Greetings from Plenty Canada: A very gratifying 2024

On behalf of Plenty Canada, I want to convey how grateful we are for the support of our friends, donors, and partners. This year in particular, we have experienced several significant accomplishments that are helping to inform and transform our world.
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We worked hard to establish the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Network as the official convener of the UNESCO Niagara Escarpment Biosphere by successfully aiding the Network in researching and publishing its required 10-year Periodic Review, a beautifully designed 200-page document filled with valuable history and information. This was followed by an evaluation and assessment tour by UNESCO reviewers who visited with the Network’s partner organizations and leaders of municipalities, conservation and environmental groups, university scholars, business executives, and many others who place great value in UNESCO’s Niagara Escarpment Biosphere designation. With approval in hand, the Network eagerly looks forward to a new decade of engagement with community members from Niagara to Tobermory and beyond.

A critically important part of our organization begins with Plenty Canada’s Board of Directors. We remain so busy with project work that we often don’t take enough time to celebrate and honour our board members, who contribute to our accomplishments in numerous ways. Our current roster includes Dan Longboat, President (Mohawk); Mary Alyson Edwards, Treasurer; Paulette Fox, Secretary (Blackfoot); Marilyn Capreol, Board Member (Anishinaabe); Chuck Commanda, Board Member (Algonquin); Aarin Crawford, Board Member (Algonquin), and Albert Marshall, Board Member (Mi'kmaq). This is quite a prestigious group to say the least. They are all accomplished professionals who have dedicated their lives to the preservation of Indigenous cultures and the environment we all share.

And, in addition to the activities reported on in this newsletter, coming up in September of this year we are proud to announce the culmination of several years of work, in association with the Niagara Parks Commission, the publication of Landscape of Nations: Beyond the Mist, a 256-page hardcover book that takes readers on a fascinating journey detailing 13,000 years of Indigenous life, history, and experience within the Niagara region. Among the many stories the book contains are those that will elevate public understanding of the contributions Indigenous nations made to early trade and commerce relations with Europeans, to the defense and emergence of Canada during the War of 1812, to, quite literally, bridge building along the Niagara River corridor, and much more. This beautiful coffee table book will be available for sale soon through Niagara Parks’ stores and partner museums in the Niagara area.

All of Plenty Canada’s projects involve relations and partnerships with other organizations that enlist dedicated efforts from volunteers. I remain humbled by all who seek to make the world a better place, one where empathy and decency prevail, where hatred is negated, and where, thanks to our Board Member Albert Marshall, Two-Eyed Seeing functions to advance the best knowledge that Indigenous and Western intellectual traditions provide in guiding us toward responsible decisions for future generations.

Chi Miigwech. Niá:wen. Merci. Thank you.​





​Larry McDermott
Executive Director
Plenty Canada

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