As co-editor, with my colleague Rafe Mair, of The Common Sense Canadian, it is with great pride that I welcome you to our new website, now fully operational. Over the past several months, we have been ramping up with a series of preview stories - both to stay on top of these important developing issues and to give you an idea of where we're headed with our new multi-media journal. We have shown you videos and articles on private river power, the tar sands and proposed dirty oil pipeline to coastal tankers, a mine proposal for Fish Lake, helicopter wolf hunting, gravel mining, cancer-causing power lines, fish farms, the citizen-driven movement to save wild salmon - to name a few...And we're just getting warmed up!

Our goal is to bring you common sense reporting and opinions on the stories that really matter to our present and future as Canadians – like water, energy, food security, and democracy. So often these issues are cast by the corporate media – when they even cover them at all – as matters of right and left, when they really come down to right and wrong. We’ve taken our inspiration from the writer and early champion of democracy, Thomas Paine, whose seminal 18th century book Common Sense changed the world - rallying millions and helping spur revolutions in France and America. What’s more, he did it on a shoestring budget, with only the power of his words and a little invention called the printing press (which democratized communications then, much like the Internet is doing today). More on TheCanadian.org here.

This week, as part of our official launch, we will be bringing you a host of stories on important regional and global matters - from Rafe, myself, and a number of our over 25 exceptional contributors. You will see an article by Delta MP John Cummins on the challenges facing the upcoming Cohen Judicial Inquiry into disappearing sockeye salmon (a must read!); you'll see an article and photographs from Dr. Tracy Lyster on a massive proposed housing development that threatens important fish habitat in Mission, BC; you'll hear the reflections of Abbottsford high school student Alexandria Mitchell on her recent trip to the failed climate talks in Copehhaggen; and from the Wilderness Committee's Joe Foy on the value of public protest to protect our sacred rivers from private power development - to name just a few.

To give you an idea of the calibre of character you will find in our contributors, I want to discuss here today just a few of them. Every contributor to TheCanadian.org brings unique knowledge, insights, and determination to their and our work. The thing that distinguishes the four individuals I want to introduce you to today is the sacrifices they have willingly made throughout their lives and careers in order to do the right thing. (This doesn't make them unique among our contributors either - as many have made similar sacrifices in the pursuit of their noble work - but the selflessness of these particular folks has received very little exposure, something I'd like to rectify in some small way today).

These individuals have humbly gone about their work - without the faintest expectation of reward or recognition (often, in fact, quite the contrary - as the issues on which they have taken a stand have cost them financially and emotionally, as they are attacked by their detractors and forced to leave the careers they dedicated themselves to for years, or to devote considerable personal time and resources to these pursuits). They do what they do not so much because they choose to, but because they feel compelled to. They serve as a constant inspiration to their communities and all Canadians, as they courageously defend our environment and democracy.

Otto Langer

Otto gave 32 years of his life to the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) - serving as a senior biologist and manager. Then, just a few years before his scheduled retirement, he left the department in protest over its continued refusal to take seriously the impacts of industrial open-net salmon farms on BC's wild salmon. After a few years at the David Suzuki Foundation, Otto now volunteers a great deal of his time consulting with conservation groups on matters such as the provincial government's Fraser River gravel mining program, the impacts of private river power development, fish farms, and other important matters. Look for Otto to make a valuable contribution to the upcoming Cohen Judicial Inquiry.

Dr. Tracy Lyster

Tracy Lyster is a psychologist who lives with her husband Don in the peaceful rural community of Silverdale in Mission. The trouble is Tracy's community, the mountain on which it resides, and a picturesque lake and island below, all stand to be destroyed by the largest proposed housing development in western Canada. And it just so happens this is prime fish and wildlife habitat, home to numerous species of spawning wild salmon, trout, bears, birds, and many other important ecological values.

So Tracy and several impassioned neighbours started Citizens Against Urban Sprawl Society (CAUSS) several years ago, to protect their idyllic home from a suburb that would resemble Coquitlam's sprawling Mary Hill development (built by the same company), but with more than 5,000 new homes. In doing so, they have butted up against a well-oiled campaign by the developer and its supporters, including the Mission City Council. Proponents of the project have gone to great lengths to undermine their opponents' credibility in the community. I've watched as the CAUSS folks have taken on council at heated public meetings; I've read the letters in the local paper attacking Tracy and her colleagues. And I've watched them stand their ground all he way through. Years later - having dedicated a staggering amount of personal time and resources to researching and advocating for their cause - Tracy and her colleagues are still fighting, and there's still no sprawling housing development atop their beloved community.

Dr. Marvin Rosenau

Dr. Rosenau was also involved in this proposed Silverdale sprawl development. As a senior provincial fisheries biologist, he was tasked with reviewing a portion of the proposed housing project. After submitting his report that characterized the proposal as one of the worst he'd seen in his 30-year career from an ecological impact perspective, he was pressured to change the report, then essentially forced out of government when he stood his ground. He was also removed from his advisory position regarding the government's gravel mining program when he made his concerns clear on that file. To this day, provincial biologists speak of getting "Marvininzed" - i.e., fired for not falling in line. All along, Dr. Rosenau has stuck to giving the best scientific opinions he is able to - regardless of the professional consequences. Today, Marvin enjoys teaching at BCIT, and remarkably doesn't evince one iota of bitterness about the treatment he received from his former employer. Dr. Rosenau continues working hard to oppose ecologically damaging Fraser River Gravel mining.

Dr. Chris Shaw

Many will now be familiar with Dr. Shaw's Olympian crusade to protect Canadian civil liberties and raise awareness about the destructive socio-economic and environmental impacts of the 2010 Games. But for several years he was unfairly dismissed as a radical protester, marginalized and harassed by his own government and the corporate media. Dr. Shaw, a professor in ophthalmology at UBC, has spent countless hours on the front lines of Olympic protest, and writing his critically acclaimed book Five Ring Circus. He faced harassment by law enforcement in both Canada and England (upon a visit to share his criticisms of the Olympics with Londoners now preparing to host the 2012 Summer Games).

When he and his friend and colleague Alissa Westergard-Thorpe were both publicly harassed by agents for the 2010 Integrated Security Unit, they fought back. Taking the City of Vancouver to court over unconstitutional Olympic-related bylaws that threatened the Charter rights of Canadian citizens, they forced the city to back down and make significant concessions in their by-laws. With one minor exception, the Vancouver Games proceeded with ample peaceful protest, and without the trampling on civil liberties many feared - which is a testament to the level-headed, persistent efforts of people like Chris Shaw to raise these issues well in advance, and to hold Vanoc and various levels of government's feet to the fire. Even as they were maligned and mischaracterized by the corporate media and Olympic organizers, they stuck to their guns. Hopefully, Londoners and other future Olympic cities will also learn some of the lessons provided by Dr. Shaw's important work.

One special mention – Alex Morton

Thankfully, the title of "unsung hero" no longer quite fits another of our contributors, Alexandra Morton. After all, she's being recognized this year with an honourary PhD from SFU. Her tireless sacrifices have in recent years come into full public view - and it’s now safe to say she has the overwhelming support of the public in BC and in places around the world concerned about the impacts of salmon farms on wild salmon and the environment. But I could not close this piece without mentioning her.

We will be with Alex, both physically and in spirit, as she leads her “Get Out Migration” march, down the length Vancouver Island later this month - rallying the public in a call to remove open net fish farms from the migratory pathways of our wild salmon. Watch for future stories and videos on the migration on this site – and learn more about how you can get involved at http://www.salmonaresacred.org.

We salute these Common Sense Canadians, and look forward to sharing their valuable and courageous insights and work with you over the coming years.

Finally, we need your help as we build The Common Sense Canadian into a powerful information tool for the Canadian public. Please consider contributing to our work, so that we have the resources and independent voice we need to do the critical work at hand. Please consider making a contribution; click here for our "donate" page.