Fifty B.C. faith leaders urge politicians to protect environment
A message of unity for wildlife and habitat from Canada's faith leaders is sent to Premier Christy Clark.
In a rare show of unity, 50 diverse B.C. faith leaders are urging Premier Christy Clark and Opposition leader Adrian Dix to balance profit with sustainability in handling the province's natural wonders.
"With others, we have witnessed the exhaustion of our forests, a neglectful management of fish stocks, and an avaricious approach to resource extraction for decades in this province," said the public letter, coordinated by the B.C.-Yukon division of KAIROS.
"The motivation for most of this activity has been unduly influenced by a singular desire for profit, often at the expense of sustainability. We have put short-term human needs ahead of all other values and the consequences are obvious: The impacts of global warming caused by humanity's burning of fossil fuels are increasingly visible and threatening much of what we know and love about this beautiful province."
The public letter, which can be found at www.bckairos.org, was supported by high-profile Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Baha'is, UnitedChurch clergy, Unitarians, Quakers and leaders of the human potential movement. Among the signatories are Vancouver Anglican Bishop Michael Ingham, professor Sallie McFague of Vancouver School of Theology, Bill Chu of Canadians for Reconciliation Society, Acharya Shrinath Prasad Dwivedi of the Global Hindu Foundation and Margaret Vickers of the Sisters Association of the Archdiocese of Vancouver.
KAIROS is a long-established ecumenical Christian international development organization, whose $7-million federal grant was cancelled last year by International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda.
