The Federation of Post-Secondary Educators’ Human Rights and International Solidarity Committee presents the Environmental Solidarity Speaker’s Tour.
It will feature Jacinda Mack who will be speaking about the Mount Polley Mine disaster in the pit at Selkirk College on Wednesday, February 25 at noon, and with Marilyn Burgoon at 7 p.m. at the Nelson United Church.
Jacinda Mack is the mining response coordinator at the Northern Shuswap Tribal Council. Born and raised in Xat’sull, Mack is a community organizer who enjoys fishing, hunting, and harvesting traditional food. She holds a master’s degree in communication and culture from York University, has conducted research in self-government, and has experience protecting indigenous land and advising on natural resources policy.
Marilyn Burgoon, president of the Perry Ridge Water Users Association, is a longtime resident and advocate for watershed protection in the Slocan River Valley since 1983.
On July 26, 2013, 33,000 litres of jet fuel was discharged into Lemon Creek and entered the Slocan River and Kootenay River killing fish and harming aquatic ecology. Burgoon exercised her constitutional right and filed a private prosecution under the Federal Fisheries Act against the company involved and the provincial government.