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Eco-icon to bring all-world cast to P.G.

David Suzuki is bringing his Blue Dot Tour to Prince George. On Nov. 1, Vanier Hall will be the setting for the environmental icon's night of art and dialogue on the latest planet preservation strategies.
David Suzuki
David Suzuki is bringing his Blue Dot Tour to Prince George on Nov. 1.

David Suzuki is bringing his Blue Dot Tour to Prince George.

On Nov. 1, Vanier Hall will be the setting for the environmental icon's night of art and dialogue on the latest planet preservation strategies. His national conservation roadshow will touch down in 19 cities across Canada. Each night will have Suzuki on stage with a different configuration of guest celebrities who support his vision for a healthier plant.

"It's all in celebration of a simple yet powerful idea, and it starts with you," said a statement from the David Suzuki Foundation, the organizing agency for this, Suzuki's last national tour.

"During this special evening, David Suzuki will share the wisdom of a lifetime full of action as he and other Canadian icons and thought leaders celebrate the desire of Canadians to protect the people and places they love."

The celebrities signed on to the tour include: Neil Young, Margaret Atwood, Robert Batemen, Bruce Cockburn, Jim Cuddy and his Blue Rodeo bandmate Greg Keelor, Feist, Jeremy Fisher, Grimes, Jenn Grant, Chantal Kreviazuk, Shane Koyczan, Stephen Lewis, Metric, Raine Maida, Joel Plaskett, Raffi and Kinnie Star.

There was no confirmation of the Prince George lineup yet, but David Suzuki Foundation director of communications and public engagement Michiah Prull said a handful of the listed celebrities would be at each Blue Dot event, their names and reputations so strong that no night would be weak.

"We're aiming each night for a mixture of entertainment, information and action," said Prull. "There will be an inspiring speech by David Suzuki each night, but also live music, spoken word poetry,and the input of local leaders so each community will have a role to play as well. It's a very unique experience. It's rare to see such a diversity of musicians, poets, thought leaders, community leaders all coming together with diverse local audiences to talk about making a healthier plant."

The namesake Blue Dot is representative of the planet itself as it looks from space, and underscores just how small and confined the planet is when faced with human populations now topping 7 billion, most of them concentrated on ocean coastlines and freshwater shorelines.

"Even if we have disagreements about politics, different views on life, we can pretty much all agree on the right to clean water, fresh air and healthy food, and that is ultimately what the Blue Dot Tour is all about," Prull said. "If you believe that human life is precious, that we have to defend our right to life, then that has to include access to air, water and food, which means we have to stand up to defend those things."

While these issues are critical in developing nations where political, economic and/or environmental forces cut people off from sustainable supplies of unpolluted food, water or air, it is also a concern in Canada. Some communities within the nation are afflicted with this, too, and Prull said as a nation Canada often scores low on global indexes measuring environmental safeguards within industrialized countries.

It is also notable, and part of the reason Suzuki built the tour, that Canada is one of the minority of nations that has not yet declared clean water, healthy food and fresh air as an official human right of its citizens, despite such a declaration having no effect on the progress of business or industry.

These are the topics that the Blue Dot Tour intend to bring out into stronger light. Tickets are $35 regular, $20 for students and are on sale now at the Blue Dot Tour's official website.