Category: Opinion

I want to use the word ‘accountability‘ in two very different ways. First, at the time of a municipal election, candidates are seeking to hold local government to account. This week’s The Reader (August 14) includes contributions from Susan Robinson-Burnie (District 7) and Alan Parish (District 3). Meanwhile, from the Municipality, we are now seeing coverage on the new waste management site in West Paradise.

If you will excuse a bit of ‘wordplay’, I would like to address ‘a County ability’.

I continue to be amazed that, at a time when so many of our issues are Geographic in nature (e.g. climate change, COVID, sustainable land management) that the county does not make better use of the resources at both COGS and AGRG. Many of these Geomatics technologies are in high demand (e.g. LiDAR, image analysis, GIS). Annapolis County could showcase a leadership role in municipal land management.

What is stopping us?
Is it the same reason we cannot collaborate with adjoining counties and towns?

In response to my queries, Edward sent me the link to the following TED talk …

It features Chris Fisher, archaeologist and founder of Earth Archive.

Edward’s question: “Could we develop a Nova Scotia Archive as part of the Earth Archive Mission [starting in the Valley]?

YES. And we could start by utilizing the skills, abilities and resources that reside in Annapolis County.

Postscript

Finished reading Randall Fuller’s The Book that Changed America. Fuller describes the impact of Darwin’s Origin of Species on the intellectual community in Concord in 1860. This included Emerson, Thoreau and Asa Gray (the botanist). It was the time of Abraham Lincoln as President and the anti-slavery movement.

If you are a book-lover, check out the documentary The Booksellers on GEM.

Acknowledgements

Edward for the TED talks link. Heather for the help in the garden. Anne Crossman for the updates on the municipal scene. Jon Murphy for news from GoGeomatics.

Reference
Randall Fuller, 2017. The Book that changed America. Penguin-RandomHouse.

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.

Two emails arrived in my Inbox this morning (Wednesday, May 27).

 

1. Google Alert on Gordonstoun from Anne Crossman
2. Natural Climate Solutions meeting from Nina Newington.

“BBD Education, the UAE school management consultancy, has announced it will help one of the world’s leading schools, Gordonstoun School, to support its brand expansion into Nova Scotia, Canada.”

“Earlier this year, the highly-coveted private school announced expansion plans in China with BBD Education support.”

The expected opening of a Gordonstoun School in Nova Scotia is in 2022.

For the Natural Climate Solutions meeting, there were three attached submissions to the European Union over Burning of Biomass for Energy.

From Norris Whiston, Earltown:

“Where I live I am presently surrounded by clear cuts and listen and watch trucks pass my home with logs of various sizes on their way to mills and chipping mills.”

The Gordonstoun announcement and date 2022 reminded me that there will be a post-COVID world. The Norris Whiston quote reminded me that our forested landscape is still for sale.

Can we not use this time to rethink our economy?

Do we have to destroy our forests because they represent jobs in rural Nova Scotia?

Currently, the lobster fishery is on hold because of the lack of a market in China.

What are the economic values behind the Gordonstoun project? Is this another example of the Nova Scotia landscape up for sale?

Is it a coincidence that BBD Education is expanding into China and Nova Scotia at the same time?

I am thinking that it is time for Nova Scotia (Canada) to re-examine its values in a post-colonial, post-COVID world. We could use the two-year window to help re-define the philosophy of education at Gordonstoun School within the context of community — an ethics of place and in a new collaborative global economy.

Finally, tonight, I notice in the newsletter from the Centre of Local Prosperity, they are hosting a virtual retreat on “Pandemic and Climate Crisis, and the Uncertain Future of Local Community”. Seems to match my thinking.

Acknowledgements

Anne Crossman for sending the Google Alert. Nina Newington for material for the next Natural Climate Solutions virtual meeting. Edward for his input and graphics.

References

Google alert email
Natural Climate Solutions email
Centre for Local Prosperity newsletter. May 27, 2020.

This week, I was in contact with the municipal councillor, Gregory Heming, about Aldo Leopold’s land ethic and the forestry practices in Annapolis County. Gregory was kind enough to share a presentation he made before the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development in 2006.

But first, let’s revisit Aldo Leopold. In The Sand County Almanac, there are a series of essays, including the Land Ethic (p.237-264) and Wilderness (p.264-279).

“A land ethic, then, reflects, the existence of an ecological conscience and this, in turn, reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land. Health in the capacity of the land for self-renewal. Conservation is our effort to understand and preserve this capacity.” p.258.

Heming put forward four notions.

1) If CEPA (Canadian Environmental Protection Act) does not tie directly and pragmatically into community life, into rural civic life, it is not likely to gain the support of the people.

2) from David Kemmis,
“ it would be an insult to these people to assume that they are incapable of reaching some accommodation among themselves about how to inhabit their own place”

3) from Wilkinson,
“An ethic of place respects equally the people of a region and the land, animals, vegetation, water and air. An ethic of place ought to be a shared community value.”

4) from Erica Jong,
“Take your life in your own hands”, she said. “And what happens ?” A terrible thing “no one is to blame”.

Today’s reality. We have the Minister, Nova Scotia Lands and Forests talking about the practices for harvesting crown land on South Mountain. What will be the impact of these practices on the citizens living within the Annapolis watershed?

How can the ethics of place espoused at the municipal level be reconciled with the industrial forestry espoused at the provincial level? Edward Wedler reminded me about the Annapolis County Forestry report. We should evaluate it from the perspective of an Ethics of Place.

In these pandemic times, it is even more critical that we do not lose the voices of the citizens.

For supportive views on the ethics of place, check out the writing of Gary Snyder and Wendell Berry.

A Place on Earth (Berry)
A Place in Space (Snyder)

Postscript.

Watched Ellen Page 2019 documentary on Netflix about environmental racism in Nova Scotia, “There is something in the water.” Very relevant and thought-provoking. Highlighting Shelburne, Boat Harbour and Shubenacadie.

Acknowledgements

To Gregory Heming for sharing his 2006 presentation.Edward Wedler for his technical support. Heather Stewart for her moral support.

References

Aldo Leopold. 1966. A Sand County Almamac, with essays on Conservation from Round River. Ballantine Books.
Wendell Berry.1983. A Place on Earth. North Point Press.
Gary Snyder. 1995. A Place in Space. Counterpoint.
Gregory Heming. Presentation to House of Commons Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development. 2006.
Municipality County of Annapolis, 2018. Forestry Report.

This week, I have pulled down three pairs of books.

Living the Good Life: how to live sanely and simply in a troubled world. Helen and Scott Nearing.
Loving and Leaving the Good Life. Helen Nearing.

Composing a Life. Mary Catherine Bateson.
Composing a Further Life. Mary Catherine Bateson.

The Making of a Counter Culture. Theodore Roszak.
The Making of an Elder Culture. Theodore Roszak.

Scott and Helen Nearing spent nineteen years of experimental homesteading in Vermont. This was followed by eighteen years at Harborside in Maine.

Last summer, Heather and I happened on the Good Life Center in Maine (EBE blog post, The Maine Line, July 7, 2019).

“Scott Nearing died three weeks after his hundredth birthday. He went with dignity, purposefully fasting, after a long and good life”.

After looking at the writing of both Bateson and Roszak, I decided to stay with Helen Nearing’s memoir. From the cover,

“At 87, Helen seems content to be nearing the end of her good life. As she put it, ”To have partaken of and given love is the greatest of life rewards. There seems never an end to the loving that goes on forever and ever. Loving and leaving are part of the living.”

Helen Nearing died in a single-car crash in 1995, aged 91.

Tribute to Uke. Uqaliq (Rabbit)
“Uke” was born on Baffin Island in 2003. She moved with her sister Siksik (Arctic ground squirrel) to Prince George, BC. They were Patrick’s skijoring team. Later, they moved with the family to Cape Breton. Finally, they came to Paradise, Nova Scotia where they have enjoyed the walking trails through the orchard and the forest nursery. She will be missed by her human family and sister.
Postscript

Listening to CBC Spark, there was an interview with Michael Bond on his new book, From Here to There: The Art and Science Of Finding and Losing our Way. It is about space and memory. I have ordered it online, from the Inside Story.

Acknowledgements

Heather for her companionship in the search for good living. Edward for his artistic and technical support.

References

Helen and Scott Nearing. 1954. Living the Good Life. Schocken Books.
Helen Nearing. 1992. Loving and Leaving the Good Life.Chelsea Green.
Mary Catherine Bateson. 1989. Composing a Life. Grove Press.
Mary Catherine Bateson. 2020. Composing a Further Life. Knopf.
Theodore Roszak. 1969. The Making of a Counter Culture. Anchor.
Theodore Roszak. 2009. The Making of an Elder Culture. New Society.

At this time of the year, we are normally resident in Iqaluit. It is a good time to be on the land.

The sea ice is still frozen, and there is a good spring snow cover. Given the uncertainties of food supply in Northern communities, it is likely predictable that we shall see an increase in hunting and fishing. Traditional skills will have heightened importance. Quinn has built his first Igloo. Isla has started to drive the small family snowmobile..

Meanwhile, in the South, as the seasons change, there seems to be an excess of biomass. The sources include:

– firewood from coppicing for next Winter;
– chipping of brush and bark waste;
– charcoal and wood ash from the woodstove;
– kitchen waste in the compost bin;
– leaves and other organic matter for the hugel beds.

The challenge is to integrate these resources ‘back to the land’. Recycling these materials will complement the planting of seeds in the greenhouse and cold frame.

We will see a resurgence in gardening. We will pull off the shelves, books by Niki Jabbour and Adam Footer. We will read about the work of Bob Cervelli and others. We will seek advice from community gardeners; sharing ideas and seeds. We will investigate the properties of biochar. We will reinforce the edges of our pond.

Our life will be governed by the weather, and our ability to complete the multitude of land-related tasks.

Acknowledgements

Andrew and Julia for their insights into Northern living. Rick for his knowledge of biochar. Heather for planting the seeds. Edward for additional graphics.

References

Niki Jabbour. 2011. The Year-round Vegetable Gardener. Storey Publishing.
Simon Akeroyd. 2016. Raised-bed Gardening. Taunton Press.
Adam Footer. 2014. Bokashi Composting. New Society Publishers.
Robert Tindall et al. 2017. Sacred Soil. North Atlantic Books.