The local branch of Amnesty International is hosting two events to bring awareness to Earth Day.
On April 15 at 10 am, the Amnesty International flag will be raised by Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa and town councillors at the town hall in Virgil.
On Earth Day, April 22, The Local’s own naturalist, Owen Bjorgan, will give an educational lecture at the community centre, about species in Niagara that are threatened with extinction.
This is the first time NOTL’s Amnesty International group has committed to reach out to the community to bring awareness to climate change, which is part of Amnesty International's platform in terms of human rights abuses. “The most vulnerable in society will suffer the greatest with climate change,” said Lidija Biro, Environmental Lead of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Amnesty International group. “Amnesty International sees the climate crisis as the greatest human rights challenge of our time.”
“Normally, we write letters for the wrongfully imprisoned and accused throughout the world,” said Biro, who asked the group if they were interested in “doing something a little more proactive” for Earth Day.
Biro had just finished reading one of Bjorgan’s articles about the extinction of species, and thought his topic fit well for Earth Day, a day set aside to bring attention to support for environmental protection. “Owen said he'd be very happy to bring a local focus on it” by addressing which local species are threatened, Biro said.
The NOTL chapter of Amnesty International is a small group chaired by Stratus Winemaker J-L Groux, who has been active in the environmental organization since he lived in France, Biro said.
Other members are made up “people who have been involved in one capacity or another with Amnesty International and who care a lot about what's happening in the world,” Biro explained. Some of the issues they advocate for include Indigenous Peoples’ right to clean water, both in Canada and in South America.
They also support wrongfully accused people who are in jail somewhere in the world. They are currently writing letters of support for a Uyghur man who has been imprisoned since the early 2000s. “His wife and children are in Ottawa, and Amnesty supports them, and we keep writing letters to China and to our government for his release,” Biro said.
Biro, who comes from a teaching background, was the lead for multiculturalism and equity at both the Dufferin Peel Catholic Board and the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. “I have been involved with equity work with Amnesty International through the school board,” she said, “so when I moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake about five years ago and found out that there was a chapter here, I joined.”
NOTL’s Amnesty International meets every first Tuesday of the month at the community center at 152 Anderson Lane, from 7 p.m. until 8 pm.
Attendance is free for Bjorgan’s Earth Day talk, and there is no registration. There will be an opportunity for people to donate money to Amnesty International “for future events that we would like to hold,” said Biro, who explained that there are fees involved with their work.
“We would love local people to come and hear Owen speak and to just raise awareness about climate change and about our own environment locally here and how we can support species at risk.”
