Electoral Reform

By the time this blog is posted, we shall know the results of the Municipal Election in Annapolis County. We shall know in the words of The Reader editorial whether ‘Small Things Matter’. We will see the impact of online voting. At this critical juncture, I wonder whether we need electoral reform.

Do we need eleven Councillors in Annapolis County?
Do we need separate elections for the towns, e.g. Annapolis Royal, Middleton?
Is the management of the natural resources in this province independent of the municipalities?

In the past, I have expressed concern about the management of our landscape, and its relation to climate change.

Looking for solace, in these difficult times, I picked up again, Daniel Botkin’s No Man’s Garden: Thoreau and a new vision for civilization and nature. In the book, Botkin identifies three types of expert (p.111):

1. Contemporary professional experts
2. The great thinkers of the past.
3. Experiential experts – local people with local knowledge based on their experience of living in an area and observing carefully.

My thesis would be that we need a combination of all three. Likewise on municipal council we need all three.

It would be a mistake, in my mind, if we focussed only on the small things, and did not understand the larger context. Or what was happening in our larger geography.

There are many good resources available. This morning, I visited Dawn Oman’s gallery in Bridgetown to ask about tickets to the Dave Gunning concert on October 24th.

While there, I had the chance to pick up the latest issue of Up Here magazine, devoted to Northern Canada.

From Celes Davar, we received the recommendation to watch Kiss the Ground , starring Woody Harrelson on Netflix. It defines the importance of the soil to our global ecosystem.
From Anne Crossman, I was sent the link to Striking Balance, a series on Canada’s biosphere reserves.

They are filming the episode on the Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve, to be aired at the end of November on the CBC. Finally, we received an update from Larry Powell on the Gordonstoun project. This offers employment opportunities for local business. It emphasizes ‘place-based’ education. Our geography, the Annapolis Valley, fits within the Atlantic Canada bubble, as well as the Canada nation.

Acknowledgements

To all those friends who continue to share ideas and experiences: Dawn Oman, Celes Davar, Anne Crossman. Heather, who has helped shoulder the burden of a bumper apple crop in the orchard. Edward for ongoing support.

References

Daniel Botkin, 2001. No Man’s Garden: Thoreau and a new vision for civilization and nature. Island Press.