Talk:Environmental Defence Canada

Gutting of article

I've gutted this article with this edit. I did this because of the advertising-like copy that was decidedly non-neutral. Further, there were claims being associated with the organization that were not supported anywhere with verifiable citations. For instance, "Green Power - Environmental Defence helped educate Ontarians about ways to replace polluting coal power with renewable energy. Today, Ontario has a top-ranked program to use more renewable energy —the Green Energy and Economy Act (2009)" with a cite to this. The implication being that EDC was somehow connected to getting this bill passed, and therefore taking credit for it. The cite makes no reference to EDC. Thus, the claim is unsupported. Further, the sections on "Areas of focus" and "Key accomplishments" depend mostly on primary sources and are written in a non-neutral tone. Where there are secondary sources, the links are all dead with the exception of this one, which again makes no reference to EDC.

Wikipedia is not a soapbox to be used to promote an organization. We write things in a neutral tone, and depend upon secondary sources to support verifiability of content in an article and notability of organizations. This article fails these things in every respect.

Further, a major contributor to the article, @Envirodefence:, has a direct conflict of interest. While writing this post, this person has reverted my removal of the violating content. This needs to stop. --Hammersoft (talk) 15:12, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

I do want to state that I don't think the article should be deleted. I contemplated putting it to afd, but checked news first and found substantial references to the organization in the news (both pro and con) [1]. A lot of work needs to be done to bring this article up to Wikipedia standards. --Hammersoft (talk) 15:36, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

Before Envirodefence edits further, they need to adhere to WMF's policy on paid editing. --NeilN ^{talk to me} 15:40, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

Potential sources from the history

From one of the early versions, no links were included, no guarantee of any actual value. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 16:47, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

• "Friends of the Oldman River Society v. Canada (Minister of Transport), [1992] 1 S.C.R. 3" [Supreme Court of Canada Decision - January 23, 1992], site accessed 03/08/2007 http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1992/1992rcs1-3/1992rcs1-3.html
• "N.S. trashes plan to build garbage incinerator in Halifax," The Gazette, page A8 - July 16, 1994
• "Weeds win Charter rights," The Globe and Mail, page A8 - September 13, 1996
• "Court approves injunction to halt Voisey construction," The Province, page A18 - August 27, 1997
• "Residents sue over contaminated soil," The Toronto Star, page A4 - March 27, 2001
• "Group moves to help residents in Inco case," Sudbury Star, page A5 - December 6, 2002.
• "Factoryfarm.org: Success Stories 2003" site accessed 14/08/2007 http://www.factoryfarm.org/resources/success/2003/
• "Council OKs bylaw to curb law pesticide," Globe and Mail, page A18 - May 23, 2003
• "Arsenic threat lurks in playground soil," The Globe and Mail, page A8 - January 5, 2003.
• "Greenbelt plan put into action; McGuinty unveils map of 325-km arc of protected land," Toronto Star, page A07 - March 1, 2005.
• "Beaches receive safety certification," The Globe and Mail, page A10 - June 28, 2005.
• ^ ”Ontario legislature passes Clean Water Act,” The National Post, page A6 – October 19, 2006
• "MPPs pass species-at-risk bill," Toronto Star, page A7 - May 17, 2006.

Requested edit

If possible I would like to add the following for inclusion:

Areas of focus

• Blue Flag Canada - Environmental Defence runs the Blue Flag program in Canada. This international certification program identifies beaches and marinas that meet strict criteria on water quality, environmental education, environmental management, and safety and services.
• Green Power - Today, Ontario has a program to use more renewable energy —the Green Energy and Economy Act (2009) —and Environmental Defence continues to educate Ontarians about the benefits of using more wind and solar power.
• Protecting Ontario's land and water - The Toronto area enjoys the world's largest Greenbelt. Better protection of green space is also key in promoting better land use planning, instead of urban sprawl.
• Toxic Nation - Environmental Defence's research has helped trigger government action, including the world’s first ban of BPA in baby bottles. Environmental Defence participates in Health Canada’s Chemicals Management Plan.
• Just Beautiful - The Just Beautiful campaign educates consumers about the toxins found in everyday cosmetic and personal care products. By working with many companies, Environmental Defence raises awareness of the dangers of these toxics, how to avoid them and steps that can be taken to better protect all consumers.
• Exposing the tar sands - The tar sands are the fastest growing source of global warming pollution in Canada, which also pose risks to the water table and oil spills. Environmental Defence educates about these dangers, and ways to transition away from fossil fuels sooner.
• The Cornerstone Standards Council (formerly known as SERA) - Environmental Defence worked in close partnership with Holcim Canada to develop Socially and Environmentally Responsible Aggregates (SERA) It sets standards for certification of responsibly sourced aggregates (sometimes referred to as green gravel), which protects ecologically sensitive areas from gravel pits.
• Great Lakes and Lake Simcoe protection - These lakes are threatened by urban sprawl, but are enjoying more protection through landmark watershed protection like Lake Simcoe Protection Act and the Great Lakes Protection Act
• Blue Green Canada - Blue Green Canada began in 2008 as an alliance between Environmental Defence and the United Steelworkers union. It now includes the Communications, Energy and Paper Workers Union of Canada (CEP), the Columbia Institute, the Pembina Institute and Tides Canada. It works to reduce toxics in the workplace and educates about the environmental and job benefits of renewable energy manufacturing.
• Canada's Next Green Journalist - Environmental Defence is the Canadian representative of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), which also oversees the Blue Flag program. It runs an annual environmental journalism competition as part of Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE), which encourages people aged 11–21 to investigate environmental problems and solutions in their community.

ToxicsClimateEnergyGreenEconomyLandWater (talk) 17:59, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

 Not done These edits have a very promotional tone. Additionally, in my opinion they would be better written as prose than as a list as they are now. —  crh ₂₃  (Talk) 08:31, 13 May 2016 (UTC)

References