Vancouver News

[Ogoni Solidarity Network <ogoni@vcn.bc.ca>]

  [The following contains some belated items related to the work of the
  Ogoni Solidarity Network of Vancouver. The OSN was formed here last fall
  near the 1st anniversary of the murders of the Ogoni Nine. We have a
  volunteer base of over 200 and have been protesting weekly at Shell
  stations in the area since November. We also give frequent presentations
  at schools, unions, churches and cafes, and try to lobby on issues related
  to Shell locally as you will see below. In addition, we have twice
  faciliated the visit of Dr. Owens Wiwa to Vancouver. Please, keep in touch
  and keep up all your good work internationally. Peace. -- Jaggi Singh]
  
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  The following items were sent to the Vancouver Ogoni Solidarity Network's
  e-mail list on Tuesday, July 8th, 1997:
  
   
  1) Shell loses multi-million dollar contract with Vancouver
  
  The City of Vancouver has decided NOT to renew its gas purchasing deal
  with Shell Canada. The contract was awarded to Chevron. It's hard to know
  to what extent the Ogoni Solidarity Network's pressure on the city helped
  to stop the deal with Shell. The city's purchasing agent, Sid Fancy, said
  he chose the lowest bid and there is no reason not to believe him. The OSN
  did, however, raise alot of awareness about the purchasing practices of
  municipalities. Moreover, Mayor Owen and City Council knew they had a
  political battle on their hands if Shell was again given the contract
  worth millions of dollars. 
  
  The City of North Vancouver passed a resolution against Shell which CAN be
  directly tied to our boycott campaign. The work against the city deal also
  allowed the OSN to put together a selective purchasing resolution that
  could be used in the future by other human rights/environmental groups. At
  this point, I do not know about the status of gas deals with other
  jurisdictions in the Lower Mainland. 
  
  Thanks to Gil, Trina and Katja who put a lot of work into putting together
  an impressive selective purchasing resolution. Also, thanks to all of you
  who wrote letters to pressure the City. I think it made a big difference. 
  
  
  2) WWF embarassed as Shell loses award
  
  While the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) did not retract its perverse
  nomination of Shell Canada for a BC Environmental Award, Shell did NOT
  win. This one CAN be attributed to pressure from the Ogoni Solidarity
  Network. Our urgent action on the issue resulted in an avalanche of
  letters, e-mail and telephone calls to the WWF. A senior member of the WWF
  has told someone from the OSN (off-the-record) that the WWF 800-number
  received hundreds of complaints. Again, the campaign against the
  nomination and award helped to raise awareness about Shell's practices in
  Ogoni and received significant media attention. I even did an interview
  with a small local paper in Cobalt, Ontario on the issue. 
  
  Thanks to Sid who was a one-man publicity machine in making sure news of
  the nomination got out to the rest of the world (mail came in from as far
  away as India and Europe). Again, thanks to all of you who wrote letters
  to the WWF and the BC Environment Minister. 
  
  
  3) Local activists' weekly protests against $Hell enter ninth month
  
  The Ogoni Solidarity Network will be continuing our boycott campaign
  through the summer with weekly protests. We have planned our schedule to
  the end of August. The boycott campaign began at the time of the first
  anniversary of Ken Saro-Wiwa's death in November 1996. 
  
  The protests are a lot of fun and are making a difference. Shell Canada
  has been informally in touch with the OSN, and asked what it would take to
  end the campaign. We replied that Shell Canada should talk directly to
  representatives of the Ogoni in Canada. The company has also taken to
  cc-ing their reply letters on the issue to us by fax. According to Dr. 
  Owens Wiwa, Vancouver is a major centre of international support for the
  Ogoni and opposition to the practices of Shell. 
  
  Thanks to the many of you who have been able to come out to a protest when
  you have the chance. 
  
  -- Jaggi Singh, Volunteer
  
  The Ogoni Solidarity Network
  1672 East 10th Avenue
  Vancouver, SALISH TERRITORY
  V5N 1X5
  Tel: 873-8554 * Fax: 872-0709 * ogoni@vcn.bc.ca
  
  "We either win this war to save our land, or we will be exterminated,
  because we have nowhere to run to." -- Ken Saro-Wiwa