Everyone's Downstream:
Tar Sands Realities and Resistance

Conference to be held at:
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
November 24-25th, 2007

Everyone's Downstream will be a conference designed to explore the links between oppression and self-determination on many levels: indigenous land rights, gender, ecological rights, workers democracy, anti-racism and anti-border perspectives as they relate directly to the tar sands of Northern Alberta. Speakers from a multitude of indigenous nations, social justice groups, and environmental organizations will discuss the social impacts of the tar sands on workers, women, indigenous nations, ecology, migrant populations, homelessness, and the anti-war movement.

The size of the tar sands issue can seem daunting, but in reality few issues have presented an opportunity for a social justice movement to truly articulate a different vision of organizing the world that has as many entry points, and can provide as large of an impact. The scale and scope of the tar sands is huge and has tremendously deep implications for the way we approach questions that span the social justice spectrum. With a coordinated response involving all sectors of North American social justice movements currently impacted by the largest industrial project in human history we have the possibility to change the course of human and ecological fate like nowhere else.

November 24th will be a series of panel discussion led by our guests. November 25th will be a chance for the multitude of groups and individuals attending to sit down and discuss a collective way forward. Suggested donation $10, NO ONE turned away for lack of funds.

Conference panels & delegates include:

"Literally Downstream"
Leila Darwish, Sierra Club
George Poitras, Mikisew Cree First Nation
Allan Adam, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
Herb Norwegian, Grand Chief Dehcho First Nations

"Heading out West"
Lubicon Lake Nation/Little Buffalo (invited, unconfirmed)
Morris Amos, Gitamaat Village Haisla Nation, Tar Sands Tanker Traffic on the West Coast
Brenda Brochu, Peace River Environmental Society: Nuclear to fuel tar sands?
Oscar Dennis, Tahltan Nation, Klabona Sacred headwaters
Tara Marsden, Carrier Sekani Tribal Council. Enbridge Gateway Pipeline

"What, where and why: Peak oil and mapping proposed pipelines"
Tom Keefer, Peak Oil, Class Struggle and the Thermodynamics of Production
Petr Cizek, Mapping the Tar Sands, The Bigger Picture

"Tar Sands & Human Rights: Exploiting migrants and fueling war
Julian Castro Rea, Associate Professor, political science, U of Alberta.
No One Is Illegal-- Vancouver, migrant rights organizing
Presenter on connection between tar sands and Middle Eastern wars
Presenter on direct actions to take against war profiteers

"The human face of the tar sands and resistance"
Clayton Thomas-Muller, Indigenous Environmental Network
Sharmeen Khan, the Whiteness of Green
Jocelyn Saskiw, Adamant Eve: Gender and the Boom
Albertans Demand Affordable Housing (Adah): the boom and the housing crisis
Representative from Labour in Alberta

"Healthy Relations: practicing solidarity with indigenous struggles"
Peter Kulchyski , Friends of Grassy Narrows,and working in Denendeh
Colin Piquette, Friends of the Lubicon Alberta
Tom Keefer, working in solidarity with Six Nations of the Grand River

"Ongoing organizing: What can we do together?
planning, networking and organizing together, meeting with one another and discussions involving any and all participants and organizers who attended or spoke over the prior two days. Getting down to brass tacks.

Geeta Seeghal, Greenpeace Stop the Tar Sands Campaign
Clayton Thomas-Muller, introductions and organizing now and in the future

Check back regularly for more details, possible changes and new confirmations.

If your organization would like to endorse the event, please get in touch with OilSandsTruth.org via the contact form on the website or email info@oilsandstruth.org

Brought to you in part by CJSR FM 88, The Parkland Institute, Alberta Public Interest Research Group (APIRG) and OilSandsTruth.org