Apr 21, 2023
My chat with Siila Watt-Cloutier so moved me, and she made me think differently. For example, she believes that the trauma we are going through as a Planet and Human Species are the same, and so is the path to healing.
If she were sitting down with me today, I would ask:
If everything on this Planet is interconnected, does that mean we all feel the loss when a species goes extinct, or a fire consumes a forest?
You will also have many questions as Silla Watt-Cloutier will open your mind to our planet's realities and told through her gift as an observer, storyteller, and someone who can bring together to bring about change. Siila is one of the world's leading thinkers and doers in preserving our planet and humanity, with a particular focus on protecting the way of life of the Inuit.
(I have listed a partial list of her acknowledgements and awards and acknowledgements below.)
If you are like me, you will mark so many points of the journey she shares as remarkable. Silla's Indigenous values and lessons are worth considering for how we all live and respect Mother Nature. One that stuck with me is to stop thinking about problems and instead feel them. To act, you must be emotionally vested.
So this is Sillia Watt-Cloutier's remarkable story.
Don't just listen to her words....feel them.
And then share them because we are all in this together.
Lindsay Patrick, Head of Strategic Initiatives & ESG at RBC Capital Markets, joins the show. Lindsay is passionate about her and her organization's role in preserving our planet and its inhabitants.
A link to her book and a partial list of her acknowledgements
To purchase Siila Watt-Cloutier's book - The Right to Be Cold: One Woman's Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet - https://www.amazon.com/Right-Be-Cold-Protect-Climate/dp/1517904978
Awards
- Global Environment Award, World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations - Washington, D.C., United States (on behalf of ICC Canada)[15]
2004
National Aboriginal Achievement Award (Environment), National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (now Indspire) - Ontario
2005
- Sophie Prize, The Sophie Foundation - Oslo, Norway[16]
- Champion of the Earth Award, United Nations Environment Programme - Nairobi, Kenya[17]
- Governor General's Northern Medal - Ottawa, Ontario[18]
2006
- International Environmental Leadership Award, 10th Annual Green Cross Millennium Awards, hosted by Global Green USA - Los Angeles, California, United States[19]
- Honorary Doctor of Law, University of Winnipeg - Winnipeg, Manitoba[20]
- Citation of Lifetime Achievement, Canadian Environment Awards - Vancouver, British Columbia[21][22]
- International Environment Award, Gala 2006, Earth Day Canada - Toronto, Ontario[23]
- Order of Greenland, Inuit Circumpolar Conference General Assembly - Barrow (now Utqiagvik), Alaska, United States
- Officer of the Order of Canada - Ottawa, Ontario[24]
2007
- On 2 February 2007, The Globe and Mail published a report that Watt-Cloutier and former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore, had been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
- Rachel Carson Prize - Stavanger, Norway[27]
- Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Award, United Nations Human Development Awards - New York City, New York, United States[]
2008
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Ottawa - Ottawa, Ontario[30]
- Honorary Doctor of Letters, University of Guelph - Guelph, Ontario[31]
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Windsor - Windsor, Ontario[32]
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, Royal Roads University - Victoria, British Columbia[33]
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, Wilfrid Laurier University - Waterloo, Ontario[34]
- Honorary Doctorate, 'National Institute of Scientific Research) - Quebec City, Quebec[35]
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, McMaster University - Hamilton, Ontario [36]
- Heroes of the Environment (2008), from Time under the "Leaders and visionaries" category[37]
2009[edit]
- 9th Annual LaFontaine-Baldwin Lecture - Iqaluit, Nunavut[38]
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Western Ontario - London, Ontario[39]
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Alberta - Edmonton, Alberta[40]
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, Queen's University - Kingston, Ontario[41]
- Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa, Bowdoin College - Brunswick, Maine, United States[42]
2010
- Nation Builder of the Decade: Environment, The Globe and Mail[43]
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Victoria - (November 2010) Victoria, British Columbia
2011
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Northern British Columbia - (May 2011) Prince George, British Columbia
2012
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, Thompson Rivers University - Kamloops, British Columbia
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, Mount Allison University - Sackville, New Brunswick
2015
- Honorary Doctor of Laws, York University - Toronto, Ontario
- The Right Livelihood Award[44] "for her lifelong work to protect the Inuit of the Arctic and defend their right to maintain their livelihoods and culture, which are acutely threatened by climate change."[45]