Joey Elias stars in Legacy Fund
for the Environment event

The comedy night/auction fundraiser takes place on September 21 at the Unitarian Church in Westmount

By Irwin Rapoport

September 12, 2024

As has been stressed in several WestmountMag.ca articles on the battle to save threatened wilderness, wetlands, green spaces, farmland, and biodiversity in the Greater Montreal Area, the Legacy Fund for the Environment helps local environmental groups protect beautiful and irreplaceable wild spaces and their species via crucial legal work.

On September 21, the Legacy Fund is holding its second major fundraiser, Laughing to Save the Planet, at the Unitarian Church in Westmount from 6 to 9 pm. The fundraiser will feature the comedy stylings of Joey Elias, along with an auction and dinner. The speakers include Legacy Fund founder Campbell Stuart and current president Jason Prince. The event is co-sponsored by the Green Coalition and dozens of citizen groups working to protect nature.

“Get ready to laugh! It’s going to be a hilarious evening for a crucial cause,” said Jason Prince, President of the Legacy Fund for the Environment and one of the event organizers. “Joey Elias, master of ceremonies and auctioneer for the evening, is a seasoned stand-up comic with sixteen Just for Laughs festivals under his belt, including televised Gala performances. His show points out life’s absurdities covering a wide range of topics. He is a big man, with big shoes, big talent and a big stage delivery.”

Get ready to laugh! It’s going to be a hilarious evening for a crucial cause… Joey Elias, master of ceremonies and auctioneer for the evening, is a seasoned stand-up comic with sixteen Just for Laughs festivals under his belt, including televised Gala performances.

– Jason Prince, President of the Legacy Fund for the Environment

“The Fund’s motto is Citizens, defending nature,” Prince added. “The comma is important. It’s about citizens taking action. In Quebec, people quickly find they need access to lawyers as they mobilize to protect threatened, beautiful biodiversity or to preserve areas they have been using for decades, irreplaceable wild spaces and their species.”

Campbell Stuart, ex-mayor of Montreal West and co-founder of the Legacy Fund, has taken on many cases to protect wilderness areas, such as the Technoparc Wetlands and the L’Anse à l’Orme Wilderness, and without question, knows his dossiers. “We have impressive laws in Quebec that claim to protect nature and endangered species, but they don’t work on their own,” he said. “Citizens must ensure that the intention of the law is respected.”

Prince noted that “money raised provides that access and makes real gains to protect various lands. The invaluable Grand Parc de l’Ouest (3000 hectares) would not have existed were it not for grassroots action that included backing from the Legacy Fund. A noteworthy selection of cases supported by the Legacy Fund is available on their website.”

Legacy Fund for the Environment Directors: L to R – Sue Stacho, Sylvie Clermont, Rob Horwood, Jason Prince, Dida Berku and Campbell Stuart

Carole Reed, President of the Green Coalition, heads an umbrella group that unites many local environmental groups and coordinates campaigns and actions. “The permanent loss of our natural habitat and extinction of native species is no laughing matter. But tonight, with Joey Elias, we will all find something to laugh at while supporting this vital cause,” she said. “My message to grassroots groups is don’t give up. In my town of Pincourt, citizen action saved a beautiful forest, home to a rich collection of species, from a housing developer. Far more importantly, we have helped elect an administration which is now conscious of the need to protect what small bits of our habitat remain.”

Diverse items on auction include a two-night stay at a romantic retreat in the Eastern Townships, theatre tickets from the Theatre du Nouveau Monde, a large donation of tickets from the TOHU, a signed jersey from Montreal Canadiens Saku Koivu, and many other generous donations from local producers.

“Back by popular demand are guided nature tours of some of Montreal’s beautiful woodlands and wetlands with well-known and well-informed environmentalists including David Fletcher of the Green Coalition,” said Prince, “and a sock monkey handcrafted by Imogen Prince.”

‘Diverse items on auction include a two-night stay at a romantic retreat in the Eastern Townships, theatre tickets from the Theatre du Nouveau Monde, a large donation of tickets from the TOHU, a signed jersey from Montreal Canadiens Saku Koivu, and many other generous donations from local producers.’

The Legacy Fund for the Environment got its charitable number in 2018 and has funded over 20 citizen groups in their efforts to protect the environment. Ongoing fights and legal actions taken by citizen groups are underway at locations across Quebec, supported by the Legacy Fund, including Sandy Beach, a beautiful public space used by citizens of Hudson for more than a century, and First Peoples for hundreds of years before that, now threatened by bulldozers, and Fairview Forest beside the Fairview Shopping Centre, site of one of the longest continuing citizen mobilizations in Montreal’s history with demonstrations every single Saturday, along with many others.

The Green Coalition, bringing together over seventy groups fighting to protect nature, has members across the Montreal region and has been leading political battles to protect many spots in Montreal, including the entire area known as the Technoparc as a single integrated ecosystem (not just a few detached bits, as proposed by the government owners); many golf courses that would make beautiful central parks in some of the small towns and cities in the Montreal region; and Parc Nature Mob 6600, where citizens have been fighting to stop a logistics centre from destroying the Steinberg Forest.

Together the Legacy Fund and the Green Coalition are a formidable team. The pressure to develop is relentless, and these two partners leave no stone unturned to protect natural areas and flora and fauna struggling to survive. Every donation makes a difference. Please pitch in.

Legacy Fund for the Environment Annual Fundraiser

Saturday, September 21 at 6 pm
Unitarian Church, 5035 De Maisonneuve W, near the Vendôme Metro Station

Tickets: $95 (including a tax receipt) for a light meal with a complimentary glass of wine (or two), a hilarious evening of fun with Joey Elias, an auction and raffle items. There is also a student rate of $30 – click to purchase here.

People who can’t make it but want to help are asked to consider buying a ticket for one of the tireless Legacy Fund volunteers. Tax-deductible donations of any amount can be sent here.

For further information, please contact Jason Prince, President, Legacy Fund for the Environment, at 514 730-2106 or jason.prince@legacyfundrenvironmental.org

The Legacy Fund board is profiled here: legacyfundenvironmental.org/directors

Feature image: Joey Elias
Images: courtesy of the Legacy Fund for the Environment

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Irwin Rapoport is a freelance journalist with Bachelor’s degrees in History and Political Science from Concordia University.