Cyclist’s Death, Plant ID Cards, and CoalWatch
This week on the show, we’re hopping on our bikes and asking why plants need ID cards. We take you out on the streets and to a cycling town hall to try to figure out how a death can change the way we see cycling safety in Edmonton. Then we speak to the creators of a set of indigenous plant identification cards in Victoria. Finally, we stick around on the island to catch up with a local campaign fighting a coal project near Comox.
On October 2nd, tune in to CJSR 88.5 FM in Edmonton to hear Terra Informa live! Our cycling story on the podcast this week is a preview of our live show theme: Life and Death. It’s all part of FunDrive week at CJSR, where we ask listeners like you to help us keep the magic going at the radio station. Thanks for your support!
Memorial bike for Isaak Kornelsen on Edmonton’s Whyte Ave. (Photo credit: Chris Chang-Yen Phillips)
Death’s impact on cycling in Edmonton
Sometimes no matter how hard you push an issue, it barely budges. Then a tragedy happens, and suddenly everything comes into focus. That’s what happened in Edmonton a little while ago. Whyte Avenue is one of the busiest streets in Edmonton, and one of the most dangerous for bikes. But it took the death of a young cyclist in August to get the whole community talking about it. Chris Chang-Yen Phillips has the story.
More on this story: Edmonton Bicycle Transportation Plan, Conrad Nobert’s blog at Green Edmonton
ID cards for plants
Have you ever wondered about which plants are indigenous to the area you are living in? What are the different uses for the plant and what are the plant’s names? What has contributed to the dwindling of indigenous species of plants in some areas and what are the impacts? Terra Informa’s Annie Banks asked John Bradley Williams and Jennifer McMullen to tell us about a set of Indigenous plant identification cards that they’ve created. The cards help readers identify plants on the unceded Coast Salish Territories of Vancouver Island. John Bradley and Jen describe the cards and the ideas behind their creation.
Cards will be available for pick up and purchase at the Saanich Adult Education Centre. c/o Diana Henry, SAEC Admin Assistant, 250-652-2214 (ex. 237) or by email: diana@saec.ca
You can also purchase the cards on Etsy (currently out of stock).
Local Campaigns: CoalWatch
Sticking around on Vancouver Island, locals are getting hot under the collar about a proposal for a new coal mine in the Comox valley. The proposal, known as the Raven Coal project, would see construction of an underground mine to extract around one million tonnes of coal for export per year. The coal would be trucked to the island’s west coast, loaded onto ships and sent to Asian steel mills. The company, Compliance Coal, says 350 full time jobs would be created along with millions in royalties. They also say that operations won’t affect water catchments and are hidden from view. That hasn’t stopped the criticism rolling in though. To find out what the locals are concerned about, we spoke to John Snyder, president of anti mining group ‘Coalwatch’. From our archives, correspondent David Kaczan has this week’s “local campaigns” interview.
More on this story: CoalWatch, Newswire, Parksville Qualicum Beach News
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