Harmer and local performers deliver a memorable evening

The Choir Lions of Caswell Community Choirs were among the performers backing Sarah Harmer in a Georgian Theatre concert last week. -AWARE News Network photo

By Kate Harries AWARE News Network

Do you remember when Sarah Harmer came to Barrie to sing a love letter to the water? Ten, 20 years from now, people will conjure up last week’s concert – and thrill to the memory.

It wasn’t just Harmer – she of the crystal-clear voice, the unexpected turn of lyric, the steely commitment to Mother Earth – it was also so many other moments in an all-too-short evening that brought a tear to the eye and hope to the heart.

Sarah Harmer

Emily McIntosh of Barrie was one of many who emerged from the Georgian Theatre auditorium feeling energized and enlightened. “It was incredible, it was an amazing experience,” she said. “It’s so awesome that it linked to advocacy, that we need so much here in our community – we were just happy to be a part of it.”

“A really great concert,” said Stephanie Mathes, a Sarah Harmer fan for 25 years. She also praised the evening’s inter-weaving of music and activism, citing Tim Gray of Environmental Defence for providing political context. “He put it into perspective really well.”

“It was a very good message and very good entertainment,” said Andy Beecroft of Barrie, adding that he appreciated the tie-in to First Nations that started the evening.

The solemn significance of the day – February 22, 2019 – was set when Grandmother Josephine passed that morning. There were many tributes, and pictures of her formed the backdrop for the evening, as was fitting. Josephine Mandamin, 77, co-founded the Mother Earth Water Walks in 2003, walking the shores of all the Great Lakes to raise awareness of the need to protect water and the key role that women play in doing so. In 2018, she came to Site 41 and led an All Nations Water Ceremony to draw attention to threats to the world’s purest water that flows from the Waverley area.

“It is with a heavy heart that I am here tonight,” said Jeff Monague of Beausoleil First Nation. “Today we lost our Nookmis.”

He paid tribute to the leadership shown by the gentle and unassuming woman. “She did it without a lot of fanfare, and she’d be there alone for most of the time before people took up the calling and began doing the same thing.”

Rhiannon Monague and father Jeff

Monague and his daughter Rhiannon performed a song, Water is Life, that he wrote with Josephine in mind. He said he didn’t expect to be performing it on the night of the day she died. “But I celebrate that warrior spirit that she had. It just takes bravery to do what she did, even to do it in the face of all that discrimination and the pettiness that took place.”

Monague spoke of changes to the water that First Nations have observed – the disappearace of the “mnidoosag ” or little spirits, the small creatures that are no longer readily seen in the water, the loss of the ice that once provided a good eight weeks’ passage from Beausoleil to the mainland every winter. “The water does not petition, the water does not make legislation,” he said. “But the water will legislate us out of here if we don’t listen.”

Becky Big Canoe

Becky Big Canoe tearfully recalled her conversations with Josephine. “One of the greatest things that water has taught me is about love,” she said. She welcomed the re-launching of Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, urged people to get involved in the 10-year review of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan, and read a declaration by the Chippewas of Georgina Island.

Tim Gray of Environmental Defence, a sponsor of the concert, spoke of the way the plan acts in concert with other legislation, like source water protection, the Greenbelt and the Growth Plan  – that “all work together in important ways to protect our quality of life and protect our ecosystems.”

But “we have a problem in Ontario right now,” he said. He didn’t need to explain. The audience laughed, and cheered as he described the recent roll-back of Schedule 10 of Bill 66, a hard-won victory over the Conservative government’s attempts to undo the protections that different groups and different political parties had built up in Ontario over several decades.

“Unfortunately there’s more to come,” Gray said, including proposed changes to the Growth Plan that would allow sprawl… Proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act that would weaken protection to the province’s most vulnerable plants and animals… Yet-to-be announced plans for changes to conservation authorities, and for renewed sales of Crown land…

“We are not going to stand for that,” he said, to applause. “They work for us, they do not work for the development industry and we are going to win! We are going to tell them that we love the water and they are going to protect it!”

Shanty Bay pupils Mikayla McDermott, Madison McDermott, Nari Hwang, Sye Hwang and Jana Jarbo with teacher Julie Johnson

The powerful message was reinforced by young members of the community – the wonderfully energetic (and tuneful) Choir Lions of Caswell Community Choirs, and the deeply thoughtful (and passionate) Change Agents of Shanty Bay Public School.

Nari Hwang of Shanty Bay urged collective action to protect the lake from plastics, salt, phosphorus, invasive species and climate change. “We need to make Lake Simcoe OUR lake,” she said. “She’s awesome. We are making choices that threaten her but we can make changes to help before it’s too late, before the beautiful water (Ouinteronk), the original name of Lake Simcoe, is just a memory.”

Harmer and the Caswell Choir Lions perform Escarpment Blues

Sarah Harmer, the star attraction, did not disappoint, singing familiar tunes called for by her fans in the audience as well as new ones, soon to be released. She’s a veteran of the conservation wars, recently presenting to Kingston City Council as part of the fight to stop Schedule 10 of Bill 66 and, as a co-founder of PERL (Protecting Escarpment Rural Land), central to stopping a Nelson Aggregate quarry at Mount Nemo.

She recalled an Ontario Municipal Board hearing related to Mount Nemo that stretched out over 13 months. At the end of the day it was the water, the features of water that carried the day, she said. “Ultimately what the decision rested on – it really rested on the Jefferson Salamander,” one of the little animals, she noted, that Jeff Monague talked about.

For the organizers of the concert, the event was a welcome celebration. “We spend a lot of time worrying and working on the things that aren’t going well,” said Claire Malcolmson of Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition, one of the sponsors. “This event was the flip side; it was simply emotional and beautiful and fun – an excellent reward for everyone’s commitment to working towards a healthier environment.”

“We’re very happy with the turnout and with the feedback we’ve received after the show,” said Adam Ballah, the principal organizer and member of Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition, also a sponsor.

“We heard from many people that they felt a real sense of coming together, and there was praise and admiration for the skill and talents and leadership shown by young people and students,” he said. “Being able to celebrate the life of Water Walker Josephine Mandamin was especially poignant, and really wove together and gave meaning to all of the performances.”

Brett Caswell and the Caswell Community Choir’s Choir Lions

Photos  by Kate Harries – AWARE News Network

Below: Posters created for The A Team Art Activism Collective by Leigh-Anne Ingram