Posts Tagged ‘Tar Sands’

July 3 Honour the Treaties benefit concert in Edmonton

Singer Neil Young speaks during a press conference for the Honour the Treaties tour in Toronto, Sunday January 12, 2014.
Photograph by: Mark Blinch , THE CANADIAN PRESS

Neil Young announced he will perform a concert July 3 in Edmonton to benefit the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Legal Defense Fund.

Young will be joined at Rexall Place by Canadian band Blue Rodeo, according to Global News Canada.

Young has been a vocal supporter of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in its fight to stop oilsands development.

Last year, he held similar Honour the Treaties concerts in cities across Canada, including Calgary, the article stated.

“It’s the greediest, most destructive and disrespectful demonstration of something run amok that you can ever see,” Young said of the Alberta oilsands in January 2014. “There is no way to describe it. It’s truly a disaster.”

In 2013, Young came under fire for comparing Fort McMurray, Alberta to the Japanese city destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945.

Chief Allan Adam welcomed news of another benefit concert by Young.

“With the support of Neil Young and fans we are creating more accountability from our governments for the safe guarding of our lands, rights and future generations in Alberta, Canada and beyond,” said Adam, in a release.

“Our people, our climate and our planet can no longer afford to be economic hostages in the race to industrialize the earth. We must act now for the future generations.”

Tickets for the Edmonton concert start at $45 and go on sale May 1.

Read the article at: http://globalnews.ca/news/1963076/neil-young-to-play-honour-the-treaties-benefit-concert-in-edmonton/

Another article by the Edmonton Journal: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Neil+Young+announces+anti+oilsands+concert+Edmonton/11007757/story.html

Tags: Alberta oil sands, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Athabasca Fort Chipewyan First Nation, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Honor the Treaties, Honour the Treaties, Tar Sands
Posted in Activism, News / Article, Tour dates & Info | 1 Comment »

Buffy Sainte-Marie on Tar Sands: ‘You’ve Got to Take This Seriously’

Folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie is on Neil Young’s side when it comes to the tar sands in Alberta, Canada.

In an interview in Indian Country  Sainte-Marie tells writer David Ball:

“Almost a year ago I went to Fort McMurray (Alberta) and I was just devastated  with what’s going on there. Just devastated. I just told everybody I could:  ‘You’ve got to take this seriously.’ Even since I was there, other people have  really stepped forward in their own ways, Neil Young in particular. He’s caught  a lot of criticism because he didn’t involve me, Susan Aglukark or other Native  people. Neil came to the induction ceremony in Nashville, at the Musicians Hall  of Fame, and I told him I’d seen some of the criticism and not to listen to it  at all! Because it’s so important, it has to be everybody doing whatever they  can, whenever they can, and being effective at whatever level they can be. You  reach people your way, I do it my way and Neil does it his way. But people have  to see it.”

“Good for Neil for stepping up,” she said.

Sainte-Marie lives in Hawaii, maybe she is Neil and Poncho’s  neighbor.

Tags: Alberta oil sands, Buffy Sainte-Marie, First Nations, Tar Sands
Posted in Activism, News / Article | Comments Off on Buffy Sainte-Marie on Tar Sands: ‘You’ve Got to Take This Seriously’

Beekeeper supports Neil

He says he’s joining Neil Young’s war on ignorance.

Gray Bear, a member of the First Nations, is featured in an article by the Oceanside Star.

He is dragging a cart behind him, bedecked with a huge First Nations flag, a white Teddy bear, a music case with the CBC logo and other symbols representing Canadian icons he sees as being under attack by the Harper government.

A beekeeper and musician by trade, he holds music legend Neil Young as an icon, praising him for taking a stand against the further development of tar sands in Alberta.”I adore him for having the courage to do what he did,” he said. “People don’t realize what danger he puts himself in. He puts himself on the spot and he knows he’s going to be persecuted. He’s waging a war on ignorance.”

Read more at:

http://www.oceansidestar.com/community/joining-neil-young-s-war-on-ignorance-1.848238

Tags: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, First Nations, Gray Bear, Tar Sands
Posted in Activism, News / Article | 1 Comment »