Selkirk College Mir Lecture Series Welcomes Avi Lewis
By Bob Hall
One of the nation’s most ardent climate change activists will visit the West Kootenay as part of the Selkirk College Mir Centre for Peace Lecture Series.
Canadian documentary filmmaker and former journalist Avi Lewis appears at Nelson’s Capitol Theatre on Friday, October 13 where he will speak about climate justice and the critical need for immediate action.
“Avi Lewis is a very important actor in our collective battle against climate change,” says Mir Coordinator, Cara-Lee Malange. “He’s a passionate and effective activist who does not just point out what’s wrong with a fossil fuel-driven global economy; more importantly, his work entails setting a clear vision and a policy framework for what actually needs to happen to address the climate crisis in an urgent and effective way. Like his dad [Stephen Lewis], he is also a very dynamic individual who is sure to provide a lecture that is not only engaging, but entertaining as well.”
In September 2015, Lewis joined a broad coalition of Canadian authors, artists and activists who signed their names to the Leap Manifesto which calls for a restructuring of the Canadian economy focused on a swift end to the reliance upon fossil fuels. The document caused a major stir during the last federal election and has continued to be a rallying point for leaders in the climate change battle.
In his lecture at the Capitol Theatre, Lewis will talk about how the historic forest fire summer in British Columbia and the catastrophic hurricane season are further wake-up calls to immediate action. Lewis argues that the heightened sense of emergency that has played out in recent months should prompt real action to confront climate a change and build a more fair society all at once.
Lewis’s father and Canadian diplomat Stephen Lewis presented the very first Mir Lecture Series event at Castlegar’s Brilliant Cultural Centre in 2007. Lewis’s wife Naomi Klein and author of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate was a Mir Lecture Series speaker at the Brilliant Cultural Centre in 2015.
Tickets for the October 13 Mir Centre Series are available at the Capitol Theatre Box Office or at the door ($22 for the general public and $18 for students/seniors). The talk begins at 7 p.m.
