Toronto-based filmmaker Liz Marshall has declined her Diamond Jubilee medal in support of Idle No More.
Marshall states, “I too have been chosen to receive a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, a true honour and I am grateful and humbled. To be honest, I wasn’t really sure why I had been chosen, as many recipients are Canadian icons, but certainly it has inspired me to think this through. In light of what is being brought to our collective attention by the Idle No More movement, I won’t be able to receive the medal in good conscience. As a non-native Canadian I support the message of the Idle No More movement: Our native brothers and sisters must have their Treaty Rights re-addressed, and I am sickened by our government’s profound lack of respect for the environment, as demonstrated with the passing of the 2012 Omnibus legislation. And so I also join Maude Barlow, Naomi Klein and Sarah Slean, and respectfully decline.”
As noted on her website, her “current film is ‘The Ghosts In Our Machine‘ (2013), a feature length cross-platform documentary that sheds light on the complex social issue of animal rights, within the context of our voracious consumer driven world.” Many may know Marshall for her award-winning film ‘Water On The Table‘ (2010), which features Barlow’s work to have water recognized as a human right by the United Nations, the campaign to defend Site 41, and the impacts of the tar sands in northern Alberta on water.
Marshall’s website is at http://www.lizmars.com/.
