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Caribou Legs reaches Parliament Hill in latest cross-country water protection marathon 14 Tuesday September 22 2015 ENVIRONMENT WATER FORT SMITH RESIDENTIAL FALL CLEAN-UP The Towns Residential Fall Clean-up is scheduled for the period of September 29 to October 3 2015 Residents may have large items washers dryers refrigerators etc. and yard work debris collected by the Town - for a cost of 40.00 from the curb side only. Smaller items must be boxedbagged. Brush and willows must be bundled. Trees must be limbed and cut to 4-foot lengths. All items must be placed at the property roadside. No vehicles will be collected however tipping fees at the Landfill are waived for residential customers for the duration of the Fall Clean-up. No Household Hazardous Waste such as propane tanks batteries paint used oils etc. will be collected however we will be collecting household hazardous waste at the Landfill free of charge for the duration of the Fall Clean-up. No construction materials such as demolished buildings or construction sitesprojects at residential locations will be collected. To register please visit or call the Town Office 872-8400 with the following Name Residence Address Materials to be picked up Contact phone numbers and 40 payment. Registrations close at 500 p.m. Friday October 3 2015. By DALI CARMICHAEL Three-and-a-half-months after setting off from Vancouver ultra marathon runner and water protection activist Brad Firth - also known as Caribou Legs - has reached Par- liament Hill in Ottawa. Upon arriving in the countrys capital the Gwichin activist completed a 4400-kilome- tre effort to raise awareness and reinstate protections for some 2.5 million Canadian waterways that lost their coverage in 2012 a result of the federal governments amend- ments to the Navigation Protection Act. Were just trying to raise our voice and get some attention maybe get people to look and go Yeah lets try to get back to protecting the water and get some kind of water strat- egy there he said. On Monday morning Firth completed his mission with a water ceremony on Victoria Island where he was joined by a multitude of regional supporters including members of the AlgonquinTerritory theAssemblyofFirstNa- tions Six Nations Idle No More Ontario and Council of Canadians. Following that he n- ishedhistrekwitharelativelyquick1.5kmjog to the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill. I am proud to be running with Caribou Legs and to welcome him to Ottawa said Paul Dewar the NDP candidate for the Ot- tawa Centre riding who joined Firth on his last leg. His determination is inspirational. I share his commitment to watershed conser- vation and to improving welfare including access to water in Indigenous communities across Canada. I am running with him to show my support and to congratulate him on his incredible achievement. Throughout his quest Firth promoted the Council of Canadians Pledge2Prot- ect petition addressed to the federal party leaders. The document calls for parties and their MPs to protect the countrys waterways if elected. So far the petition has garnered 14727 signatures. We need people like him who are willing to go the distance to raise awareness of the vulnerability of our lakes and rivers said Maude Barlow national chairperson for the Council of Canadians. The Navigable Wa- ters Protection Act was Canadas oldest piece of legislation ensuring that our waters were for everyone since 1882. Now our waterways are being prioritized for industry. No mat- ter which government gets elected this Oc- tober I urge MPs to not only reinstate but strengthen our environmental legislation. We can do better. While jogging around the country Firth took time to meet with residents and learn about issues with lakes and rivers from Brit- ish Columbia to Ontario. People in Chilliwack and Hope B.C. they have their own water activism going on there. They have a Nestle water bottling plant right there theyre constantly ghting he said. That kind of sparked my eye and I cheered them on. Firth noted he was disappointed to miss the opportunity to speak with residents of Shoal Lake during the Winnipeg Water Walk held on Sept. 12. The march was in support of the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation a water-locked community on the border of Manitoba and Ontario that has been under a boil-water ad- visory for 17 years and without a bridge to the outside world for twice as long. No stranger to environmental activism Firth has previously completed two ultra marathons in an effort to protect the Peel watershed - bordering Yukon and the NWT - from industrial development. The rst trip was a 1200 km excursion from Inuvik to Whitehorse and the second a 3850 km run from Vancouver to Inuvik. From waterways to classrooms One of Firths favourite visits during his latest marathon took place just outside of Ot- tawa where he took an afternoon off to run with the Bishop Smith Catholic High School cross-country team in Pembroke. I showed them cross-country is about having fun by getting muddy getting foot soakers and the last one in buys healthy drinks he said. It was my rst awesome large group of athletic students that I ran with down here. It was a great opportunity sharing my strengths experiences and hopes with them. I explained that if they stick with running throughout their lives it would take them to great heights In an earlier interview with the Journal Firth noted he will be giving his legs a rest while taking a break from his water activism however he looks forward to bringing some running programs to youth in the far North. Ray Zahab is the Wayne Gretzky of ul- trarunning Firth said. Weve talked about doing some projects together and Im look- ing forward to the chats and coming up with ideas involved in running and things like that in the Arctic. I truly believe that everyone is capable of the extraordinary in their lives - running has been a great teacher for me and I am so very proud of Caribou Legs and his awe- some journey Zahab wrote in an email to the Journal. We have spoken briey about Inuvik and I am hoping to meet up with him again very soon to nail down some rm de- tails. Hes a great guy PhotoTsulGraphics Caribou Legs a.k.a. Brad Firth left and his supporters walk from Victoria Island in the Capital region to the Centennial Flame on Sept. 21 in a rally for water protection across Canada.