South Africans Challenge Canada on Tar Sands on Occasion of Climate Conference: Full Page ad in Canada's National Newspaper Asks Canada to Restore its Reputation

South Africans Challenge Canada on Tar Sands on Occasion of Climate Conference: Full Page ad in Canada's National Newspaper Asks Canada to Restore its Reputation
DURBAN, South Africa, November 30, 2011/PRNewswire/ --

More than a dozen anti-Apartheid and climate leaders from South Africa appear today on a full page ad in Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail. The ad highlights Canada's shift from a progressive country on the international stage to one now actively urging other countries to weaken climate policies on behalf of its tar sands industry. Signatories include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate and former Archbishop of Cape Town, Jay Naidoo Minister of Reconstruction and Development in President Mandela's Cabinet and Zwelinzima Vavi, General Secretary of Congress of South African Trade Unions.

The ad features a two-faced maple leaf, one side proud and red and the other black and dripping with oil. The ad text reads:

"Canada, you were once considered a leader on global issues like human rights and environmental protection. Today you're home to polluting tar sands oil, speeding the dangerous effects of climate change. For us in Africa, climate change is a life and death issue. By dramatically increasing Canada's global warming pollution, tar sands mining and drilling makes the problem worse, and exposes millions of Africans to more devastating drought and famine today and in the years to come. It's time to draw the line. We call on Canada to change course and be a leader in clean energy and to support international action to reduce global warming pollution."