate in this new vehicle that promotes leadership in wilderness conservation. Through The Big Wild we want Canadians to create a collective voice that is so strong, that we can convince our country’s leaders – at all levels – to make a difference that will ultimately have global impact,” says David Labistour, CEO of Mountain Equipment Co-op.

Canada is home to one-fifth of the world’s remaining wilderness, but we have protected less than 10 per cent of our lands and less than one per cent of our waters from industrial activity. “Every Canadian is a landlord to our wilderness and it’s on our watch that Canada will decide whether we set a new global standard for our planet’s health,” says Anne Levesque, CPAWS’ national executive director.

The Big Wild vision is that Canada will protect at least half of its wilderness. The vision is based on a growing body of science that supports protecting large-scale wilderness to prevent ecosystems from collapsing.

Canadians can participate in this movement by giving as little as two minutes or as much as two
months of their time. They can:

• Add their voice to The Big Wild online declaration in support of protecting at least half of Canada’s wilderness forever at www.thebigwild.org
• Wear a Big Wild lace and share a lace. Green shoelaces will be available at Mountain Equipment Co-op for a small donation to The Big Wild fund. Canadians are being asked to wear one and spread the word by passing the other lace onto a friend
• Share experiences and dedicate an adventure into Canada’s great wilderness at www.thebigwild.org, by creating profiles, uploading stories, photos and videos, and raising funds for wilderness conservation

Well-known Canadians including Sam Roberts (Musician), K-OS (Musician), Bruce Kirkby (Author & Adventurer), Sara Potvin-Bernal (Team Canada Whitewater Slalom Kayaker), Becky Mason (Artist and Canoeist), Margie Gillis (Solo Dance Artist), Wade Davis (Author & Writer), and Luc Picard (Actor) are already supporting the initiative by either wearing a green lace or adding their voice online at www.thebigwild.org. 

Canada’s “Big Wild” refers to all of those parts of the country that are still in their natural state – vast undeveloped areas that are pristine and roadless, ranging from coastal temperate rainforests through the Boreal forest to the wild arctic – areas of Canada where diverse ecosystems remain largely intact.

Compared to Canada, other countries have done more to protect their wilderness. Australia for example has already protected 33 per cent of its Great Barrier Reef; Indonesia has declared 25 per cent of its forested land as “totally protected areas”; and the US government has protected 40 per cent of Alaska’s federally-owned land.

“Small voices can create big change,” says Labistour. “We hope The Big Wild will help propel a mainstream consciousness shift in Canada, to a culture of protecting our wilderness.”

About The Big Wild™

The Big Wild™ is an initiative launched by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) to mobilize Canadians to demonstrate support for the protection of Canada’s publicly-owned wilderness. The vision of the movement is that Canada will protect at least half of our wilderness from industrial development. Donations to The Big Wild are deposited into a charitable fund established to support wilderness conservation campaigns. For more information please visit www.thebigwild.org.

About The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS)
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is Canada’s only non-government organization devoted solely to large-landscape wilderness protection. Established in 1963, CPAWS has been instrumental in protecting over 400,000 km2 of Canada’s most treasured wild places, including Pacific Rim, Killarney, Nahanni, Kluane, Pukaskwa and Gwaii Haanas. Today CPAWS has 13 chapters covering nearly every province and territory and is in regular contact with 40,000 supporters across Canada. For more information, please visit: www.cpaws.org.

About Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC)
Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), Canada’s largest retail cooperative for self-propelled outdoor recreational clothing and equipment. MEC provides quality products and services for activities such as hiking, climbing, and skiing. Established in 1971, MEC has more than 2.7 million members throughout Canada and the world. For more information, please visit: www.mec.ca.

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Media requiring further information/interviews, please contact:

Penny Savoie / Sonia Gallo
DDB Public Relations
(416) 963-4532 / (416) 963-4270
penny.savoie@can.ddbpr.com / sonia.gallo@can.ddbpr.com

What you'll be doing:

• Growing the conservation movement in Canada through The Big Wild (founded by MEC and CPAWS – please see www.thebigwild.org)
• Developing initiatives to increase online activity on The Big Wild Hub (thebigwild.org)
• Moderating activity on the Big Wild Hub (thebigwild.org)
• Initiating and providing support for outreach activities, including presentations and events
• Developing and producing electronic newsletter program for thebigwild.org subscribers
• Identifying opportunities to work collaboratively with organizations such as businesses, schools and non-profits
• Promptly responding to routine inquiries from the Hub and/or toll free number
• Identifying issues-related inquiries and referring these to the appropriate person in MEC or CPAWS
• Providing administrative support for The Big Wild
• Liaising with Tides Canada Foundation on day-to-day aspects of The Big Wild Fund
• Initiating and coordinating Big Wild-specific and liaising with MEC/CPAWS Big Wild-related communications and marketing
• Coordinating with key staff at CPAWS and MEC to further the movement, develop partnership opportunities and liaise with internal audiences  

For full job details, download the PDF.

Download the booklet, Gatineau Park: A threatened treasure (PDF, 5MB)

The 361-km² parcel of land is a much-loved recreational haven for the people of Ottawa-Gatineau and one of the most beautiful pieces of wilderness held in trust for Canadians. It's also a shelter for 23 endangered species. But because its boundaries aren't etched in any law, this "park" we enjoy can be eroded away – sold piecemeal, developed or paved over with roads at the will of its managing body, the National Capital Commission. Without legal protection, it's just another piece of pretty landscape near a big city, easily threatened by development – not a park to be enjoyed by our grandchildren.

The CPAWS-OV booklet illuminates the park's many beauties and its incredible vulnerability. Destined for decision-makers in the federal, provincial and municipal governments and agencies as well as park supporters,  the booklet clearly sets out steps that need to be taken to make a reality of the name "Gatineau Park." Among other things, it calls on decision-makers to:

1. Freeze development within the park
2. Pass a law that will fix the park's boundaries in law, requiring the NCC to get Parliament's approval to sell or develop land
3. Hold the NCC to its promise to make buying land within the park precinct and on its margins a priority
4. Start the process for making Gatineau Park a real park by bringing it under the National Parks Act

CPAWS-OV is encouraged by recent promises from the NCC and the federal minister responsible for the Commission, Lawrence Canon, to start taking these steps. But threats to the park are moving fast. The recent plan to build a housing subdivision at Carman Road - inside the park -  and the large swath cut directly through the southern tip of the park by the new boulevard des Allumettières are upsetting examples of the many ways the park is threatened.

This Earth Day, CPAWS-OV is calling on decision-makers to make the right decisions, right here on the doorstep of the nation's capital – and protect our Gatineau Park!

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For more information:
John McDonnell
Executive Director
Ottawa Valley Chapter
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
613-232-7297