Municipal Elections

We have started to see Municipal election signs appear along the roadside. In the current issue of The Reader, candidate Alan Parish (District 3) articulated his position. Clearly, time to figure out the councillor candidates for our district.

What are the issues of concern to residents of Annapolis County? My list would include:

• loss of forested land (aka land use planning)
• waste management
• health services
• internet services

Some of these issues include both municipal and provincial politics. Given there are no political parties at the municipal level, it’s hard to understand whether there is a slate of candidates who share a common platform or whether each district beats to its own drum. I suspect the latter is the case.

Let me unpack each of my four concerns.

forest land use.
Within the county, there are citizen groups concerned about the remaining forest cover. The county has produced a forestry report. However, decisions and practices appear to be under the control of the provincial government. Check out the Healthy Forest Coalition newsletter for an update.

waste management
This is portrayed as a financial matter. What we know is that we have waste management sites outside of Lawrencetown, on the Arlington Road, and now in West Paradise. Is this all necessary? What is the financial context for these decisions?

health services
The provision of health services is a provincial matter. However, the lack of services in our county impacts the quality of living in Annapolis County. We see new infrastructure in Middleton and Lawrencetown, but will it improve access to a family doctor?

internet services
There is a multitude of different providers in the county. What are the costs and quality of these services? Again, what is the relationship between municipal and provincial strategies? How complete is the coverage?

The bottom line is that every resident lives in a specific district. If you want to choose between candidates, you need to know what they stand for, what is their position on the above issues? Do they share their position with other councillors? Do they understand the provincial view on these same issues?

Given the recent appointment of Larry Powell, as public relations/press office to the Municipality, it would be exceedingly timely if there was transparency on these and other issues. Given municipal politics does not follow party lines, it is important to see if there is an alternative to the status quo.

Perhaps there could be a public debate between current councillors standing for re-election and those seeking election. Meanwhile, Larry could provide an objective factual report on previous decisions and their costs.

From previous blogs, I have had useful conversations with Brian Arnott in Lunenburg about ‘communities of place’ and ‘communities of interest’. I was on the board of the Valley Regional Enterprise Network (VREN) but found that neither the County nor the town of Annapolis Royal supported the organization. It proved to be very Kings County centric.

Ultimately, we must understand that we live within a nested series of geographies. My civic address places me in a specific district within Annapolis County, within the physiographic region called the Annapolis Valley. This is part of Southwest Nova Scotia, etc. I believe that we live in District 7, our current representative is Warden, Timothy Habinski.

In terms of my personal interest, this lies within education. What is happening at the Centre of Geographic Sciences, a sub-campus of the NSCC? What is happening to the Gordonstoun project? How do these initiatives fit within the municipal and provincial agenda? Will it improve the quality of education for everyone in Annapolis County? Are there sustainable economic development opportunities?

References
Municipality County of Annapolis, 2018. Forestry Report.

Acknowledgements

Much appreciation to those friends and acquaintances who respond on occasion to my blog. Heather for our discussions on a ‘sense of place’. Edward for his artistic contributions.