It is essential to help make Rod Cumberland known AND to communicate support to him.
Two articles:
From: Sandra Finley With some edits.
Sent: April 4, 2022
To: friendsofrodcumberland@gmail.com
Subject: Support, Rod Cumberland
Dear Friends of Rod Cumberland,
I am extremely grateful to you for your work in support of Rod Cumberland.
And to Rod Cumberland himself. Words cannot tell how much.
ONE ANECDOTE TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL:
I was flying out of Saskatoon a few years ago. The woman beside me was from Seattle.
Why had she been in Saskatoon? . . . the company she worked for was under contract to the Saskatoon Health District to find efficiencies in its operations. She commuted every weekend back to her home in Seattle.
Before we went our separate ways, this Seattleite had a perplexing observation she wished me to know. I estimated her to be in her fifties. She had always worked in some capacity in health care in the U.S..
NEVER in her life had she seen the concentration of children with disease (cancers, etc.) and developmental problems that she was witnessing in Saskatoon. (Kids are sent to either Saskatoon or Regina for medical treatment, from around the province.)
Her comment did not surprise me. It reinforced what I knew to be the case, from my experience working with the normalization of corruption in Canadian institutions (governmental, regulatory, university, health, research). The stories, true and documented, that I could pass along to you would reinforce what you know to be true.
An old figure: one third of the agricultural chemicals sold in Canada are sold in Saskatchewan. David Suzuki’s “Toxic Legacies” (2003) is a devastating documentary on the consequences of the ag chemicals for children. The film is based on the work of Dr. Elizabeth Guillette from Florida State University (passed away in 2015). I helped bring her to Saskatchewan. One learns a lot from people like Dr. Guillette.
J.D Irving (the New Brunswick industrialist, info in the 2 articles) has some accounting to do. I wish I had faith in the N.B. judiciary to deliver. Rod Cumberland – – please know there are thousands more people standing solidly behind you.
New Brunswick and the Federal Govt also have on their rap sheet, the failure to protect Canadian military personnel at Camp Gagetown from the trials of Monsanto’s Agent Orange. Another travesty.
Our economic prowess lies in the poisoning of ourselves and then the creation of remedial industries (big pharma, medical care). Almost NEVER will we address removal of cause. Stop the poisoning. The same story is repeated over and over again. There is always a Mr. Irving involved. And his many courtiers. Such betrayal of young people.
Movies are being made – that’s helpful. I happened to watch “Dark Waters”, the Dupont Teflon story yesterday. Robert F Kennedy Jr is making a big difference through the Children’s Health Defense Fund (DeWayne Johnson and Monsanto’s glyphosate).
The battles are decades in the fighting. Rod Cumberland delivers an opportunity for a knock-down round. With a little help from his friends!
I wish to send a contribution to your legal fund. You have no idea how happy I will be to do that.
(It was easy through the email address, friendsofrodcumberland@gmail.com)
In case you do not know this excellent book:
A Bitter Fog: Herbicides and Human Rights
by Carol Van Strum (Goodreads Author)
This book tells the story of the people who lived in those forests and became active . . . This book was written in the early 80s about the herbicide wars that took …
I would like to tell Carol Van Strum about Rod Cumberland’s continuation of her work – – but I couldn’t find contact info for her. A google search is interesting nonetheless. A movie has been made.
I have been on this Planet for 70 plus years, and am originally from Saskatchewan. People cannot live in good health in poisoned environments. “A Bitter Fog” is excellent testimony.
Best wishes,
Sandra Finley