Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Choir Performance
The Fundy Chorale performs at Trinity Anglican Church Sunday May 2nd. Plan to be there! The two performances are at 3 pm and 7 pm. Come enjoy the music!
On at King's Theatre
Sherwood, Alcorn team up in Annapolis Royal
Guitarist Ian Sherwood and singer Coco Love Alcorn perform at The King’s Theatre in Annapolis Royal at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Sherwood is Music Nova Scotia’s 2008 musician of the year. Alcorn sings a diverse combination of soul, jazz, pop, R&B and folk.
Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door, $16 for members and $5 for students.
Guitarist Ian Sherwood and singer Coco Love Alcorn perform at The King’s Theatre in Annapolis Royal at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Sherwood is Music Nova Scotia’s 2008 musician of the year. Alcorn sings a diverse combination of soul, jazz, pop, R&B and folk.
Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door, $16 for members and $5 for students.
Health and Wellness Fair
Bear River & Area Community Health Clinic Tue, Mar 30, 2010 at 2:09 PM
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Good afternoon everyone,
Welcome to Spring! Hope this finds you all doing well.
Please take the time to drop by our 3rd Annual Health & Wellness Fair on April 9. It runs from 1 - 4 and is located upstairs in the Bear River Firehall. There will be lots to do and see. Free admission and free gift packs to the first 25 visitors!
Hope to see you there!
Happy Easter to all,
~ Leslie
Leslie Harris, LPN
Clinic Coordinator
Bear River & Area Community Health Clinic
1112 River Road, PO Box 85
Bear River, NS
B0S 1B0
(902) 467-3611 [p]
(902) 467-3339 [f]
www.bearriverandareaclinic.ca
Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Delete | Show original
Good afternoon everyone,
Welcome to Spring! Hope this finds you all doing well.
Please take the time to drop by our 3rd Annual Health & Wellness Fair on April 9. It runs from 1 - 4 and is located upstairs in the Bear River Firehall. There will be lots to do and see. Free admission and free gift packs to the first 25 visitors!
Hope to see you there!
Happy Easter to all,
~ Leslie
Leslie Harris, LPN
Clinic Coordinator
Bear River & Area Community Health Clinic
1112 River Road, PO Box 85
Bear River, NS
B0S 1B0
(902) 467-3611 [p]
(902) 467-3339 [f]
www.bearriverandareaclinic.ca
Monday, March 29, 2010
Maritmes, Unite! ??
Unite Maritime energy plans: expert
Last Updated: Monday, March 29, 2010 | 2:18 PM AT Comments11Recommend2CBC News
The Maritime provinces need to unite to form a regional energy plan, according a policy expert at the University of Moncton.
Donald Savoie, holder of the Canada research chair in public administration and governance at the university, said that the collapse of the NB Power-Hydro Québec deal has left the utility in disarray and that the solution lies in unity between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
"At some point a light bulb is going to go on and say we better get these three little dories together and see where we go," he said.
Savoie says a Maritime union was considered a viable option in the 1980s, but the idea fizzled out.
He said in the wake of the collapsed New Brunswick-Quebec deal, it's now the time to reconsider the union.
Cost concerns
Savoie said many people are concerned about what will happen to power rates in New Brunswick now that Hydro-Québec is not buying NB Power's assets.
The proposed deal to sell NB Power's generation assets to Hydro-Québec fell apart over Quebec's concerns about unanticipated costs, according to the two provincial premiers.
New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham announced in the legislative assembly Wednesday that the deal to sell NB Power's generation assets to Hydro-Québec for $3.2 billion was dead.
Savoie said he's disturbed by the entire energy picture in the province and that he's not alone.
"Large employers need an answer, need a way ahead, need some hope that things are going to get better, need a sense that we're going to find a solution here, need a sense that this time we're not going to mess it up," he said.
Savoie said the province's energy sector and its entire economic state needs someone with a "Midas touch."
He doesn't think Graham has it and he says the opposition parties don't have the resources to turn things around, either.
Savoie said the solution is to unite the Maritimes.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/03/29/ns-unified-maritimes.html#ixzz0jb7qY7aq
Last Updated: Monday, March 29, 2010 | 2:18 PM AT Comments11Recommend2CBC News
The Maritime provinces need to unite to form a regional energy plan, according a policy expert at the University of Moncton.
Donald Savoie, holder of the Canada research chair in public administration and governance at the university, said that the collapse of the NB Power-Hydro Québec deal has left the utility in disarray and that the solution lies in unity between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
"At some point a light bulb is going to go on and say we better get these three little dories together and see where we go," he said.
Savoie says a Maritime union was considered a viable option in the 1980s, but the idea fizzled out.
He said in the wake of the collapsed New Brunswick-Quebec deal, it's now the time to reconsider the union.
Cost concerns
Savoie said many people are concerned about what will happen to power rates in New Brunswick now that Hydro-Québec is not buying NB Power's assets.
The proposed deal to sell NB Power's generation assets to Hydro-Québec fell apart over Quebec's concerns about unanticipated costs, according to the two provincial premiers.
New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham announced in the legislative assembly Wednesday that the deal to sell NB Power's generation assets to Hydro-Québec for $3.2 billion was dead.
Savoie said he's disturbed by the entire energy picture in the province and that he's not alone.
"Large employers need an answer, need a way ahead, need some hope that things are going to get better, need a sense that we're going to find a solution here, need a sense that this time we're not going to mess it up," he said.
Savoie said the province's energy sector and its entire economic state needs someone with a "Midas touch."
He doesn't think Graham has it and he says the opposition parties don't have the resources to turn things around, either.
Savoie said the solution is to unite the Maritimes.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/03/29/ns-unified-maritimes.html#ixzz0jb7qY7aq
Labels:
Canada Maritimes energy
News from ADEDA
BAY FERRIES TO PARTNER ON SPRING TOURISM CAMPAIGN
April 5 will see the launch of our 2010 Golf & Gardens billboard campaign, with a focus this year on nearby urban markets in Saint John and Moncton. In support of this initiative, our good friends at Bay Ferries have agreed to come aboard as a partner!
PROVINCE INVITES DEVELOPERS TO REVIEW FUNDY OPPORTUNITY
Nova Scotia has begun to invite expressions of interest from tidal developers around the world to participate in future Bay of Fundy tidal energy projects. The goal is to gauge developers' interest and readiness to demonstrate a tidal device as spots become available at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy.
DOING BUSINESS JUST GOT A LITTLE EASIER
Starting and running a business in Annapolis Royal, Bridgetown and Middleton just became easier thanks to BizPaL, a new online business permit and licence service that saves time spent on paperwork and helps entrepreneurs start up faster.
STUDENT AFFAIRS
The nomination deadline for the Premier's Power of Positive Change Awards has been extended to April 14. This awards program celebrates students who are making a positive difference in their schools and communities. Speaking of students, you’re invited to attend a ceremonial announcement of the winners of NSCC’s Dragon’s Den-style idea competition on April 6 — RSVP ASAP!
LAST CHANCE OFFERS
You can still take part in the Southwest Nova Biosphere Workshop on Sustainable Tourism being held tomorrow and Wednesday at White Point Beach Resort, and Thursday’s Social Media Face-off taking place here at ADEDA HQ. And if you’re an artisan or craftsperson, you’ll want to take part in this online survey but the deadline is noon today! taking place here at ADEDA HQ.
The bud is about to bloom with 'Secret Seeds', the brainchild of three very creative folks in Bear River. From humble beginnings several months ago, the seed of an idea has grown into a garden of delights. Don’t miss out on an opportunity this weekend to see live performance art in action. Hey, sport fishing season has begun, too!
April 5 will see the launch of our 2010 Golf & Gardens billboard campaign, with a focus this year on nearby urban markets in Saint John and Moncton. In support of this initiative, our good friends at Bay Ferries have agreed to come aboard as a partner!
PROVINCE INVITES DEVELOPERS TO REVIEW FUNDY OPPORTUNITY
Nova Scotia has begun to invite expressions of interest from tidal developers around the world to participate in future Bay of Fundy tidal energy projects. The goal is to gauge developers' interest and readiness to demonstrate a tidal device as spots become available at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy.
DOING BUSINESS JUST GOT A LITTLE EASIER
Starting and running a business in Annapolis Royal, Bridgetown and Middleton just became easier thanks to BizPaL, a new online business permit and licence service that saves time spent on paperwork and helps entrepreneurs start up faster.
STUDENT AFFAIRS
The nomination deadline for the Premier's Power of Positive Change Awards has been extended to April 14. This awards program celebrates students who are making a positive difference in their schools and communities. Speaking of students, you’re invited to attend a ceremonial announcement of the winners of NSCC’s Dragon’s Den-style idea competition on April 6 — RSVP ASAP!
LAST CHANCE OFFERS
You can still take part in the Southwest Nova Biosphere Workshop on Sustainable Tourism being held tomorrow and Wednesday at White Point Beach Resort, and Thursday’s Social Media Face-off taking place here at ADEDA HQ. And if you’re an artisan or craftsperson, you’ll want to take part in this online survey but the deadline is noon today! taking place here at ADEDA HQ.
The bud is about to bloom with 'Secret Seeds', the brainchild of three very creative folks in Bear River. From humble beginnings several months ago, the seed of an idea has grown into a garden of delights. Don’t miss out on an opportunity this weekend to see live performance art in action. Hey, sport fishing season has begun, too!
Earth Hour Results
Maritimes unplug for Earth Hour
Last Updated: Sunday, March 28, 2010 | 12:55 PM AT Comments18Recommend11CBC News
Maritimers joined millions of other Canadians who turned off their power during Earth Hour Saturday evening.
In Nova Scotia it created an 18-megawatt reduction in energy use, easily surpassing the 15-megawatt reduction observed in the province last year.
Stacey Pineau, a spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Power, said the hour-long power savings was equivalent to turning off 1.4 million 13-watt compact fluorescent light bulbs. The year-over-year difference in energy savings is equivalent to roughl 300,000 CFL bulbs, according to Pineau.
"We are always very supportive of energy efficiency and conservation efforts. It's something we encourage year round with our customers and our employees," Pineau said. "When it comes to saving the energy and the environment we all have a role to play."
Both NB Power and Maritime Electric in Prince Edward Island are still calculating what effect Earth Hour had on their grids.
Last year, NB Power reported an energy consumption drop of 20 megawatts during Earth Hour, which is equal to roughly 400,000 conventional incandescent lightbulbs being turned off.
Earth Hour started in 2007
Earth Hour was started by the World Wildlife Fund in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. More than two million people and businesses took part in that first year.
About one billion people in 121 countries had been expected to take part in Earth Hour on Saturday.
Events were planned from east to west in Canada. Halifax harbour bridges went dark, as did most of the external lights on Toronto's CN Tower.
The exterior lights at Air Canada Centre were kept off in honour of Earth Hour, while inside, the Maple Leafs beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/03/28/ns-earth-hour-1212.html#ixzz0jb65tz9v
Last Updated: Sunday, March 28, 2010 | 12:55 PM AT Comments18Recommend11CBC News
Maritimers joined millions of other Canadians who turned off their power during Earth Hour Saturday evening.
In Nova Scotia it created an 18-megawatt reduction in energy use, easily surpassing the 15-megawatt reduction observed in the province last year.
Stacey Pineau, a spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Power, said the hour-long power savings was equivalent to turning off 1.4 million 13-watt compact fluorescent light bulbs. The year-over-year difference in energy savings is equivalent to roughl 300,000 CFL bulbs, according to Pineau.
"We are always very supportive of energy efficiency and conservation efforts. It's something we encourage year round with our customers and our employees," Pineau said. "When it comes to saving the energy and the environment we all have a role to play."
Both NB Power and Maritime Electric in Prince Edward Island are still calculating what effect Earth Hour had on their grids.
Last year, NB Power reported an energy consumption drop of 20 megawatts during Earth Hour, which is equal to roughly 400,000 conventional incandescent lightbulbs being turned off.
Earth Hour started in 2007
Earth Hour was started by the World Wildlife Fund in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. More than two million people and businesses took part in that first year.
About one billion people in 121 countries had been expected to take part in Earth Hour on Saturday.
Events were planned from east to west in Canada. Halifax harbour bridges went dark, as did most of the external lights on Toronto's CN Tower.
The exterior lights at Air Canada Centre were kept off in honour of Earth Hour, while inside, the Maple Leafs beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/03/28/ns-earth-hour-1212.html#ixzz0jb65tz9v
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Convergys Call Centre
Blogger: Please see comments at the end
NL: Convergys defends layoffs; employees fear more to come
By Terry Roberts, Transcontinental Media
Source: The Telegram, March 23, 2010
[ST. JOHN'S, NL] — Less than three weeks after being assured their jobs were safe, 34 employees in the human resources management (HRM) division at Convergys were shown the door last week.
And sources say more layoffs are on the way.
A spokeswoman for Convergys, Amy Williams, confirmed in a written statement to The Telegram Monday the employees were let go from its Torbay Road contact centre.
She said the decision was made in order to bring the number of agents there in line with the volume of calls.
“Because of the nature of the business, we often simultaneously see growth and decline in customer volumes that can affect employment levels at individual locations,” she wrote. “We remain dedicated to the St. John’s site and our talented employees there.”
Convergys on Torbay Road is the largest of the call centres located in the metro area. The layoff of 34 staff last week is feared to be a forerunner of more layoffs to come. — Photo by Gary Hebbard/The Telegram
The layoffs come as a deal is being finalized to sell the company’s HRM line of business to NorthgateArinso, a leading global human resources software and services provider.
A spokesman for the United Kingdom-based company stated emphatically in a recent interview with The Telegram that the 500 Convergys employees affected by the deal in St. John’s would not be negatively affected by the deal.
NorthgateArinso had promised to offer employment to the approximately 2,300 employees of Convergys’ HRM line of business, including the 500 who work in St. John’s.
“We operate in a very stable business. We want to offer our customers that same stability, and obviously that will be reflected in not changing anything to the location of the workforce,” NorthgateArinso spokesman Michael Custers stated.
Both companies stressed at the time this transaction represented a unique opportunity for Convergys’ HRM clients and employees to become part of a company with a strong record of accomplishment in the human resources sector.
“We only see changes for the good in the sense we will be an entirely HR-focused group right now,” Custers added.
Convergys is one of the major players in the province’s contact centre industry and employs about 950 people in the capital city.
The company announced March 4 it had signed an agreement to sell its HRM division to North-gateArinso. The deal is worth approximately $85 million in cash at closing, and $15 million in cash over three years.
As expected, news of the layoffs took employees by surprise.
In an e-mail to The Telegram, one employee described what happened.
“Without notice and while working at their cubicles, they were tapped on the shoulder and walked to the door by supervisors,” the employee wrote. “Supervisors then came back and gathered their belongings in bags or boxes. No prior notice was provided. No chance to say goodbye to people they had worked with for years, in some cases.”
The employee feels more layoffs are pending.
“So much for safe jobs,” the employee wrote.
Another employee said the layoffs were directly related to the pending deal with NorthgateArinso.
“They were also told that this was just the first wave, that by the end of it the reduction will impact about 50 per cent of the HRM workers in St. John’s,” the employee wrote.
NorthgateArinso has offices in 31 countries and delivers services in more than 70 countries via a network of eight service delivery centres. The company employs approximately 5,000 people and serves more than 20 per cent of the Fortune Global 500 companies. It is one of the five largest HR service providers in the world.
Custers did not respond to an interview request on Monday
Comments:
Andrew
Convergys lies… they are moving completely out of Canada, just google Convergys Layoff Canada, they are trying to do it quietly. It’s a sad day in NorthAmerica but nothing we all didn’t expect to happen.
Mar 23/2010
Warden
\what specifically does this center do and who is the client?
Mar 23/2010
anon
They do Comcast (not HRM), General Electric(HRM), and one other project, they neglect to mention what happens to the Customer Management portion of this Site :)
Will they be moving to a new location? Or will HRM be moving to a new location? There are many un awnsered questions Convergys Needs to awnser.
Mar 24/2010
John
Convergys does seem to be pulling out of Canada to places where they can get a new set of subsidies to exploit the local population.
Puerto Rico and Phillipines are 2 such locations, where they are setting up.
Mar 27/2010
NL: Convergys defends layoffs; employees fear more to come
By Terry Roberts, Transcontinental Media
Source: The Telegram, March 23, 2010
[ST. JOHN'S, NL] — Less than three weeks after being assured their jobs were safe, 34 employees in the human resources management (HRM) division at Convergys were shown the door last week.
And sources say more layoffs are on the way.
A spokeswoman for Convergys, Amy Williams, confirmed in a written statement to The Telegram Monday the employees were let go from its Torbay Road contact centre.
She said the decision was made in order to bring the number of agents there in line with the volume of calls.
“Because of the nature of the business, we often simultaneously see growth and decline in customer volumes that can affect employment levels at individual locations,” she wrote. “We remain dedicated to the St. John’s site and our talented employees there.”
Convergys on Torbay Road is the largest of the call centres located in the metro area. The layoff of 34 staff last week is feared to be a forerunner of more layoffs to come. — Photo by Gary Hebbard/The Telegram
The layoffs come as a deal is being finalized to sell the company’s HRM line of business to NorthgateArinso, a leading global human resources software and services provider.
A spokesman for the United Kingdom-based company stated emphatically in a recent interview with The Telegram that the 500 Convergys employees affected by the deal in St. John’s would not be negatively affected by the deal.
NorthgateArinso had promised to offer employment to the approximately 2,300 employees of Convergys’ HRM line of business, including the 500 who work in St. John’s.
“We operate in a very stable business. We want to offer our customers that same stability, and obviously that will be reflected in not changing anything to the location of the workforce,” NorthgateArinso spokesman Michael Custers stated.
Both companies stressed at the time this transaction represented a unique opportunity for Convergys’ HRM clients and employees to become part of a company with a strong record of accomplishment in the human resources sector.
“We only see changes for the good in the sense we will be an entirely HR-focused group right now,” Custers added.
Convergys is one of the major players in the province’s contact centre industry and employs about 950 people in the capital city.
The company announced March 4 it had signed an agreement to sell its HRM division to North-gateArinso. The deal is worth approximately $85 million in cash at closing, and $15 million in cash over three years.
As expected, news of the layoffs took employees by surprise.
In an e-mail to The Telegram, one employee described what happened.
“Without notice and while working at their cubicles, they were tapped on the shoulder and walked to the door by supervisors,” the employee wrote. “Supervisors then came back and gathered their belongings in bags or boxes. No prior notice was provided. No chance to say goodbye to people they had worked with for years, in some cases.”
The employee feels more layoffs are pending.
“So much for safe jobs,” the employee wrote.
Another employee said the layoffs were directly related to the pending deal with NorthgateArinso.
“They were also told that this was just the first wave, that by the end of it the reduction will impact about 50 per cent of the HRM workers in St. John’s,” the employee wrote.
NorthgateArinso has offices in 31 countries and delivers services in more than 70 countries via a network of eight service delivery centres. The company employs approximately 5,000 people and serves more than 20 per cent of the Fortune Global 500 companies. It is one of the five largest HR service providers in the world.
Custers did not respond to an interview request on Monday
Comments:
Andrew
Convergys lies… they are moving completely out of Canada, just google Convergys Layoff Canada, they are trying to do it quietly. It’s a sad day in NorthAmerica but nothing we all didn’t expect to happen.
Mar 23/2010
Warden
\what specifically does this center do and who is the client?
Mar 23/2010
anon
They do Comcast (not HRM), General Electric(HRM), and one other project, they neglect to mention what happens to the Customer Management portion of this Site :)
Will they be moving to a new location? Or will HRM be moving to a new location? There are many un awnsered questions Convergys Needs to awnser.
Mar 24/2010
John
Convergys does seem to be pulling out of Canada to places where they can get a new set of subsidies to exploit the local population.
Puerto Rico and Phillipines are 2 such locations, where they are setting up.
Mar 27/2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
P.E.I. Says the World Wants Their Lobsters
PE: Fishermen discover world “clawing” for P.E.I. lobster
By Steve Sharratt, Transcontinental Media
Source: The Guardian, March 22, 2010
[CHARLOTTETOWN, PE] — P.E.I. lobster fishermen may be on the waves of creating their own marketing co-operative after enduring dismal prices last year and discovering a phenomenal demand for their catches this year at the Boston Seafood Show.
“The good news is that the bad news isn’t bad after all,” said Mike McGeoghegan, president of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, who just returned from the biggest international seafood show. “Last year the show barely had attendance. This year the Expo Centre was packed and you could barely move and everyone wants our lobster.”
After watching catch prices drop by 50 per cent in the last three years, fishermen contend there must be incidents of price manipulation on the Maritime scene after being advised that seafood demand in the United States — including lobster — was up by 100 per cent last fall.
The two biggest seafood restaurant chains, Red Lobster and Olive Garden, didn’t lower lobster prices on their menus, although they watched orders drop by 20 per cent, suggesting it was too difficult to increase again.
Lobster fishermen faced a terrible season last year barely getting $3 a pound after earning almost twice that amount three years ago.
The seafood show this year drew 16,000 companies from over 90 countries and every seafood online media outlet and brokerage house is confirming a major demand for lobster because there is nothing in storage.
“We’ve been fed a lot of bunk,” says Pinette-area fisherman Charlie McGeoghegan, who attended the show with his father. “Everybody is crying for lobster around the world and yet we’re being told on the local scene that demand is down and the exchange rate is killing us.”
The Belfast/Murray River MLA said claims the recession has dwindled demand are false and every seafood seller he spoke to at the two-day show is “begging” to get lobster to market. Last summer, many Island fishermen were bypassing local processors and having no problem selling their catch from the back of their trucks for $5 a pound.
“I don’t think fishermen should sell a pound this year if we don’t get a price that reflects the demand,” said the association chairman. “I’m not pointing fingers, but there can be no possible reason why lobster prices on Prince Edward Island remain low this year.”
True North Foods, which sells 2,000 tonnes of seafood a day to China, doesn’t market any lobster, said the MLA, because they don’t have any to sell.
“What we heard from these seafood sellers goes against the grain of what fishermen are being told on the Island,” he said. “There’s an open door to a new market in China and no one is knocking on it. It’s like there’s a cartel of processors in the Maritimes who are setting the price and leaving the fishermen out to dry and that is going to change.”
The PEIFA chair, in Moncton for fishery meetings, estimates Island fishermen lost $40 million last year and the P.E.I. economy missed out on over $100 million in spinoffs because of the price differences in lobster.
“We were fishing right beside Nova Scotia fishermen (in the Northumberland Strait) who were earning $1.75 more per pound for the same lobsters we were landing.”
P.E.I. landed over 22 million pounds of lobster in 2009. At the recent PEIFA annual meeting in Charlottetown, a major American business guru told fishermen the Island is not a “small speck” in the seafood industry — as the processing industry advises here — and provides 80 per cent of whole and cooked red lobster to the world marketplace.
A Beach Point fisherman who received $2.75 per pound this past season for his catch found himself paying $43 for a cooked lobster in a Charlottetown restaurant this winter when he took his wife out for dinner.
Fishermen were earning $5.50 for canners and $6.50 for markets in 2006 but netted only $2.75 for canners and $3.50 for markets last year. A provincial Department of Fisheries report indicates that even though volumes were down last year, export values in dollars were way up.
By Steve Sharratt, Transcontinental Media
Source: The Guardian, March 22, 2010
[CHARLOTTETOWN, PE] — P.E.I. lobster fishermen may be on the waves of creating their own marketing co-operative after enduring dismal prices last year and discovering a phenomenal demand for their catches this year at the Boston Seafood Show.
“The good news is that the bad news isn’t bad after all,” said Mike McGeoghegan, president of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, who just returned from the biggest international seafood show. “Last year the show barely had attendance. This year the Expo Centre was packed and you could barely move and everyone wants our lobster.”
After watching catch prices drop by 50 per cent in the last three years, fishermen contend there must be incidents of price manipulation on the Maritime scene after being advised that seafood demand in the United States — including lobster — was up by 100 per cent last fall.
The two biggest seafood restaurant chains, Red Lobster and Olive Garden, didn’t lower lobster prices on their menus, although they watched orders drop by 20 per cent, suggesting it was too difficult to increase again.
Lobster fishermen faced a terrible season last year barely getting $3 a pound after earning almost twice that amount three years ago.
The seafood show this year drew 16,000 companies from over 90 countries and every seafood online media outlet and brokerage house is confirming a major demand for lobster because there is nothing in storage.
“We’ve been fed a lot of bunk,” says Pinette-area fisherman Charlie McGeoghegan, who attended the show with his father. “Everybody is crying for lobster around the world and yet we’re being told on the local scene that demand is down and the exchange rate is killing us.”
The Belfast/Murray River MLA said claims the recession has dwindled demand are false and every seafood seller he spoke to at the two-day show is “begging” to get lobster to market. Last summer, many Island fishermen were bypassing local processors and having no problem selling their catch from the back of their trucks for $5 a pound.
“I don’t think fishermen should sell a pound this year if we don’t get a price that reflects the demand,” said the association chairman. “I’m not pointing fingers, but there can be no possible reason why lobster prices on Prince Edward Island remain low this year.”
True North Foods, which sells 2,000 tonnes of seafood a day to China, doesn’t market any lobster, said the MLA, because they don’t have any to sell.
“What we heard from these seafood sellers goes against the grain of what fishermen are being told on the Island,” he said. “There’s an open door to a new market in China and no one is knocking on it. It’s like there’s a cartel of processors in the Maritimes who are setting the price and leaving the fishermen out to dry and that is going to change.”
The PEIFA chair, in Moncton for fishery meetings, estimates Island fishermen lost $40 million last year and the P.E.I. economy missed out on over $100 million in spinoffs because of the price differences in lobster.
“We were fishing right beside Nova Scotia fishermen (in the Northumberland Strait) who were earning $1.75 more per pound for the same lobsters we were landing.”
P.E.I. landed over 22 million pounds of lobster in 2009. At the recent PEIFA annual meeting in Charlottetown, a major American business guru told fishermen the Island is not a “small speck” in the seafood industry — as the processing industry advises here — and provides 80 per cent of whole and cooked red lobster to the world marketplace.
A Beach Point fisherman who received $2.75 per pound this past season for his catch found himself paying $43 for a cooked lobster in a Charlottetown restaurant this winter when he took his wife out for dinner.
Fishermen were earning $5.50 for canners and $6.50 for markets in 2006 but netted only $2.75 for canners and $3.50 for markets last year. A provincial Department of Fisheries report indicates that even though volumes were down last year, export values in dollars were way up.
Labels:
lobsters PEI
Nova Scotia Population Decline
NS: Demographic doom
By Nancy King, Transcontinental Media
Source: Cape Breton Post, Mar. 25/10
[SYDNEY, NS] – Quality of life in Nova Scotia could drop significantly in the next 10-15 years if the province can’t stem the population decline.
A report released this week details the demographic challenges facing the province and what they could mean for the Nova Scotia. It came out of a population forum held recently in Wolfville that brought together municipalities, chambers of commerce and regional development authorities.
It notes that Nova Scotia will run out of its available labour force in less than seven years, with one in eight jobs going unfilled, and that will affect all economic sectors and job categories.
“Municipalities — I’m talking rural, towns and cities — are going to find that in the next 10-15 years, that short, if we can’t get some solutions to this problem that we see looming out there, we’ll not be able to provide the necessary services and health care for senior citizens and for our children that we’ve had in the past, and the quality of life as we know it as Nova Scotians is in jeopardy,” says Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean, who chaired the forum.
If the province doesn’t retain young people, encourage others to move back, attract immigrants and stop the decline of rural communities, it won’t have the necessary tax base to pay for those services, he says.
“Even if we jump on it now, we’re going to have trouble in the next 10 years, but let’s try to alleviate this a little bit,” MacLean says.
In the report, Jim McNiven, a senior policy research adviser with Canmac Economics Ltd., predicts the province would need to attract at least 515,000 immigrants by 2028 to maintain modest economic growth, something deemed unrealistic for a province that now attracts less than one per cent of immigrants to Canada.
If the province relies on seniors remaining in the workforce past the traditional retirement age, workers would not be able to retire until some point in their 70s and all adults would have to work.
Even if Nova Scotia increased productivity by more than 50 per cent, the province would still come up short.
As a result, the report says addressing the labour challenges will require a mixed solution.
MacLean says all three levels of government and other agencies now need to look at the statistics and work together to develop a plan.
“We’re watching, as we speak, rural communities shrinking, losing their young people, going out west or moving to the cities… how do we retain our people here? There has to be some cooperation between all levels of government to try to, first of all, create jobs to keep our young people here,” he says.
Keeping the older population active and healthy will also be key so they can continue working, MacLean says.
“This is a very obvious crisis that has to be addressed by all of us,” he adds.
There are efforts underway to organize additional sessions, possibly in Sydney and Halifax, which would include provincial and federal officials. MacLean says he’d like to see a provincial cabinet minister assigned to the issue.
By Nancy King, Transcontinental Media
Source: Cape Breton Post, Mar. 25/10
[SYDNEY, NS] – Quality of life in Nova Scotia could drop significantly in the next 10-15 years if the province can’t stem the population decline.
A report released this week details the demographic challenges facing the province and what they could mean for the Nova Scotia. It came out of a population forum held recently in Wolfville that brought together municipalities, chambers of commerce and regional development authorities.
It notes that Nova Scotia will run out of its available labour force in less than seven years, with one in eight jobs going unfilled, and that will affect all economic sectors and job categories.
“Municipalities — I’m talking rural, towns and cities — are going to find that in the next 10-15 years, that short, if we can’t get some solutions to this problem that we see looming out there, we’ll not be able to provide the necessary services and health care for senior citizens and for our children that we’ve had in the past, and the quality of life as we know it as Nova Scotians is in jeopardy,” says Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean, who chaired the forum.
If the province doesn’t retain young people, encourage others to move back, attract immigrants and stop the decline of rural communities, it won’t have the necessary tax base to pay for those services, he says.
“Even if we jump on it now, we’re going to have trouble in the next 10 years, but let’s try to alleviate this a little bit,” MacLean says.
In the report, Jim McNiven, a senior policy research adviser with Canmac Economics Ltd., predicts the province would need to attract at least 515,000 immigrants by 2028 to maintain modest economic growth, something deemed unrealistic for a province that now attracts less than one per cent of immigrants to Canada.
If the province relies on seniors remaining in the workforce past the traditional retirement age, workers would not be able to retire until some point in their 70s and all adults would have to work.
Even if Nova Scotia increased productivity by more than 50 per cent, the province would still come up short.
As a result, the report says addressing the labour challenges will require a mixed solution.
MacLean says all three levels of government and other agencies now need to look at the statistics and work together to develop a plan.
“We’re watching, as we speak, rural communities shrinking, losing their young people, going out west or moving to the cities… how do we retain our people here? There has to be some cooperation between all levels of government to try to, first of all, create jobs to keep our young people here,” he says.
Keeping the older population active and healthy will also be key so they can continue working, MacLean says.
“This is a very obvious crisis that has to be addressed by all of us,” he adds.
There are efforts underway to organize additional sessions, possibly in Sydney and Halifax, which would include provincial and federal officials. MacLean says he’d like to see a provincial cabinet minister assigned to the issue.
Countries Going to Offshore Wind
From Britain:
Hooray !!! General Electric to build wind turbines and create 2,000 jobs. What? In England?
March 26, 2010 — morgan
We sure hope none of the tax credits and subsidies that support GE directly or indirectly enables this little adventure. Naah! That could never happen … could it? I know Jeff Immelt is good buddies with the President, but hey!
See, I thought when they said the wind industry would create jobs, they meant here … in the US … with US workers … using US materials. Geesh!
From the UK Times Online edition: General Electric to build wind turbines and create 2,000 jobs
March 26, 2010
Robin Pagnamenta, Energy Editor
The Government plans to generate one third of Britain’s electricity from giant offshore wind parks by 2020
Up to 1,900 jobs could be created in the UK after General Electric revealed plans to build a factory to make offshore wind turbines.
It will invest €110 million (£99 million) over the next decade on the plant, which will employ about 500 people producing turbine blades, towers and other parts. Magued Eldaief, the managing director of GE Energy UK, said that an additional 450 jobs would be created at other sites in Britain, while the investment would support a further 950 positions at other UK companies involved in the supply of components.
The Government plans an estimated 8,000 wind turbines for giant offshore wind parks in the North Sea and the Irish Sea to help meet its target of cutting carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020.
Mr Eldaief said that a “handful” of manufacturing sites were being considered.
He said that the company’s investment was linked to measures announced in the Budget to provide £60 million of funding that would help develop British ports to support the offshore wind industry.
The plant will build 4 megawatt wind turbines — each of which are up to 140m (460ft) high and have a turbine blade diameter equivalent to two football pitches. Mr Eldaief said: “The Budget announcement on ports was a key part of the decision. We have to make sure these ports have the capacity to handle these turbines.”
Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, said that the announcement shows a “vote of confidence in UK low carbon manufacturing”.
Vestas, the Danish wind turbine company that supplies 20 per cent of the world’s wind turbine market, last year cut 425 jobs at its manufacturing and research plant at Newport on the Isle of Wight and at a factory in Southampton.
Tom Delay, the chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said that General Electric’s announcement was “proof that offshore wind presents a huge economic opportunity for the UK”.
Recession brings cleaner air
? Emissions of carbon dioxide in Britain fell by nearly a tenth last year — from 532.8 million tonnes in 2008 to 480.9 million — as demand for energy dropped on the back of a shrinking economy and as factories cut production or closed
? Industrial demand for electricity fell by 11 per cent, while demand for coal fell by 16 per cent
? Emissions from transport were also significantly lower as freight and cargo volumes fell
? The amount of electricity generated from renewables increased to 24.4 terrawatt hours after the completion of a string of wind parks. This still accounted for only a small fraction of the 344.6 terrawatt hour total of electricity produced from all sources, including coal, gas and nuclear energy
Hooray !!! General Electric to build wind turbines and create 2,000 jobs. What? In England?
March 26, 2010 — morgan
We sure hope none of the tax credits and subsidies that support GE directly or indirectly enables this little adventure. Naah! That could never happen … could it? I know Jeff Immelt is good buddies with the President, but hey!
See, I thought when they said the wind industry would create jobs, they meant here … in the US … with US workers … using US materials. Geesh!
From the UK Times Online edition: General Electric to build wind turbines and create 2,000 jobs
March 26, 2010
Robin Pagnamenta, Energy Editor
The Government plans to generate one third of Britain’s electricity from giant offshore wind parks by 2020
Up to 1,900 jobs could be created in the UK after General Electric revealed plans to build a factory to make offshore wind turbines.
It will invest €110 million (£99 million) over the next decade on the plant, which will employ about 500 people producing turbine blades, towers and other parts. Magued Eldaief, the managing director of GE Energy UK, said that an additional 450 jobs would be created at other sites in Britain, while the investment would support a further 950 positions at other UK companies involved in the supply of components.
The Government plans an estimated 8,000 wind turbines for giant offshore wind parks in the North Sea and the Irish Sea to help meet its target of cutting carbon emissions by 34 per cent by 2020.
Mr Eldaief said that a “handful” of manufacturing sites were being considered.
He said that the company’s investment was linked to measures announced in the Budget to provide £60 million of funding that would help develop British ports to support the offshore wind industry.
The plant will build 4 megawatt wind turbines — each of which are up to 140m (460ft) high and have a turbine blade diameter equivalent to two football pitches. Mr Eldaief said: “The Budget announcement on ports was a key part of the decision. We have to make sure these ports have the capacity to handle these turbines.”
Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, said that the announcement shows a “vote of confidence in UK low carbon manufacturing”.
Vestas, the Danish wind turbine company that supplies 20 per cent of the world’s wind turbine market, last year cut 425 jobs at its manufacturing and research plant at Newport on the Isle of Wight and at a factory in Southampton.
Tom Delay, the chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said that General Electric’s announcement was “proof that offshore wind presents a huge economic opportunity for the UK”.
Recession brings cleaner air
? Emissions of carbon dioxide in Britain fell by nearly a tenth last year — from 532.8 million tonnes in 2008 to 480.9 million — as demand for energy dropped on the back of a shrinking economy and as factories cut production or closed
? Industrial demand for electricity fell by 11 per cent, while demand for coal fell by 16 per cent
? Emissions from transport were also significantly lower as freight and cargo volumes fell
? The amount of electricity generated from renewables increased to 24.4 terrawatt hours after the completion of a string of wind parks. This still accounted for only a small fraction of the 344.6 terrawatt hour total of electricity produced from all sources, including coal, gas and nuclear energy
People's Opinions and Input Sought:Turbines
Blogger's Note: It's pointless to plant more wind turbines on land, at least in residential or nature areas. Offshore turbines are the ones that countries are going towards and soon what is planted in our yards and in nature/tourist areas will become hulking heaps.
By Patti Brandt
for the Daily News
Published: Friday, March 26, 2010 11:40 AM EDT
Offshore wind farms may soon be coming to a Great Lakes shoreline near you.
Five areas have been identified as ideal for the new wind technology, which plants the massive turbines in the water several miles offshore.
One of those is located in the outer Saginaw Bay, and one is in Lake Huron near Sanilac County.
Another is in southern Lake Michigan near Berrien County, with two more in northern Lake Michigan near Delta and Mackinac counties in the Upper Peninsula.
More than 80 people turned out Thursday at to learn about the wind technology and to have their say about the potential farms.
Though there was not a question and answer period, those attending the event at Saginaw Valley State University were all given hand-held 'clickers' that, using computer software, registered their anonymous answers to questions about whether they would support the wind farms in the Great Lakes.
They were also asked if they thought the wind farms would be harmful to things such as the environment, the fishing industry and tourism, and whether they would be more likely to support a coal-fired plant or a nuclear plant.
The event was hosted by the Michigan Great Lakes Wind Council, a 29-member advisory body made up of people from the public and private sectors from all over the state. The GLOW council formed about two years ago, when it was charged with finding and mapping sites that would be the best spots for the offshore wind farms.
An area must be at least 20 square miles and less than 30 meters deep for it to be a viable option for an offshore wind farm, according to wind energy developers. The Saginaw Bay site is 27 square miles; the area near Sanilac is 36 square miles.
But Skip Pruss, council chair and director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth, said the real potential for the state is in the manufacturing of wind turbines.
It's a rapidly evolving field, Pruss said, and Michigan needs to take advantage of it.
"This opportunity aligns so well with Michigan's strengths," he said. The state already has a work force trained in advanced manufacturing, robotics, tool and die, metal fabrication and gear boxes. Michigan also has the highest concentration of engineers of any state in the nation, he said.
"We need to be there in order to capture those opportunities for Michigan," Pruss said. "We can build them better, faster, cheaper and more durable than anyone else."
Michigan is ready to build the next generation of wind turbines, not just for the nation, but for the world, he said. Michigan has 35 deep water ports from which the heavy turbines can be transported via water.
"We want this to be an export industry for Michigan," he said.
The state also has several universities and community colleges, 18 of which have technical training institutes and are designing new curriculums in response to changing demands of the new clean energy fields.
Delta College already has in place an associate degree program in alternative energy/wind turbine technology.
Offshore wind farms are a part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan to create jobs, diversify the economy and secure new investments for the state. Wind energy can also reduce Michigan's dependence on oil, as there are no fuel costs associated with wind turbines. The state now spends $24 billion per year on oil.
Wind farms also will help the state hit its Renewable Energy Standard that says that by 2015 at least 10 percent of Michigan's electric supply must be from renewable sources.
"If we don't do it, somebody else will," Dennis Banaszak said of the proposed offshore farms.
Banaszak, a Bay City commissioner, said the state needs to offer companies incentives such as tax breaks to lure them into installing turbines offshore, a much more expensive investment than turbines placed on land.
The GLOW council has been charged with detailing criteria for permitting and regulating offshore wind energy. Because of the location of the turbines in the Great Lakes, several agencies are involved with the process, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.
"There are so many complex issues that are in play when you are developing essentially the rules of the road," said Brett French, a council member and senior regional manager of the American Transmission Company.
Of more than 38,000 square miles of state-owned Great Lakes bottomland, just 323 square miles are considered ideal for location of offshore turbines. That's after areas that contain shipping lanes, harbors and marinas, shipwrecks, spawning and commercial fishing areas are ruled out.
Turbines cannot be located within three miles of the coastline, which is a biological productivity zone and contains spawning grounds and paths for migratory birds.
There is also a six-mile viewshed buffer zone; turbines located farther than six miles can't be easily seen and won't interfere with the beauty of the shoreline.
The Great Lakes bottomlands are owned and held in trust by the state for use by Michigan's residents. The land will be leased out for use by wind energy companies, with the first lease not expected to take place for at least three to five years.
During that time the public will have several opportunities to have input on permitting and leasing, site assessment plans and construction plans.
Companies that lease bottomlands will pay the state $3 per acre per year, plus royalties of 3 percent on the gross revenues of energy that is generated by the wind farm. The state will use that money for things like monitoring the impact of the wind farms and on the pursuit of other types of renewable energy.
As of the end of 2009 about 144 megawatts of wind power have been installed in Michigan, most of that by the John Deere Wind Energy Group in Huron County. Other wind generators can be found in Traverse City, near Mackinaw City and in Missaukee County.
People have complained about the noise generated by wind turbines, something that would not be a problem with turbines located several miles offshore, Banaszak said.
By Patti Brandt
for the Daily News
Published: Friday, March 26, 2010 11:40 AM EDT
Offshore wind farms may soon be coming to a Great Lakes shoreline near you.
Five areas have been identified as ideal for the new wind technology, which plants the massive turbines in the water several miles offshore.
One of those is located in the outer Saginaw Bay, and one is in Lake Huron near Sanilac County.
Another is in southern Lake Michigan near Berrien County, with two more in northern Lake Michigan near Delta and Mackinac counties in the Upper Peninsula.
More than 80 people turned out Thursday at to learn about the wind technology and to have their say about the potential farms.
Though there was not a question and answer period, those attending the event at Saginaw Valley State University were all given hand-held 'clickers' that, using computer software, registered their anonymous answers to questions about whether they would support the wind farms in the Great Lakes.
They were also asked if they thought the wind farms would be harmful to things such as the environment, the fishing industry and tourism, and whether they would be more likely to support a coal-fired plant or a nuclear plant.
The event was hosted by the Michigan Great Lakes Wind Council, a 29-member advisory body made up of people from the public and private sectors from all over the state. The GLOW council formed about two years ago, when it was charged with finding and mapping sites that would be the best spots for the offshore wind farms.
An area must be at least 20 square miles and less than 30 meters deep for it to be a viable option for an offshore wind farm, according to wind energy developers. The Saginaw Bay site is 27 square miles; the area near Sanilac is 36 square miles.
But Skip Pruss, council chair and director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth, said the real potential for the state is in the manufacturing of wind turbines.
It's a rapidly evolving field, Pruss said, and Michigan needs to take advantage of it.
"This opportunity aligns so well with Michigan's strengths," he said. The state already has a work force trained in advanced manufacturing, robotics, tool and die, metal fabrication and gear boxes. Michigan also has the highest concentration of engineers of any state in the nation, he said.
"We need to be there in order to capture those opportunities for Michigan," Pruss said. "We can build them better, faster, cheaper and more durable than anyone else."
Michigan is ready to build the next generation of wind turbines, not just for the nation, but for the world, he said. Michigan has 35 deep water ports from which the heavy turbines can be transported via water.
"We want this to be an export industry for Michigan," he said.
The state also has several universities and community colleges, 18 of which have technical training institutes and are designing new curriculums in response to changing demands of the new clean energy fields.
Delta College already has in place an associate degree program in alternative energy/wind turbine technology.
Offshore wind farms are a part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan to create jobs, diversify the economy and secure new investments for the state. Wind energy can also reduce Michigan's dependence on oil, as there are no fuel costs associated with wind turbines. The state now spends $24 billion per year on oil.
Wind farms also will help the state hit its Renewable Energy Standard that says that by 2015 at least 10 percent of Michigan's electric supply must be from renewable sources.
"If we don't do it, somebody else will," Dennis Banaszak said of the proposed offshore farms.
Banaszak, a Bay City commissioner, said the state needs to offer companies incentives such as tax breaks to lure them into installing turbines offshore, a much more expensive investment than turbines placed on land.
The GLOW council has been charged with detailing criteria for permitting and regulating offshore wind energy. Because of the location of the turbines in the Great Lakes, several agencies are involved with the process, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.
"There are so many complex issues that are in play when you are developing essentially the rules of the road," said Brett French, a council member and senior regional manager of the American Transmission Company.
Of more than 38,000 square miles of state-owned Great Lakes bottomland, just 323 square miles are considered ideal for location of offshore turbines. That's after areas that contain shipping lanes, harbors and marinas, shipwrecks, spawning and commercial fishing areas are ruled out.
Turbines cannot be located within three miles of the coastline, which is a biological productivity zone and contains spawning grounds and paths for migratory birds.
There is also a six-mile viewshed buffer zone; turbines located farther than six miles can't be easily seen and won't interfere with the beauty of the shoreline.
The Great Lakes bottomlands are owned and held in trust by the state for use by Michigan's residents. The land will be leased out for use by wind energy companies, with the first lease not expected to take place for at least three to five years.
During that time the public will have several opportunities to have input on permitting and leasing, site assessment plans and construction plans.
Companies that lease bottomlands will pay the state $3 per acre per year, plus royalties of 3 percent on the gross revenues of energy that is generated by the wind farm. The state will use that money for things like monitoring the impact of the wind farms and on the pursuit of other types of renewable energy.
As of the end of 2009 about 144 megawatts of wind power have been installed in Michigan, most of that by the John Deere Wind Energy Group in Huron County. Other wind generators can be found in Traverse City, near Mackinaw City and in Missaukee County.
People have complained about the noise generated by wind turbines, something that would not be a problem with turbines located several miles offshore, Banaszak said.
Standards Being Created for Turbines in US
Blogger says: "Duh!" Standards are already in place in Europe and where are they in Canada? And where in Nova Scotia? especially curious why they weren't developed and put in place BEFORE plunking down turbines on land. Another "duh".
Standards being devised for offshore wind turbine farms
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, March 27, 2010
By Alex Kuffner
Journal Staff Writer
Rhode Island officials working on a state ocean zoning plan were in Washington this week to take part in a workshop to develop national design and safety standards for offshore wind turbines.
Because no offshore wind farms have been built yet in the United States, standards do not exist governing, among other issues, how turbines would be anchored to the ocean floor or how they would be built to survive hurricanes. But with several proposals on the table for offshore wind farms off the East Coast, the federal Minerals Management Service has begun working in haste to develop regulations for the design and operation of turbines.
Deepwater Wind has put forward a proposal to build two wind farms in waters off Rhode Island. The first, an eight-turbine project planned in state waters near Block Island, is moving through the approval process and scheduled to be on line by 2013. A larger, 100-turbine project in federal waters is set to follow.
Grover Fugate, executive director of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, and Jennifer McCann, of Rhode Island Sea Grant, are part of a team working on an ocean management plan that will determine locations for the wind farms. They traveled to Washington, along with scientists from the University of Rhode Island, to participate in the offshore wind standards workshop that was held Thursday and Friday by the Transportation Research Board, an arm of the nonprofit National Research Council. The council is researching possible regulations on behalf of MMS.
On Friday, Fugate and McCann said federal officials are working with states to develop standards for turbines, blades, towers, foundations and other equipment used in offshore wind farms. Rhode Island’s work to manage offshore wind through ocean zoning was highlighted at the event.
“They appreciate that Rhode Island is trying to be very thoughtful about this project,” Fugate said.
Although standards are in place in Europe, where offshore wind has already been developed, Fugate and McCann said not all of them could be duplicated in the United States because of environmental differences. For example, Fugate said, the European North Atlantic does not get the same types of hurricanes as in this country.
Development of the standards is important to Rhode Island because Deepwater’s eight-turbine project could be the first offshore wind farm in the U.S.
“We need to get this right, now,” McCann said.
Standards being devised for offshore wind turbine farms
01:00 AM EDT on Saturday, March 27, 2010
By Alex Kuffner
Journal Staff Writer
Rhode Island officials working on a state ocean zoning plan were in Washington this week to take part in a workshop to develop national design and safety standards for offshore wind turbines.
Because no offshore wind farms have been built yet in the United States, standards do not exist governing, among other issues, how turbines would be anchored to the ocean floor or how they would be built to survive hurricanes. But with several proposals on the table for offshore wind farms off the East Coast, the federal Minerals Management Service has begun working in haste to develop regulations for the design and operation of turbines.
Deepwater Wind has put forward a proposal to build two wind farms in waters off Rhode Island. The first, an eight-turbine project planned in state waters near Block Island, is moving through the approval process and scheduled to be on line by 2013. A larger, 100-turbine project in federal waters is set to follow.
Grover Fugate, executive director of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, and Jennifer McCann, of Rhode Island Sea Grant, are part of a team working on an ocean management plan that will determine locations for the wind farms. They traveled to Washington, along with scientists from the University of Rhode Island, to participate in the offshore wind standards workshop that was held Thursday and Friday by the Transportation Research Board, an arm of the nonprofit National Research Council. The council is researching possible regulations on behalf of MMS.
On Friday, Fugate and McCann said federal officials are working with states to develop standards for turbines, blades, towers, foundations and other equipment used in offshore wind farms. Rhode Island’s work to manage offshore wind through ocean zoning was highlighted at the event.
“They appreciate that Rhode Island is trying to be very thoughtful about this project,” Fugate said.
Although standards are in place in Europe, where offshore wind has already been developed, Fugate and McCann said not all of them could be duplicated in the United States because of environmental differences. For example, Fugate said, the European North Atlantic does not get the same types of hurricanes as in this country.
Development of the standards is important to Rhode Island because Deepwater’s eight-turbine project could be the first offshore wind farm in the U.S.
“We need to get this right, now,” McCann said.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Moncton Scores Again!
CFL game sells out
Published Friday March 26th, 2010
Only remaining tickets available through minor football leagues, bus tours, contests
A1By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff
Stumble Upondel.icio.usDiggFacebookPrintEmail5 Comment(s)Metro Moncton has scored another touchdown.
In just 32 hours, the public sale of tickets to the Canadian Football League's ScotiaBank Touchdown Atlantic game in Moncton on Sunday, Sept. 26 has sold out.
The only tickets remaining for the game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Edmonton Eskimos are being sold through minor football leagues in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and bus tours coming from Fredericton, Saint John, Halifax and Charlottetown.
The league announced the sellout at 6 p.m. last night, at which time CFL commissioner Mark Cohon called the Times & Transcript to share the good news.
"The fact that it sold out so quickly is a testament to the strength of the CFL, but more importantly the passion that people have in Atlantic Canada for our game and for our league," Cohon says.
More than 13,000 tickets sold out in a one-day pre-sale online at www.CFL.ca/TouchdownAtlantic on Wednesday.
Another 5,000 or so sold throughout the day yesterday.
Jamie Dykstra, manager of communications for the CFL, says over 18,000 tickets are sold and the game's total capacity is 20,693.
Cohon says it was important for the league to make an effort to help out minor football in the Maritimes, so an allotment of tickets has been given to teams in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
"One of the commitments that we made when we said we were coming out there was we would leave money in the community to help on legacy programs, and that's one piece of it," he says.
Teams can use the tickets for fundraisers in the community.
At the same time, another allotment was left to bus tours from Fredericton, Saint John, Halifax and Charlottetown.
"Part of our commitment to this effort was to make sure that we bring people into Moncton as well," he says.
Fans interested in one of those bus packages can contact Sports and Entertainment Atlantic by calling 1-902-444-3773 or visiting www.seatlantic.ca
Lastly, a few tickets remain for contests that the CFL will unveil in the coming weeks. Cohon says the league is ecstatic over the early success of the CFL in Atlantic Canada.
"We're extremely excited for the opportunity, and we hope that this can turn into, eventually, a multi-year commitment," he says. "I think the fact that ticket sales have gone so well, that we've been able to land corporate sponsorship like ScotiaBank, is an indication that we'd like to go back to the government and try and get them to support this on an ongoing basis."
Asked what the quick sellout might mean for the possibility of a CFL team in Moncton, Cohon says the league will "walk before we run."
"One game does not make a season, but I think we're going to continue to methodically build that fanbase, that we get the corporate support, that the government gets behind us, and we'll see where it takes us."
Ian Fowler, Moncton's general manager of Recreation, Parks and Culture, also mentioned the possibility of a franchise team in the region down the road.
"There was no question in our mind that Atlantic Canadians were going to respond in a very positive manner (to Touchdown Atlantic), but this clearly demonstrates the interest in the Canadian Football League in Atlantic Canada, and certainly sends a strong message to the league about the interest for further advancement of the league in our region, be it through further regular season games and a potential franchise."
Fowler says Moncton has a good string of success going in terms of big events like concerts and sporting events.
"It certainly speaks well of our location, the regional drawing power that we bring that we continue to preach, it speaks well of the infrastructure we're developing, and I also hope it speaks well to the relationship that we're building with promoters and event rights holders, that the word is spreading throughout Canada that Moncton is a good place to do business from an event perspective."
Fowler says the sellout of the game now brings the focus to the weekend-long festival surrounding the Touchdown Atlantic game, but few details of the festival were available yesterday.
He says a number of food and beverage kiosks will be available on site during game day, but he said contractual arrangements relating to those are still being worked on.
Fowler says there will be a public transportation element as well, but work on that element of the event hasn't started just yet.
A flurry of football activities are planned, including the Scotiabank Gala dinner on Saturday, Sept. 25. The weekend will feature Atlantic Canadian entertainment, refreshments, and high school and university level football games, culminating with the CFL game on Sunday afternoon at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium on the Université de Moncton campus.
Published Friday March 26th, 2010
Only remaining tickets available through minor football leagues, bus tours, contests
A1By Eric Lewis
Times & Transcript Staff
Stumble Upondel.icio.usDiggFacebookPrintEmail5 Comment(s)Metro Moncton has scored another touchdown.
In just 32 hours, the public sale of tickets to the Canadian Football League's ScotiaBank Touchdown Atlantic game in Moncton on Sunday, Sept. 26 has sold out.
The only tickets remaining for the game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Edmonton Eskimos are being sold through minor football leagues in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and bus tours coming from Fredericton, Saint John, Halifax and Charlottetown.
The league announced the sellout at 6 p.m. last night, at which time CFL commissioner Mark Cohon called the Times & Transcript to share the good news.
"The fact that it sold out so quickly is a testament to the strength of the CFL, but more importantly the passion that people have in Atlantic Canada for our game and for our league," Cohon says.
More than 13,000 tickets sold out in a one-day pre-sale online at www.CFL.ca/TouchdownAtlantic on Wednesday.
Another 5,000 or so sold throughout the day yesterday.
Jamie Dykstra, manager of communications for the CFL, says over 18,000 tickets are sold and the game's total capacity is 20,693.
Cohon says it was important for the league to make an effort to help out minor football in the Maritimes, so an allotment of tickets has been given to teams in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
"One of the commitments that we made when we said we were coming out there was we would leave money in the community to help on legacy programs, and that's one piece of it," he says.
Teams can use the tickets for fundraisers in the community.
At the same time, another allotment was left to bus tours from Fredericton, Saint John, Halifax and Charlottetown.
"Part of our commitment to this effort was to make sure that we bring people into Moncton as well," he says.
Fans interested in one of those bus packages can contact Sports and Entertainment Atlantic by calling 1-902-444-3773 or visiting www.seatlantic.ca
Lastly, a few tickets remain for contests that the CFL will unveil in the coming weeks. Cohon says the league is ecstatic over the early success of the CFL in Atlantic Canada.
"We're extremely excited for the opportunity, and we hope that this can turn into, eventually, a multi-year commitment," he says. "I think the fact that ticket sales have gone so well, that we've been able to land corporate sponsorship like ScotiaBank, is an indication that we'd like to go back to the government and try and get them to support this on an ongoing basis."
Asked what the quick sellout might mean for the possibility of a CFL team in Moncton, Cohon says the league will "walk before we run."
"One game does not make a season, but I think we're going to continue to methodically build that fanbase, that we get the corporate support, that the government gets behind us, and we'll see where it takes us."
Ian Fowler, Moncton's general manager of Recreation, Parks and Culture, also mentioned the possibility of a franchise team in the region down the road.
"There was no question in our mind that Atlantic Canadians were going to respond in a very positive manner (to Touchdown Atlantic), but this clearly demonstrates the interest in the Canadian Football League in Atlantic Canada, and certainly sends a strong message to the league about the interest for further advancement of the league in our region, be it through further regular season games and a potential franchise."
Fowler says Moncton has a good string of success going in terms of big events like concerts and sporting events.
"It certainly speaks well of our location, the regional drawing power that we bring that we continue to preach, it speaks well of the infrastructure we're developing, and I also hope it speaks well to the relationship that we're building with promoters and event rights holders, that the word is spreading throughout Canada that Moncton is a good place to do business from an event perspective."
Fowler says the sellout of the game now brings the focus to the weekend-long festival surrounding the Touchdown Atlantic game, but few details of the festival were available yesterday.
He says a number of food and beverage kiosks will be available on site during game day, but he said contractual arrangements relating to those are still being worked on.
Fowler says there will be a public transportation element as well, but work on that element of the event hasn't started just yet.
A flurry of football activities are planned, including the Scotiabank Gala dinner on Saturday, Sept. 25. The weekend will feature Atlantic Canadian entertainment, refreshments, and high school and university level football games, culminating with the CFL game on Sunday afternoon at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium on the Université de Moncton campus.
No Cosmetic Surgery for Dogs
N.S veterinarians ban tail docking
Last Updated: Thursday, March 25, 2010 | 1:11 PM AT Comments73Recommend34CBC News
Veterinarians in Nova Scotia will no longer cut the tails and ears of dogs for cosmetic reasons, prompting an outcry from some breeders.
Tail docking is popular for certain breeds like Doberman pinschers. (CBC)The Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association is forbidding its members from doing surgeries that alter an animal's appearance solely for cosmetic purposes.
Veterinarians say docking a Doberman pinscher's tail, for example, is unnecessary and cruel.
"In my opinion, Dobermans and Great Danes look great with their ears down and their long tails, so there's no reason to mutilate them by causing them to meet an arbitrary breed characteristic that has been around for so long that we can't remember why it's been around in the first place," said Dr. Frank Woodbury, a veterinarian in Halifax.
Mary Spinelli, a Doberman breeder in Dartmouth, disputes any suggestion that ear cropping and tail docking is cruel, and therefore can't see any need for the new rules.
"There was no impetus from anybody in the dog community to say, 'Please, consider this procedure,'" she said.
"These procedures have been performed for the better part of 100 years. They're not new, they're not revolutionary and, by and large, they're not cruel. They're done in proper conditions."
Spinelli said a Doberman's tail is removed when the animal is about two days old, while the ears are cropped at eight weeks.
She finds it hypocritical that the veterinary association is still allowing the declawing of cats.
"They have no qualms whatsoever about declawing cats, which is a far more invasive procedure done when the cat is significantly older," she said.
The new rules go into effect on April 1, though they won't be enforced until October. Similar bans on cosmetic surgeries are already in place in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Spinelli, a registered breeder with the Canadian Kennel Club, won't crop the tails of her dogs herself. She said the procedure should only be done under safe and clean conditions, like with veterinarians.
Another Doberman owner, Lendra Barker, fears that some owners will do whatever it takes to get their dogs to conform to a certain look.
"The people who own these dogs want them performed and without a vet to be permitted to perform these procedures, where is it going to go? Some people that aren't reputable may end up doing it themselves without the benefit of anesthesia or sanitary conditions," said Barker, a past-president of the Doberman Pinscher Club of Canada.
Non-veterinarians who attempt the surgeries on their own could be charged under Nova Scotia's Animal Protection Act.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/03/25/ns-veterinarians-cosmetic-surgeries.html#ixzz0jKp3CBff
Last Updated: Thursday, March 25, 2010 | 1:11 PM AT Comments73Recommend34CBC News
Veterinarians in Nova Scotia will no longer cut the tails and ears of dogs for cosmetic reasons, prompting an outcry from some breeders.
Tail docking is popular for certain breeds like Doberman pinschers. (CBC)The Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association is forbidding its members from doing surgeries that alter an animal's appearance solely for cosmetic purposes.
Veterinarians say docking a Doberman pinscher's tail, for example, is unnecessary and cruel.
"In my opinion, Dobermans and Great Danes look great with their ears down and their long tails, so there's no reason to mutilate them by causing them to meet an arbitrary breed characteristic that has been around for so long that we can't remember why it's been around in the first place," said Dr. Frank Woodbury, a veterinarian in Halifax.
Mary Spinelli, a Doberman breeder in Dartmouth, disputes any suggestion that ear cropping and tail docking is cruel, and therefore can't see any need for the new rules.
"There was no impetus from anybody in the dog community to say, 'Please, consider this procedure,'" she said.
"These procedures have been performed for the better part of 100 years. They're not new, they're not revolutionary and, by and large, they're not cruel. They're done in proper conditions."
Spinelli said a Doberman's tail is removed when the animal is about two days old, while the ears are cropped at eight weeks.
She finds it hypocritical that the veterinary association is still allowing the declawing of cats.
"They have no qualms whatsoever about declawing cats, which is a far more invasive procedure done when the cat is significantly older," she said.
The new rules go into effect on April 1, though they won't be enforced until October. Similar bans on cosmetic surgeries are already in place in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Spinelli, a registered breeder with the Canadian Kennel Club, won't crop the tails of her dogs herself. She said the procedure should only be done under safe and clean conditions, like with veterinarians.
Another Doberman owner, Lendra Barker, fears that some owners will do whatever it takes to get their dogs to conform to a certain look.
"The people who own these dogs want them performed and without a vet to be permitted to perform these procedures, where is it going to go? Some people that aren't reputable may end up doing it themselves without the benefit of anesthesia or sanitary conditions," said Barker, a past-president of the Doberman Pinscher Club of Canada.
Non-veterinarians who attempt the surgeries on their own could be charged under Nova Scotia's Animal Protection Act.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/03/25/ns-veterinarians-cosmetic-surgeries.html#ixzz0jKp3CBff
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Four Companies Interested in Ferry Service
NS: Four ferry companies interested in 2011 service
By Carla Allen, Transcontinental Media
Source: Yarmouth County Vanguard, March 24, 2010
[YARMOUTH, NS] — Four groups to date have expressed interest in providing ferry service from Yarmouth to New England in 2011, says the manager of Yarmouth’s port.
“That’s without us going out and seeking anyone,” said Dave Whiting, adding that some of the groups contacted him last December immediately after hearing that Bay Ferries Ltd. would not be sailing this summer because the government refused to subsidize the service.
Whiting says that people should also not exclude the possibility of Bay Ferries providing service next year with a modern monohull.
“Mark MacDonald (CEO) of Bay Ferries has been very cooperative. They are very concerned about the town and what happens here,” said Whiting.
Town representatives have met with one interested party and are communicating with another. Another company, one which Whiting doesn’t think will come to fruition, has not been able to reach its principals in time for a conversation. Another company is sending a business plan.
While negotiations are underway, movement has already begun on the divestiture of the ferry terminal to the Yarmouth and Area Industrial Commission.
Ideally, the Town of Yarmouth would like to see the ferry company selected, employ those who worked for Bay Ferries, as well as take on supplies here and designate Yarmouth as its homeport.
Whiting says there is a strong prospect from Canada and that the vessel would be comparable to the old Scotia Prince in size. Getting people to and fro fast is not the goal.
“We’re learning through the cruise industry that you make your money on board now. You don’t make your money by transporting from Point A to Point B,” said Whiting.
Although work is underway on restoring ferry service, it won’t happen overnight.
“This is a very complicated procedure and a lot of things have to fall in line and happen in parallel,” said Whiting.
By Carla Allen, Transcontinental Media
Source: Yarmouth County Vanguard, March 24, 2010
[YARMOUTH, NS] — Four groups to date have expressed interest in providing ferry service from Yarmouth to New England in 2011, says the manager of Yarmouth’s port.
“That’s without us going out and seeking anyone,” said Dave Whiting, adding that some of the groups contacted him last December immediately after hearing that Bay Ferries Ltd. would not be sailing this summer because the government refused to subsidize the service.
Whiting says that people should also not exclude the possibility of Bay Ferries providing service next year with a modern monohull.
“Mark MacDonald (CEO) of Bay Ferries has been very cooperative. They are very concerned about the town and what happens here,” said Whiting.
Town representatives have met with one interested party and are communicating with another. Another company, one which Whiting doesn’t think will come to fruition, has not been able to reach its principals in time for a conversation. Another company is sending a business plan.
While negotiations are underway, movement has already begun on the divestiture of the ferry terminal to the Yarmouth and Area Industrial Commission.
Ideally, the Town of Yarmouth would like to see the ferry company selected, employ those who worked for Bay Ferries, as well as take on supplies here and designate Yarmouth as its homeport.
Whiting says there is a strong prospect from Canada and that the vessel would be comparable to the old Scotia Prince in size. Getting people to and fro fast is not the goal.
“We’re learning through the cruise industry that you make your money on board now. You don’t make your money by transporting from Point A to Point B,” said Whiting.
Although work is underway on restoring ferry service, it won’t happen overnight.
“This is a very complicated procedure and a lot of things have to fall in line and happen in parallel,” said Whiting.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Funeral at Sobey's in Halifax
NS: Mock funeral protest takes aim at Sobeys
By Alex Boutilier, Metro Halifax
Source: Metro Halifax, March 22, 2010
[HALIFAX, NS] — Protesters held a mock funeral for declining Atlantic Cod stocks outside the Sobeys on Queen Street in north-end Halifax late last week.
Eight Greenpeace members clad in black followed a hearse into the parking lot on Thursday morning and removed a coffin from the back. Inside the coffin, which was laid outside the store’s main entrance, was a rotting cod head.
Within minutes, the protest moved off the property at the request of Sobeys employees.
Greenpeace activists in front of the Queen Street Sobeys on Thursday. — Ryan Taplin/Metro Halifax photo
Greenpeace spokeswoman Sarah King, of Vancouver, said Sobeys has a responsibility to protect the species future.
“Atlantic cod stocks have seen declines over the past decades and we continue to fish them to death,” King said. “As a Maritime company, (Sobeys has) an added responsibility to ensure a future for the seafood that they sell. They should be stewards of the ocean, not fishing them to death.”
King added Sobeys was not the only one responsible for the decline in stocks, but said they were the only retailer that refused to act on Greenpeace urgings to address the problem.
“Everybody has a responsibility,” she said. “The Department of Fisheries and Oceans sets the quotas. They set it from pressure from the fisheries. And the fisheries are fishing it because consumers and retailers want to sell it.”
Representatives from Sobeys did not return calls on Thursday.
By Alex Boutilier, Metro Halifax
Source: Metro Halifax, March 22, 2010
[HALIFAX, NS] — Protesters held a mock funeral for declining Atlantic Cod stocks outside the Sobeys on Queen Street in north-end Halifax late last week.
Eight Greenpeace members clad in black followed a hearse into the parking lot on Thursday morning and removed a coffin from the back. Inside the coffin, which was laid outside the store’s main entrance, was a rotting cod head.
Within minutes, the protest moved off the property at the request of Sobeys employees.
Greenpeace activists in front of the Queen Street Sobeys on Thursday. — Ryan Taplin/Metro Halifax photo
Greenpeace spokeswoman Sarah King, of Vancouver, said Sobeys has a responsibility to protect the species future.
“Atlantic cod stocks have seen declines over the past decades and we continue to fish them to death,” King said. “As a Maritime company, (Sobeys has) an added responsibility to ensure a future for the seafood that they sell. They should be stewards of the ocean, not fishing them to death.”
King added Sobeys was not the only one responsible for the decline in stocks, but said they were the only retailer that refused to act on Greenpeace urgings to address the problem.
“Everybody has a responsibility,” she said. “The Department of Fisheries and Oceans sets the quotas. They set it from pressure from the fisheries. And the fisheries are fishing it because consumers and retailers want to sell it.”
Representatives from Sobeys did not return calls on Thursday.
Bill 474 and GMO's
Via Tom Paton
Support Bill C-474 - before Monday March 29, 2010 - Support Canada's
> > Farmers! You can stop GE Alfalfa and GE Wheat!
> >
> > Write a letter to your MP instantly from http://www.cban.ca/474action
> > Take action this week! before March 29, 2010.
> >
> > Your actions gave the Bill another chance! Private Members Bill C-474
> > will be debated for a second hour in Parliament March 29. The vote
> > will happen a few days later. Even if you have already written your
> > MP, you are encouraged to send another letter before March 29
> > http://www.cban.ca/474action
> >
> > Your concrete action could stop genetically engineered (GE) seeds from
> > causing chaos in Canadian farming!
> >
> > Bill C-474 would require that "an analysis of potential harm to export
> > markets be conducted before the sale of any new genetically engineered
> > seed is permitted." The Bill could stop GE alfalfa and GE wheat.
> >
> > This Bill is critically important because, as we know from experience,
> > the introduction of new genetically engineered (GE) crops can cause
> > economic hardship to farmers. Farmers are at risk when GE crops are
> > commercialized in Canada without also being approved in our major
> > export markets.
> >
> > Flax farmers in Canada are now paying a heavy price because of this
> > exact problem. Late last year, Canadian flax exports were discovered
> > contaminated with a GE flax that is not approved in Europe or in any
> > of our other export markets (except the U.S.). Flax farmers actually
> > foresaw that GE contamination or even the threat of contamination
> > would close their export markets. That's why they took steps in 2001
> > to remove GE flax from the market. Despite this measure, flax farmers
> > were not protected. The GE flax contamination closed our export
> > markets in 2009. It has created market uncertainty and depressed
> > prices. Farmers are also paying for testing and cleanup and may be
> > required to abandon their own farm-saved flax seed and buy certified
> > seed instead. These costs are an unnecessary and preventable burden.
> >
> > We cannot allow GE seeds to harm our export markets. Please support
> > Bill C-474 and protect Canada's farmers.
> >
> > Write a letter to your MP instantly from http://www.cban.ca/474action
> > Take action before March 29, 2010.
> >
> > Bill C-474 was introduced by Alex Atamanenko, the NDP Agriculture
> > Critic and MP for British Columbia Southern Interior.
> >
> > For updates, more info and action options see http://www.cban.ca/474
> > or contact Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action
> > Network coordinator@cban.ca 613 241 2267 ext. 6
> >
> > This action alert was issued by the Canadian Biotechnology Action
> > Network (CBAN) http://www.cban.ca
> >
> >
> > Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator
> > Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)
> > Collaborative Campaigning for Food Sovereignty and Environmental
> > Justice
> > 431 Gilmour Street, Second Floor
> > Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 0R5
> > Phone: 613 241 2267 ext.6
> > Fax: 613 241 2506
> > coordinator@cban.ca
> > www.cban.ca
> >
> > Your action to support Bill C-474 is making a difference! Support
> > Canada's Farmers!
> > Write to your MP instantly from http://www.cban.ca/474action
> > Take action before March 29, 2010.
>
Support Bill C-474 - before Monday March 29, 2010 - Support Canada's
> > Farmers! You can stop GE Alfalfa and GE Wheat!
> >
> > Write a letter to your MP instantly from http://www.cban.ca/474action
> > Take action this week! before March 29, 2010.
> >
> > Your actions gave the Bill another chance! Private Members Bill C-474
> > will be debated for a second hour in Parliament March 29. The vote
> > will happen a few days later. Even if you have already written your
> > MP, you are encouraged to send another letter before March 29
> > http://www.cban.ca/474action
> >
> > Your concrete action could stop genetically engineered (GE) seeds from
> > causing chaos in Canadian farming!
> >
> > Bill C-474 would require that "an analysis of potential harm to export
> > markets be conducted before the sale of any new genetically engineered
> > seed is permitted." The Bill could stop GE alfalfa and GE wheat.
> >
> > This Bill is critically important because, as we know from experience,
> > the introduction of new genetically engineered (GE) crops can cause
> > economic hardship to farmers. Farmers are at risk when GE crops are
> > commercialized in Canada without also being approved in our major
> > export markets.
> >
> > Flax farmers in Canada are now paying a heavy price because of this
> > exact problem. Late last year, Canadian flax exports were discovered
> > contaminated with a GE flax that is not approved in Europe or in any
> > of our other export markets (except the U.S.). Flax farmers actually
> > foresaw that GE contamination or even the threat of contamination
> > would close their export markets. That's why they took steps in 2001
> > to remove GE flax from the market. Despite this measure, flax farmers
> > were not protected. The GE flax contamination closed our export
> > markets in 2009. It has created market uncertainty and depressed
> > prices. Farmers are also paying for testing and cleanup and may be
> > required to abandon their own farm-saved flax seed and buy certified
> > seed instead. These costs are an unnecessary and preventable burden.
> >
> > We cannot allow GE seeds to harm our export markets. Please support
> > Bill C-474 and protect Canada's farmers.
> >
> > Write a letter to your MP instantly from http://www.cban.ca/474action
> > Take action before March 29, 2010.
> >
> > Bill C-474 was introduced by Alex Atamanenko, the NDP Agriculture
> > Critic and MP for British Columbia Southern Interior.
> >
> > For updates, more info and action options see http://www.cban.ca/474
> > or contact Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action
> > Network coordinator@cban.ca 613 241 2267 ext. 6
> >
> > This action alert was issued by the Canadian Biotechnology Action
> > Network (CBAN) http://www.cban.ca
> >
> >
> > Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator
> > Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN)
> > Collaborative Campaigning for Food Sovereignty and Environmental
> > Justice
> > 431 Gilmour Street, Second Floor
> > Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K2P 0R5
> > Phone: 613 241 2267 ext.6
> > Fax: 613 241 2506
> > coordinator@cban.ca
> > www.cban.ca
> >
> > Your action to support Bill C-474 is making a difference! Support
> > Canada's Farmers!
> > Write to your MP instantly from http://www.cban.ca/474action
> > Take action before March 29, 2010.
>
Europe's Giant Grid
2010 international green renewable energy power grids planned in Northern Europe and Africa
Mar 21st, 2010 by admin.
2010 international green renewable energy power grids planned in Northern Europe and Africa
The world is left to find a solution to non-polluting electricity generation grids after the Copenhagen Climate Conference failed to yield any solutions.
Being the lowest cost renewable energy technologies in current use in 2010 Solar and Wind power are the basis for the planning of huge projects. As both are intermittent sources of power due to the variability of sun and wind as the power source massive projects are planned in favourable weather locations such as the North African Deserts and the North Sea.
These plans are based on the conventional thinking of centralised old fashioned thermal power plants that deliver electricity to far away markets over long-distance transmission grids. It is now claimed that traditional losses over grids can be reduced from 40% to 15%.
The need for the use of long-distance grids still remains as Solar and Wind plants need to be located at optimum weather locations to achieve increased operational output capacity. Generally speaking both Solar and Wind plants are productive less than 50% of the hours in a year.
These projects are entirely dependent on:
Multi billion Euro investment in new Grid infrastructures.
Granting of high Feed-in Tariffs by the EEC.
To overcome the unreliability for full time supply of electricity other less efficient and more capital intensive methods such as tidal and ocean technologies are even planned into the technology mix.
Post the Copenhagen COP-15 Conference in December 2009 two renewable electricity projects planned on a tremendously large scale are being advanced by European Groups, one Solar, and one Wind.
These projects taken together show the state of technology actually in use today as the basis for renewable non-polluting electricity generation. Both based on massive long-distance electricity grids.
EUROPEAN ANSWER TO THE FAILED CLIMATE CONFERENCE
The Wind project is a nine-nation project to link power-generation projects in a high-tech North Sea power grid. The idea is to link wind farms off Denmark, for example, with solar parks in Germany and tidal power stations in Belgium to create a regional grid of clean power, and it’s been hailed by German papers as a major step in the fight against global warming.
The plan is similar to the Desertec solar project announced in Europe last year, which aims to bring solar energy from North Africa to European Union customers through a power grid under the Mediterranean Sea — using nothing but existing technology.
Initiated by the Non-Profit-Organisation DESERTEC Foundation, which was founded in 2008 to realise the DESERTEC Concept worldwide, and the Munich Re, the world’s leading reinsurance company, the Dii is a unique industry initiative which was launched as ‘DESERTEC Industrial Initiative’ in July 2009. The initiative aims at creating the conditions for an accelerated implementation of the DESERTEC Concept in EUMENA (Europe, Middle East, North Africa). The Dii was founded under German law as a GmbH (limited liability company) in Munich on 30 October 2009.
Source: http://www.desertec.org/en/news/
Economists and politicians see the planned supergrid as a milestone. “The cabling of the North Sea is the European answer to the failed climate summit in Copenhagen,” said Josef Auer, an energy analyst at Deutsche Bank Research. Despite the conference, he said, “Europe is pushing forward in its use of renewable energies.”
The nine nations involved — Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and Norway — will reportedly commit €30 billion ($43 billion) to the supergrid of high-voltage, undersea cables over the next 10 years. The grid will redistribute and regularize power flows from sometimes-fickle natural sources, and internationalize an industry that can often be hampered by national interests.
The plan is similar to the Desertec solar project announced in Europe last year, which aims to bring solar energy from North Africa to European Union customers through a power grid under the Mediterranean Sea — using nothing but existing technology.
The Financial Times Deutschland writes:
“If the project goes through, it will revolutionize the European energy market. A network like this is the main prerequisite for a breakthrough in renewable energies.”
“Offshore wind farms produce huge amounts of electricity now, but they can’t run constantly. If they were linked to other renewable-energy sources like hydroelectric dams, tidal-energy stations or solar arrays in a single grid, natural variations in supply could be evened out.”
“The question is not whether a cooperative energy grid is sensible. The question is how quickly such a vision can be translated into concrete capital investment. This, in turn, relies on the will of both governments and corporations. They should sweep away administrative hurdles as soon as possible and commit a sizeable amount of money.”
The conservative daily Die Welt writes:
“As long as narrow national interests survive in energy politics, resources will be wasted. Today, the better part of European solar output is (inefficiently) produced in cloud-shrouded Germany and not in sunny Spain.”
“Now a solution is in sight. Nine European states want to lay an energy grid on the bottom of the North Sea … With a grid like this, green power would be constantly, reliably on tap. The international network would also form the basis for a European energy market, which would lead to more competition between suppliers and falling prices.”
“But the notion that a North Sea grid could be finished in 10 years is unrealistic. It’s taken 10 years to build a normal high-capacity grid in the Münster countryside in Germany. The technology still doesn’t exist to finish such a project: Necessary transformer stations for DC current haven’t been developed. And no energy firm would sink €30 billion in the North Sea before the technology is up to speed.”
Source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,670429,00.html
Emerging Renewable Electricity Technologies
Breakthroughs are easy to publicize, but genuine environmental victory means annihilating some major evils perpetrated by our great-grandparents. The bad old stuff has to be torn up and junked.
Our children and grandchildren will get up in the morning, look at the news, and instead of flinching in terror, they will see the edifying spectacle of the world’s brightest people transparently solving the world’s worst problems. This sounds utopian, but it could soon be everyday life.
We need to grasp the artificial environment from a full, long-term, holistic perspective. We can see just by looking at our own hands that we are uniquely suited to manipulating artificial objects. Humans are especially good with fire and edged weapons because they were discovered and invented not by us, but by our prehistoric ancestors. Furthermore, stone tools and fire are potent and dangerous technologies. By the standards of all other living creatures, they are fantastic, unimaginable, and horribly deadly. Today climate change is happening because of fire.
The consequences of bygone technologies are with us now; they’ve merely been rendered invisible by yesterday’s habits of thought. When we see our historical predicament in its full, majestic scope, we will stir ourselves to great and direly necessary actions. It’s not beyond us to think and act in a better way. Yesterday’s short-sighted habits are leaving us, the way gloom lifts with the dawn.
Whilst Solar and Wind are in use they can only ever hope to deliver a fraction of needed renewable electricity and the current North Sea and North African projects well demonstrate the maximum potential for their usefulness. These existing technologies need to be complemented by emerging technologies that have not yet made it to mainstream commercial use.
Mar 21st, 2010 by admin.
2010 international green renewable energy power grids planned in Northern Europe and Africa
The world is left to find a solution to non-polluting electricity generation grids after the Copenhagen Climate Conference failed to yield any solutions.
Being the lowest cost renewable energy technologies in current use in 2010 Solar and Wind power are the basis for the planning of huge projects. As both are intermittent sources of power due to the variability of sun and wind as the power source massive projects are planned in favourable weather locations such as the North African Deserts and the North Sea.
These plans are based on the conventional thinking of centralised old fashioned thermal power plants that deliver electricity to far away markets over long-distance transmission grids. It is now claimed that traditional losses over grids can be reduced from 40% to 15%.
The need for the use of long-distance grids still remains as Solar and Wind plants need to be located at optimum weather locations to achieve increased operational output capacity. Generally speaking both Solar and Wind plants are productive less than 50% of the hours in a year.
These projects are entirely dependent on:
Multi billion Euro investment in new Grid infrastructures.
Granting of high Feed-in Tariffs by the EEC.
To overcome the unreliability for full time supply of electricity other less efficient and more capital intensive methods such as tidal and ocean technologies are even planned into the technology mix.
Post the Copenhagen COP-15 Conference in December 2009 two renewable electricity projects planned on a tremendously large scale are being advanced by European Groups, one Solar, and one Wind.
These projects taken together show the state of technology actually in use today as the basis for renewable non-polluting electricity generation. Both based on massive long-distance electricity grids.
EUROPEAN ANSWER TO THE FAILED CLIMATE CONFERENCE
The Wind project is a nine-nation project to link power-generation projects in a high-tech North Sea power grid. The idea is to link wind farms off Denmark, for example, with solar parks in Germany and tidal power stations in Belgium to create a regional grid of clean power, and it’s been hailed by German papers as a major step in the fight against global warming.
The plan is similar to the Desertec solar project announced in Europe last year, which aims to bring solar energy from North Africa to European Union customers through a power grid under the Mediterranean Sea — using nothing but existing technology.
Initiated by the Non-Profit-Organisation DESERTEC Foundation, which was founded in 2008 to realise the DESERTEC Concept worldwide, and the Munich Re, the world’s leading reinsurance company, the Dii is a unique industry initiative which was launched as ‘DESERTEC Industrial Initiative’ in July 2009. The initiative aims at creating the conditions for an accelerated implementation of the DESERTEC Concept in EUMENA (Europe, Middle East, North Africa). The Dii was founded under German law as a GmbH (limited liability company) in Munich on 30 October 2009.
Source: http://www.desertec.org/en/news/
Economists and politicians see the planned supergrid as a milestone. “The cabling of the North Sea is the European answer to the failed climate summit in Copenhagen,” said Josef Auer, an energy analyst at Deutsche Bank Research. Despite the conference, he said, “Europe is pushing forward in its use of renewable energies.”
The nine nations involved — Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and Norway — will reportedly commit €30 billion ($43 billion) to the supergrid of high-voltage, undersea cables over the next 10 years. The grid will redistribute and regularize power flows from sometimes-fickle natural sources, and internationalize an industry that can often be hampered by national interests.
The plan is similar to the Desertec solar project announced in Europe last year, which aims to bring solar energy from North Africa to European Union customers through a power grid under the Mediterranean Sea — using nothing but existing technology.
The Financial Times Deutschland writes:
“If the project goes through, it will revolutionize the European energy market. A network like this is the main prerequisite for a breakthrough in renewable energies.”
“Offshore wind farms produce huge amounts of electricity now, but they can’t run constantly. If they were linked to other renewable-energy sources like hydroelectric dams, tidal-energy stations or solar arrays in a single grid, natural variations in supply could be evened out.”
“The question is not whether a cooperative energy grid is sensible. The question is how quickly such a vision can be translated into concrete capital investment. This, in turn, relies on the will of both governments and corporations. They should sweep away administrative hurdles as soon as possible and commit a sizeable amount of money.”
The conservative daily Die Welt writes:
“As long as narrow national interests survive in energy politics, resources will be wasted. Today, the better part of European solar output is (inefficiently) produced in cloud-shrouded Germany and not in sunny Spain.”
“Now a solution is in sight. Nine European states want to lay an energy grid on the bottom of the North Sea … With a grid like this, green power would be constantly, reliably on tap. The international network would also form the basis for a European energy market, which would lead to more competition between suppliers and falling prices.”
“But the notion that a North Sea grid could be finished in 10 years is unrealistic. It’s taken 10 years to build a normal high-capacity grid in the Münster countryside in Germany. The technology still doesn’t exist to finish such a project: Necessary transformer stations for DC current haven’t been developed. And no energy firm would sink €30 billion in the North Sea before the technology is up to speed.”
Source: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,670429,00.html
Emerging Renewable Electricity Technologies
Breakthroughs are easy to publicize, but genuine environmental victory means annihilating some major evils perpetrated by our great-grandparents. The bad old stuff has to be torn up and junked.
Our children and grandchildren will get up in the morning, look at the news, and instead of flinching in terror, they will see the edifying spectacle of the world’s brightest people transparently solving the world’s worst problems. This sounds utopian, but it could soon be everyday life.
We need to grasp the artificial environment from a full, long-term, holistic perspective. We can see just by looking at our own hands that we are uniquely suited to manipulating artificial objects. Humans are especially good with fire and edged weapons because they were discovered and invented not by us, but by our prehistoric ancestors. Furthermore, stone tools and fire are potent and dangerous technologies. By the standards of all other living creatures, they are fantastic, unimaginable, and horribly deadly. Today climate change is happening because of fire.
The consequences of bygone technologies are with us now; they’ve merely been rendered invisible by yesterday’s habits of thought. When we see our historical predicament in its full, majestic scope, we will stir ourselves to great and direly necessary actions. It’s not beyond us to think and act in a better way. Yesterday’s short-sighted habits are leaving us, the way gloom lifts with the dawn.
Whilst Solar and Wind are in use they can only ever hope to deliver a fraction of needed renewable electricity and the current North Sea and North African projects well demonstrate the maximum potential for their usefulness. These existing technologies need to be complemented by emerging technologies that have not yet made it to mainstream commercial use.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Suzuki Gets Another Degree!
Suzuki to get degree from Sainte-Anne
CHURCH POINT — Universite Sainte-Anne will confer an honorary doctorate on environmentalist and scientist David Suzuki at the spring convocation at its Church Point campus in Digby County.
The university said Suzuki has worked tirelessly to raise public awareness of environmental issues.
His work is well-known and respected by many, including Universite Sainte-Anne, said the release.
Nova Scotia’s only francophone university recently installed solar- and wind-powered renewable energy sources and the university recognizes Suzuki as a source of inspiration, said the release.
The convocation is May 8.
CHURCH POINT — Universite Sainte-Anne will confer an honorary doctorate on environmentalist and scientist David Suzuki at the spring convocation at its Church Point campus in Digby County.
The university said Suzuki has worked tirelessly to raise public awareness of environmental issues.
His work is well-known and respected by many, including Universite Sainte-Anne, said the release.
Nova Scotia’s only francophone university recently installed solar- and wind-powered renewable energy sources and the university recognizes Suzuki as a source of inspiration, said the release.
The convocation is May 8.
ADEDA News
FARM FORUM: CHANGING PRACTICES IN A CHANGING WORLD
From grapes to cheese and from mink to milk, a day-long farm forum set for Cornwallis on March 27 will have enough inspirational topics, speakers, and networking sessions to keep participants busy listening, learning, and thinking until the cows come home. (Thanks, Larry!)
TAKING ANNAPOLIS DIGBY ABROAD
We’re pleased to report that our Welcome to Annapolis Digby portal is now officially launched, thanks to the Honourable Ramona Jennex, Minister of Immigration, and very special guest Wanda Finigan who opened the event with a traditional Mi’kmaq song of welcome. All of our project ambassadors can now sign up at our Facebook-style social portal and get connected to potential immigrants abroad! We also took Annapolis Digby on the road to London’s Emigrate Show.
BURIED TREASURE IN OUR REGION
It’s valuable, and found deep underground in almost every part of our province. We can’t live without it. And yet, we largely ignore it. What better time than today, World Water Day to remind us of the natural treasure buried beneath our feet?
More buried treasure: Have you ever wondered about the benefits of having your own root cellar? Let the folks at the Green Barn in Granville Centre tell you all about it! And, this weekend, don’t forget to take in the 5th Annual Annapolis Digby Tourism Showcase — get out there and discover what’s in our own back yard.
From grapes to cheese and from mink to milk, a day-long farm forum set for Cornwallis on March 27 will have enough inspirational topics, speakers, and networking sessions to keep participants busy listening, learning, and thinking until the cows come home. (Thanks, Larry!)
TAKING ANNAPOLIS DIGBY ABROAD
We’re pleased to report that our Welcome to Annapolis Digby portal is now officially launched, thanks to the Honourable Ramona Jennex, Minister of Immigration, and very special guest Wanda Finigan who opened the event with a traditional Mi’kmaq song of welcome. All of our project ambassadors can now sign up at our Facebook-style social portal and get connected to potential immigrants abroad! We also took Annapolis Digby on the road to London’s Emigrate Show.
BURIED TREASURE IN OUR REGION
It’s valuable, and found deep underground in almost every part of our province. We can’t live without it. And yet, we largely ignore it. What better time than today, World Water Day to remind us of the natural treasure buried beneath our feet?
More buried treasure: Have you ever wondered about the benefits of having your own root cellar? Let the folks at the Green Barn in Granville Centre tell you all about it! And, this weekend, don’t forget to take in the 5th Annual Annapolis Digby Tourism Showcase — get out there and discover what’s in our own back yard.
Labels:
Annapolis/Digby Events
Annual Blue Jean Gala
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Nova Scotia Chapter (CPAWS-NS) is the province's voice for wilderness conservation. We are working to keep at least half of Canada's public land and water wild - forever.
InformationCurrent City:
Halifax, NSHometown:
Halifax, NSWebsite:
http://www.cpawsns.org
http://www.facebook.com/CPAWSNS
http://twitter.com/CPAWSNovaScotia
Cpaws Nova Scotia
The photos have been chosen...
The prizes are lined up...
The music is starting...
CPAWS NS is getting excited to host our 1st Annual Blue Jean Gala event this Thurday at the Hart & Thistle at 1869 Upper Water St. The evening begins at 7pm with photo contest winners being announced and then entertainment begins by Jon Bryant and Dance Movie until around 10pm. Tickets are selling fast but there will be a reserve at the door and they are $10. Please email cpawsnsphotocontest@gmail.com if you have any questions.
See you on Thursday
InformationCurrent City:
Halifax, NSHometown:
Halifax, NSWebsite:
http://www.cpawsns.org
http://www.facebook.com/CPAWSNS
http://twitter.com/CPAWSNovaScotia
Cpaws Nova Scotia
The photos have been chosen...
The prizes are lined up...
The music is starting...
CPAWS NS is getting excited to host our 1st Annual Blue Jean Gala event this Thurday at the Hart & Thistle at 1869 Upper Water St. The evening begins at 7pm with photo contest winners being announced and then entertainment begins by Jon Bryant and Dance Movie until around 10pm. Tickets are selling fast but there will be a reserve at the door and they are $10. Please email cpawsnsphotocontest@gmail.com if you have any questions.
See you on Thursday
On Tonight at Council
Council Agenda
Meeting Date March 22, 2010 Meeting Location Municipal Council Chambers Call to Order Warden Jim Thurber Reading of Mission Statement Warden Jim Thurber Pause to Seek Guidance Warden Jim Thurber Documents Subject Area Approval of the Agenda Additions/Deletions Council Staff Special Presentations Presentations & Hearings Emera-Dan Muldoon and Kevin Cameron Re: Digby Wind Project Minutes Approval/Amendments February 22, 2010
Council Agenda
Business Arising from Minutes 1. 2. 3. Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Gregory Councillor Amero Councillor Adams Warden Thurber New Business # 1 Funding Request SW Music Festival # 2 # 3 # 4 # 5 # 6
Council Agenda
Administration CAO Report Meeting Updates Project Updates Payables- February, 2010 $ 370,789.69 Financial Report February 28, 2010 Correspondence 1. NS Transportation & Infrastructure Renewal 2010 Traffic Count Program 2. RCMP Use of jet fuel at Digby Airport 3. Digby & Area Health Services Charitable Foundation Acknowledgement of receipt of our letter of Feb 18th. 4. Atlantic Coordinating Committee on Crime Prevention and Community Safety Building Crime Prevention Knowledge in Atlantic Canada 5. Phil Barrett S/Sgt Copy of letter to Wharf Rat Rally
Council Agenda
Council Committees 1. COTW Costs associated with demolition of dangerous and unsightly properties 2. By-law & Policy First Reading Amendment to Dog By-law # 2006-02 Approval of Road Naming and Community Adjustment Policy Advisory Committees # 1 REMO Management Planning Committee Warden Thurber/ Deputy Warden MacAlpine # 2 Heritage Advisory Committee Councillor Amero Councillor Adams # 3 Planning Advisory Committee Warden Thurber Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Gregory No Meeting- 1 Vacancy remaining for citizen representative # 4 Police Advisory Committee Councillor Gregory Councillor Amero Councillor Adams Meeting scheduled for April # 5 Tri County Housing Authority R Fitzgerald
Council Agenda
Regional/Joint Committees # 1 Airport Working Group Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Adams # 2 Annapolis Digby Economic Development Agency Warden Thurber Minutes Jan 2010 Managing Director Report #3 Digby Annapolis Development Corp Warden Thurber Councillor Amero Next Meeting April 14th #4 Digby Area Learning Association Councillor Adams Minutes Feb 2010 Executive Director Report #5 Digby Area Tourism Association Councillor Gregory Minutes- Feb 2010 #6 Digby Area Recreation Committee Councillor Gregory Councillor Amero Minutes Feb 2010-03 Recreation Manager Report #7 Digby Harbour Port Association Councillor Gregory #8 Fundyweb Broadband Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Amero Minutes June 2009 Meeting Scheduled April 2010 # 9 Industrial Commission Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Amero Minutes Jan 2010 # 10 Kings Transit Authority Councillor Amero # 11 Senior Safety Committee Councillor Adams Councillor Gregory Minutes -January 2010 Coordinators Report # 12 Tideview Terrace Councillor Gregory Warden Thurber & Councillor Adams Minutes Jan 2010 # 13 Waste Check Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Gregory Board Pkg – March 2010 # 14 Western Counties Regional Library Deputy Warden MacAlpine
Council Agenda
Council Reports Warden Thurber Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Gregory Councillor Amero Councillor Adams Notice of Motion In Camera Adjournment
Meeting Date March 22, 2010 Meeting Location Municipal Council Chambers Call to Order Warden Jim Thurber Reading of Mission Statement Warden Jim Thurber Pause to Seek Guidance Warden Jim Thurber Documents Subject Area Approval of the Agenda Additions/Deletions Council Staff Special Presentations Presentations & Hearings Emera-Dan Muldoon and Kevin Cameron Re: Digby Wind Project Minutes Approval/Amendments February 22, 2010
Council Agenda
Business Arising from Minutes 1. 2. 3. Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Gregory Councillor Amero Councillor Adams Warden Thurber New Business # 1 Funding Request SW Music Festival # 2 # 3 # 4 # 5 # 6
Council Agenda
Administration CAO Report Meeting Updates Project Updates Payables- February, 2010 $ 370,789.69 Financial Report February 28, 2010 Correspondence 1. NS Transportation & Infrastructure Renewal 2010 Traffic Count Program 2. RCMP Use of jet fuel at Digby Airport 3. Digby & Area Health Services Charitable Foundation Acknowledgement of receipt of our letter of Feb 18th. 4. Atlantic Coordinating Committee on Crime Prevention and Community Safety Building Crime Prevention Knowledge in Atlantic Canada 5. Phil Barrett S/Sgt Copy of letter to Wharf Rat Rally
Council Agenda
Council Committees 1. COTW Costs associated with demolition of dangerous and unsightly properties 2. By-law & Policy First Reading Amendment to Dog By-law # 2006-02 Approval of Road Naming and Community Adjustment Policy Advisory Committees # 1 REMO Management Planning Committee Warden Thurber/ Deputy Warden MacAlpine # 2 Heritage Advisory Committee Councillor Amero Councillor Adams # 3 Planning Advisory Committee Warden Thurber Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Gregory No Meeting- 1 Vacancy remaining for citizen representative # 4 Police Advisory Committee Councillor Gregory Councillor Amero Councillor Adams Meeting scheduled for April # 5 Tri County Housing Authority R Fitzgerald
Council Agenda
Regional/Joint Committees # 1 Airport Working Group Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Adams # 2 Annapolis Digby Economic Development Agency Warden Thurber Minutes Jan 2010 Managing Director Report #3 Digby Annapolis Development Corp Warden Thurber Councillor Amero Next Meeting April 14th #4 Digby Area Learning Association Councillor Adams Minutes Feb 2010 Executive Director Report #5 Digby Area Tourism Association Councillor Gregory Minutes- Feb 2010 #6 Digby Area Recreation Committee Councillor Gregory Councillor Amero Minutes Feb 2010-03 Recreation Manager Report #7 Digby Harbour Port Association Councillor Gregory #8 Fundyweb Broadband Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Amero Minutes June 2009 Meeting Scheduled April 2010 # 9 Industrial Commission Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Amero Minutes Jan 2010 # 10 Kings Transit Authority Councillor Amero # 11 Senior Safety Committee Councillor Adams Councillor Gregory Minutes -January 2010 Coordinators Report # 12 Tideview Terrace Councillor Gregory Warden Thurber & Councillor Adams Minutes Jan 2010 # 13 Waste Check Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Gregory Board Pkg – March 2010 # 14 Western Counties Regional Library Deputy Warden MacAlpine
Council Agenda
Council Reports Warden Thurber Deputy Warden MacAlpine Councillor Gregory Councillor Amero Councillor Adams Notice of Motion In Camera Adjournment
Last at Municipal Council
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
1
Call to Order The Council meeting was called to order with Warden Thurber in the chair at 6:03 p.m. Attendance Councillors present: Jim Thurber, Warden Jimmy MacAlpine, Deputy Warden Linda Gregory, Councillor Randall Amero, Councillor Maritza Adams, Councillor Staff present: Linda Fraser, Chief Administrative Officer Gordon Wilson, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Pat Stevens, Tax Clerk/Receptionist Prayer Warden Thurber welcomed everyone to the meeting, read the Municipality’s mission statement and then asked everyone to pause to seek guidance for the meeting. Agenda The announcement made by the Dept of Transportation was added to New Business. MOVED and seconded that the agenda be approved as amended. MOTION CARRIED Presentations Friends of Point Prim – Doug Brown MOVED and seconded that Mr. Doug Brown come before Council to make a presentation on Friends of Point Prim. MOTION CARRIED Mr. Brown advised Council of the formation of the society, Friends of Point Prim. This not for profit Society would assist in making access to Point Prim more accessible. Friends of Point Prim will be asking for a one time investment from both the Municipality of Digby and the Town of Digby of $1,000. This investment would be used to replace the current gate entrance, apply signage, supply a parking area and install a trail. Membership from the private and business sectors would allow for upkeep in the future. Warden Thurber thanked Mr. Brown for the presentation and advised that the request for funding would be forwarded to budget discussions. Minutes January 25, 2010 Public Hearing MOVED and seconded that the minutes from the Council of January 25, 2010, Public Hearing be approved as circulated. MOTION CARRIED
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
2
January 25, 2010 Regular Council MOVED and seconded that the minutes from the Council of January 25, 2010, Regular Council be approved as circulated. MOTION CARRIED Old Business 1 Solid Waste By-Law A question was raised regarding Section 4.3 in the By-Law. An issue was raised regarding Section 6.2.4 of the By-Law which states that commercial organic containers or carts must be emptied on a weekly basis. It was noted that the Municipality has bi-weekly pickups and the By-Law should be changed to reflect this. MOVED and seconded that the Solid Waste By-Law, section 6.2.4 be amended to state that the “Commercial organic containers or carts must be emptied on a bi-weekly basis”. MOTION CARRIED 2 Integrated Community Sustainability Plan MOVED and seconded that Council approve the Resolution of the Final Integrated Community Sustainability Plan. MOTION CARRIED Warden Thurber No Old Business. Deputy Warden MacAlpine No Old Business. Councillor Gregory No Old Business. Councillor Amero No Old Business. Councillor Adams No Old Business. New Business #1 Bear River & Area Health Clinic – Request for funding of $1,800 MOVED and seconded that the request for funding for the Bear River and Area Health Clinic be referred to the budget process. MOTION CARRIED #2 Councillor Amero – Letter Regarding Drug Testing of School Bus Drivers A discussion took place regarding the request that a letter be sent to the Department of Education asking for mandatory random drug testing for school bus drivers. The school board currently does not have it in their policy. MOVED and seconded that a letter be written to the Minister of Education requesting an investigation into a policy for mandatory drug testing of school bus drivers. MOTION CARRIED
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
3
#3 TIANS 2010 Annual General Meeting Council discussed the request for co-sponsorship for this event which is being held at the Digby Pines in May. The CAO stated there were monies left in the 2009/2010 fiscal year in the Economic Development Projects budget to cover this request. MOVED and seconded that Council sponsor TIANS 2010 for half of the cost up to and not exceeding $750. MOTION CARRIED #4 Councillor Gregory - Lack of Cell Phone Coverage Concerns were raised regarding the lack of cell phone coverage in many areas of the Municipality. Businesses that rely on cell phones are losing customers due to poor coverage. The CAO has spoken to the Municipalities of Yarmouth and Argyle to determine if they are having similar problems. Aliant has been spoken to about this in the past but there have been no solutions. MOVED and seconded that a letter be written to Aliant and all cell phone service providers regarding the lack of cell phone coverage. MOTION CARRIED MOVED and seconded that a letter be written to the CRTC regarding the lack of cell phone coverage in the Municipality. MOTION CARRIED #5 Hanse Society Adventure Park – Letter of Support Discussions on the positive aspects of the Aerial Adventure Park were held. The Adventure Park would enhance the tourism industry and increase visitation at the Theme Park. MOVED and seconded that a letter of support for the Aerial Adventure Park be written. MOTION CARRIED #6 Announcement from Department of Transportation The Warden had been invited to a funding announcement in Liverpool on February 19, 2010, but was unable to determine if the announcement was for the project in the Digby area. It turned out to be an announcement from Department of Transportation that they will be repaving Highway 303, north to the Digby town line, and installing a left-turning lane, as well as repair and repave Highway 101 from Annapolis line to Exit 26, Digby.
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
4
Administration Request for decision/direction Approval of tender for 3 geo-thermal wells and 1 domestic well for Weymouth Library Appointments of Todd Hall and Richard Fitzgerald to the Planning Advisory Committee Extension of Glenn Dunn’s appointment to ADEDA for six months as per policy MOVED and seconded that Council accept the lowest tender of $35,481.10 by D.J.’s Well Drilling for the installation of 3 geo-thermal and 1 domestic well for the Weymouth Library. MOTION CARRIED MOVED and seconded that Council accept the appointments of Todd Hall and Richard Fitzgerald to the Planning Advisory Committee MOTION CARRIED A discussion was held regarding a six month extension of Glenn Dunn’s appointment to ADEDA. The CAO will advertize for a new member and Mr. Dunn will be advised that he can re-apply for this position. MOVED and seconded that Council grant a six month extension to Glenn Dunn’s appointment to ADEDA as per policy. MOTION CARRIED CAO Report Bill Canada Funding The CAO report for February 22, 2010 was included in the meeting package. The CAO will find out the status of the application to the Build Canada Fund. Payables MOVED and seconded that the payables in the amount of $750,154.65 for the month of January 2010 be approved as presented. MOTION CARRIED Financial Report MOVED and seconded that the financial report for January 31, 2010 be accepted as presented. MOTION CARRIED Correspondence SNSMR – Municipal Services Division Survey Discussion was held encouraging all Council to participate in the survey on the website.
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
5
Council Committees Committee of the Whole Recommendations to Council for Approval MOVED and seconded that Council support Le Transport de Clare’s expansion of service up to and including Barton in the amount of $7,000 for the 2010/2011 fiscal year. MOTION CARRIED Bylaw & Policy Review Digby Salvage & Disposal Youth Grant Policy Amendment Human Resource Policy Amendments Low Income Tax Exemption Policy MOVED by and seconded that Digby Salvage & Disposal be awarded the Solid Waste Contract for 2010-2015. MOTION CARRIED MOVED and seconded that the Youth Grant Policy Amendment be accepted adding the clause allowing grants to students for participation or hosting of National or Provincial events. MOTION CARRIED MOVED and seconded that the Human Resource Policy Amendments be accepted as presented. MOTION CARRIED MOVED and seconded that pursuant to the Low Income Tax Exemption Policy # 2010, the Municipality hereby grants an exemption from taxation, operating as a reduction in the 2010-2011 taxes otherwise payable to the Municipality in respect to a property in the amount of $125.00 for owners of property whose 2009 income from all sources does not exceed $19,140. MOTION CARRIED Advisory Committees #1 REMO Management Planning Committee The REMO Management Planning Committee minutes for November 2009 were included in the meeting package. The new REMO coordinator was introduced at the last meeting. Danny Harvieux was appointed chair and Jimmy MacAlpine vice chair of the REMO Management Planning Committee. #2 Heritage Advisory Committee The Heritage Advisory Committee minutes for January 2010 were included in the meeting package. #3 Planning Advisory Committee There have been two applicants for the Planning Advisory Committee. There is one more required. #4 Police Advisory Committee There has been no Police Advisory Committee meeting since the last Council meeting.
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
6
#5 Tri County Housing Authority The Tri County Housing Authority was last reported on in October 2009. Regional / Joint Committees #1 Airport Working Group There has been no Airport Working Group meeting since the last Council meeting. #2 Annapolis Digby Economic Development Agency The ADEDA meeting minutes for December 2009 as well as the Managing Director report for January 2010 were included in the meeting package. #3 Digby Annapolis Development Corp DADC met on January 21, 2010. The next meeting is scheduled for April 14, 2010. #4 Digby Area Learning Association The DALA minutes for February 3, 2010 were distributed before the meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for February 23, 2010. #5 Digby Area Tourism Association The DATA meeting minutes for January 2010 were included in the meeting package. The meeting scheduled for February 2010 was cancelled due to a snow storm. The next meeting is scheduled for March 10, 2010. #6 Digby Area Recreation Committee The DARC minutes for January 2010 as well as the manager’s report for February 2010 were included in the meeting package. There have been problems with the zamboni. There has been an application filed to have work done at the arena. #7 Digby Harbour Port Association The Digby Harbour Port Association minutes for January 2010 are not out yet. The next meeting is scheduled for March. #8 Fundyweb Broadband There has been no Fundyweb Broadband meeting since the last Council meeting. Deputy Warden MacAlpine is working on having a meeting scheduled for late March. #9 Industrial Commission There has been no Industrial Commission meeting since the last Council meeting. There is a meeting scheduled for February 23, 2010. #10 Kings Transit Authority The Federal transit funds issue is still unresolved. #11 Senior Safety Committee The Senior Safety Committee minutes for November 2009 were included in the meeting package. There was a discussion regarding the Provincial grant they have applied for. This funding has to be applied for yearly. Council discussed requesting the Province make these funds permanent so they no longer have to be applied for annually. There were over 120 seniors that attended the Senior’s Day function.
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
7
#12 Tideview Terrace The Tideview Terrace minutes for December 2009 were included in the meeting package. There is a meeting scheduled for February 23, 2010. #13 Waste Check The Waste Check meeting minutes for December 2009 were included in the meeting package. #14 Western Counties Regional Library There has been no Western Counties Regional Library meeting since the last Council meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for March 18, 2010. Council Reports Warden Thurber Warden Thurber gave an oral presentation to Council outlining the various meetings he has attended during the past month. The Warden had received a letter from the Wharf Rat Rally asking for a letter of support. This was forwarded to the next COTW. Deputy Warden MacAlpine Deputy Warden MacAlpine gave an oral presentation to Council outlining the various meetings he has attended during the past month. Deputy Warden MacAlpine stated that at the next Bylaw & Policy meeting, the roadside placement of the civic number sign has to be discussed and then advertised in the summer edition of the Coastline. Councillor Gregory Councillor Gregory gave an oral presentation to Council outlining the various meetings she has attended during the past month. Councillor Amero Councillor Amero gave an oral presentation to Council outlining the various meetings he has attended during the past month. Councillor Adams Councillor Adams gave an oral presentation to Council outlining the Sustainability Conference she had attended during the past month. Comments from the gallery The meeting was opened up to the gallery for questions. There were no questions. In Camera MOVED and seconded to go In Camera to discuss a personnel issue. MOTION CARRIED Regular session resumed.
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
8
Adjournment MOVED and seconded that the meeting adjourn at 8:45 PM. MOTION CARRIED _______________________________ _____________________________ WARDEN CLERK
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
1
Call to Order The Council meeting was called to order with Warden Thurber in the chair at 6:03 p.m. Attendance Councillors present: Jim Thurber, Warden Jimmy MacAlpine, Deputy Warden Linda Gregory, Councillor Randall Amero, Councillor Maritza Adams, Councillor Staff present: Linda Fraser, Chief Administrative Officer Gordon Wilson, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Pat Stevens, Tax Clerk/Receptionist Prayer Warden Thurber welcomed everyone to the meeting, read the Municipality’s mission statement and then asked everyone to pause to seek guidance for the meeting. Agenda The announcement made by the Dept of Transportation was added to New Business. MOVED and seconded that the agenda be approved as amended. MOTION CARRIED Presentations Friends of Point Prim – Doug Brown MOVED and seconded that Mr. Doug Brown come before Council to make a presentation on Friends of Point Prim. MOTION CARRIED Mr. Brown advised Council of the formation of the society, Friends of Point Prim. This not for profit Society would assist in making access to Point Prim more accessible. Friends of Point Prim will be asking for a one time investment from both the Municipality of Digby and the Town of Digby of $1,000. This investment would be used to replace the current gate entrance, apply signage, supply a parking area and install a trail. Membership from the private and business sectors would allow for upkeep in the future. Warden Thurber thanked Mr. Brown for the presentation and advised that the request for funding would be forwarded to budget discussions. Minutes January 25, 2010 Public Hearing MOVED and seconded that the minutes from the Council of January 25, 2010, Public Hearing be approved as circulated. MOTION CARRIED
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
2
January 25, 2010 Regular Council MOVED and seconded that the minutes from the Council of January 25, 2010, Regular Council be approved as circulated. MOTION CARRIED Old Business 1 Solid Waste By-Law A question was raised regarding Section 4.3 in the By-Law. An issue was raised regarding Section 6.2.4 of the By-Law which states that commercial organic containers or carts must be emptied on a weekly basis. It was noted that the Municipality has bi-weekly pickups and the By-Law should be changed to reflect this. MOVED and seconded that the Solid Waste By-Law, section 6.2.4 be amended to state that the “Commercial organic containers or carts must be emptied on a bi-weekly basis”. MOTION CARRIED 2 Integrated Community Sustainability Plan MOVED and seconded that Council approve the Resolution of the Final Integrated Community Sustainability Plan. MOTION CARRIED Warden Thurber No Old Business. Deputy Warden MacAlpine No Old Business. Councillor Gregory No Old Business. Councillor Amero No Old Business. Councillor Adams No Old Business. New Business #1 Bear River & Area Health Clinic – Request for funding of $1,800 MOVED and seconded that the request for funding for the Bear River and Area Health Clinic be referred to the budget process. MOTION CARRIED #2 Councillor Amero – Letter Regarding Drug Testing of School Bus Drivers A discussion took place regarding the request that a letter be sent to the Department of Education asking for mandatory random drug testing for school bus drivers. The school board currently does not have it in their policy. MOVED and seconded that a letter be written to the Minister of Education requesting an investigation into a policy for mandatory drug testing of school bus drivers. MOTION CARRIED
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
3
#3 TIANS 2010 Annual General Meeting Council discussed the request for co-sponsorship for this event which is being held at the Digby Pines in May. The CAO stated there were monies left in the 2009/2010 fiscal year in the Economic Development Projects budget to cover this request. MOVED and seconded that Council sponsor TIANS 2010 for half of the cost up to and not exceeding $750. MOTION CARRIED #4 Councillor Gregory - Lack of Cell Phone Coverage Concerns were raised regarding the lack of cell phone coverage in many areas of the Municipality. Businesses that rely on cell phones are losing customers due to poor coverage. The CAO has spoken to the Municipalities of Yarmouth and Argyle to determine if they are having similar problems. Aliant has been spoken to about this in the past but there have been no solutions. MOVED and seconded that a letter be written to Aliant and all cell phone service providers regarding the lack of cell phone coverage. MOTION CARRIED MOVED and seconded that a letter be written to the CRTC regarding the lack of cell phone coverage in the Municipality. MOTION CARRIED #5 Hanse Society Adventure Park – Letter of Support Discussions on the positive aspects of the Aerial Adventure Park were held. The Adventure Park would enhance the tourism industry and increase visitation at the Theme Park. MOVED and seconded that a letter of support for the Aerial Adventure Park be written. MOTION CARRIED #6 Announcement from Department of Transportation The Warden had been invited to a funding announcement in Liverpool on February 19, 2010, but was unable to determine if the announcement was for the project in the Digby area. It turned out to be an announcement from Department of Transportation that they will be repaving Highway 303, north to the Digby town line, and installing a left-turning lane, as well as repair and repave Highway 101 from Annapolis line to Exit 26, Digby.
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
4
Administration Request for decision/direction Approval of tender for 3 geo-thermal wells and 1 domestic well for Weymouth Library Appointments of Todd Hall and Richard Fitzgerald to the Planning Advisory Committee Extension of Glenn Dunn’s appointment to ADEDA for six months as per policy MOVED and seconded that Council accept the lowest tender of $35,481.10 by D.J.’s Well Drilling for the installation of 3 geo-thermal and 1 domestic well for the Weymouth Library. MOTION CARRIED MOVED and seconded that Council accept the appointments of Todd Hall and Richard Fitzgerald to the Planning Advisory Committee MOTION CARRIED A discussion was held regarding a six month extension of Glenn Dunn’s appointment to ADEDA. The CAO will advertize for a new member and Mr. Dunn will be advised that he can re-apply for this position. MOVED and seconded that Council grant a six month extension to Glenn Dunn’s appointment to ADEDA as per policy. MOTION CARRIED CAO Report Bill Canada Funding The CAO report for February 22, 2010 was included in the meeting package. The CAO will find out the status of the application to the Build Canada Fund. Payables MOVED and seconded that the payables in the amount of $750,154.65 for the month of January 2010 be approved as presented. MOTION CARRIED Financial Report MOVED and seconded that the financial report for January 31, 2010 be accepted as presented. MOTION CARRIED Correspondence SNSMR – Municipal Services Division Survey Discussion was held encouraging all Council to participate in the survey on the website.
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
5
Council Committees Committee of the Whole Recommendations to Council for Approval MOVED and seconded that Council support Le Transport de Clare’s expansion of service up to and including Barton in the amount of $7,000 for the 2010/2011 fiscal year. MOTION CARRIED Bylaw & Policy Review Digby Salvage & Disposal Youth Grant Policy Amendment Human Resource Policy Amendments Low Income Tax Exemption Policy MOVED by and seconded that Digby Salvage & Disposal be awarded the Solid Waste Contract for 2010-2015. MOTION CARRIED MOVED and seconded that the Youth Grant Policy Amendment be accepted adding the clause allowing grants to students for participation or hosting of National or Provincial events. MOTION CARRIED MOVED and seconded that the Human Resource Policy Amendments be accepted as presented. MOTION CARRIED MOVED and seconded that pursuant to the Low Income Tax Exemption Policy # 2010, the Municipality hereby grants an exemption from taxation, operating as a reduction in the 2010-2011 taxes otherwise payable to the Municipality in respect to a property in the amount of $125.00 for owners of property whose 2009 income from all sources does not exceed $19,140. MOTION CARRIED Advisory Committees #1 REMO Management Planning Committee The REMO Management Planning Committee minutes for November 2009 were included in the meeting package. The new REMO coordinator was introduced at the last meeting. Danny Harvieux was appointed chair and Jimmy MacAlpine vice chair of the REMO Management Planning Committee. #2 Heritage Advisory Committee The Heritage Advisory Committee minutes for January 2010 were included in the meeting package. #3 Planning Advisory Committee There have been two applicants for the Planning Advisory Committee. There is one more required. #4 Police Advisory Committee There has been no Police Advisory Committee meeting since the last Council meeting.
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
6
#5 Tri County Housing Authority The Tri County Housing Authority was last reported on in October 2009. Regional / Joint Committees #1 Airport Working Group There has been no Airport Working Group meeting since the last Council meeting. #2 Annapolis Digby Economic Development Agency The ADEDA meeting minutes for December 2009 as well as the Managing Director report for January 2010 were included in the meeting package. #3 Digby Annapolis Development Corp DADC met on January 21, 2010. The next meeting is scheduled for April 14, 2010. #4 Digby Area Learning Association The DALA minutes for February 3, 2010 were distributed before the meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for February 23, 2010. #5 Digby Area Tourism Association The DATA meeting minutes for January 2010 were included in the meeting package. The meeting scheduled for February 2010 was cancelled due to a snow storm. The next meeting is scheduled for March 10, 2010. #6 Digby Area Recreation Committee The DARC minutes for January 2010 as well as the manager’s report for February 2010 were included in the meeting package. There have been problems with the zamboni. There has been an application filed to have work done at the arena. #7 Digby Harbour Port Association The Digby Harbour Port Association minutes for January 2010 are not out yet. The next meeting is scheduled for March. #8 Fundyweb Broadband There has been no Fundyweb Broadband meeting since the last Council meeting. Deputy Warden MacAlpine is working on having a meeting scheduled for late March. #9 Industrial Commission There has been no Industrial Commission meeting since the last Council meeting. There is a meeting scheduled for February 23, 2010. #10 Kings Transit Authority The Federal transit funds issue is still unresolved. #11 Senior Safety Committee The Senior Safety Committee minutes for November 2009 were included in the meeting package. There was a discussion regarding the Provincial grant they have applied for. This funding has to be applied for yearly. Council discussed requesting the Province make these funds permanent so they no longer have to be applied for annually. There were over 120 seniors that attended the Senior’s Day function.
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
7
#12 Tideview Terrace The Tideview Terrace minutes for December 2009 were included in the meeting package. There is a meeting scheduled for February 23, 2010. #13 Waste Check The Waste Check meeting minutes for December 2009 were included in the meeting package. #14 Western Counties Regional Library There has been no Western Counties Regional Library meeting since the last Council meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for March 18, 2010. Council Reports Warden Thurber Warden Thurber gave an oral presentation to Council outlining the various meetings he has attended during the past month. The Warden had received a letter from the Wharf Rat Rally asking for a letter of support. This was forwarded to the next COTW. Deputy Warden MacAlpine Deputy Warden MacAlpine gave an oral presentation to Council outlining the various meetings he has attended during the past month. Deputy Warden MacAlpine stated that at the next Bylaw & Policy meeting, the roadside placement of the civic number sign has to be discussed and then advertised in the summer edition of the Coastline. Councillor Gregory Councillor Gregory gave an oral presentation to Council outlining the various meetings she has attended during the past month. Councillor Amero Councillor Amero gave an oral presentation to Council outlining the various meetings he has attended during the past month. Councillor Adams Councillor Adams gave an oral presentation to Council outlining the Sustainability Conference she had attended during the past month. Comments from the gallery The meeting was opened up to the gallery for questions. There were no questions. In Camera MOVED and seconded to go In Camera to discuss a personnel issue. MOTION CARRIED Regular session resumed.
Municipality of the District of Digby
Municipal Council Minutes
February 22, 2010
Seabrook, Nova Scotia
8
Adjournment MOVED and seconded that the meeting adjourn at 8:45 PM. MOTION CARRIED _______________________________ _____________________________ WARDEN CLERK
Sunday, March 21, 2010
World Water Day
World Water Day is on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 and is a crucial moment in the fight against the global water and sanitation crisis that effects thousands of people every single day. Live Earth's NGO partners are organizing many of the events taking place on World Water Day around the world. No matter where you are in the world you can bring awareness to World Water Day!
If there are no major Live Earth events in your area then register your own! Registering an event with Friends of Live Earth is a great way to involve your friends, family, school, or community in global, environmental action to help solve the global water crisis. After registering, you'll gain access to a package of background materials, event guidelines, and suggestions for how to host a green event.
One of the amazing Friends of Live Earth Run for Water events will be taking place in Lima, Peru. They are expecting more than 5,000 participants to attend this run/walk as the event takes them through the streets of one of the nicest neighborhoods along the pacific ocean in Lima, Miraflores. The celebration for water resource awareness will continue right after the race with a mega live music concert, featuring the best local artists and compositors.
Click here to check out some of the ways you can take part.
Run for Water Buenos Aires
During a large press conference this week, Buenos Aires announced their involvement in the Live Earth Run for Water! World famous elite endurance runner, Dean Karnazes will be running in the 6K race and Kevin Johansen + The Nada will be performing! There will also be educational activities to mark a "turning point" to help overcome the crisis with the precious resource.
For more information visit maratondelagua.com.
Twestival Global - March 25
On Thursday March 25th 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to rally around important education causes by hosting events to have fun and create awareness. All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects. Twestival uses social media for social good!
Twestival is hosting a charity auction to raise even more money, and Live Earth is proud to be a part of it! You can bid on entry fees to one of the Live Earth Run for Water events around the world through March 26.
Visit twestival.com to find an event near you and visit Live Earth Video's Twestival page for special event videos.
If there are no major Live Earth events in your area then register your own! Registering an event with Friends of Live Earth is a great way to involve your friends, family, school, or community in global, environmental action to help solve the global water crisis. After registering, you'll gain access to a package of background materials, event guidelines, and suggestions for how to host a green event.
One of the amazing Friends of Live Earth Run for Water events will be taking place in Lima, Peru. They are expecting more than 5,000 participants to attend this run/walk as the event takes them through the streets of one of the nicest neighborhoods along the pacific ocean in Lima, Miraflores. The celebration for water resource awareness will continue right after the race with a mega live music concert, featuring the best local artists and compositors.
Click here to check out some of the ways you can take part.
Run for Water Buenos Aires
During a large press conference this week, Buenos Aires announced their involvement in the Live Earth Run for Water! World famous elite endurance runner, Dean Karnazes will be running in the 6K race and Kevin Johansen + The Nada will be performing! There will also be educational activities to mark a "turning point" to help overcome the crisis with the precious resource.
For more information visit maratondelagua.com.
Twestival Global - March 25
On Thursday March 25th 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to rally around important education causes by hosting events to have fun and create awareness. All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects. Twestival uses social media for social good!
Twestival is hosting a charity auction to raise even more money, and Live Earth is proud to be a part of it! You can bid on entry fees to one of the Live Earth Run for Water events around the world through March 26.
Visit twestival.com to find an event near you and visit Live Earth Video's Twestival page for special event videos.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Blogger's Note: I had the amazing blessing to see one of these creatures off Digby Neck in the Bay of Fundy in the early 1970's. They are gone from the Bay of Fundy now, and these beautiful and powerful creatures are at the cusp of disappearing from the world. If you eat sushi, for one thing that you can do, please reconsider. Think about it, please.
Matt RigneyAuthor, In Pursuit of Giants
Posted: March 19, 2010 11:17 AM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index
Annihilation of a Fish
There is a series of photographs called "The Chase" taken off Nomans Land Island, near Martha's Vineyard, in 1986. The photographs show a giant bluefin tuna, weighing over 900 pounds, leaping, missing, leaping again, and capturing an Atlantic bluefish about two feet long.1 The giant bluefin has all the design characteristics of a fighter jet: supremely tapered shape, short fins like abbreviated wings, extreme speed.
Those photographs offer a rare glimpse into the true majesty of these creatures. That bluefin was about nine feet long, with a burst speed roughly ten times its body length--90 feet per second, or about 60 miles per hour, through water. Water is 780 times as dense as air. Thanks to its supreme physiology and immense strength, that 900-pound animal was able to fly through its liquid medium at highway speed with a self-generated equivalent of over 50 horsepower.2
Most of us will never experience bluefin tuna like this. We understand them only as small, red, rectangular chunks of flesh in sashimi and sushi, or as deep reddish-purple tuna steaks. This is like trying to understand a human being by a lock of their hair. In other words, it is completely inadequate to the task of knowing something meaningful about a top oceanic predator and one of the world's great fish, about what they mean to the ecosystem and to us, beyond their role as food.
Top ocean predators, like bluefin tuna, play a critical role in structuring the overall balance of relationships throughout the food web below them.3 Much like wolves in the Rocky Mountains4, the ocean's top predators are believed to exert a governing and stabilizing effect on the ecosystems they inhabit. Looking at it from a purely human-centric point of view, robust populations of these predators mean increased overall benefits to us in the form of healthy oceans, food, recreation, and jobs.
There are other varieties of bluefin tuna in the Southern Ocean around Australia, in the Indian Ocean, and in the Pacific. But there is only one northern bluefin tuna. It is an Atlantic fish, the king of tunas, a fish Hemingway called "the king of all fish, the ruler of the Valhalla of fishermen."5 The northern bluefin is capable of growing to over 1,000 pounds, with supreme physiological adaptations for speed, trans-oceanic migrations, conversion of prey fish to accessible energy, and warm-blooded life in the world's temperate oceans. The largest ever caught on rod-and-reel weighed 1,496 pounds and was landed off Nova Scotia in 1979. It was nearly 11 feet long.6
The stock of breeding age fish in the Mediterranean and off the coasts of Europe is thought to have declined by more than 85% from its historical maximum, with a strong likelihood that that figure is above a 90% decline.7 A significant portion of that has happened in the last decade. This, the Mediterranean stock, continues to plummet because of rampant overfishing in the form of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) harvesting. The fishing continues because there is a hell of a lot of money to be made by capturing the tuna, fattening them in "ranches," killing them, and shipping them to Japan. Individual fish of the highest quality and weighing several hundred pounds have fetched prices at Tokyo's Tsukiji Market in the vicinity of $175,000. Japan consumes an estimated 80% of the world's northern bluefin tuna8 and is the engine that drives its destruction. It is a process enabled by the failure of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to set and enforce appropriate limits based on science, to guard against illegal fishing, to impose negative consequences on its members who fail to abide by their agreements, and to insulate its decision-making from the corrosive effects of politics. ICCAT's membership is comprised, in part, of the very nations in the EU and North Africa that profit from the out-of-control harvest and trade of this species. These nations have no true incentive to abide by the limits set by ICCAT and to which they have agreed.
As of yesterday, March 18, 2010, the annihilation of the northern bluefin tuna reached its final phase. Representatives of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meeting in Qatar, voted not to list the bluefin tuna as endangered. The ICCAT scientific committee, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization ad-hoc expert panel, and the CITES Secretariat all agree that the level of decline suffered by the northern bluefin satisfies the criteria for endangered species status, putting this fish in the same category as the African black rhino and the Himalayan snow leopard. And yet a majority of CITES member nations voted it down.
This is not surprising news. The chances were slim from the outset that the ban was likely to happen. The Japanese signaled early on that they would ignore any CITES listing, thereby keeping open the largest market in the world for this fish. The powers that stand to gain from continued trade are set against any real measures to curb the overfishing of Mediterranean bluefin. This, despite the United States coming out in favor of a CITES I ban earlier this month, joining France, the UK, and other nations.
At what point will we put a stop to this? At what point will common, everyday citizens rise up, outraged, that the natural world is being plundered beneath their noses, and demand that it be stopped and that those responsible be held accountable? Those who benefit in the short-term, whether out of greed or need, will not stop it. Politicians, as we saw today and have seen over the 40 year history of ICCAT, will not stop it, and certainly not as long as they believe the issue is about jobs, and that jobs (and their own re-elections) must come first.
The jobs issue is a deception. The number of jobs lost--in sport and commercial fishing alone--on the eastern seaboard of the United States because of the collapse of our bluefin tuna population in the 1980s is just one indication of the costs of bad fisheries management. It is no different in the Mediterranean. The destruction of that bluefin fishery over the last 10 years has laid waste to a resource that supported the cultures ringing that sea for millennia. It represents both the loss of income to tens of thousands of fishermen and hundreds of local communities (at an estimated annual cost of $400 million per year 9), as well as the radical concentration of wealth in the hands of a few--to the tune of $16.4 billion between 1998 and 2008.10
The value of the Mediterranean bluefin hunt during this time dwarfs the estimated value of the global trade in shark fins between 1996-2006 ($8.3 billion); the global trade in whale meat between 1990 and 2000 ($8.2 billion); and the global trade in elephant ivory at its peak between 1978 and 1988 ($1.02 billion).11
This has been called "an international disgrace governed by a looting rationale" and an operation run by "an international tuna cartel".12 However you look at it, the numbers speak for themselves. What is happening and will continue to happen in the Med is an economic heist, a political scandal, and a moral outrage. It brings shame and disgrace upon every nation participating in it, and upon the members of every nation who do nothing while being aware of the problem.
What we as global consumers and citizens must appreciate--and what ICCAT, Japan, the European Union, the United States, and any other country that trades in northern bluefin tuna must also appreciate--is that the worth of any species is far beyond its reducible monetary value. The balance of an ecosystem requires the balance of relationships among the various members and parts of that ecosystem, including human beings. If and when we throw those relationships into imbalance, the economic costs are staggering, to say nothing of the moral costs of allowing this to happen on our watch. These considerations do not even take into account the spiritual loss to our children and grandchildren, future generations, of having been deprived of the chance to encounter, firsthand, one of the wonders of nature. Or to derive employment or sustenance from the controlled, sane harvest of that animal. Together these things amount to an incalculable loss in the column titled 'quality of life.'
Scientists have warned for years that the depletion in stocks puts the bluefin in jeopardy of commercial extinction. While true extinction of an oceanic species is difficult (but not impossible)13, commercial extinction is more readily achieved. Commercial extinction happens when humans devastate a fish stock to the point that the stock loses its ability to recover and rebuild its population. The species contracts in range, remains at very low numbers, and may even lose its niche in the ecosystem to other competing species. It is effectively displaced and marginalized, and the various benefits we derive from their continued, healthy existence--spiritual awe, recreational joy, economic prosperity, nutritional intake, moral integrity--disappear and are never regained. We need only look at the North Atlantic cod off Canada for confirmation that this can happen. We need only look at the history of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic to know that it is happening here and is in its final phase.
So I ask you who are reading this: what will it take for you to join the fight to preserve these animals, even though you may never witness them as they appear in all their glory? Surely we can understand the wisdom of preserving them for reasons beyond our own personal satisfactions.
The destruction of the northern bluefin in the Mediterranean has been made possible by a number of factors: the development of tuna ranching and improved purse seine technologies; a willful lack of transparency, adherence to science, and enforcement of limits by the members of ICCAT; deep corruption in the political-economic process; ignorance and apathy on the part of the general public about the problem, and a collective, global culture that has yet to draw the moral and legal 'line in the sand' on corporate and personal greed.
Now that the CITES listing has failed, it is time for those of us who give a damn about this species, and about the pillaging of the oceans, to meet the challenge and put our outrage into action.
The flow of bluefin into Japan, more than for any other nation, must have negative consequences. For a nation purportedly sensitive to the agonies of public shame, the Japanese heap it upon themselves with their marred history of "scientific" whale hunts and their cold disregard for their primary role in the destruction of bluefin. If the Japanese government will not acknowledge its role in driving the annihilation of these fish, then it must feel the consequences, which should include a boycott of Japanese cars, electronics, and other products. Tourists considering Japan as a destination might do better to spend their time and money in a country like New Zealand, which has a far better track record of stewardship of the oceans.
And it is time to stop eating northern bluefin tuna, anywhere, in any country. Demand of your fish monger or restaurateur to know what kind of tuna they serve, where they get it, and how it's caught, and don't simply order something else if they serve bluefin tuna. Consider leaving the restaurant, telling them why you're doing it, and finding a dining establishment with more awareness and more of a conscience.
It must be appreciated that measures like this, if successful, will have economic impacts on men and women who may not deserve to bear those direct costs. To these people, I would ask them to consider the following paradox and to think about actually joining the cause: the paradox is that if there are no bluefin tuna left, they will bear the costs anyway. Every population of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic has either disappeared or decreased in spawning stock biomass by 80% or more. The stock of Brazil was gone by the late 1960s. The North Sea stock was gone by the 1970s. The western stock off the US and Canada collapsed in the 1980s and has never recovered. The only one left is the Mediterranean stock, and it has declined by 85% or worse. If we don't feel the pinch now, we will feel the pinch later and it will be permanent. If these measures at abstinence, boycott, and public shame are successful, and there are more bluefin in the future, then the future of the fish and the employment we derive from them is more secure. Had the CITES nations approved the Appendix I listing, it would have allowed the continued harvest and sale of bluefin tuna within nations and only banned the international trade in bluefin. That opportunity has been lost.
It is time for the public at large to become accurately informed about what is happening to the ocean and to this planet as a result of how we live. The Internet is as much a rumor mill and a source of misinformation as it is of real facts. One of the bits of misinformation circulating is that the 2008 ICCAT stock assessment of all northern bluefin in the Atlantic put the estimated population at roughly five million fish. With a population of that size, one might rightly ask, how is there any danger of the fish becoming commercially, much less actually, extinct?
The devil is in the details. The 2008 ICCAT stock assessment estimates population across all age groups of the stock. The purported population of five million bluefin would naturally include a majority of immature fish, ranging in size from a thumbnail to near maturity, that will never live to reproduce, when all forms of mortality are considered. It is the breeding stock figures that matter when gauging the bluefin's viability, not the total population figures, because it is only those that live to breed that offer hope for the species. It is those breeders that have declined so precipitously.
The time is long overdue for large scale action on this issue. The time is also long overdue for us, as interconnected global societies, to wrestle with and decide, in binding law, the question of the limits we must abide by in the extraction of resources from the natural world. It is insane to continue with business as usual. We must understand--as has been demonstrated so many times--how short-term gain at the expense of long-term stability and sustainability is not only foolhardy, it is dangerous and destructive to our collective interests--for ourselves, our children, as nations, and for the future.
In the meantime, it is time those who benefit from the continued trade in northern bluefin tuna to pay a price that outweighs their financial gain.
Matt RigneyAuthor, In Pursuit of Giants
Posted: March 19, 2010 11:17 AM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index
Annihilation of a Fish
There is a series of photographs called "The Chase" taken off Nomans Land Island, near Martha's Vineyard, in 1986. The photographs show a giant bluefin tuna, weighing over 900 pounds, leaping, missing, leaping again, and capturing an Atlantic bluefish about two feet long.1 The giant bluefin has all the design characteristics of a fighter jet: supremely tapered shape, short fins like abbreviated wings, extreme speed.
Those photographs offer a rare glimpse into the true majesty of these creatures. That bluefin was about nine feet long, with a burst speed roughly ten times its body length--90 feet per second, or about 60 miles per hour, through water. Water is 780 times as dense as air. Thanks to its supreme physiology and immense strength, that 900-pound animal was able to fly through its liquid medium at highway speed with a self-generated equivalent of over 50 horsepower.2
Most of us will never experience bluefin tuna like this. We understand them only as small, red, rectangular chunks of flesh in sashimi and sushi, or as deep reddish-purple tuna steaks. This is like trying to understand a human being by a lock of their hair. In other words, it is completely inadequate to the task of knowing something meaningful about a top oceanic predator and one of the world's great fish, about what they mean to the ecosystem and to us, beyond their role as food.
Top ocean predators, like bluefin tuna, play a critical role in structuring the overall balance of relationships throughout the food web below them.3 Much like wolves in the Rocky Mountains4, the ocean's top predators are believed to exert a governing and stabilizing effect on the ecosystems they inhabit. Looking at it from a purely human-centric point of view, robust populations of these predators mean increased overall benefits to us in the form of healthy oceans, food, recreation, and jobs.
There are other varieties of bluefin tuna in the Southern Ocean around Australia, in the Indian Ocean, and in the Pacific. But there is only one northern bluefin tuna. It is an Atlantic fish, the king of tunas, a fish Hemingway called "the king of all fish, the ruler of the Valhalla of fishermen."5 The northern bluefin is capable of growing to over 1,000 pounds, with supreme physiological adaptations for speed, trans-oceanic migrations, conversion of prey fish to accessible energy, and warm-blooded life in the world's temperate oceans. The largest ever caught on rod-and-reel weighed 1,496 pounds and was landed off Nova Scotia in 1979. It was nearly 11 feet long.6
The stock of breeding age fish in the Mediterranean and off the coasts of Europe is thought to have declined by more than 85% from its historical maximum, with a strong likelihood that that figure is above a 90% decline.7 A significant portion of that has happened in the last decade. This, the Mediterranean stock, continues to plummet because of rampant overfishing in the form of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) harvesting. The fishing continues because there is a hell of a lot of money to be made by capturing the tuna, fattening them in "ranches," killing them, and shipping them to Japan. Individual fish of the highest quality and weighing several hundred pounds have fetched prices at Tokyo's Tsukiji Market in the vicinity of $175,000. Japan consumes an estimated 80% of the world's northern bluefin tuna8 and is the engine that drives its destruction. It is a process enabled by the failure of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to set and enforce appropriate limits based on science, to guard against illegal fishing, to impose negative consequences on its members who fail to abide by their agreements, and to insulate its decision-making from the corrosive effects of politics. ICCAT's membership is comprised, in part, of the very nations in the EU and North Africa that profit from the out-of-control harvest and trade of this species. These nations have no true incentive to abide by the limits set by ICCAT and to which they have agreed.
As of yesterday, March 18, 2010, the annihilation of the northern bluefin tuna reached its final phase. Representatives of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meeting in Qatar, voted not to list the bluefin tuna as endangered. The ICCAT scientific committee, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization ad-hoc expert panel, and the CITES Secretariat all agree that the level of decline suffered by the northern bluefin satisfies the criteria for endangered species status, putting this fish in the same category as the African black rhino and the Himalayan snow leopard. And yet a majority of CITES member nations voted it down.
This is not surprising news. The chances were slim from the outset that the ban was likely to happen. The Japanese signaled early on that they would ignore any CITES listing, thereby keeping open the largest market in the world for this fish. The powers that stand to gain from continued trade are set against any real measures to curb the overfishing of Mediterranean bluefin. This, despite the United States coming out in favor of a CITES I ban earlier this month, joining France, the UK, and other nations.
At what point will we put a stop to this? At what point will common, everyday citizens rise up, outraged, that the natural world is being plundered beneath their noses, and demand that it be stopped and that those responsible be held accountable? Those who benefit in the short-term, whether out of greed or need, will not stop it. Politicians, as we saw today and have seen over the 40 year history of ICCAT, will not stop it, and certainly not as long as they believe the issue is about jobs, and that jobs (and their own re-elections) must come first.
The jobs issue is a deception. The number of jobs lost--in sport and commercial fishing alone--on the eastern seaboard of the United States because of the collapse of our bluefin tuna population in the 1980s is just one indication of the costs of bad fisheries management. It is no different in the Mediterranean. The destruction of that bluefin fishery over the last 10 years has laid waste to a resource that supported the cultures ringing that sea for millennia. It represents both the loss of income to tens of thousands of fishermen and hundreds of local communities (at an estimated annual cost of $400 million per year 9), as well as the radical concentration of wealth in the hands of a few--to the tune of $16.4 billion between 1998 and 2008.10
The value of the Mediterranean bluefin hunt during this time dwarfs the estimated value of the global trade in shark fins between 1996-2006 ($8.3 billion); the global trade in whale meat between 1990 and 2000 ($8.2 billion); and the global trade in elephant ivory at its peak between 1978 and 1988 ($1.02 billion).11
This has been called "an international disgrace governed by a looting rationale" and an operation run by "an international tuna cartel".12 However you look at it, the numbers speak for themselves. What is happening and will continue to happen in the Med is an economic heist, a political scandal, and a moral outrage. It brings shame and disgrace upon every nation participating in it, and upon the members of every nation who do nothing while being aware of the problem.
What we as global consumers and citizens must appreciate--and what ICCAT, Japan, the European Union, the United States, and any other country that trades in northern bluefin tuna must also appreciate--is that the worth of any species is far beyond its reducible monetary value. The balance of an ecosystem requires the balance of relationships among the various members and parts of that ecosystem, including human beings. If and when we throw those relationships into imbalance, the economic costs are staggering, to say nothing of the moral costs of allowing this to happen on our watch. These considerations do not even take into account the spiritual loss to our children and grandchildren, future generations, of having been deprived of the chance to encounter, firsthand, one of the wonders of nature. Or to derive employment or sustenance from the controlled, sane harvest of that animal. Together these things amount to an incalculable loss in the column titled 'quality of life.'
Scientists have warned for years that the depletion in stocks puts the bluefin in jeopardy of commercial extinction. While true extinction of an oceanic species is difficult (but not impossible)13, commercial extinction is more readily achieved. Commercial extinction happens when humans devastate a fish stock to the point that the stock loses its ability to recover and rebuild its population. The species contracts in range, remains at very low numbers, and may even lose its niche in the ecosystem to other competing species. It is effectively displaced and marginalized, and the various benefits we derive from their continued, healthy existence--spiritual awe, recreational joy, economic prosperity, nutritional intake, moral integrity--disappear and are never regained. We need only look at the North Atlantic cod off Canada for confirmation that this can happen. We need only look at the history of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic to know that it is happening here and is in its final phase.
So I ask you who are reading this: what will it take for you to join the fight to preserve these animals, even though you may never witness them as they appear in all their glory? Surely we can understand the wisdom of preserving them for reasons beyond our own personal satisfactions.
The destruction of the northern bluefin in the Mediterranean has been made possible by a number of factors: the development of tuna ranching and improved purse seine technologies; a willful lack of transparency, adherence to science, and enforcement of limits by the members of ICCAT; deep corruption in the political-economic process; ignorance and apathy on the part of the general public about the problem, and a collective, global culture that has yet to draw the moral and legal 'line in the sand' on corporate and personal greed.
Now that the CITES listing has failed, it is time for those of us who give a damn about this species, and about the pillaging of the oceans, to meet the challenge and put our outrage into action.
The flow of bluefin into Japan, more than for any other nation, must have negative consequences. For a nation purportedly sensitive to the agonies of public shame, the Japanese heap it upon themselves with their marred history of "scientific" whale hunts and their cold disregard for their primary role in the destruction of bluefin. If the Japanese government will not acknowledge its role in driving the annihilation of these fish, then it must feel the consequences, which should include a boycott of Japanese cars, electronics, and other products. Tourists considering Japan as a destination might do better to spend their time and money in a country like New Zealand, which has a far better track record of stewardship of the oceans.
And it is time to stop eating northern bluefin tuna, anywhere, in any country. Demand of your fish monger or restaurateur to know what kind of tuna they serve, where they get it, and how it's caught, and don't simply order something else if they serve bluefin tuna. Consider leaving the restaurant, telling them why you're doing it, and finding a dining establishment with more awareness and more of a conscience.
It must be appreciated that measures like this, if successful, will have economic impacts on men and women who may not deserve to bear those direct costs. To these people, I would ask them to consider the following paradox and to think about actually joining the cause: the paradox is that if there are no bluefin tuna left, they will bear the costs anyway. Every population of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic has either disappeared or decreased in spawning stock biomass by 80% or more. The stock of Brazil was gone by the late 1960s. The North Sea stock was gone by the 1970s. The western stock off the US and Canada collapsed in the 1980s and has never recovered. The only one left is the Mediterranean stock, and it has declined by 85% or worse. If we don't feel the pinch now, we will feel the pinch later and it will be permanent. If these measures at abstinence, boycott, and public shame are successful, and there are more bluefin in the future, then the future of the fish and the employment we derive from them is more secure. Had the CITES nations approved the Appendix I listing, it would have allowed the continued harvest and sale of bluefin tuna within nations and only banned the international trade in bluefin. That opportunity has been lost.
It is time for the public at large to become accurately informed about what is happening to the ocean and to this planet as a result of how we live. The Internet is as much a rumor mill and a source of misinformation as it is of real facts. One of the bits of misinformation circulating is that the 2008 ICCAT stock assessment of all northern bluefin in the Atlantic put the estimated population at roughly five million fish. With a population of that size, one might rightly ask, how is there any danger of the fish becoming commercially, much less actually, extinct?
The devil is in the details. The 2008 ICCAT stock assessment estimates population across all age groups of the stock. The purported population of five million bluefin would naturally include a majority of immature fish, ranging in size from a thumbnail to near maturity, that will never live to reproduce, when all forms of mortality are considered. It is the breeding stock figures that matter when gauging the bluefin's viability, not the total population figures, because it is only those that live to breed that offer hope for the species. It is those breeders that have declined so precipitously.
The time is long overdue for large scale action on this issue. The time is also long overdue for us, as interconnected global societies, to wrestle with and decide, in binding law, the question of the limits we must abide by in the extraction of resources from the natural world. It is insane to continue with business as usual. We must understand--as has been demonstrated so many times--how short-term gain at the expense of long-term stability and sustainability is not only foolhardy, it is dangerous and destructive to our collective interests--for ourselves, our children, as nations, and for the future.
In the meantime, it is time those who benefit from the continued trade in northern bluefin tuna to pay a price that outweighs their financial gain.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Synopsis of Finance Minister's Visit to Digby
Synopsis of the Digby Dialogue with the Minister of Finance, held February 24, 2010 from
6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Royal Canadian Legion, 92 Mount Street
Finance Minister Graham Steele began the Digby dialogue with a review of the current and
forecasted fiscal situation in Nova Scotia, and asked the 36 people that attended this meeting for
advice on “how do we get back to balance?”
The Minister stated that we have to look at increasing revenues, reducing spending, and growing
the economy over the long term to eliminate the deficit and get back to balance. Each choice will
affect the others, so all three types of measures must be considered together. Seven small groups
considered these types of measures and answered Minister Steele’s four questions:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap – are there
things government should do better, stop doing, or do more of?
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long
term?
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
The following pages provide the results of these group discussions, compiled from each group’s
flipcharts and their reporter’s final presentation. This information will be compiled with the
results of all the other public dialogue sessions as input to a summary report.
Group 1:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Increase revenue by decreasing the costs of administration and health care services
• Sell off some assets such as buildings, etc.
• More revenue and jobs
• GST is a regressive tax that hurts the poor
Reduce Spending:
• Savings when programs are chopped
• Diminish spending on studies (such as tourism) – use local knowledge
• Get rid of duplicate levels – i.e. Department of Health and 8 district health authorities
(artificial boundaries in Health Authorities – one not working with another even though
they are only 20 minutes apart)
• Amalgamate Digby/Annapolis Health Care service
• Less money to big businesses – more to small businesses – generate more jobs
• Go through departments and define what’s working and what’s not and if it’s not working
efficiently, get rid of it! Carry out a stringent independent audit
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• Get value for money spent – make sure it’s done right
• Follow through on projects that are in the works, “just do it”
G e t t i n g B a c k t o B a l a n c e P a g e 2
• Do more in health care – keep emergency rooms open – with paramedics
• Make student doctors come to rural communities as part of their training
• Review dialysis set ups in the Digby area
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Act on existing plans
• Government – is it too large?
• Get rid of duplication of services
Group 2:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending? What changes
should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
Increase Revenue:
• Raise taxes – people would pay more if they know they know where it is going – liquor
store, sales tax, income tax, big company corporate tax, tiered tax rate
Reduce Spending:
• Stop corporate gifts
• Services to serve the people not big corporations
• Look at what is not working. Demand better accountability and put the money where it
needs to be
• Increase cooperation amongst departments
• Eliminate bonuses
• Eliminate overlap – i.e. federal and provincial ministers with same portfolios
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• Education is the foundation
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Develop rural infrastructure and communication
• Maintain our ferries
• Promote our rural communities – support small businesses; they are the backbone of NS
• Social and physical infrastructure plus educated population plus a healthy population =
add these three together and our economy will grow – the revenue comes from us
• Continue to invest in education – essential to grow our economy
• Have a long-range economic plan (current piece-meal plan is no plan!))
• Remember and act on previous election campaign slogans and promises – i.e. invest in
Canadian/Nova Scotian families
• More “doing”
• Put money where it belongs – local economy; infrastructure (social and physical, ferry,
train, public transit, etc)
• Keep money local (NS), every local dollar spent is re-spent locally
• Cheaper does not equal better
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
• Depending on the circumstances (i.e. earthquakes, recessions, etc), use as long as it takes
to make things work
G e t t i n g B a c k t o B a l a n c e P a g e 3
Group 3:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Increase the number of foreign students
• Increase taxes on liquor, tobacco, gas
• Reduce taxes on “oil industry” processing facilities
• Minimum HST increase
Reduce Spending:
• Cut civil service from the top down
• Give a percentage of civil service programs back to local boards – Health and Education
• Put local medical practice on fee for service – include nurse practitioners
• Cut 10%-20% of each department’s staff/budget
• Reduce civil service expense levels – travel km. rates etc.
• Cut advertising for liquor and lottery
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• Local medical clinics to charge fee for services and have MDs with nurse practitioners
• Budget – analyze the spending (including staff)
• More accountability
• Layoff bad civil service employees
• Improve fleet/lease management
• Make schools available for recreation programs
• Combine prevention programs – Health, Justice, Addiction
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Ferry (Saint John and Yarmouth). Think of this as a tax gain vs. subsidy. Use the NB
model for Grand Manan, and share the port
• Need vocational programs and a stronger central technology training centre
• Seek out China/Brazil business opportunities
• Government institutions must have “100km” policy
• Grow energy technology
• Offer tax breaks for start ups
• Evaluate government funded programs to see if outcomes are being met
• Do more prevention programs, addiction services, and early intervention; and mental
health and family resource programs
Group 4:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Change small business HST: when they remit, give them back only 10% rather than 13%
• We have concerns that an increase to the HST will have a negative effect on growth
• Find ways to increase the population
• Support immigration into the province
• Tourism tax
Reduce Spending:
• Reduce the amount of money going to the universities – do we have too many
universities?
• Re-evaluate pensions – beginning with a look at government officials. A smaller
workforce has to support many retired people
• Decentralize the government
G e t t i n g B a c k t o B a l a n c e P a g e 4
• Redefine what provincial residency entails – i.e. people return from out west and get
benefits here
• Clear and achievable targets in the budget
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• Open an office of entrepreneurial affairs – connect business and government
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Invest in trade programs at community colleges
• Bring in people who want to train for trades
• More money into community college system
• Invest in transportation systems
• Adopt long term planning – at least 10 years (i.e. decision re: Yarmouth and Digby
ferries) and invest in transportation links that strengthen infrastructure
• Invest in public education
• Pay incentives (tuition, isolation pay) for medical professionals to go to rural areas
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
• Our government should bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance in 5 to10 years
• Be positive – look outward as a province to the world!
Group 5:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Encourage small business expansion
• Tax increase
• HST (1-2%)
• Oil and gas royalties increased
• Change tax credit to benefit small business
Reduce Spending:
• Audit cost of over-governance or over-spending (not everyone agreed on this)
• Offer incentives for coming in under-budget (all departments)
• Decrease MLAs salaries and expenses (not everyone agreed on this)
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• Increase spending on active, healthy living and healthier people means less money will be
needed for health care
• Early childhood education programs
• Evaluate success of government programs – make sure they’re doing what they should be
• Better negotiation of business contracts (i.e. the CAT)
• Encourage people to get back into the workforce
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Encourage high tech businesses/industry by promoting what we have to offer
• Invest in education – rethink education
• Growth in food (fish) and energy (green)
• Focus on small businesses/high tech industries/create opportunities
G e t t i n g B a c k t o B a l a n c e P a g e 5
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
• Start now! Our government should bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance as soon
as possible!
• Take care of our province the way we would take care of our families!
Group 6:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Increase corporate taxes
• Increase high income surtax
• Increase tax on non-essential goods (alcohol, tobacco, junk food, etc)
• Technology = less travelling = fewer expenses. Use skype, teleconferencing, etc.
Reduce Spending:
• Reduce government spending
• Pay debt over a period of years
• Reduce the number of new education programs/initiatives (i.e. accreditation)
• Increase early elementary supports to decrease the need for supports later in their
education career
• Use more proactive health care i.e. early screening, early treatments, early education
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• More money in early education. Realign spending within Department of Education; less
top heavy, fewer new initiatives – re-evaluate
• Reduce government spending and re-evaluate use of money for government expense
accounts, salaries and pensions
• More money for proactive health care, and realign spending within health care budget
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Increase tourism
• Increase corporate businesses by offering incentive packages
• Invest in our youth, offer early support in education and health
• More business = more jobs = more skilled labor = more taxes
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
• We have accrued this debt over a period of time, so take time to pay it off (minimum of a
5-year plan)
• Spend the money wisely to make educated, healthy, contributing members of our
communities
Group 7:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Increase tobacco 2%
• Tax on trans-fats 2%
Reduce Spending:
• Eliminate the health boards – DHA’s
• Eliminate the duplication of services
• Investigate pension plans (Province of NS)
• Reviewing and rationalization of agencies, boards, and commissions
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
G e t t i n g B a c k t o B a l a n c e P a g e 6
• Do Better at focusing; establish SMART goals.
• Basic literacy needs to be improved
• Improve primary care for chronic conditions
• Stop trying to be all things to all people
• Take an approach that considers the all the fundamentals; as shown in this illustration, we
need an economic development plan
covering the main structure of education
and health, and firmly established on a
strong foundation of other infrastructure.
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Invest in the capacities to produce value added products
• Look beyond the short term plans – go long term
• Improve the infrastructure, transportation, water, education, health, ferry (to Saint John!)
• Health care must be more proactive. Wellness enhancement, health promotion, injury
prevention
• Develop a real economic plan for this area, with resources. We have to get real.
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
• As long as it takes, but do it right!!!
Note: Flip chart notes have been edited slightly to improve readability.
6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Royal Canadian Legion, 92 Mount Street
Finance Minister Graham Steele began the Digby dialogue with a review of the current and
forecasted fiscal situation in Nova Scotia, and asked the 36 people that attended this meeting for
advice on “how do we get back to balance?”
The Minister stated that we have to look at increasing revenues, reducing spending, and growing
the economy over the long term to eliminate the deficit and get back to balance. Each choice will
affect the others, so all three types of measures must be considered together. Seven small groups
considered these types of measures and answered Minister Steele’s four questions:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap – are there
things government should do better, stop doing, or do more of?
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long
term?
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
The following pages provide the results of these group discussions, compiled from each group’s
flipcharts and their reporter’s final presentation. This information will be compiled with the
results of all the other public dialogue sessions as input to a summary report.
Group 1:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Increase revenue by decreasing the costs of administration and health care services
• Sell off some assets such as buildings, etc.
• More revenue and jobs
• GST is a regressive tax that hurts the poor
Reduce Spending:
• Savings when programs are chopped
• Diminish spending on studies (such as tourism) – use local knowledge
• Get rid of duplicate levels – i.e. Department of Health and 8 district health authorities
(artificial boundaries in Health Authorities – one not working with another even though
they are only 20 minutes apart)
• Amalgamate Digby/Annapolis Health Care service
• Less money to big businesses – more to small businesses – generate more jobs
• Go through departments and define what’s working and what’s not and if it’s not working
efficiently, get rid of it! Carry out a stringent independent audit
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• Get value for money spent – make sure it’s done right
• Follow through on projects that are in the works, “just do it”
G e t t i n g B a c k t o B a l a n c e P a g e 2
• Do more in health care – keep emergency rooms open – with paramedics
• Make student doctors come to rural communities as part of their training
• Review dialysis set ups in the Digby area
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Act on existing plans
• Government – is it too large?
• Get rid of duplication of services
Group 2:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending? What changes
should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
Increase Revenue:
• Raise taxes – people would pay more if they know they know where it is going – liquor
store, sales tax, income tax, big company corporate tax, tiered tax rate
Reduce Spending:
• Stop corporate gifts
• Services to serve the people not big corporations
• Look at what is not working. Demand better accountability and put the money where it
needs to be
• Increase cooperation amongst departments
• Eliminate bonuses
• Eliminate overlap – i.e. federal and provincial ministers with same portfolios
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• Education is the foundation
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Develop rural infrastructure and communication
• Maintain our ferries
• Promote our rural communities – support small businesses; they are the backbone of NS
• Social and physical infrastructure plus educated population plus a healthy population =
add these three together and our economy will grow – the revenue comes from us
• Continue to invest in education – essential to grow our economy
• Have a long-range economic plan (current piece-meal plan is no plan!))
• Remember and act on previous election campaign slogans and promises – i.e. invest in
Canadian/Nova Scotian families
• More “doing”
• Put money where it belongs – local economy; infrastructure (social and physical, ferry,
train, public transit, etc)
• Keep money local (NS), every local dollar spent is re-spent locally
• Cheaper does not equal better
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
• Depending on the circumstances (i.e. earthquakes, recessions, etc), use as long as it takes
to make things work
G e t t i n g B a c k t o B a l a n c e P a g e 3
Group 3:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Increase the number of foreign students
• Increase taxes on liquor, tobacco, gas
• Reduce taxes on “oil industry” processing facilities
• Minimum HST increase
Reduce Spending:
• Cut civil service from the top down
• Give a percentage of civil service programs back to local boards – Health and Education
• Put local medical practice on fee for service – include nurse practitioners
• Cut 10%-20% of each department’s staff/budget
• Reduce civil service expense levels – travel km. rates etc.
• Cut advertising for liquor and lottery
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• Local medical clinics to charge fee for services and have MDs with nurse practitioners
• Budget – analyze the spending (including staff)
• More accountability
• Layoff bad civil service employees
• Improve fleet/lease management
• Make schools available for recreation programs
• Combine prevention programs – Health, Justice, Addiction
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Ferry (Saint John and Yarmouth). Think of this as a tax gain vs. subsidy. Use the NB
model for Grand Manan, and share the port
• Need vocational programs and a stronger central technology training centre
• Seek out China/Brazil business opportunities
• Government institutions must have “100km” policy
• Grow energy technology
• Offer tax breaks for start ups
• Evaluate government funded programs to see if outcomes are being met
• Do more prevention programs, addiction services, and early intervention; and mental
health and family resource programs
Group 4:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Change small business HST: when they remit, give them back only 10% rather than 13%
• We have concerns that an increase to the HST will have a negative effect on growth
• Find ways to increase the population
• Support immigration into the province
• Tourism tax
Reduce Spending:
• Reduce the amount of money going to the universities – do we have too many
universities?
• Re-evaluate pensions – beginning with a look at government officials. A smaller
workforce has to support many retired people
• Decentralize the government
G e t t i n g B a c k t o B a l a n c e P a g e 4
• Redefine what provincial residency entails – i.e. people return from out west and get
benefits here
• Clear and achievable targets in the budget
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• Open an office of entrepreneurial affairs – connect business and government
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Invest in trade programs at community colleges
• Bring in people who want to train for trades
• More money into community college system
• Invest in transportation systems
• Adopt long term planning – at least 10 years (i.e. decision re: Yarmouth and Digby
ferries) and invest in transportation links that strengthen infrastructure
• Invest in public education
• Pay incentives (tuition, isolation pay) for medical professionals to go to rural areas
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
• Our government should bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance in 5 to10 years
• Be positive – look outward as a province to the world!
Group 5:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Encourage small business expansion
• Tax increase
• HST (1-2%)
• Oil and gas royalties increased
• Change tax credit to benefit small business
Reduce Spending:
• Audit cost of over-governance or over-spending (not everyone agreed on this)
• Offer incentives for coming in under-budget (all departments)
• Decrease MLAs salaries and expenses (not everyone agreed on this)
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• Increase spending on active, healthy living and healthier people means less money will be
needed for health care
• Early childhood education programs
• Evaluate success of government programs – make sure they’re doing what they should be
• Better negotiation of business contracts (i.e. the CAT)
• Encourage people to get back into the workforce
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Encourage high tech businesses/industry by promoting what we have to offer
• Invest in education – rethink education
• Growth in food (fish) and energy (green)
• Focus on small businesses/high tech industries/create opportunities
G e t t i n g B a c k t o B a l a n c e P a g e 5
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
• Start now! Our government should bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance as soon
as possible!
• Take care of our province the way we would take care of our families!
Group 6:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Increase corporate taxes
• Increase high income surtax
• Increase tax on non-essential goods (alcohol, tobacco, junk food, etc)
• Technology = less travelling = fewer expenses. Use skype, teleconferencing, etc.
Reduce Spending:
• Reduce government spending
• Pay debt over a period of years
• Reduce the number of new education programs/initiatives (i.e. accreditation)
• Increase early elementary supports to decrease the need for supports later in their
education career
• Use more proactive health care i.e. early screening, early treatments, early education
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
• More money in early education. Realign spending within Department of Education; less
top heavy, fewer new initiatives – re-evaluate
• Reduce government spending and re-evaluate use of money for government expense
accounts, salaries and pensions
• More money for proactive health care, and realign spending within health care budget
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Increase tourism
• Increase corporate businesses by offering incentive packages
• Invest in our youth, offer early support in education and health
• More business = more jobs = more skilled labor = more taxes
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
• We have accrued this debt over a period of time, so take time to pay it off (minimum of a
5-year plan)
• Spend the money wisely to make educated, healthy, contributing members of our
communities
Group 7:
1. What should the government do to increase revenues and reduce spending?
Increase Revenue:
• Increase tobacco 2%
• Tax on trans-fats 2%
Reduce Spending:
• Eliminate the health boards – DHA’s
• Eliminate the duplication of services
• Investigate pension plans (Province of NS)
• Reviewing and rationalization of agencies, boards, and commissions
2. What changes should be made to programs and services to close the gap?
G e t t i n g B a c k t o B a l a n c e P a g e 6
• Do Better at focusing; establish SMART goals.
• Basic literacy needs to be improved
• Improve primary care for chronic conditions
• Stop trying to be all things to all people
• Take an approach that considers the all the fundamentals; as shown in this illustration, we
need an economic development plan
covering the main structure of education
and health, and firmly established on a
strong foundation of other infrastructure.
3. What investments should be made today that will help to grow the economy in the long term?
• Invest in the capacities to produce value added products
• Look beyond the short term plans – go long term
• Improve the infrastructure, transportation, water, education, health, ferry (to Saint John!)
• Health care must be more proactive. Wellness enhancement, health promotion, injury
prevention
• Develop a real economic plan for this area, with resources. We have to get real.
4. How soon should government bring Nova Scotia’s finances back to balance?
• As long as it takes, but do it right!!!
Note: Flip chart notes have been edited slightly to improve readability.
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