Environmental Justice x Health: 

A 3-part series presented by CAPE-BC and CFMS-HEART 

Please consider donating to BC-CAPE so we can continue to inspire action on environmental issues that matter. 

From toxic landfills in Nova Scotia to pipelines in BC, unhealthy policies and pollution are putting Canadian lives at risk. Join us as we cover breaking topics including environmental racism, whistleblowing and Indigenous rights—and be inspired to take action now.  

Part II: Whistleblowing: Putting Health First 

May 2, 2021 

16:00 PT / 19:00 ET 

Hear from the inaugural winner of Ryerson University's whistleblower award about his advocacy against the oil sands, and an environmental scientist about her fight against the fracking establishment—and how and why we must strengthen Canada's accountability on the environment now.  

With Dr. John O'Connor, Karen Hosford and Dr. Anjali Helferty 

Moderated by Dr. Warren Bell and Owen Luo, Co-chair of CFMS-HEART 

Dr. John O’Connor is a family physician who lives in Edmonton and practises primarily in Fort McMurray. He has also provided primary care to nearby Fort Chipewyan, Janvier, and currently Fort McKay. 

Dr. O’Connor’s reports of unexpected cancers and other health problems among residents of Fort Chipewyan were rebuffed by authorities and led to an ongoing fifteen-year struggle for the health rights of this largely Indigenous community and others downstream from the Alberta oil sands. In March 2021 he was named the inaugural winner of the Peter Bryce Prize for Whistleblowing from Ryerson University’s Centre for Free Expression, which honours individuals who serve the greater good by courageously speaking up about wrongdoing and abuses of public trust. 

Dr. O’Connor sits on the board of the Rural Health Professions Actions Plan, and is a member of the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, and the Safe Drinking Water Foundation of Canada. He is also a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Alberta Department of Family Medicine. 

Karen Hosford, BSc, EP is a registered Environmental Professional who has been working in the mining sector for the past 20 years. Sheworked in the private sector for the first half of her career and has spent the last ten years as an environmental consultant. Her most recent work has been on a mine remediation project in the Yukon. 

Karen relocated to the North Okanagan with her young family in 2020 because of the encroachment of hydraulic fracturing wells on her home in Dawson Creek, BC. She is the president of Peace Environmental Society (PES), which represents a group of landowners in the Peace Region concerned about the impacts of oil and gas activities on their health and surrounding environment. For the past two years she has been part of a research team studying the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on human health. She recently launched the PES website to help educate people about these risks. 

As a tireless advocate for change to the BC Oil and Gas Commission’s approval process, Karen has helped to represent and support landowners navigating its hearing tribunal process. She continues to work to ensure the voices from the Sacrifice Zone are heard. 

Dr. Anjali Helferty is the Interim Executive Director of CAPE. She started her engagement in climate activism as the first Council chair of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition (CYCC) while working as the National Coordinator for the Sustainable Campuses Project at the Sierra Youth Coalition (SYC). Following her time at SYC, she worked at the US-based Energy Action Coalition (now Power Shift Network). She subsequently worked as the Interim Director for the Southern Energy Network, a youth climate organization working in the Southeast United States. Anjali completed a Master’s in Organizational Change Management in 2013 and a PhD in Adult Education and Community Development in 2020 focused on settler climate activists and solidarity with Indigenous peoples.