|
National
Month of Action for the Petitcodiac River Begins
MONCTON, November 27,
2003 – Canada’s Most Endangered River is about to
get some help form thousands of Canadians across the country who
care deeply about having the Petitcodiac River restored for the
enjoyment of future generations and who want to let Prime Minister
elect Paul Martin know how they feel.
A national month of action
begins this week focusing on the waterway named “Canada’s
Most Endangered River” last July by Earthwild International
and Wildcanada.net, the two national organizations dedicated to
the protection of Canada’s wildlands and who are the sponsors
of the annual National Endangered Rivers’ List (NERL) contest.
“The prominent listing
of the Petitcodiac is an appropriate recognition of the damage
that has been inflicted on this great Canadian waterway”
said BC’s Mark Angelo, Vice Chair of the Endangered Rivers
Review Committee last July when the 2003 list was announced. “People
across Canada are hoping governments will respond by restoring
this river and moving to convert part of the causeway to a bridge
span”.
Canadians who support
the Petitcodiac River cause are invited to send a letter to Prime
Minister elect Paul Martin, copied to the Premier of New Brunswick
Bernard Lord, asking them both to work together in order to save
New Brunswick’s most embattled river. The letters are automatically
sent from the Wildcanada.net website to the two leaders and can
be accessed from the Petitcodiac Riverkeeper’s website (www.petitcodiac.org).
“It is important
for us to take part in this national action alert,” says
Petitcodiac Riverkeeper Daniel LeBlanc, “and to offer an
opportunity to those who care deeply about the river’s fate
to express themselves directly to our new Prime Minister elect”.
Riverkeeper plans to follow up in the next weeks by sending an
information kit to each member of Paul Martin’s new cabinet,
once their names are made public in mid-December. The national
action alert for the Petitcodiac River will run until the third
week of December, 2003.
The Petitcodiac River
is currently the subject of a 3 – year, $4 million environmental
impact assessment on its future, a project scheduled to end in
the spring of 2005 but with initial results to be published in
the New Year and the spring of 2004.
INFORMATION:
Daniel LeBlanc, Petitcodiac Riverkeeper
(506) 388-5337
www.petitcodiac.org
|
