Hey everyone, I know both Zain & his wife, Sophia. We all worked together for #SaveOldGrowth & #StopEcocide work here in #BritishColumbia. What's happened to Zain is unjust & I'm asking you all to please read this whole post & sign the #petition. Thanks for your time & help. Please boost for wider reach.

* Last week, Prime Minister #MarkCarney revealed Lena Metledge Diab will serve as Canada’s new Immigration Minister.

The first thing Diab should do as Minister is bring #ClimateActivist Zain Haq back to Canada by greenlighting his Temporary Residence Permit that has been processing since January.

Zain was deported to Pakistan in January for climate activism that resulted in low-level mischief charges. He’d been living in Canada his entire adult life, and with his Canadian wife, Sophia Papp, since 2023.

Sophia has been given the devastating choice to remain in Canada without her spouse or relocate to #Pakistan , where she doesn’t speak the language and faces significant barriers to her health and wellbeing.

A mere 48 hours before Zain was deported, he and Sophia’s Spousal Sponsorship application was rejected by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) without substantive explanation.

The couple’s lawyer, Randall Cohn, has stated that this eleventh-hour rejection is likely illegal. It also denied Zain and Sophia’s right to procedural fairness, since they didn’t have time to access the appeal process enshrined in the #BillOfRights.

Zain and Sophia’s situation is reminiscent of the #unethical treatment of many #migrants in the U.S.

#IRCC ’s last minute rejection of a young couple’s Sponsorship Application without substantive reason should raise alarm bells for anyone of conscience, but especially for those with a #legal background – and before getting into #politics , Minister Diab was a #lawyer in Halifax. That’s why we have to get Zain’s file on her desk as soon as possible. *

https://info.dogwoodbc.ca/Nzc0LVNITy0yMjgAAAGaojayXiZm_H7wcAp51xUGCu4p2_h2edKAe6DW18ZVVROirXyyQRTyy9tQvopvAaCqJ1jgk0U=

Hard to show the scale of this old growth beauty from this shot. It takes about 4 humans, holding hands, to hug the whole trunk of this ancient yellow cedar tree.

Click on photo to see full frame.

#SilentSunday.
Honour the ancient elder trees
Click pic for full view.

2020, #MearesIsland. #ThickTrunkTuesday

Massive #ancient #cedar #trees in #Tlaoquiaht #FirstNations #TribalPark.
#Boardwalk #footpath #hiking #trail.

2020 on #MearesIsland. #ThickTrunkTuesday

A colossal #ancient yellow #cedar #tree is part of the #Tlaoquiaht #FirstNations #TribalPark.
I hiked the big trees trails there - magnificent!

#ThickTrunkTuesday

This #ancient yellow #cedar #tree is older than the Great Wall of China & older than the Vatican.
All #ElderTrees - of this colossal & majestic scale, must be preserved & their ecosystems protected.

A beautiful moss covered Western red #cedar #tree - still unprotected.
Only a human, with a compromised & unwell soul, would be OK killing an elder tree this magnificent. Some things are just plain wrong.

These ancient old growth trees are essential to fighting accelerated #ClimateChange. #OldGrowth ecosystems in our coastal temperate rainforests supports much biodiverse lifeforms. The naturally moist environment helps to lower impacts of wildfires & other natural disasters that have increased as our governments continue to fund & enable more ecocidal projects.

#MosstodonMonday

Young #cedar #tree is all dressed in magnificent #mosses & #lichen
One of the lovely sights you can see & admire, while exploring the coastal temperate rainforests in BC.

#ThickTrunkTuesday

This beautiful, ancient yellow #cedar tree has a massive, moss covered trunk. It is estimated at over 500 years old. There are very few #ElderTrees of this scale found outside of protected parks on Southern Vancouver Island now. The few remaining unprotected old growth forest tracts should be conserved for stability & longevity of our wild, ancient ecosystems & for the future generations to enjoy/admire/study.

The need to protect old growth forests has been the case for decades but even more important in present times because of accelerated climate change & the increased greedy desperation of corporate ecociders & our governments who aid/abet the pillaging which destroys wild environments that are essential for humans to sustain our lives on Earth. Valuable medicines are found & several medicines have yet to be found in these old growth, coastal temperate, wild rainforests. We need to protect these ancient forests for the above listed & many more important reasons.

#SelfPortrait with ancient elder yellow #cedar #tree. I have a longtime deep connection with #OldGrowth #forests & have spent decades of activism work to try to save & protect them from ecocidal monsters.

How we think about nature, how we treat wild living ecosystems, speaks volumes on our personal character. If we become too disconnected from wild nature, we will turn into demons who destroy our natural life forces.

#ForestFriday

A magical tribute to Canada's #GnarliestTree - in #AvatarGrove in #PortRenfrew.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/canada-s-gnarliest-tree

https://vancouverislandview.com/finding-port-renfrews-biggest-trees

We fought hard to save the ancient trees & their life-sustaining wild ecosystems, to get Avatar Grove area protected & turned into a public park. It was previously on the corporate deforestation list prior to the hard grassroots fight to save this area of Port Renfrew, where old growth forests were rapidly dwindling due to colonial capitalist style of short-term greedy gains & putting nature last. Nature should be first.

Except from my #documentary interview about #SaveOldGrowth in #FairyCreek on #VancouverIsland

From The Last Stand #DocFilm

The #documentary film that I'm featured in is now available for #free viewing:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb4q_dXo7Bw

It includes footage & shared #deforestation issues with the #Amazon. It's all connected.

I'm holding back tears near the end of it. I was arrested a few days after doing the documentary film interview at gate to River & Landback resistance camps.

Fellow #SaveOldGrowth forest defender, Sheena, made a short film. It includes the jingle dance circle with me & several other #environmental #landback #activists on the bridge between River & Landback resistance camps.

River & Landback camps were main strongholds at Fairy Creek blockade. River camp was the first resistance camp set up in 2020 & it ran for a year before final big raid. There are 2 very rough logging roads that lead up to untouched old growth forest tracts from these camps. River camp is also where people could go hike to see/visit with Grandmother & Grandfather cedars. After we were removed, industry started cutting more roads up into the untouched old growth tracts. Teal Jones logging company has since pulled out due to financial issues & everything is up in the air at this time. Temporary deferral was renewed this year for some tracts by this one particular area in the watershed. Still hoping for permanent protections as the elder trees are not included in this small deferral.

"My student documentary on the Fairy Creek/Ada'itsx old growth forest blockade something of a collage, made with many hands and hearts. While the blockade and movement has evolved and gone through many stages, the momentum remains and many still carry forth the activism in heart and deed."

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m4OEGhjc02k

@danmccullough A past #Resistance camp photo for you ️
Tripod standoff lasted 36 hrs.

#ThrowbackThursday
Our first big #hardblock at #FairyCreekBlockade in 2020.

#ThickTrunkTuesday
Magnificent #OldGrowth red #cedar #tree

#ThickTrunkTuesday
Gnarly #OldGrowth #GarryOak tree.
I see a wise face on this ancient, majestic garry oak