We Canada Tours Country to Dialogue with Canadians on Earth Summit 2012

Tour guest speakers include David Suzuki, Désirée McGraw, Geoff Green

VANCOUVER, Feb. 7, 2012 /CNW/ - We Canada's national tour, Dialogue and Action for Earth Summit 2012, kicked off last week in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, with an estimated 900 in attendance. Following stops in Halifax and Moncton, Quebec City on February 9th and Montreal on February 15th will be the next stops in the series of events. The tour includes guest speakers such as David Suzuki in Toronto, Climate Reality Canada's vice president Désirée McGraw in Montreal, and Students on Ice founder Geoff Green in Ottawa. We Canada is a non-partisan, and youth-led citizen initiative mobilizing for Canadian leadership in sustainability at the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Earth Summit 2012, Rio+20).

"The Earth Summit in 1992 saw the highest attendance of delegates in the history of international negotiations. Canada was a leader in sustainable development back then. Twenty years later, we weren't even consulted on the official government submission to the Summit", said Aleksandra Nasteska, co-founder.

The lectures are held in universities and schools in 15 cities across Canada. The agenda includes a review of Canada's history at the Earth Summit and a facilitated dialogue. The recommendations from these dialogues will be presented in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012.

"We don't have to choose between economic prosperity and environmental health. We can do both. We must," said Victoria Wee, tour organizer, We Canada. "Our speaking tour will help Canadians voice their concerns and hopes, and demand commitment to sustainable development from our politicians at Rio+20."

Nasteska and Wee are two We Canada representatives headlining the tour. Other guest speakers include Scott Vaughan, Commissioner for the Environment and Sustainable Development, and Elisabeth Guilbaud-Cox, the United Nations Environment Programme's regional representative.

Founded and run by over 70 young adult volunteers and veteran sustainability advocates from across the country, We Canada creates a platform that enables civil society participation in the Earth Summit 2012.

Backgrounder available online at: http://earthsummit.ca/backgrounder/

Aleksandra Nasteska, co-founder, 514-261- 6351, [email protected]