Taking a Stand Against Offshore Drilling:

Local Residents Plan a Hands Across The Sand Event for Victoria

Everyone is invited to gather at Willows Beach in Oak Bay at 11 am.  At 12 noon, participants will stand together in a line, and join hands for 15 minutes.

Hands Across The Sand events are being planned for this date across the world.  It began in Florida as a response to the oil spill in the Gulf - but now it’s catching on, globally.  

In Florida on February 13th, 2010, people came together to protest plans of US Congress to lift the ban on offshore drilling. This became the largest gathering in the history of Florida against drilling, with thousands coming out - representing 60 towns and 90 beaches, state-wide.

This is not a political event. It is about the protection of oceans, marine wildlife, and coastal economies. The image of thousands of people joining hands across the world to speak up for their environment sends out a powerful message. This world belongs to all of us, and we have a say in how we care for it.   

Get Out Migration

Sierra Victoria was proud to be part of Alexandra Morton's walk for wild salmon and one of the largest environmental rallies Victoria has ever seen. Close to 5,000 people poured into the Legislature in an unstoppable river. It was great to see BC's diversity reflected in the crowd - young and old, men and women, First Nations from across the province and many other ethnnic groups. The address by Grand Chief Stewart Phillip was a powerful call to action. It was a memorable day!

Sierra Victoria walked with a crowd of about 500 people from Saanich to the Centennial Square. At the Legislature we were thrilled to meet up with our cohorts from Sierra Quadra and Sierra Comox Valley.

Earth Day Walk

It wouldn't be proper Earth Day without Sierra Victoria (even if we do say it ourselves)! With drums and wind instruments and all manner of costumes, young and old had great fun.

Save Victoria Harbour Rally and Paint-in

Paradise or Parking Lot for Yachts? It's time to raise your voice, dip your oar or brandish a paintbrush in defence of our own Victoria Harbour and the Westsong Walkway - a unique feature of Victoria that delights residents and visitors alike.

Here's why a marina for mega-yachts is a bad idea.

More information about this event…

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Past events: Countdown to Copenhagen

Over a thousand people raised the roof at the Countdown to Copenhagen event on November 17 with singing, cheering - and, yes, booing the climate obstructionists. Especially powerful were the voices of BC's youth delegation to Copenhagen, led by Sierra Club BC's very own Jamie Biggar (chair of the Board) and Tria Donaldston (Board member). Youth are the ones who will inherit the mess caused by the oil-and-coal generations and that night they showed powerful and articulate leadership.

FutureFest

Victoria residents gathered at the Centennial Square as part of the Global Day of Climate Action on October 24.

The event was called FutureFest and featured a kids' corner with crafts, an art-based community visioning space, main stage music, a flash dance mob, local non-profit and community business tables, organic produce and coffee, topped off with a 350 bike ride downtown. The event was organized by a wide coalition of NGO's and community groups, including Sierra Club BC and Sierra Victoria.

Rooftop photographs of the event were sent to organizers at 350.org, the organization coordinating the global call for action. 350 of these photos were displayed on the massive screens in the heart of New York City, with global media standing by to broadcast the story worldwide. On Sunday, the story made the New York times and major news media around the world.

The photo displays were a huge visual petition that will be sent to world leaders.  On Monday, October 26, the 350.org crew visited UN headquarters to hand-deliver the photos to diplomats and delegates the world over.

Moving from Oil Dependence to

Local Resilience

August 5th, 2009, at 6:30 pm
Central Library Meeting Room
735 Broughton Street, Victoria
Free Admission
Co-hosted by Victoria Region Transition Initiative and Sierra Club BC's Victoria local group

Please join Sierra Victoria for an evening of engaged optimism – a creative and proactive exploration of what we can do together as a community to address the looming challenges of climate crisis, peak oil and economic instability.

The evening with open with a short presentation which will delve briefly into what the end of the fossil fuel era will mean for our lives, then investigate some of the options for creative scenarios for an “energy descent” beyond the age of cheap oil. After the presentation, the audience will be invited to participate in a visioning process to explore what a post-carbon city of Victoria would look like, and share these visions with each other to begin the process of making them real.

About the presenter: Tamara Schwartzentruber is a founding member of the Victoria Region Transition Initiative and a lifelong bicycle commuter who's joyfully back on two wheels after a life-threatening encounter with a drunk driver last year. She is a certified permaculture designer and teacher as well as a singer, dancer, poet and  Gardener.