Close X
Saturday, March 1, 2025
ADVT 
National

Leonardo DiCaprio nominates Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do ice bucket

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Aug, 2014 08:12 AM
    EDMONTON - Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has nominated Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do the ice bucket challenge.
     
    DiCaprio was in northern Alberta last week visiting the oilsands to do research for an environmental documentary.
     
    The Oscar-nominated star of "The Wolf of Wall Street'' posted a video on his Facebook page of him doing the ice bucket challenge with two First Nations chiefs.
     
    Afterward, he called out Harper to do the same.
     
    Harper's press secretary says the prime minister had been already challenged by others last week to either dump a bucket of ice water over his head or make a donation, and he's made a donation to the ALS Association.
     
    The association raises money for Lou Gehrig's disease research and assistance.
     
     
    "The Prime Minister was challenged by others last week and posted the following message on Twitter: @pmharper: Thanks everyone for the #IceBucketChallenge nominations. Laureen & I will be making a donation to support the @ALSassociation," Vallee said in an email to The Canadian Press.
     
    "Obviously, the donation has been made since (to ALS Canada)."
     
    DiCaprio has a long history of involvement with the environment. He sits on the boards of several international conservation organizations and started an environmental charity foundation in 1998.
     
    "Hello from Lake Athabasca, we're here learning about the Canadian tar sands. We took a moment to join the #IceBucketChallenge movement in support of the ALS Association. My friends Chief Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation challenges Dave Collyer, president of Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Chief Courtoreille of the Mikisew Cree First Nation challenges Mark Little of Suncor Canada and The Sierra Club President Michael Brune challenges Shell CEO Ben van Beurden," says the post on DiCaprio's site.
     
    "And me? In addition to a donation from my foundation, I challenge Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper."
     
     
    The controversial oilsands development near Fort McMurray has seen a string of high-profile visitors in recent years.
     
    They include human rights leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu, musician Neil Young and Oscar-winning film director James Cameron.
     
    Since the ALS Association began tracking the campaign's progress on July 29, it has raised more than $53.3 million from 1.1 million new donors in what is one of the most viral philanthropic social media campaigns in history.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Canadians Seeking Benefits Face Long Wait as Social Security Tribunal Struggle With Massive Backlog

    Canadians Seeking Benefits Face Long Wait as Social Security Tribunal Struggle With Massive Backlog
    OTTAWA - Ailing, disabled and unemployed Canadians seeking benefits face increasingly long waits to have their appeals heard, even as full-time positions on the government's woefully backlogged Social Security Tribunal remain unfilled.

    Canadians Seeking Benefits Face Long Wait as Social Security Tribunal Struggle With Massive Backlog

    Canadian Soldier Grilled By Defence At Quebec Sex-Assault Court Martial

    Canadian Soldier Grilled By Defence At Quebec Sex-Assault Court Martial
    QUEBEC - A Canadian soldier has been accused of using a female subordinate as an "open bar" for his sexual gratification.

    Canadian Soldier Grilled By Defence At Quebec Sex-Assault Court Martial

    Speed up land claims disputes in the courts, aboriginal leader tells legal group

    Speed up land claims disputes in the courts, aboriginal leader tells legal group
    ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - The leader of an organization representing Labrador Inuit is challenging the legal community to speed up the process in which aboriginal land claims wind through the courts so that generations aren't left waiting for answers.

    Speed up land claims disputes in the courts, aboriginal leader tells legal group

    Canada Commits Cargo Planes To Ship Arms For Kurdish Fighters In Iraq

    Canada Commits Cargo Planes To Ship Arms For Kurdish Fighters In Iraq
    OTTAWA - Two of Canada's military cargo planes will soon be ferrying weapons to Kurdish forces in northern Iraq — and the Harper government sounds prepared to do even more to counter the "barbarous attacks" of hard-line Islamic militants.

    Canada Commits Cargo Planes To Ship Arms For Kurdish Fighters In Iraq

    Fourteen-year-old Cali Bruce aims for record in long-distance charity swim to P.E.I.

    Fourteen-year-old Cali Bruce aims for record in long-distance charity swim to P.E.I.
    HALIFAX - Cali Bruce will use memories of a cousin who battled cancer to motivate her as she swims across the normally choppy waters of the Northumberland Strait on Sunday in what could be a record-breaking effort for the 14-year-old girl.

    Fourteen-year-old Cali Bruce aims for record in long-distance charity swim to P.E.I.

    Tests OK, But First Nation Wants Long-Term Studies Before Consuming Fish

    Tests OK, But First Nation Wants Long-Term Studies Before Consuming Fish
    WILLIAMS LAKE, B.C. - Tests on water and trout in the waterways around a tailings pond breach in B.C.'s Interior remain within guidelines, but local First Nations aren't convinced the disaster won't have lasting repercussions.

    Tests OK, But First Nation Wants Long-Term Studies Before Consuming Fish