Dear Don,

4,400 kilometres.
110 days.
5 provinces.
… and 1 man on a mission!

Today, Indigenous ultra-marathoner Brad Firth – better known as Caribou Legs – accomplished two remarkable feats.

For one, he ran the equivalent of a marathon a day for 110 consecutive days. If that wasn’t enough, he also achieved his goal of raising much-needed public awareness and political will to restore federal protections for our endangered lakes and rivers.

Not to mention, he did it in the middle of a record hot summer and the closest federal election in a generation.

But he was determined to deliver your signed Pledge to Protect petition – and those from thousands of people like you who supported him and this important campaign.

So I’m writing to celebrate this incredible day with you, and to thank you for believing in Caribou Legs and the Council of Canadians.

Over the course of his epic run, Caribou Legs crossed countless lakes, rivers and streams. And what kept him going was the thought that every one of them is likely among the 99% of all waterways across Canada that have been stripped of federal protection by the Harper Conservatives.

That, and knowing he had the support of kind people like you behind him was all the inspiration he needed to lace up those shoes every day and keep running.

Along his journey, he also witnessed first-hand the impact that contaminated water has on people and communities. “I’ve learned what people are going through out there. Some of the reservations in southern Canada have little to no access to clean water”, he told me today. “Every day, we all should do something to protect water.”

And today Caribou Legs delivered his powerful message to candidates from all parties who are right now scrambling for our vote this October: Pledge to protect our lakes and rivers!

On the steps of Parliament Hill, he and I delivered your signed petition along with 15,000 more from great water warriors like you!

We invited MPs from all parties to attend today’s petition delivery, and NDP MP Paul Dewar and Green Party candidate Colin Griffiths were kind enough to accept. They also each affirmed their respective party’s commitment to protecting our lakes and rivers to the crowd and media that gathered.

We have a lot more work to do between now and election day. And with your continued support, we’ll fight every day to keep water on the election radar.

Thank you again for all you do.

Garry Neil
Executive Director