In this episode we welcome, climate justice and Indigenous rights organizer from Stellat’en First Nation and senior advisor at the David Suzuki Foundation, Janelle Lapointe; member services and movement building manager with Climate Action Network Canada, Lauren Latour and Canada organizer for World Beyond War, Rachel Small.
We discuss the Draw the Line National Day of Action taking place across Canada on September 20, the reasons for this historic cross-movement coalition and the urgency of drawing the line now in this moment of converging and overwhelming crises, for people, for peace and for the planet.
Speaking to origins of Draw the Line, Latour says:
“After years and years and years of communities from across progressive spaces saying, we need to learn how to work together in community. We need to learn how to build coalition. It just felt like this was the perfect opportunity for that.”
On the critical need for a coalition, Lapointe says:
“We’re all waking up to the root cause of the crises, which is imperialism, colonialism, capitalism, and those systems were intentional and systemic and focus on division. And so I think we need to be just as intentional, strategic with our unity. And I think that’s what this mobilization is all about.”
Reflecting on why we need to Draw the Line now, Small says:
“You can’t quadruple Canada’s military budget without stealing those billions of dollars from everything else and from everyone else … We have to refuse … and instead say, no. Actually Carney, you’re gonna need to choose a side … because we are drawing the line.”
For more information on the National Day of Action, please visit Draw the Line
About today’s guests:
Janelle Lapointe is a climate justice and Indigenous rights organizer from Stellat’en First Nation. She is currently a senior advisor at the David Suzuki Foundation and a guest on Treaty 13 territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat peoples, as well as the Mississaugas of the Credit. She leans on her lived experience growing up on her small reserve in Northern British Columbia to ensure that intersectionality is at the forefront of environmental narratives, to build power and help others see their stake in fighting back against the status quo.
Lauren Latour works as member services and movement building manager for Climate Action Network Canada, the farthest-reaching network of organizations taking action on climate and energy issues in the land currently called Canada. Currently based on unceded Anishinaabe Algonquin land in Ottawa, Lauren draws on over a decade of experience in progressive spaces as she works to support the climate movement from behind – emphasizing efficacy, and forefronting a justice-based approach.
Rachel Small works as the Canada organizer for World BEYOND War, a global grassroots organisation and network working to abolish war and the military industrial complex, is a founding member of the Jews Say No to Genocide Coalition, and coordinates the Arms Embargo Now campaign. She has done grassroots organizing within local and international social/environmental justice movements for nearly two decades, with a special focus on working in solidarity with communities harmed by Canadian extractive industry projects.
Transcript of this episode can be accessed at georgebrown.ca/TommyDouglasInstitute or here.
Image: Janelle Lapointe, Lauren Latour, Rachel Small / Used with permission.
Music: Ang Kahora. Lynne, Bjorn. Rights Purchased.
Intro Voices: Ashley Booth (Podcast Announcer); Bob Luker (Tommy)
Courage My Friends podcast organizing committee: Chandra Budhu, Ashley Booth, Resh Budhu.
Produced by: Resh Budhu, Tommy Douglas Institute and Breanne Doyle, rabble.ca.
Host: Resh Budhu.
