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Nothing local in the sust-mar queye today ... so here's something from "up North" ... where a local eco group said "no" to a donation from Shell! ~paul :) ========================================================================= Northern News Services Limited News/North - Yellowknifer - Deh Cho Drum - Inuvik Drum - Kivalliq News Yellowknife NT Canada ========================================================================= Declining award has reward Ecology North earns donations after turning down $5,000 national prize Richard Gleeson Northern News Services Yellowknife (May 15/02) - A local environmental group's rejection of a nomination for a national award is paying dividends. So far Ecology North has received $400 in donations from Yellowknifers who support its decision to opt out of the Canadian Environmental Awards because Shell is a sponsor. Some of the donations came in response to member Paul Falvo's challenging others to match his donation of $50 in an attempt to make up the $5,000 in environmental funding award winners get from Shell. The awards are detailed, and Shell's logo prominently displayed, in an insert in the May/June edition of Canadian Geographic. The same information is posted on the magazine's Web site, which features a link to the Shell Canada web site. Ecology North member Bob Bromley said the group's decision was based on Shell's history in Nigeria but also reflected the Ecology North's disdain for multinational corporations. "It sends the wrong message," Bromley said of the award's corporate sponsors, which include Toyota and Panasonic. "It's corporations with no homes and therefore no responsibility that got us in the situation we're in today." Shell is currently fighting a lawsuit in the United States that alleges it played a role in the 1995 torture and hanging of Nigerian environmental and social activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others. Shell denies the allegation. Criteria questioned for sponsors Canadian Geographic editor Rick Boychuk refused to say whether the environmental or human rights records of organizations were considered before they were chosen as sponsors. "They are responsible corporate citizens in Canada," Boychuk said of Shell Canada. "They are criticized, but all kinds of advertisers in the magazine have critics." One panellist who nominated the Yellowknife-based organization for the award was less enthusiastic about Shell's association with the awards. "(Canadian Geographic) was doing it very very quickly, they didn't have very much time to get (the awards) organized, and I should have paid more attention to who the corporate sponsors are," said Kevin O'Reilly. The Canadian Arctic Resources Committee research director said he's aware of at least one other nominee who said thanks but no thanks to the awards because of Shell's involvement. O'Reilly said he sent an email to Boychuk and another of the award organizers asking if there was any way to disassociate Shell from the awards. He also suggested Canadian Geographic consider adopting a criteria -- an environmental screen -- to check the environmental records of sponsors. "The response I got was it was too late to ask Shell to back out," O'Reilly said. "They didn't bother to respond to the ethical screen idea." -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- SUST-MAR TIP: messages to sust-mar must be plain text format (no HTML) -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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