She is a widow with two sons and two daughters, and six granddaughters.Sheoan Russow is internationally known having travelled extensively in her efforts to achieve compliance with international law related to environment, human rights, social justice and peace. She now feels it is time to curtail her international pursuits and focus on local issues. Her international experience, however, will be invaluable to a Council in need of a deeper understanding of our connections with the world at large.
She deeply regrets that she will not be in Oak Bay for the full election period, but will return November 8th. She had prior obligations to participate in The Hague at a Peace Symposium on the De-legitimization of War, and in Geneva on a panel related to the 20th Anniversary of the Beijing Conference on Women. I can be contacted by e-mail at DrJoanRussow@gmail.com.
Education
Joan has a BA in Art History and studied architecture and art in Rome, Seville and Paris, and an MA in Curriculum Development in Education. Both degrees are from UBC. She developed a method of teaching human rights, linked to peace, social justice and the environment, within a framework of international law. She has a doctorate from UVic in interdisciplinary studies, and for several years, she was a sessional lecturer in Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. From 1997 to 2001 she was the National Leader of the Green Party of Canada. She has since rejoined the NDP, and values the strong SOCIAL environmental values she has encountered in both parties. At the same time she is aware that cooperation with Council colleagues ought to take precedence over strict political stands.