Nobel-prize nominee participates in J.S. Palmer Conference

Nobel-prize nominee and internationally recognized environmental and human rights activist, Sheila Watt-Cloutier will be participating in the upcoming J.S. Palmer Conference being held at UPEI on Thursday and Friday.

“I am thrilled to have one of Canada’s most celebrated environmental activists providing her unique and important perspective at the J.S. Palmer Conference,” said President Abd-El-Aziz, UPEI. “Her life’s work of improving the lives of Inuit people brought her to the international environmental movement.”

In 2007, Sheila was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy work in showing the impact of global climate change on human rights—especially in the Arctic, where it is felt most immediately and dramatically than anywhere else in the world.

Ms. Watt-Cloutier was instrumental as a spokesperson for a coalition of northern Indigenous Peoples in the global negotiations that led to the 2001 Stockholm Convention banning the generation and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that contaminate the arctic food web.

She has recently authored her memoir, The Right to Be Cold. It is a human story of resilience, commitment, and survival told from the unique vantage point of an Inuk woman who, in spite of many obstacles, rose from humble beginnings in the Arctic community of Kuujjuaq, Quebec—where she was raised by a single parent and grandmother and travelled by dog team in a traditional, ice-based Inuit hunting culture—to become one of the most influential and decorated environmental, cultural, and human rights advocates in the world.

Ms. Watt-Cloutier will join Dr. Andrew Light, former Senior Climate Change Adviser to the U.S. State Department and musician, creator, and editor of A Global Chorus, Todd MacLean, as they identify what actions Canadians need to take now to ensure the environment is protected for future generations.

“Conference delegates can expect thoughtful and innovative discussions from all the panellists and speakers as we explore what actions we need to take now that will support the Canada we wish our descendants to experience in 150 years,” said President Abd-El-Aziz.

The J.S. Palmer Conference was created in 2010 to bring together some of the finest minds across the country to discuss public policy issues of high priority to the public sector and to Canada.

For a full conference agenda and more information see the website, at www.palmerconference.com.