March 31, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Farmers'
Markets are
open today in both Summerside (9AM-1PM) and Charlottetown (9AM-2PM) -- remember
being the day before Easter, things are a little busy. Bust despite the
parking lot potholes, and busy aisles, there will be lots of treats, local
white eggs, nice dinner foods, fresh greens and well-kept winter vegetables,
and craft beer and maple syrup. By Emma Lui, water campaigner for the Council of Canadians,
March 28th, 2018 The
usual Consultation/Not Really Consultation parameters: the deadline for
the public to request to speak passed Friday and was really hard to find on the
website. If the Standing Committee
on the Environment and the Trudeau government truly want to hear from
Indigenous nations, local residents, community or water groups, they must
extend the deadline and give people proper notice to engage in this process.
 It's not funny anymore. A cartoon by Michael de Adder, from December 2016 ------------------------------- Sunday, April 8th: Abercrombie, a presentation with author Joan Baxter, 2-4PM, Farm Centre. She will be reading from her book about the paper mill, and Melanie Giffin from the PEI Fishermen's Association will be speaking, also. People on both sides of the Northumberland Strait are concerned. All welcome. ----------------------------- District 18 MLA Brad Trivers, Opposition critic for Community, Land and Environment, has concerns about the quick consultation process for an expansion of the Raspberry Point Oyster company at Rustico. He is clear he is not trying to squash business, but allowing voices to be heard and concerns discussed. Press release (edited slightly):
Trivers urges extension to public feedback for proposed shellfish project -- March 30th, 2018 North Rustico – Rustico-Emerald MLA Brad Trivers is urging the province to delay approving a shellfish processing development on Rustico Bay until further public consultations can be completed. “Many residents are telling me they haven’t been given enough time and information to fully understand and consider the project, and its potential impacts to the area - on the environment, existing residents, and future residential development," says Trivers. The Raspberry Point Oyster Company is proposing to construct a processing facility on the Grand Pere Point Road on Rustico Bay, as well as expand oyster production in the bay by adding 20,000 oyster cages. The province is currently seeking public feedback on the permit application period which closes this week. “The area has great potential and the provincial government has the legislative responsibility to consult with the community with respect to a long-term vision and land use plan before any development decisions are made. That’s why I have written the Minister of Communities, Land & Environment to urge an extension of the public feedback period," Trivers concluded.
"When we save a river, we save a significant part of an ecosystem, and we save ourselves as well because of our dependence -- physical, economical, spiritual, -- on the water and its community of life." -- (I could not find a clear reference for the author of this) March 30, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Tonight
and tomorrow: Help protect the last incredible tuna left. Tuna represents less than 1% of fishing income in PEI. Do we need to be fishing these endangered creatures at all right now? Herring fishery collapsing, must stop. Contact: Fisheries Minister (Dominic) LeBlanc directly by writing to him here: dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca Please help this situation and email your concerns and comments to our Island MP's here: Wayne Easter: wayne.easter@parl.gc.ca
More on fish: Eating farmed Atlantic salmon (whether we know it's genetically-modified or not): A read-with-a-critical-eye-but-is-probably-on-to-something report from the "Healthy Holistic Living" blog -- "Farmed Salmon -- one of the most toxic foods in the world" http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/farmed-salmon-one-toxic-foods-world.html And a lot of references at the end of this article on the concerns about West Coast fish farming; again, for your information but read with that critical eye: https://fishfarmnews.blogspot.ca/2018/01/fish-farm-spin-dc-reid-read-this.html -------------------------------- "The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the sea." --Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), Danish author 1885-1962) March 29, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Mostly politics and our vision of the future on P.E.I. today -- Tonight: Why this political science professor says a consensus government wouldn't fly on P.E.I. - CBC News website articlePEI political science professor Don Desserud says although the P.E.I. PC leader's idea for a consensus government is "fascinating," it's unlikely to fly on P.E.I. James Aylward told CBC News: Compass on Friday that he believes a consensus government would be more effective than the current system. "It's fascinating and very intriguing," Desserud told Island Morning. "Here we have a leader of a party who's identifying a problem that I think most members of the voting population also agree with, is that: over partisanship is undermining our faith in democracy." The consensus system is used in Nunavut where MLAs run as an independents, rather than represent parties, and are elected by voters as usual. However, after the election, the winning candidates get together and choose a premier and a cabinet by consensus. "Cabinet is always in a minority situation, so, as a consequence, instead of having a cabinet that can run roughshod over your legislative assembly … you've got a cabinet now that always has to seek consensus," he said. "That's why people like it, because you get, in theory anyway, more responsibility on the government side and you have more power from the MLAs because they actually have a say." One of biggest problems with the consensus system, he argued, is that MLAs would be more inclined to search for favours for their individual ridings and that the collaborative nature would focus less on politicians holding government accountable. "You basically get all the MLAs in a compromised position ... they've all basically come together and work as if they're all in one party as opposed to trying to do what their job is which is to scrutinise government and hold it accountable." Another issue would be that fewer people will want to run for office, he said, because there would no longer be the backing of a large political party behind them. Though Desserud said political parties "cause a lot of problems," he acknowledged that they do offer a strong backing for those wanting to run. One of the advantages of political parties is that they bring a team together. And so if you want to be an MLA and run for a political party you've got that whole party apparatus behind you," he said. "It's a scary idea to put yourself forward, your name on a ballot, and put yourself out there and have people judge you in an election. It's a lot easier if you've got a supportive team." In addition, Desserud said because of P.E.I.'s firm hold on party politics that the Island wouldn't budge on a newer, non-partisan system. I don't believe that frankly we can do this here on Prince Edward Island. We simply have a political culture that's partisan that's been with us for 200 and some years and that's not going to go away anytime soon." But he said Aylward may have gained some points from the public by floating the idea. "It's a refreshing idea, it's new, it's not the same old same old ... He's demonstrated that he has a lot of respect for his colleagues … he values the contributions of all MLAs regardless of their party stripe," he said. "He's identifying a problem, I don't know that this is the solution." --------------------------------- From Peter Bevan-Baker of the P.E.I. Green Party, in Tuesday's Guardian http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/letter-to-the-editor/opinion-thank-you-mr-aylward-196889/ OPINION: Thank you, Mr. Aylward - The Guardian Guest Opinion by Peter Bevan-BakerGreens welcome full discussion on appropriateness of Nunavut style of government for P.E.I. Having spent almost three years on the inside of Island politics,and witnessed the rabidly divisive and partisan habits of that world, I was both surprised and delighted by James Aylward’s opinion piece which floated the proposal of radical electoral reform through a consensus-style legislature like the one in Nunavut, with no political parties. As a legislator, during the last three years, I have also learned to distinguish when a problem is related to an inadequate rule or process, and when it is rooted in the culture and habits of the place: often times it is both. For example, the work of legislative standing committees should be non-partisan and collaborative, and there is nothing inherent in the way those committees are set up that would prevent them from operating in that manner. But decades of ingrained behaviour and deep distrust cause the committees to be infected with every bit as much partisanship as gets displayed daily in question period. Aylward talks of, “… changing the current system … to come up with a process that fully utilizes the talents of all elected MLAs,” and he goes on to say, “Our current system is based on the winner take all, decide all. This reduces the role of individual MLAs.” In actuality, the system, though far from perfect, does not dictate that the role of MLAs be reduced, or that their talents go underutilized. The reason that happens here on P.E.I., and elsewhere, is because the old parties, over time, have corrupted our democratic institutions, and allowed damaging, partisan habits to dominate. If we adopted proportional representation, co-operation across party lines is not only possible, it is essential. Even in our present deeply flawed, antiquated First-Past-the-Post version of democracy, if MLAs were to behave in their roles as originally conceived, where they represent their community before their party, we could have the sort of collaborative government that Aylward imagines. Aylward, tellingly, did not commit to instituting consensus style government if his party gets elected, saying that, “it’s not going to happen overnight.” Proportional Representation – a tried and trusted electoral system that produces exactly the kind of co-operation Aylward desires, could, however be adopted overnight. Personally, I’d love to see a full discussion on the appropriateness of the Nunavut style of government for P.E.I. – indeed it was brought up by a small number of presenters during the community engagement phase of the electoral reform process we underwent leading up to the plebiscite in 2016. So, thank you, James Aylward, for your
radical idea. In the meantime, let’s honour the vote, adopt Proportional
Representation, and take a bold step towards what many of us – including
Aylward, and apparently the PC caucus - would love to see practised in Island
politics: Politicians collaborating in non-partisan consensus decision-making
for the betterment of our community. March 28, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Coming up right after the Easter weekend -- Next
Tuesday, April 3rd: 9:30AM Registration If planning to participate in the noon meal, please RSVP James
Rodd at <roddjb@gmail.com>
How Bridgewater reduced energy consumption by 23 per cent - The Chronicle Herald article by Andrew RankinPublished on Friday, March 23rd, 2018
Leon de Vreede cringes at the number of Bridgewater homeowners throwing away money they don’t have on needlessly excessive home energy bills. "The numbers are crazy,” said the town’s sustainability planner. “The average household in Bridgewater is spending over $5,000 on energy and when you consider that the median income is somewhere in the low $30,000 range, that is an incredible amount going to energy. “Nova Scotia has one of the highest rates of energy poverty in the country. We have low median incomes and high energy costs coupled with inefficient, old housing.” De Vreede and the Town of Bridgewater have done something about the crisis, offering residents up to $20,000 in low interest loans, exclusively for home energy upgrades. That includes insulation, energy efficient windows and doors, high efficiency heat pumps and solar panels. The cost simply gets tacked onto the person’s property tax over 10 years at a four per cent rate of interest. “What we’re seeing is most people are getting a dollar for dollar pay back on upgrades within five years. It’s offering people a chance to spend money on the things they really need, but removing the drain from energy is a major issue.” Since his arrival in Bridgewater a decade ago, the certified planner, and graduate of Acadia University’s environmental science program, has implemented energy efficient measures of his own that have led to a 23 per cent reduction in the municipality’s energy consumption, including the installation of solar hot water panels at the town hall, public works garage and police station. “So we’re able to spend more money on necessary services we provide. That’s money that we don’t have to take away from other services or get from taxpayers. We’ve mapped that out and used an annual energy report that lays out what our savings are and why.” It all falls into de Vreede and the municipality’s broader plan to develop a local energy economy that aims to cut greenhouse gases by 80 per cent in the municipality by 2050. De Vreede was the lead on the exhaustive 55-page Community Energy Investment Plan that was unveiled by the town in January. It’s a necessary plan, requiring $11 million in annual investments to keep Bridgewater sustainable, he claims. It includes massive spending: $153 million for deep energy retrofits to all buildings in Bridgewater. Another $157 million is aimed at large-scale solar, wind and hydro generation in or near Bridgewater, as well as district energy and energy storage systems. That leaves $64 million for electrifying all vehicles in the community (introducing autonomous vehicles), and expanding public transit and active transportation systems. Put it all together and the plan claims the community can save over $2 billion in energy costs in the 32-year period between 2018 and 2050. “Every solution that’s in our plan is something that uses current technology,” said de Vreede. “We’re not waiting for fusion technology. It’s current technology we already do have and we can make it pay for itself.” The plan and the town’s efforts in moving toward a sustainable, green economy has garnered national attention, including support of Green party Leader Elizabeth May. At last week’s 2018 Globe Climate Leadership Awards, Bridgewater won the Small Municipal Trailblazer category for its efforts. “Through their Community Energy Investment Plan, Bridgewater is putting in place unique and innovative climate mitigation activities to help create opportunities to renew the community and its economy,” stated the award citation. The plan lists lots of potential for employment targeted at tradespeople, equipment suppliers and contractors, that would generate “nine person-years of employment per million invested in building retrofits.” “We see it as a huge economic development opportunity for our communities that will improve property value, provide better, more secure, more energy resilient homes,” said de Vreede. “We’re doing cutting edge work in what is a fairly average Atlantic Canadian town. If we can prove that this can take off and go places I think it’s a model that can be used everywhere. That’s what I’m really excited about.” Green party Leader Elizabeth May agrees. “Bridgewater can take a bow for the good work they’ve done,” said May. It’s clear that they have a plan. “It’s not just that we have to give up fossil fuels and everyone has to give up driving. It empowers people and sets a goal. It sets targets.” But, she says, the federal government has to step up and show similar commitment. “Why can’t we get energy efficiency on the agenda? Thirty per cent of greenhouse gases in Canada still come from leaky buildings. “We have three budgets in a row from (the Liberals) and not one of them promotes eco-energy in buildings, green and active transportation. Canada is the only country in the G7s that doesn’t provide an incentive for moving to clean energy or electric vehicles.” De Vreede agrees. He’d like to see more support coming from the federal and provincial governments. But, in the end, he said it starts with a community grassroots campaign. “We need to find the money. One thing that our plan doesn’t include is where the money is coming from. “Maybe someone who wants to invest $1,000 in mutual funds or the stock market would look at putting their money into a community scale energy system that will pay them similar dividends. These are all ideas we’re considering. But we’re determined to make this work.”
Also, here is the link and transcript (thanks to Janet Easton of the Trade
Justice Network -Climate concerns list) on the presentation of the Award by
Environment and Climate Change Canada Minister Catherine McKenna: Transcript: HON. CATHERINE MCKENNA (Minister of Environment and Climate Change): So, here I am with Leon. He is from the town of Bridgewater and they are doing amazing things to take action on climate change. He’s in fact a winner, the town of Bridgewater is a winner of our GLOBE Leadership Awards. So tell me what the town of Bridgewater is doing. LEON DE VREEDE (Sustainability Planner for Town of Bridgewater): So Bridgewater, for a very small community, has done something pretty amazing. We’ve created a fully-costed approach to complete energy transition to an 80% emissions reduction by 2050, and we figured out what it’s actually going to cost to retrofit every home, put solar panels everywhere, introduce community-scale renewable energy, transition our entire fleet to electric vehicles, etcetera. And the town is taking that momentum very seriously and is actively investing in it, not only because of the environmental imperative of doing that work, but because it’s a massive economic development opportunity. In fact, we believe that the ‘Energize Bridgewater’ approach is an opportunity for all Canadian municipalities, and we would be thrilled to work with your office and share that innovation and momentum with other communities. HON. CATHERINE MCKENNA: So, I love this! So thank you to all the residents of the town of Bridgewater, and also I think everyone can learn from this. I agree. Everyone, we need to figure out the transition and it’s a huge opportunity. Environment and economy go together. A really great example. Thank you. LEON DE VREEDE: Thank you. I’ve given you a copy of our plan and I’m honoured to have it in your office. HON. CATHERINE MCKENNA: Oh, that’s
great! 
a panel from a "Calvin
and Hobbes" cartoon, from the "Alt National Park
Service" Facebook page.
March 27, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Tuesday,
March 27th: LETTERS: Waste Waste hiding figures - The Guardian Letter to the EditorWe see periodic publicity from Waste Watch about how many tons or waste have been “diverted from landfills.” What does that really mean, though? We don't really know because Waste Watch is very cagey about publicizing what proportion of the total collected recyclables that represents. Moreover, how much, even of the diverted amount, ultimately ends up “diverted” to the Waste Watch incinerators? How much of the total, along with the hazardous waste which residents dutifully bring to the Centers, ends up in meter-high piles of incinerator ash piled behind the Waste Watch buildings, broadcasting toxins into the air during the burning and leaching toxins into the groundwater from the ash piles until Waste Watch personnel bestir themselves to haul them away to – uh – landfills. Of course, no one wants to discourage
vital recycling efforts by the province's residents or do anything to derail
the years of training we have had concerning sorting, bagging, etc. It's also
clear that policies can't change with every fluctuation of markets. At the same
time, don't we deserve to be told the truth about how the Waste Watch program
(and therefore the province) is ultimately doing in these efforts? If some
categories of materials can't be sold or otherwise used productively at present
then that is sad, but we can handle the truth. March 26, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
A few things happening today; as it is public schools March Break, it's a bit quieter than some weeks. Tonight:
"Canada Reads" starts today. CBC Mainstreet had a contest giving away the books last week, and Island Morning this week, and the library and bookstores have copies. The debate and narrowing down to the one book "all of Canada should read" begins at 1:05PM on CBC Radio today and each day this week, or live-stream on-line at 12:05PM, or on-demand later (links in the article, here): http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/how-to-tune-into-canada-reads-2018-1.4564570 March 25, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Today: Filmed in the “tuna capital of the world”,
North Lake, PEI, the documentary explores the baffling mystery of a sudden
abundance of tuna off the shores of eastern Prince Edward Island, despite
scientific assessments claiming tuna stocks are substantially depleted. About his motivation
for making the film, Hopkins says, “I hope that Bluefin will bring some
long-overdue understanding about the plight of these incredible creatures,
struggling to rebound from global overfishing and our lust for sushi.”
Also today: OPINION: P.E.I. moving in wrong direction - The Guardian Guest Opinion by Gary RobbinsNew super municipal governments being created with no Islanders’ votes required This process all started up west when several communities attempted annexation and amalgamation under the old Municipal Government Act (MGA), and were defeated by democracy. So how did the P.E.I. government respond? They started enforcing sections of the MGA which had not previously been used by smaller communities as it would have caused an administrative burden. The government then began work on amendments to the MGA and elicited the help of the Federation of P.E.I. Municipalities (FPEIM) in getting the word out to all community councils. The residents of most communities were not involved in this process and it was not shared with people in the unincorporated areas at all, since it had nothing to do with them at that time. However, little did we know that the government’s plan was to amalgamate the 73 municipalities down to 20 to 25 super municipalities using annexation to force all unincorporated areas into these super municipalities. This is in the works right now folks, so the rest of you will be amalgamated soon. This is no longer an Eastern P.E.I. problem, it is an Island problem. Forced annexation has been well hidden in the new legislation and any requirements that had been placed around annexation have been removed. For example, the old act indicated that the council requesting the changes had to provide written notice to the residents of the area to be annexed along with a copy of the proposed resolution, a map illustrating the area to be annexed identifying the relevant properties by parcel number, a statement of the reasons for the extension, municipal services to be provided, and a statement of financial implications (taxes). This has all been removed under the new act. The amendments included new powers for the Minister of Communities, Land and Environment which would allow him to overrule any council decision and forcibly annex, amalgamate and restructure at will. He showed his abuse of this power recently when he overturned the no vote from both Georgetown and Montague and ignored the no vote of the unincorporated residents. Therefore, he has full power over all municipal councils and no one has a say in anything. Of the five communities left on the steering committee, Lower Montague and Valleyfield both overturned the no vote of their residents. When you add that to the other three communities left in the steering committee, they represent about 2,003 residents. How can 27 per cent of a population file a proposal that will disrupt the lives of 5,400 other people? Other provinces have made the mistake that Premier MacLauchlan and Minister Brown are so vigorously pursuing for us. Super municipalities are going bankrupt and downloading provincial services such as land use planning and highway maintenance to municipalities has been a disaster. I don’t believe P.E.I. should move in this direction. We are unique and that is something to be proud of, not something to be squashed. We don’t need to look like the rest of Canada. I believe all municipalities should join Rural P.E.I. in the fight to have the amendments to the MGA changed. They are undemocratic and against civil rights. This is disrupting the lives of a lot of rural residents and those in small communities. New bylaws and new taxes are particularly devastating to our seniors who struggle to survive and sometimes have to choose between food and heat. When the discussions began on the Three Rivers project, communities were told there was no obligation and that if they wanted to leave, they could. This was stated over and over again by Minister Mitchell. He was not speaking as a private citizen, but as the Minister of Communities, Land and Environment and on behalf of the P.E.I. government. Now, these same communities are being told that they have no choice in the matter and they cannot opt out. Premier MacLauchlan, you and your MLAs were elected to represent the people – not to rule the people. Please, please call an election now. This is one vote you can’t take away from me. - Gary Robbins, Martinvale, is a retired veteran and an opponent to the amalgamation process in the Three Rivers area. --------------------------------Think and act globally to fight climate change, and consider the little things: (though I am not sure the glass floss containers are available locally, though other items are (Moonsnail Soapworks on Water Street in Charlottetown, for example, continues to increase the number of reusable or non-plastic personal and household items it carries)  -------------------------------- "Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you." --John Maxwell, American author and motivational speaker March 24, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
There
is NO Wayne Easter visit scheduled for today to express concerns about the
Kinder-Morgan pipeline project in British Columbia. Sorry for the
confusion. MPs had a full day of line item budget voting in Parliament
yesterday, and any visits are on hold for now; when I hear any reliable news I
will let you know.  article: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/03/23/news/green-party-leader-elizabeth-may-mp-kennedy-stewart-arrested-blockading-kinder From the Green Party notices, a place to sign up to show your support by adding your name: http://www.green.ca/arrested-in-solidarity and consider sharing that with others. ------------------------------- Farmers' Markets are open in Charlottetown (9AM-2PM) and Summerside (9AM-1PM). The Charlottetown Market will have the PEI Symphony Orchestra's annual citrus fruit sale at one end. Seedy Saturday, 1-3PM, Confederation Centre Public Library. All welcome to buy, trade or just browse. Social: Green Tea in Tyne Valley, 2-4PM, Backwoods Burger, 1327 Port Hill Station Road. "Green socials are a great opportunity to see old friends, make new ones and connect with your Green leaders and shadow critics. With so much going on in PEI politics, there is no shortage to talk about. Join Greens for coffee, and bring a friend! All are welcome." Facebook event notice Tomorrow, Sunday, March 25th: Bluefin documentary, 2PM, UPEI, MacDougall Hall, Room 242. Admission by donation. Filmmaker John Hopkins will be there to introduce the film. -------------------------------- Watch for coverage of the student rally in Washington, D.C. (#MarchforOurLives) today as kids figure out they need to push for the changes that the elected leaders are not willing to make. These kids are tomorrow's voters. Article in the Wall Street Journal -------------------------------- Leader of the Official Opposition PEI Progressive Conservative Leader James Aylward surprised some people yesterday with an opinion piece, in The Guardian, on real democratic renewal: http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/opinion/letter-to-the-editor/opinion-time-to-rock-cradle-195989/ OPINION: Time to rock cradle - The Guardian Opinion Piece by James AylwardConsensus Government model could be effective solution to many concerns P.E.I. faces In his column of March 10, 2018, Alan Holman suggested the party I lead would not support Mixed Proportional representation because we favour the existing system. I would like to correct him on that point. I believe reform of our system is essential to enhancing trust and respect and to maintain a high level of public involvement. I took the position that the party should not formally engage to promote one specific option thereby avoiding the charge of the party trying to influence the outcome. I support the results of the plebiscite and our PC MLA’s were allowed a free vote. The failure of the premier to act on that preference has further undermined trust in the system and politicians. It has also offered us another opportunity to consider radical reform. I was disappointed in one aspect of the process - all of the options presented to Islanders were based on the continued direct role of political parties. For those truly interested in reform, I for one, wonder why the Nunavut model of Consensus Government was not presented. It is a model that given the population of Prince Edward Island could be a very effective solution to many of the concerns we face. It may seem strange for the leader of a political party to be suggesting the possible adoption of a system that does not involve the political parties. Nunavut was established in 1999 and deliberately opted for an elected assembly void of political parties. We now have four main registered political parties in the province, vying for support, advancing policies, raising money, nominating candidates. It may seem like a healthy political environment but is it the most effective? Each party offers some highly talented individuals, some are elected in government and have either a cabinet or backbench role, others are elected in opposition. Many times, the talent of backbench members and opposition members are underutilized in the governing process although they have an equal interest in helping Islanders. My interest in changing the current system is to come up with a process that fully utilizes the talents of all elected MLA’s. Our current system is based on the winner take all, decide all. This reduces the role of individual MLA’s. As you may recall from part one of my article there is a need for serious reform of the role of MLA’s. Consensus government achieves that. Each MLA is elected on an individual independent candidate basis. No party platforms, no party signs, no party advertising, no premiers selected by a party, no focus on politics over policy, no backbenchers, no formal opposition. Just good people elected by each district working to provide good government. All MLAs meet following the election and from their own members elect a speaker and premier, and then the cabinet; all by secret ballot. The premier can assign and reassign portfolios, but it requires a two-thirds vote of all MLAs to remove a minister. The cabinet is always smaller than half the members so that nothing can be achieved without the input and support of non- cabinet members. Cabinet is truly accountable to the assembly. Mid-term there is a leadership review of the cabinet. Individual members of the assembly have more influence over government actions. The government business plan, budget estimates and capital expenditures are reviewed in draft form prior to formal presentation to the assembly. MLA’s have the opportunity to suggest changes before the plans are finalized. There is more open discussion and without party lines more openness to collaboration. We are a province of 150,000. We are the cradle of Confederation. We could also be the cradle of change among the ten provinces for more effective government. Maybe it is time to rock the cradle. - James Aylward, Leader of Official Opposition and Progressive Conservative Party of P.E.I. March 23, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Today:
UPDATE: As Wayne Easter is not here until tonight, this is postponed until Saturday, March 24th, 10AM** (was Friday, March 23rd 11AM, Wayne Easter's Office, Rte. 13, Hunter River) **UPDATE: As Sean Casey can't be back on P.E.I. today, this has been postponed until after Easter, possibly April 5th.** (was 2:30PM, Sean Casey's Office, 75 Fitzroy St., Charlottetown)
from the LeadNow appeal: "Kinder Morgan is starting a key phase of construction on a pipeline and
tanker project that would put hundreds of rivers and streams at risk of oil
spills -- but a powerful Indigenous-led movement is rising up to defend
the land, water, and climate. On March 23rd, we’ll deliver water
collected from the coastline in BC to our MP’s offices, and demand they
stop pushing for the pipeline." Tonight: "This
is your chance to meet the three candidates for leadership of the New
Democratic Party of Prince Edward Island – Margaret Andrade, Joe Byrne and
Susan MacVittie.
Community Fundraiser for LaVerne Ellands, 7-12midnight, Crapaud Curling
Club, 20573 TCH. LaVerne is a wonderful member of the Crapaud area, a young
mother fighting a form of leukemia. Entertainment and auctions. https://www.facebook.com/events/161555537965186/ Can we trust PEI’s
new pot system?- The Eastern Graphic article by Paul MacNeill
Published on Wednesday, March 21st, 2018, in The Graphic newspapers Wayne Jory didn’t know what was wrong. It started two years ago with an odd, lingering taste in the back of his mouth. He was lethargic with out of the norm mood swings. The 55-year-old Murray River carpenter was unable to work, and then there was the unexplained weight loss from his steady 215 pounds to 170. But finding a cause proved elusive for he and his doctor. Tests for the most obvious potential afflictions all came back negative. Life became a mysterious struggle that almost cost him his 20 plus year marriage to his wife Jo. On January 9, 2017 New Brunswick medicinal marijuana producer Organigram issued a voluntary recall on product produced between February 1 and December 16, 2016. According to the company, trace amounts of pesticides were found in what was supposed to be certified organic marijuana. When Jory learned of the recall a light bulb went off, the chemicals discovered would not show up in routine blood work and he had been an Organigram customer for close to a year. He was one of the first in line for medicinal marijuana as he sought relief from constant back pain, the result of a squished disk. Marijuana seemed a better option than the morphine or Percocet he had been using. And for the first couple months there were no negative symptoms, the pot numbed the pain while acting as an anti-inflammatory. But then his downward health spiral began and his symptoms worsened while he continued to Vape or eat Organigram (he does not smoke it) product. He applied to Health Canada under the federal Access to Information Act for results of tests conducted on batches of Organigram marijuana. Rather than data he received documents with masses of data blacked out. Health Canada deemed it confidential corporate information. What Jory did learn is that he is not alone. Hundreds of Canadians share his suspicion that tainted product negatively impacted their health. They banded together in a class action lawsuit against Organigram. For its part the company contends contaminant levels were insufficient to harm humans. Jory and his group, however, point to their own independent data that disputes the company line. From their membership they collected eight samples, seven of which were still under factory seal. Results show levels of several toxins far in excess of levels deemed safe for human consumption. As a result of the quality control breach, Organigram lost its organic certification. Last month it wrote former customers to ‘apologize for the inconvenience’ and acknowledge ‘shaken trust’ and outline actions it is taking to ‘regain your confidence.’ The company has offered Jory a $600 credit for future purchases. “I don’t want to buy off Organigram again,” he says, noting he now legally grows five marijuana plants. Since stopping use of the company’s product more than a year ago Jory’s health has slowly improved. He has put on weight and is gradually returning to work. It is unclear how long it will take for the legal action to wind its way through the justice system. But it is clear there was a significant breach of protocol at an organic medicinal marijuana production facility, owned by a company making a major push into the recreational marijuana market. It is also clear there are opposing views about the seriousness of the public health risk. For Islanders this is not just a case of an individual with a beef against a company. It’s an issue for all of us. On January 16 of this year the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the MacLauchlan government to supply it at least one million grams of recreational marijuana annually. Finance Minister Heath MacDonald is quoted in a press release on the Organigram website as saying “The province is very pleased to partner with Organigram in securing a safe supply of cannabis for the PEI market.” What the province doesn’t say is how it knows the product will be safe. What due diligence did it complete in the narrow time frame between when the federal government announced legalization of recreational use last spring and the signing of the MOU? Did we just take the company’s word for it? Did we raise alarm bells about the lawsuit? Did we ask for independent data to corroborate company assertions? The Organigram deal is not the only pot agreement raising eyebrows. The majority of government purchased marijuana, three million grams per year, will be supplied by a company called Canada’s Island Garden. In January, owner Edwin Jewell, a respected Island businessman, agreed to sell a controlling interest of 75 per cent of his company to American tobacco firm Alliance One of North Carolina. The deal was announced in early February, but negotiations, according to a story in The Financial Post, began in November. The MacLauchlan government was aware of the impending sale, but made no mention of it. There is nothing illegal or nefarious about the transaction – other than awful optics. Jewell will remain company president. But make no mistake about it, an American tobacco company now controls the majority of marijuana supply being sourced by the PEI government. At a minimum Islanders should have known it before the contract was signed. The history of the American tobacco industry is one of acting, almost without exception, in self-interest and with disregard for truth or public interest.Island taxpayers now lie in a contractual bed with the industry. One of the reasons the provincial government offered for requiring separate retail outlets for pot (it would never acknowledge patronage as a motivator) is so as not to sell both alcohol and marijuana in the same store. The premier claims government decisions are based on ensuring public safety. Well the PEI Liquor Commission is throwing that idea out the window. In Montague it has chosen a location in the same retail complex as its liquor outlet. Walk out of the liquor store, stumble past a Dollarama and voilà you’re there. Government’s retail store is literally just steps away. No need to even change parking spots. The only one happier than double-dipping customers is the landlord who doubles up on a long-term rental. Monday Minister MacDonald said government is doing all it can to ensure a system that the public can trust, including having Health PEI work closely with Health Canada on monitoring. “There are many opinions on this. I firmly believe we as a province must regulate this before it becomes normalized,” Here’s the reality. This is what happens when government is forced to create a whole new system in a very short time. Prime Minister Trudeau hit the rush button on marijuana legalization and set off a Wild West stampede among provincial governments, all of which jumped at the opportunity to create a whole new bureaucracy. Premier MacLauchlan’s assertion that public safety and interest are driving the bus is nothing but a political talking point. We already knew that from government’s disregard of a Canadian Medical Association recommendation to set the legal age to purchase recreational marijuana at 21 and limit dosage to those under 25. The reason is due to a growing mountain of scientific evidence on the potential for cognitive impairment in still developing brains. Government’s overriding motivator is speed, greed and maximizing tax benefit to government. Wayne Jory knows what can happen when slick promises are not met. Now we are supposed to trust suppliers of recreational marijuana that they will always act in our best interest. We are supposed to trust Health Canada, which also oversees the medicinal marijuana industry, to ensure the purity of the recreational product produced. And we’re supposed to trust the provincial government that it will always put the safety of Islanders first. Unfortunately, through its own actions, that is a promise already broken. -------------------------------- “Drilling without thinking has of course been Republican party
policy since May 2008. With gas prices soaring to unprecedented heights, that's
when the conservative leader Newt Gingrich unveiled the slogan 'Drill Here,
Drill Now, Pay Less'—with an emphasis on the now. The wildly popular campaign
was a cry against caution, against study, against measured action. In
Gingrich's telling, drilling at home wherever the oil and gas might be—locked
in Rocky Mountain shale, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and deep
offshore—was a surefire way to lower the price at the pump, create jobs, and kick
Arab ass all at once. In the face of this triple win, caring about the
environment was for sissies: as senator Mitch McConnell put it, 'in Alabama and
Mississippi and Louisiana and Texas, they think oil rigs are pretty'. By the
time the infamous 'Drill Baby Drill' Republican national convention rolled
around, the party base was in such a frenzy for US-made fossil fuels, they
would have bored under the convention floor if someone had brought a big enough
drill.” March 22, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Today is World Water Day, a day to celebrate our waterways -- and perhaps figure out how our protection of them could be better -- and reflect on our ways with water. Here
is a one-minute, illustrated YouTube on the theme for 2018 of Water for Nature: The Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Energy meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled and will be rescheduled. The NDP Leadership Candidates' Debate in Summerside
is postponed until next week.  Let's bring in Mixed Member Proportional and see how it works! -------------------------------- Thanks to Ian Petrie for pointing out this short biographical essay of Rachel Carson from the new issue of The New Yorker. Definitely worth the ten-15 minute read on a "storm day", but a bit too long to copy and paste here. The magazine allows several "free stories" a month on-line. Her life and work as an aquatic biologist prior to writing Silent Spring is described. The Right Way to Remember Rachel Carson by Jill Lepore https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/03/26/the-right-way-to-remember-rachel-carson "In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind
even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources
has become the victim of his indifference." March 21, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Today, Wednesday, March 21st:
------------------------------- "It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." --Charles Dickens, Great Expectations March 20, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Tonight: More details on Bluefin (documentary):
Sunday, March 25th, 2PM, UPEI, MacDougall Hall,Room 242. Admission by donation. Island filmmaker John Hopkins will be on the Island to introduce his multi-award-winning film, Bluefin, in Charlottetown on March 25. Filmed in the “tuna capital of the world”, North Lake, PEI, the documentary explores the baffling mystery of a sudden abundance of tuna off the shores of eastern Prince Edward Island, despite scientific assessments claiming tuna stocks are substantially depleted. With stunning cinematography, Hopkins documents this mystery, exploring the complex issues at the heart of the story. Underlying the documentary is a shared and passionate concern for the fate of the giant bluefin tuna. The film has received rave reviews from audiences around the world, and has been awarded prizes at the 2017 Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the 2017 International Ocean Film Festival, and the 2016 Lunenburg DocFest. Although the focus is Bluefin tuna, the film is also about an incredibly rich and important ecosystem and our relationship with it. “From top predators to baitfish schools that support much of the wildlife at sea, including giant bluefin, whales and sea birds”, Hopkins says, “I found a food chain here in our ocean that is precariously broken . . . Through my documentary, made with the strong support of the National Film Board, I hope to shed light on these highly evolved giants and our relationship with them, so that productive harmony can be restored between us and all life in our oceans.” This screening is being hosted by the UPEI Environmental Society and Save
our Seas and Shores PEI and Cinema Politica Charlottetown. It will take place
on Sunday, March 25 at 2 pm at MacDougall Hall on the UPEI campus. More
information can be found on the Cinema Politica Charlottetown Facebook page. ------------------------------- LETTER: Recycling stumbles at commercial level - The Guardian Letter to the EditorIf you have been observing the recycling efforts in the province over the past couple of years you have probably noticed that the separate bins for compost, waste and recyclables have disappeared from many restaurants and other businesses. Sometimes the bins are still there, without labels. In a few examples, the labels are even still there, but the refuse from those bins is mixed together when it is removed. At the residential level, we should be proud that, in the face of cumbersome requirements, we have an excellent record for the percentage of waste that we are able to recycle. At the commercial level, however, the requirements have either been eliminated or are unenforced. Too difficult for businesses (who presumably have staff who could be assigned to handle this issue), but not a problem for individuals who have no help at all? The recycling police (in their fossil fueled van) drive around looking for snotty Kleenex in the wrong colour bag while tons of unsorted commercial waste are passed by with no concern. It's past time for this lackadaisical approach to commercial recycling to be reversed. All of us, residential and commercial, need to pull our weight. Harry Smith, Bonshaw And it is also the lack of sorting of compost from the waste stream in many commercial establishments, too, that undermines the efforts of homeowner sorting, too. Rather than seeing it as something tourists won't do, with a little effort this could be turned into a positive, with some visitors thrilled to participate in a place so dedicated to helping their environment.Also, consider speaking up at places where you dispose of your waste, applauding companies that simplify their packaging so it is mostly compost or reusable, and that that only offer straws if you ask, and provide compostable ones. ---------------------------------- The Spring Equinox is at 1:15PM today. "An optimist is the human personification of spring," --Susan J. Bissonette March 19, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
There
are two NDP Leadership candidate debates this week (due to the storm two
weeks ago): TERESA WRIGHT: Thank you, Islanders. Now go read The Guardian - The Guardian column by Teresa WrightIslanders, you are lucky to have The Guardian. I know, I know, I’m biased. But, as I type this, my final piece for this newspaper, I can’t help but reflect on how this newspaper has taught me so much about the rich and nuanced aspects of life in Prince Edward Island. All the good, the bad, sad and tragic, happy and celebratory, important and functional, fun and entertaining things you need to know about this community on any given day are tucked into the pages of The Guardian. And I truly feel that overall, this paper reflects the true nature of life in this province. And that’s a commodity I hope Islanders will continue to cherish. When I started working here, I was young and green and new to journalism. As I began to delve into the wonderful world of P.E.I. politics, I quickly realized the ties that bind people in P.E.I. together are tight and deeply intertwined. I also learned that many of these connections have more to do with how and why political and policy decisions are made than it may appear on the surface. This can sometimes lead to problems. But, it also leads to opportunities – areas of collaboration and bridges that can be built that could never be possible in large centres filled with an inattentive public and deeply partisan politics. This close-knit connection among Islanders also means the events that happen here can have a profound effect on the whole community. When a young woman dies suddenly in a car accident, you can almost feel the shockwave of grief radiate across the Island. When an Islander achieves something great, like an Olympic gold medal, the whole province basks in a collective glow of pride. When someone organizes a fundraiser for a sick friend or a suffering family, Islanders charge like a stampede of generosity to their aid. Islanders are the biggest cheerleaders for local artists and athletes. They are so keenly interested in new businesses or developments, you can almost hear the strains of the song “Did you hear? Did you hear?” from “Anne of Green Gables-The Musical” playing in the background. And when a politician or a public figure does something unsavoury, there is a palpable sense of disapproval in the air of every coffee shop. All of these things make Prince Edward Island the province that we love. And all of this is reflected in the pages of The Guardian every day. Each section of the paper depicts the connections among Islanders in far more meaningful ways than other publications or news organizations – and not just in the articles. The advertisements, the classifieds, the birth announcements, the death notices. They all tell the story of this community, this province. And that’s why it has been such an honour and privilege for me to be part of this paper. It has allowed me the opportunity to be welcomed into homes, and sit at people’s kitchen tables. It has given me the ability to ask Islanders to relay their most touching and sometimes painful experiences in order to share their stories with the world. And it has given me the responsibility of holding our government, our policy makers and political leaders to account – even when they didn’t like it, even when it was challenging, even when they pushed back. It has given me a deep understanding of the values that Islanders cherish and the lives and histories of the people who make this province what it is. My colleagues have helped me and guided me and inspired me all along the way. They will continue to tell your stories, and reflect your communities. And I will continue to read their important work. I hope you will, too. Because The Guardian really does cover Prince Edward Island like the dew. And that truly is something to cherish. Teresa Wright was The Guardian’s chief political reporter. She has accepted a job with The Canadian Press in Ottawa. Her last day at the paper was Friday. We were lucky to have such intelligent, inquisitive reporting. My wish is that whoever replaces her on the "political beat" strives to ask tough questions and synthesize information -- we really need that in the next couple of years with the Ghiz-MacLauchlan government heading into its second decade and the pushing around of any real democratic renewal initiatives.-------------------------------- "Journalism is the act of faith in the future." --Ann Curry (b. 1956) photojournalist and TV anchor March 18, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
This
afternoon: To Minister Robert Mitchell and Minister Richard
Brown: Long before (American comedian and talk-show host) Stephen Colbert coined the word “truthiness” and Donald Trump created the idea of “fake news” there was something quaintly called the truth. Truth was an idea that was irrefutable, that could function as a cornerstone of democratic principles and policies. Truth was an important way of seeing the world, separating the wheat from the chaff. A way to move forward and to react to an ever more complicated world. It was a way to build trust. Truth brought people together. Truth was important. Which brings me to Wade Maclauchlan’s Liberal Party and their relationship with the truth. To say they have played fast and loose with the truth on a number of occasions is common knowledge and not open to dispute-that is, if you believe in the truth. This is easy to verify by examining the political platform they ran on in 2015. So what is a Liberal promise worth? Will Minister Robert Mitchell and Minister Richard Brown actually honour their pledge to the Three Rivers Region to: [paraphrasing} “that the government would not force amalgamation on any unwilling communities and would allow the communities time, even it takes substantially longer to reach a compromise”. That’s what the Ministers’ stated; now watch closely what they do. Do Liberals still honour their word and respect the truth. Or have they cynically forsaken that cornerstone of democracy in favour of a more arrogant and less truthful ideology? What’s a Liberal promise worth? -----------------------------And not related to the environment, but a reaction to the way society sets norms for parenting:
'You can't force a child to
be independent, you can only force him not to depend on you.' -- original author unknown March 17, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Farmers' Markets are open in Summerside (9AM-1PM) and Charlottetown (9AM-2PM). Today:P.E.I. Community Theatre Festival, 1-5PM (various shows starting about every 45 minutes or so), Carrefour Theatre, admission by donation. Tonight: A Green St. Patrick's, Green Party of PEI fundraiser, 7PM, tickets available, featuring singing and storytelling by Catherine MacLellan, Alan Buchanan, Catherine O'Brien, GP leader Peter Bevan-Baker and others. more information here. Other Green Party events this coming week: Wednesday, March 21st: Green Drinks Summerside, (rescheduled date), 7PM, OpenEats in Summerside. Thursday, March 22nd: Community Forum -- Queens County, 6:30-8:30PM, Emerald Community Centre, free. Conversation about issue and priorities, more details here. ---------- And the Progressive Conservatives are hosting two Budget & Community Consultations Kensington: Wednesday, March 21st, 7PM, Kensington Legion, Montague: Thursday, March 22nd, 7PM, Montague (Lane's Riverhouse Inn) -------------- Friday, March 23rd: NDP PEI leadership debate, 7PM, Montague Rotary Library. ------------------------------- If you doing some grocery shopping today, and trying to figure out if food have genetically modified ingredients in them (in a country whose government resists clear and accurate labeling on such products), the organization "The Non-GMO Project" has a product verification program, with a logo of a leaf and stylized Monarch butterfly, which you can find on some packages in Island stores:  https://livingnongmo.org/find/products/ -------------------------------- "Know your food, know your farmers, and know your kitchen." --Joel Salatin March 16, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA NewsThe
Council of
Canadians is concerned about the the federal government's bill C-69,
which will return some of the protections to our water, but there are
some serious concerns. March 15, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Today: Standing Committee on Communities, Land and Environment meeting, 10AM-12noon, Coles Building chamber, all welcome. The Federation of Agriculture is briefing the committee on land speculation and the cost of real estate. I am not sure if anyone else is going to be presenting (like a realtor). You can attend in person or watch live at the Legislative Assembly website: http://www.assembly.pe.ca/watchcommittees You can also watch recent previous committee meetings by going to the video archives of meetings, and transcripts are available for meetings at some point afterwards. This afternoon: Results of Local Food Security project in Island Schools and other places, 3:30-5PM, Farm Centre. Community Food Security and Food Education Project (CFSFEP) is the unlovely accronym for the collaboration between several government departments to get this group of projects going. All welcome but perhaps let Hanna Hameline at (902) 368-7289 or <hamelinehanna@gmail.com> know so enough chairs will be ready. Hear how the projects went and participate in what can be the next steps. Tonight: NDP Leadership Debate, 7PM, Murphy Community Centre, all welcome. Margaret Andrade, Joe Byrne and Susan MacVittie are all participating. Two more debates (Summerside and Montague, I think), on the coming Thursdays. Budget & Community Consultation hosted by the PEI Progressive Conservative Caucus, 7PM, Rodd Royalty, Charlottetown. Official Opposition MLAs will be on hand to hear attendees' concerns about priorities for provincial resources as the budget is prepared (and will be examined by the Opposition parties in the Assembly starting next month). Save the date: Sunday, March 25th: Bluefin (documentary), by John Hopkins, 2PM, UPEI MacDougall Hall, Room 242, hosted by UPEI Environmental Society, Save Our Seas and Shores PEI, and Cinema Politica. ------------------------------------ The City of Charlottetown is looking at really focusing on food security -- and groups like the PEI Food Security Network and the PEI Food Exchange have made a huge difference making the City aware of this issue and their role in this.http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-charlottetown-establishing-food-council-1.4575938 ------------------------------- Last night's mental health forum hosted by the CBC PEI has a wrap-up here: http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-mental-health-services-forum-1.4576177 and more on their website. I was only able to hear a few excerpts, but I did notice that Minister Robert Mitchell is concerned, genuinely, and believes the department is moving along ("but these things take time") while the one department rep sounded almost a little patronizing toward citizen "grassroots" groups like Island Mothers Helping Mothers/#HowMany Wade bringing issues to light. I also did not realize Dr. Heather Keizer's mother was instrumental in helping get video lottery terminals out of corner stores. Certainly an example of a citizen bringing an issue to the forefront, engaging others, and causing government finally to move on an issue. -------------------------------------- "One planet, one experiment." --biologist Edward O. Wilson March 14, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
The Standing Committee on Public Accounts is cancelled for this morning. Tonight, 7PM, is the Reception for participants in the Engaging Island Women
in Political Action and friends, 4-6PM, Holman Grand Hotel, Grafton Street.
Should be a fantastic group of women, with the previous cohort and the newly
selected participants. I believe all are welcome. Yesterday, the Standing Committee on Education and Economic discussed autism supports for people, especially once they turn 18 years old and leave the public school system. Board members from the Stars for Life Foundation for Autism were there and presented and answered questions. I haven't had the chance to watch this but here is the link the video (about 2hours and 15 mniutes): http://www.assembly.pe.ca/EEDvideo Susan MacVittie has entered the NDP PEI leadership race. She joins Margaret Andrade and Joe Byrne, with the leadership convention Saturday, April 7th. There will be a debate in Charlottetown at the Murphy Community Centre, Thursday, March 16th, 7PM. ------------------------------- http://www.newsweek.com/thousands-shoes-displayed-washington-dc-gun-violence-protest-842488 ------------------------------ Tonight if the skies are clear, there is a good chance of seeing the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). More here: https://www.space.com/39965-solar-storm-amps-up-northern-lights-march-2018.html Sadly fitting that news of Stephen Hawking's death comes on International Pi Day (3.14) "It matters if you just don't give up." March 12, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Events
this week: Upcoming Standing Legislative Committee Meetings (from: http://www.assembly.pe.ca/meetings/index.php), all at the Coles Building. The public is welcome to attend in person or watch at home on the Legislative Assembly website.
Also Wednesday, March 14th: Welcome Reception: Engaging Island Women for Political Action, 4-6PM, Holman Grand Hotel, 123 Grafton Street. Come meet the women selected to participate in this year-long training and leadership skills development program, and some who have just completed it. https://www.facebook.com/events/494206140980602/ ------------------------------- Thursday, March 15th: NDP PEI Leadership Debate -- Charlottetown, 7PM, Murphy Community Centre, 200 Richmond Street. Meet candidates Joe Byrne and Margaret Andrade and hear debate about issues and leadership style. All welcome. --------------------------------- Saturday, March 17th: A Green St Patrick's Green Party of PEI Fundraising Concert , 7-9PM, College of Piping and Performing Arts, Summerside. Ticketed. Featuring Catherine MacLellan, Catherine O'Brien, Alan Buchanan and Peter Bevan-Baker with music and storytelling. More details: https://greenpartype.eventgrid.com/Dates/55944 ------------------------------------------- Here is a link to a nice ten minute documentary, the result of a social justice workshop, on the the biomass plant in Port Hastings, Nova Scotia. "It's Too Big" and it's much too inefficient, to burn wet forest wood for electricity. https://vimeo.com/157751923 Biologist Bob Bancroft, whose very nature is one of earnest integrity and intelligence, figures prominently in this. Gorgeous fall colours of the beautiful mature forest. ------------------------------ My ability to figure out e-mail address lists with small devices is poor, so I will send out a lot now, and try some more; and post on our Facebook group page from now until Saturday if I can't manage any other way. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1497903783808912/ and also a bit on our website: http://www.citizensalliancepei.org/ ------------------------------- "What I stand for is what I stand on." --Wendell Berry March 11, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
A slightly quieter day: For
staying inside and listening to music, Electoral Reform:
Myths and Misinformation Prop Up the Status Quo - The Tyee article by David Chudnovsky
Scare tactics shouldn’t block change to a better democracy.Published on Thursday, March 8th, 2018, on-line at The TyeeThe debate on electoral reform in B.C. has hardly begun, but the people arguing against a change to the status quo - the first past the post system - have been quick off the mark. They’ve already launched an attack on mixed member proportional representation (MMP), one of the options for reform. Unfortunately, their claims have almost always been wrong and sometimes just plain silly. First, let’s understand how mixed member proportional representation works. It’s simple enough. Voters get two ballots. The first, just like the vote we have now, is used to elect a constituency representative. The second lets them vote for the party of their choice. Those votes are counted and, based on the percentage of support, each party is awarded seats in the parliament or legislature. This ensures the result is more fair, democratic and accountable. These seats would be filled from lists prepared by the parties, made public before the election. The parties could let members, or all voters, decide who should be on the list. Now let’s unpack some of the things defenders of the status quo have been saying. 1. They claim MMP leads to extremism and first past the post doesn’t. Supporters of FPTP argue there is something unique about proportional representation that leads to extremism. There’s a simple, two-word response to that false claim: Donald Trump. Trump was elected under FPTP with less than 50 per cent - not unusual under our current system. The claim is often made that with proportional representation extremist parties sometimes get elected to parliaments and legislatures, so change should be rejected. But compare the impact of a small minority extremist party in a parliament to the extremist president of the U.S., a racist, misogynist, egotist with his finger on the nuclear button, elected under FPTP. 2. They claim MMP leads to unstable parliaments and FPTP doesn’t. Supporters of first past the post say that there’s something about mixed member proportional representation that leads to unstable governments that fall before their mandate is up, while FPTP guarantees stability. But they should read our history a bit more closely. Between 1957 and 1965 there were five Canadian federal elections under our current system - one every 20 months. One government lasted less than nine months. In B.C., there were three elections in four years between 1952 and 1956. What electoral system was used? First past the post. And it’s not just Canada. In the 1920s, Britain had three elections in less than two years using out current first past the post system. So much for stability. 3. They claim that under MMP “party insiders” and “backroom boys” would have tremendous influence on who gets to be a candidate and under FPTP they don’t. This is laughable. We all know that under the current system party heavyweights intervene all the time to influence and even control who their candidates will be. Justin Trudeau did it. Stephen Harper did it. Virtually every party and every party leader has been caught out trying, and often succeeding, in “managing” who becomes a candidate and who doesn’t. Defending FPTP candidate selection as pure and uncontaminated by party insiders is just silly. Under mixed member proportional, each party will create a list of candidates to correct unfairness and lack of democratic representation. These lists can be determined in many ways - including open, democratic primary votes by party members or the general public. 4. They claim that MMP is too complicated for the B.C. voters to understand. All around the world, people vote in various proportional representation systems, including MMP, which is used in countries like Germany and New Zealand. Those hundreds of millions of voters are no more intelligent than British Columbians. They just have fairer electoral systems. And that’s the most important reason for mixed member proportional - to make elections fairer, more democratic and more accountable. 5. Why bother to make this change? There are lots of reasons that people prefer mixed member proportional to the current system, but the most important one has to do with fairness and democracy. If we’re going to make a change, we should be able to identify a problem. And when it comes to electoral reform in B.C. it’s easy to identify the problem. Remember the 2001 BC election? The BC Liberals got 51 per cent of the vote and 97 per cent of the seats. The NDP got 21 per cent of the vote and two per cent of the seats. The Greens got 12 per cent of the vote and no seats. That’s not an insignificant or minor difficulty; it’s a big problem. But it’s not an unusual outcome under FPTP. It happens to a greater or lesser extent in every election. So a system that includes constituencies (so every voter has an elected community representative) and a list to “top up” the results to make them more fair, more democratic, and more accountable makes sense. The decision to reform our electoral system is an important one. Every voter should make themselves aware of the points of view pro and con. And every voter should look critically and skeptically at the arguments being used to defend the antiquated and flawed system called first past the post. -------------------------------- I have to do a bit of traveling this week, so I will be testing my remote options today with another newsletter on events this week. Thanks for your patience. -------------------------------- "People often ask, 'What is the single most important environmental population problem facing the world today?' A flip answer would be, 'The single most important problem is our misguided focus on identifying the single most important problem!' " --Jared Diamond, author, in Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed March 10, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Events today will likely be on but check, first. Farmers' Markets in Charlottetown and Summerside. Confederation Centre Public Library Used Book sale is this weekend. Fix-it-Fair, 10AM-2PM, Murphy's Community Centre, Charlottetown,
free. --------------------------------------- Green Party of PEI: Liberal
Party of PEI
events listing: (Education Minister Zach) Churchill said transparency remains intact because the advisory body reports to government and government is open and accountable. "In terms of decisions we make, the reasoning behind it, everything is going to be as it is now, which is open and transparent." The
P.E.I. Legislature passed its education "reform" bill in Spring 2016,
Bill No. 26, Education Act, during the with the Second Session of the
65th General Assembly. The abolition of elected school boards in the English
system were a main feature. Egmont
MP Bobby Morrissey's is "fisheries", March 9, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
A list of events for tomorrow, any of which may be affected by the weather, so there are some contact info or event details for checking: Saturday,
March 10th: 'We stepped in and started doing it'
How one woman built an award-winning news outlet from her dining room table The rest is at the end of this newsletter.------------------------------- And from the National Observer, this article on David Suzuki as he talks about climate change, Justin Trudeau, and the future. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2018/03/05/news/david-suzuki-fires-death-zone-trudeau-weaver-and-broken-system And is a story from the Vancouver Observer about the David Suzuki Foundation's focus on community-led renewable energy initiatives. https://www.vancouverobserver.com/news/charged-program-puts-spotlight-canadas-community-led-renewable-power rest
of article on Linda Solomon Wood: Linda Solomon Wood is the American who threatened to move to Canada — and then actually did it. Once there, she did something else perhaps even more improbable: She launched a national, investigative digital news site that, just three years in, is winning prestigious awards (including the first-ever National Newspaper Award to a digital-only site), and is on the path to becoming entirely funded by readers. “I am that American,” Solomon Wood said, recalling how she moved her family to Vancouver, British Columbia, shortly after 9/11. In fact, little about her story is typical. National Observer, which Solomon Wood founded in 2015, is a daily news site covering issues like government, the environment, health, climate change, and human rights, all with a progressive bent. It has 10 full-time employees split between work spaces in Ottawa and Vancouver, as well as five part-time contractors and a host of freelance journalists. With that small staff, the site has done big things: Last year, Bruce Livesey, then the outlet’s lead investigative reporter, won a National Newspaper Award in 2017 for his series on New Brunswick’s powerful Irving family — the first time a digital-only outlet had won the award. “Thank you so much to the investors, Kickstarter supporters, subscribers and monthly donors who have empowered [Livesey’s] reporting since our launch two years ago,” Solomon Wood said in a statement at the time. “It all comes down to you. This is your award, too.” National Observer was also the first digital-only outlet ever to receive a Michener citation of merit in public service journalism, earning the team a trip to Rideau Hall, Canada’s equivalent of Buckingham Palace.
The site generally publishes three to five original stories per weekday, as many as 10 on a busy day. In one ongoing series, “The Price of Oil,” National Observer is collaborating with the Toronto Star, Global News, and other partners to look at the health impacts of oil and gas development on local communities. But most of National Observer’s work originates with its staff. “We’re small, but we punch above our weight and are positioning ourselves to grow significantly,” said Mike De Souza, the site’s managing editor and the reporter behind National Observer’s award-winning investigation into TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline project. (His investigation into the secret meetings held around the project ultimately contributed to TransCanada’s termination of the pipeline project last fall.) “We’re taking over space that is being abandoned, I think, by a lot of older media outlets” as Canada’s newspaper market drastically contracts. Solomon Wood, 61, is a Canadian with a Southern accent. She was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and her first job was as an intern at The Tennesseean in Nashville, in 1979. John Siegenthaler, the publisher at the time, was a civil rights activist who let reporters work on investigative stories for months or years. As an intern, Solomon Wood got to investigate and report on the exploitative industrial life insurance that was sold to poor people; The Tennessean’s coverage of that issue led to Senate hearings, a 60 Minutes episode, and the ban of that form of insurance. Solomon Wood went on to spend years as a freelancer, doing “lots of one thing and another over many years.” She profiled Wangari Maathai, the woman who launched the Green Belt movement in Kenya and went on to become the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace prize; Noerine Kaleeba, the woman who organized Uganda’s reponse to the HIV/AIDS crisis; and Medha Patkar, the Indian social worker who organized the protest against a World Bank dam that would have displaced nearly a million peasant farmers. “These women inspired me,” she said. “I left them feeling that one person really could do a lot. What I saw them all doing was building strong relationships, often with other women. It wasn’t really that they thought they were going to accomplish these huge things. I don’t think they knew what they were going to accomplish. It was just that they felt like they had to do what they were doing.” After
the years of freelancing, Solomon Wood ended up in New York. She was pregnant
with her second son during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when the family was
living a few blocks from the World Trade Center. “I remember standing outside
my older son’s kindergarten moments before it happened, talking with an Israeli
man. There had just been a car bombing in Israel, and I remember saying, ‘Oh,
you must be so glad to be here!'” she recalled. “And then, boom, we heard an
explosion.” After the attacks, Muslim mothers in her son’s kindergarten class
told her how they’d been yelled at on the streets. “On top of that, Bush was
saying we were going to be in an ongoing war, a forever war. I knew that I was
going to be giving birth to a second son. I thought, ‘No. I don’t want to live
in a country that’s going to become increasingly militarized and where the
future might be war.’ And so we left.”
In 2009, Solomon Wood launched Vancouver Observer as a hyperlocal site ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The Olympics would lead to increased interest in Vancouver and higher potential traffic for the site, she figured. Vancouver Observer did a lot of general-interest reporting at first, but it also did environmental investigative reporting. “It,” at that point, was essentially Solomon Wood herself plus a “stream of interns from universities in the Vancouver area who exchanged their work for mentorship and editing… that was how it grew in the early years, it was really all volunteer.” In 2010, Solomon Wood got a call from a whistleblower in Arizona who tipped her off to archaic Canadian laws that were preventing war brides and their children from becoming citizens. “He said he’d been trying to get an investigative piece done and hadn’t been able to get anybody to pay attention to him,” said Solomon Wood. They talked for more than two hours. “At the end of the call, I said, ‘You know what — I’m intrigued, but I can’t take on a story like that because we don’t have the resources. If I had $10,000’ — or, you know, I probably said $5,000 or less; I was not thinking very big in the beginning — ‘If I had some resources, I could hire some interns from University of British Columbia School of Journalism and I could guide them and we could do this. But you can’t have anything to do with it; you’re gonna have to sign an agreement that says hands off, and I don’t know, we might not find what you’re looking for at all. All I can tell you is we’ll look into it if we have the funding.’ “I never expected to hear from him again. About two months later, a check came in the mail.” Vancouver Observer’s reporting on the “Lost Canadians” began in 2010 and continued for the next four years, leading to awards and changes in the Canadian law. Money continued to trickle in. Solomon Wood began pitching people, and one invested $25,000. At this point, Vancouver Observer was literally running from Solomon Wood’s dining room table. “Oh, you know, this is all going on in my apartment, my kids were small and running around, there were always interns here,” she said. “And then that spring (of 2012), we were nominated for a really big award” — a Canadian Journalism Foundation award. “I remember getting the letter and just sitting down and crying,” Solomon Wood said. “There had been so much unbelievably hard work that had been going on for a really long time, and it felt like, oh my God, somebody noticed.” Vancouver Observer ended up winning the award. (At
this point in our discussion, I mentioned that it was impressive that Solomon
Wood had been able to get so much investigative reporting done with journalism
students as her primary staff, and asked if she thought she was a good teacher.
“Oh, I think I am really a people person, that is one of my skills,” she said.
“And they were smart. And they were dedicated.” Then she began telling me about
the time that she and an intern uncovered a stream of money that the Koch
brothers were funneling into a conservative Canadian think tank. “Also we
uncovered the fact that our spy agency and our national police force were
spying on environmental organizations.” These discoveries were made from her
dining room table, of course.)
Yet Solomon Wood was attuned to the larger media environment the site was operating in, and she felt something wasn’t quite right. Some of this was only fully recognized in hindsight — “What we were doing, during those days, was going after as much traffic as we could, and we were doing that thinking that we were going to build a business based on advertising dollars. That was still back when that had not been proven to be something that wasn’t going to happen. We know now that that is never going to happen! But we didn’t know that then.” But other trends were more obvious to her at the time, even as American companies like BuzzFeed expanded into Canada only to withdraw after traffic struggles. “I saw Facebook come in [in 2014],” she said. “I got a notice where they were like, ‘We’re gonna come in and we’re gonna meet with local businesspeople and tell you how to use our platform better!’ They got on the ground, Google was doing the same thing, and it was just like the rug got pulled out from under us. That was the year we stopped getting advertising.” Local coverage, Solomon Wood decided, wasn’t going to be enough. “It was popular, it was well-read, but people didn’t want to invest in it.” Instead, she decided, she’d go national — but niche. National Observer launched in 2015 (with the help of $80,000 raised in a Kickstarter campaign), and from the start, Solomon Wood knew, its business model would not be based on advertising. (Vancouver Observer is still running as a separate site, but it’s morphed into a community publishing platform whose content comes from Vancouver citizens.) “We had to shift from the idea of ‘We’re a traditional newspaper that covers everything’ to ‘We’re a niche publication that is going to — that can only do things that we have a revenue model for.'” This meant a continued focus on environmental reporting from a clearly pro-environment angle. “National Observer definitely comes to the story with a point of view,” said Jacques Poitras, provincial affairs reporter for CBC New Brunswick and the author of the upcoming Pipe Dreams: The Fight for Canada’s Energy Future. “But the reporting and the research and their approach to the coverage, to me, is journalistically sound and rigorous and what you would expect from any professional news organization. Where their point of view comes in, I think, is in what they choose to cover, how dogged they are in sticking with the particular story.” In 2015, it almost seemed as if Solomon Wood had been too cautious; 2015 was an election year in Canada, and National Observer’s traffic boomed even as it added a paywall in mid-2016. Just as quickly, though, that traffic dried up. “People were just exhausted from the news,” Solomon Wood said. “I had a lot of people tell me: ‘I just don’t look at it anymore.'” The site briefly tried micropayments, with no success. The company outgrew the subscription platform it had been using and had to switch to new software, which meant it had to try to get everyone who’d already subscribed to resubscribe. 2016 was a low point: “We hit a big slump.” Solomon Wood’s mother-in-law died. “I was really at a point of not knowing.” On the advice of her advisory board, she sent a passionate email to National Observer’s subscriber list. From that letter: For the last six years I’ve spent thousands of hours trying to solve a very difficult problem: weekends creating spread sheets, running numbers, counting how many of you read National Observer, and trying to guess how many of you would see it as a critical public service. I’ve run these numbers many times and by my calculations, if only one per cent of you champion our reporting, National Observer can spread its wings. You can be part of the remaking of journalism in Canada…. We’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars this year alone supporting Bruce and Mike’s investigative series on the Irvings and the National Energy Board. We’ve torn out our hair trying to crunch the numbers that keep our operation sustainable, but during those months, we brought in maybe $700 from banner ads. No, I didn’t drop a zero there — we literally brought in just $700 (Facebook algorithms and Google ads have pretty much eliminated ad revenue for news companies. Sigh). People
responded; the letter resulted in a lot of new subscriptions. “That was the
bridge that got us through. We took off from there and went into a strong
2017.” National Observer also does group sales to government ministries, universities, and other institutions. Students at University of New Brunswick and Simon Fraser University have free access thanks to those deals, as do many employees of Canada’s federal government. National Observer also runs sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when a subscription is half off. “Those sales are huge for us,” Solomon Wood said. “(Last year), we pulled in $20,000 just in a couple days.” Meanwhile, National Observer asks anyone who wants access to the site but can’t afford it to get in touch, and they’ll figure something out. “We get amazing letters from people who describe themselves as seniors or retired, living on pensions, about how much they value the site,” Solomon Wood said. “They’ll send us a $25 check in the mail, and we’re thrilled to give them access. Ultimately, we don’t want to shut anybody out. On the other hand, it was very clear to me that if we cannot find enough people who want to pay for the reporting that we’re doing, then we’re doing something wrong.” Solomon Wood wouldn’t share how many paying subscribers National Observer has. But including the group subscriptions, she said, around 250,000 people have access to the site. National Observer now gets 30 per cent of its funding from subscriptions (up from just five per cent before the paywall), and the remaining 70 per cent comes from crowdfunding, events, spontaneous donations, and philanthropic funding. The goal is for National Observer to be 60 per cent reader-funded by the end of 2018, and close to 100 per cent by the end of 2019. During one of my conversations with Solomon Wood, alerts kept popping up on my phone’s screen about Trump’s plan to privatize large chunks of national parks. This inspired me to ask her whether environmental investigative reporting ever gets her down. Does she actually feel as if National Observer is making a difference? “I really believe in the power of investigative journalism, and I believe that good investigative reporting is, by its nature, very solutions-oriented,” she said. “The whole point of an investigative series is to bring further attention to a problem so that there can be policy change for the better.” At the same time, “we have a government that is committed to making progress on climate. It’s amazingly different from Trump taking the EPA apart — amazingly different,” she said, almost joyously. “Now, are they actually hitting those goals?” she continued. “It’s an imperfect world, so no, they’re not. But they are committed, and they are making steps forward. It’s not all depressing news out of Canada.” --------- March 8, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA NewsToday: March 7, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Today: District
15 Progressive Conservative Founding Meeting and AGM, 7PM, PC Association Office, Pond
Street.
I'm not
necessarily opposed to some form of amalgamation -- if the citizens of the
communities involved support it. But enforced amalgamation may backfire and
will certainly put the MacLauchlan government in a tricky spot. They know
there's significant opposition to this move and that's been demonstrated in a
number of community votes. Well said, Ron. Come
join us on Thursday, March 8 to celebrate International Women’s Day! "Peace of Mind" -- CBC forum on Mental Health, 7PM, The Guild. Free but limited space so seats must be reserved. Link and phone call to reserve tickets here at this CBC story on-line. ------------------------------- I wasn't not able to get to the Environmental Studies Symposium last night on plastics -- I would appreciate any thoughts or notes from anyone who was able to go. ----------- Also at UPEI: UPEI is being called on by its Faculty Association, Students Union and CUPE to be included in the provincial Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation. The groups issued a joint news release, which is the only way the public found out this information, since submissions of comments to this review process -- rather one-way "consultation" -- were not shared with the public. CBC article here. March 6, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Tuesday, March 6th: NaturePEI monthly presentation "Getting to Know the Herptiles of PEI", 7:30PM, Beaconsfield Carriage House, Kent Street. Dwaine Oakley on the Island's reptiles and amphibians. District 10 Founding meeting for the Progressive
Conservatives, 6:30PM Registration, meeting at 7PM, PC Association Office, 30
Pond Street (by drop-off doors of Value Village). --------------------------------- We all know the importance of getting more
people engaged in elections, politics, and civic life, but it can be
challenging to know how to do so effectively. ------------------------------------ Word has come from Guardian political reporter Teresa Wright that she is taking contract work in Ottawa for the Canadian Press. Congratulations to her, but too bad for us! ------------------------------- OPINION: Pesticide decision ‘a joke’ - The Guardian Guest Opinion by Ole HammarlundTo simply allow people to apply banned pesticides, with or without a $50 fee is ridiculous. Published on Friday, March 2nd, 2018, in The Guardian The recent vote by Charlottetown City Council and mayor has opened the door for new and exciting sources of revenue for the city. A year ago, the city, after years of
discussion, approved a pesticide bylaw that eliminated the use of cosmetic
pesticides to combat the dreaded dandelions and cinch bugs. The bylaw included
an innovative exception: For a fee of just $50, a city inspector would visit
your property and authorize the use of the banned pesticides. This proved a
popular option and recently city councillors and mayor decided to keep this
exception. As an architect dealing with cumbersome bylaws in the city for 40 years, I welcome this development and suggest that the city use this innovative method of collecting revenues. Instead of cumbersome variance hearings, why not simply collect a fee? For instance, the city could collect $100 for each foot that a building addition could move closer to the property line. The potential for extra revenue is huge, especially in the traffic control area. I think a fee of $100 for driving 60 km instead of the usual 50 km could be very popular and what about that bothersome stopping at stop signs when no one is around? I am joking, right? Or is the city joking? The pesticide bylaw was initially approved, based on the fact that the use of cosmetic pesticides pollutes our environment, with the so-called benefits being only cosmetic, such as a lawn without dandelions or cinch bugs. The bad effects of using pesticides are immediate to kids and adults suffering from breathing problems such as asthma and there are likely many other detrimental effects on birds, insects, pets and people. Some people that have been used to annual pesticide sprays to keep their lawns spotless may be a bit of a loss of what to do now. I think it is OK to have a city expert help with advice on the options. They are not exactly new or radical. The English perfected lawn care for centuries without pesticides, and remedies include weeding for dandelions or apparently soapy water for cinch bugs. To simply allow people to apply banned pesticides, with or without a $50 fee is ridiculous. Remember we banned pesticides in the first place for a good reason. This recent decision is a joke. What was the mayor thinking? - Ole Hammarlund, Charlottetown, Hammarlund and Lips Architects --------------------------------"I've long maintained that the American lawn is one of the greatest mass brainwashings of all time. How we all voluntarily signed up to spend untold hours growing and cutting a non-native monoculture which we lace with poisons to kill plants and insects never ceases to amaze me." -- Bill Heavey, writer and sportsman March 5, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Today: Group says P.E.I.’s Lands Protection Act is being abused and loopholes ‘must be closed - The Guardian article by Mitch MacDonaldPublished on Monday, March 5th, 2018, in
(print edition) The Guardian About 60 individuals called for greater protection of the province’s land during the Cooper Institute’s fourth social justice symposium held at Milton Community Hall on Saturday. (Chris notes: It was closer to 70 people, though The Guardian tends to be more accurate than CBC's crowd counts) The symposium, which had a theme of “The P.E.I. Lands Protection Act: The Spirit and the Letter”, saw a panel and group discussion about how to ensure Islanders keep control of the land. One idea raised was the formation of a coalition to advocate for better land protection. “How come we’ve never had a coalition for the protection of P.E.I. land? We had a beautiful, beautiful coalition formed and it was very effective for the protection of P.E.I. water,” Marie Burge, of the Cooper Institute, asked participants at the end of the day. “Let’s have groups, organizations and individuals be part of that and put our voices together. That’s what I really feel, what I wish would come out of the discussion we had today.” (Chris note -- see below) Other suggestions throughout the day included encouraging individuals to read the act and lobby politicians to implement a review of the act every three years as recommended in Lands Protection Act commissioner Horace Carver’s 2013 report. A major concern brought up was around loopholes that some say allow corporations to circumvent the spirit of the Land Protections Act, which currently allows individuals to own up to 1,000 acres and corporations to own up to 3,000 acres, while still technically following the law. Douglas Campbell, National Farmers’ Union (NFU) district director for P.E.I., and NFU member Reg Phelan previously warned the Standing Committee on Communities, Land and Environment last fall about the abuse of those limits. The minister at the time said the province was monitoring the situation and that the act was being followed. However, Campbell said the law is open to misinterpretation and that lawyers are able to get around some of the act’s acreage limits. “That’s why we’re saying even though they may be following what the law states, the intent and purpose of what it was meant to do is being contravened and therefore the spirit is being abused,” said Campbell, who was a panelist for the symposium. Campbell said he was happy to see a diverse group at the symposium and noted that concern over land protection is not a new trend on P.E.I. “It’s been ongoing from the beginning here with absentee landlords and trying to keep the land in the hands of Islanders,” he said. “The public in general have to be concerned because their food comes from the land. If it gets too out of control and into corporate hands, you lose that ability to be able to have a say when it comes to food production and costs." <He added, > "The land affects everybody.” Panelist Edith Ling, who is the NFU women’s district director on P.E.I., said the loopholes also make it more difficult for young farmers to get started and for existing farmers to lease or buy additional land. She said a forming a coalition advocating
for more land protection would be an excellent start to solving the
issue. “People have got to get up in arms about what’s going on with
their land… people have the power, they certainly have it every four years at
the ballot box, and I think this has to be a people’s movement,” said Ling. “It
is really encouraging to see this hall full of people. It says that people
really are concerned about the land.” Mitch MacDonald wasn't there at the beginning, I don't think, or he would have mentioned Gary Schneider, of ECO-PEI, reminding us of the purpose behind the creation of the LPA, and that "the letter of the law trumps the spirit of the law", as we saw in the creation of The Water Act. He quoted the three reasons in the Purpose for creating the Lands Protection Act: historical land ownership issues, the small area/high population density, and the fragile nature of the Island's ecology, environment and lands requiring "the exercise of prudent, balanced and steadfast stewardship." Gary said those last two words are really what it is all about. (It is in Section 1.1 (c), in the Purpose of the Act, link below, emphasis mine.) Tony Reddin lead the group in Father Andrew MacDonald's original song "No! No! Don't Sell P.E.I. Lands!" and Teresa Doyle spoke and sang about another threat to that "steadfast stewardship", the PNP (Provincial Nominee Program) and the buying and speculating on properties, very noticeable in Charlottetown. Her song, connecting "Where will our children live?" and "Pull the Plug on the PNP!" was very moving, and she reminded us not to forget the role of music and humour in any struggle for the public good. Lands
Protection Act Report (2013
-- Horace Carver, commissioner): The Gift of Jurisdiction: Our Island
Province is here: And it is very likely interested groups and individuals will be welcome to help found some sort of coalition for the protection of PEI land -- stay tuned. --------------------------------------- Much music: Emerald Junction, made up of Anne Quinn and Ron Kelly, is chatting with Angela Walker on Mainstreet CBC Radio in the first half hour of the show today, sometime between 4:10 and 4:30PM, about their work to record their first CD. (Besides very lovely guitar-playing and vocals, Ron has a depth of feeling and depth of analysis on many Island issues, and thoughtfully relays his knowledge and opinions about many matters.) Huge congratulations that this goal of making a record is almost completed! Emerald Junction was also nominated in the first round of the CBC "Searchlight" competition.Emerald Junction Facebook page -------------------------------- Much music, and more: At the pre-concert talk before the PEI Symphony Orchestra yesterday, guest conductor Dinuk Wijeratne chatted with the group about the day's program. He mentioned how he as a Sri Lankan-born, Middle Eastern-raised person, got to Halifax; and he joked about how, having left The Juilliard School of music in New York City, he was surprised -- and soon got used to and embraced -- that East Coast people tend to smile and say hi to everyone, including strangers. He spoke of a concerto he was composing for a friend from Juilliard who plays clarinet, a person from Syria who can't ever go home again. They have spoken of what home means, and this friend said, "Home is the place you most want to contribute to." March 4, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
The PEI Symphony Orchestra performs today at 2:30PM at Zion Church, corner of Prince and Grafton. Tickets available at the door. This
week:  And see Marie Burge's letter, below. -------------- Also Monday: Pints & Politics, 7-9PM, sponsored by the PEI Progressive Conservative Youth and PC Party, Upstreet Craft Brewing. Political Trivia begins at 7:30PM. ---------------------------------------- Tuesday, March 6th: Afternoon, Souris: Community Wildlife Session-- Our Shrinking Island, 1:30-3PM, Eastern Kings Community Centre, Souris. "Dr Adam Fenech and researchers from UPEI Climate Lab will deliver an informative session on sea level rise and what it means for Islanders. Refreshments will be provided, everyone welcome!" Annoyingly, there are two excellent environmental events at the same time Tuesday evening: UPEI Environmental Studies Symposium -- "Our Plastic World", 7-9PM, UPEI, Duffy Amphitheatre, Room 135. "Format: Three informative speakers will provide insights in different aspects of plastic waste and the challenges we face. A panel discussion will follow." Facebook event details NaturePEI monthly presentation "Getting to Know the Herptiles of PEI", 7:30PM, Beaconsfield Carriage House, Kent Street. Dwaine Oakley will talk about the Island's reptiles and amphibians. ------------------- Pinch
us, there are two Public Accounts Standing Committee Meetings scheduled
for Wednesday, March 7th and Wednesday, March 14th, 10AM-12noon. OPINION: Fostering rural opposition - The Guardian Guest Opinion by Marie BurgePublished on Thursday, March 1st, 2018 A question of intent in presenting these sample (and misleading) MMP maps to Islanders
The P.E.I. Coalition for Proportional Representation is raising concerns about the content and intent of the Electoral Boundaries Commission’s sample maps for mixed member proportional representation (MMP). The content of the so-called MMP maps is misleading to the public. These maps give the false impression that the core of MMP is that there will be 18 electoral districts. However, the true essence of MMP is that there are 18 electoral district seats, plus 9 province-wide seats, all of which are decided in a provincial election by P.E.I. voters. There will be 18 district MLAs and 9 province-wide MLAs for a total of 27 MLAs in the Legislature. Each Islander will have their own district MLA, plus having access to any or all of the nine province-wide MLAs. In the various community consultations thus far on the designed MMP maps, the chair of the Electoral Boundaries Commission declares at the beginning that his commission was mandated only to show the 18 possible electoral districts. Members of the public are bringing up the issue that the maps are actually hiding the true reality of mixed member proportional representation. It appears that the commission, because of its limited mandate, cannot deal with what is missing from the maps. The P.E.I. Coalition for Proportional Representation has produced a video as a way of graphically presenting the MMP system of 18 district seats and nine province-wide seats. (https://youtu.be/2d6gMziavYc) This brings us to the question of the intent in presenting these sample (and misleading) MMP maps to Islanders. The first reaction of the Coalition for Proportional Representation, and many others, was that this is a deliberate and shameful attempt to foster opposition to MMP in rural P.E.I. It is important to note at this point that the conventional electoral boundaries review (required after every third election) has been hurting rural P.E.I. for many years. Under MMP, rural Islanders will get a new advantage as will many other sectors and cultural, gender, and political interests in the P.E.I. make-up. What is most disturbing for the PR promoters is that the premier identified the MMP maps as an educational tool. First of all, it is important to point out that people are not educated by tools. Secondly, presenting the maps as educational shows a deep disconnect with how productive community education happens. Islanders who want to learn about electoral systems and about how real democracy works are best served by community-development-style education. This model begins with acknowledging the vast knowledge that people already possess. It designs programs and processes which encourage teachers and learners to interact as equals to share old knowledge and new knowledge. Nobody learns well in a system that imposes viewpoints. The dog and pony show style, no matter how slick the videos, posters, diagrams and social media interconnectedness, is an inefficient teaching-learning style. It involves high cost input and low level of learning results. The P.E.I. Coalition for Proportional Representation and its members urge the Government of P.E.I. to find a way to initiate and fund a transparent educational effort in preparation for the referendum on two electoral systems. This referendum is to be held in conjunction with the provincial election in 2019. - Marie Burge, on behalf of Cooper Institute, member of the P.E.I. Coalition for Proportional representation March 3, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Farmers'
Markets are
open today in Charlottetown and Summerside. NDP leadership candidates share similar views - The Journal Pioneer article by Eric McCarthyParticipate take part in first of four leadership debates Published on Friday, March 2nd, 2018 Questions on patronage and access to high-speed internet got the leadership candidates for the P.E.I. New Democrats fired up during the first of the party’s four scheduled debates Thursday night in O’Leary. In shaping the question, moderator and a former leader of the party, Dr. Herb Dickieson, noted another former leader, Jim Mayne, had described patronage as a cancer on democracy. “It’s also a cancer on people’s dignity,” Joe Byrne responded. “This is predation on poverty,” said Byrne, one of the two contenders for party leader. “You hand out low-wage jobs because you want to keep people down; you want to keep them intimidated.” Fellow leadership candidate Margaret Andrade said patronage is “completely and totally unacceptable.” She said her way of fighting it is in convincing more young people to become party candidates. “Let’s move all of the cronies; let’s move all of the ones who are so wealthy and connected out of the provincial scene. Get them out of the government. Replace all of them so that we can start fresh and everything is fair again.” Byrne recalled a screen shot of a message O’Leary-Inverness MLA Robert Henderson allegedly sent to a constituent during the last election campaign: “Remember who got you that job.” He said he wants to encourage Islanders to write down and share such messages. “It’s awful, it stagnates us but, more than that, it rips away our dignity,” he said of patronage. “When we witness this and we do nothing, we become complacent and compliant. Fourteen party-faithful braved a winter storm to hear the candidates. The candidates also had strong and similar stances on high-speed internet, insisting comparable high-speed internet should be available across P.E.L, but it’s not. Andrade said her 19-year-old son is part of the first generation with computers in their lives from the moment they were born. “If we think that we want to keep the youth on our Island and we don’t want them all to congregate in Charlottetown or Summerside; if we want them to stay on the Island, keep the family farms going, keep the outlying areas the rural areas strong, we must be able to combine internet services.” Byrne was highly critical of the internet service contract the provincial Liberals signed with Bell Aliant, insisting many rural Islanders are not getting the level of service the company promised. He said companies should be penalized for not living up to targets. “If you can’t live up to your part of the bargain, then you don’t get the money. That seems, to me, to be a reasonable way to proceed,” he said. Both candidates suggested that with the competitiveness in internet service delivery it should be possible to provide adequate service Islandwide. The two candidates shared similar views on all questions posed by Dickieson and members of the audience. They were still in agreement when asked about those similarities following the debate. “I think Joe and I have a really strong understanding of what the NDP is, so I think we are not going to have a lot of differences of opinion. What we’re going to have differences on is methodology, style,” said Andrade. “I think what happens is we’re a party where the leader doesn’t determine policy; the party does,” said Byrne. “We will have our own styles and we have different backgrounds. Each of us offers something a little different, and not substantially on policy, because we’re going to be leading the same party.” Both candidates said they will still be part of the team once the votes are counted on April 7. ---------------------- LETTER: Time to change blue plastic bags - The Guardian Letter to the EditorAlmost every day there is a call for reducing our dependence on plastic. Some retail chains are charging for plastic bags at checkout to reduce demand (or simply passing on a cost to their customers). Many retailers offer reusable bags (but most of those are plastic). And P.E.I. is at the top of the pack in our recycling program. That’s where the irony comes in. Island Waste Management Corporation (IWMC) forces us to buy and use blue plastic bags to put our recyclables in. How is that reducing our plastic use? Other places use blue plastic bins which last for years. Why don’t we do that? You can’t use the rain and snow argument, other places using blue bins get the same weather we do. Time for change, IWMC. Lloyd Kerry, Charlottetown March 2, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
The last committee meeting this week is this morning -- you can watch it live at: http://www.assembly.pe.ca/watchcommittees
Friday, March 2nd: Topic: The committee will receive briefings from personnel of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries on the study 'Changes in soil organic matter over 18 yr in Prince Edward Island, Canada' by Barry Thompson, Manager of Sustainable Agriculture and Kyra Stiles, Agri-Environmental Development Coordinator; and on the honey bee pollination expansion program and concerns regarding the impact of pesticides on bee populations, by Cameron Menzies, Berry Crop Development Officer/Provincial Apiarist, and Sebastian Ibarra, Agri-Environmental Specialist. ------------------------------- Sitting Hours could be adjusted, as they were famously set to work with the existing train times for MLAs to get home for the weekend. Committee Reports could be dealt with more effectively. Right now the Committees submit a report, which is basically tabled and accepted with a quick reading of it or the recommendations. There could be more time to read and discuss it before accepting it, and more ways to follow up on the recommendations. Structure of the Day could be improved.
Length of speaking on motions was brought up(not getting bogged down in
verbiage of a motion). The Clerk doesn't feel Members need to be timed on
their responses (I'll see if I can find exactly how he put it for another day). "We line up and make a lot of noise about big environmental problems like incinerators, waste dumps, acid rain, global warming and pollution. But we don't understand that when we add up all the tiny environmental problems each of us creates, we end up with those big environmental dilemmas. Humans are content to blame someone else, like government or corporations, for the messes we create, and yet we each continue doing the same things, day in and day out, that have created the problems. Sure, corporations create pollution. If they do, don't buy their products. If you have to buy their products (gasoline for example), keep it to a minimum. Sure, municipal waste incinerators pollute the air. Stop throwing trash away. Minimize your production of waste. Recycle. Buy food in bulk and avoid packaging waste. Simplify. Turn off your TV. Grow your own food. Make compost. Plant a garden. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem. If you don't, who will?” -- Joseph Jenkins, from The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure March 1, 2018Chris Ortenburger's CA News
Thursday,
March 1st: Dr. Don McKay has been called the Canadian poet laureate of ecological philosophy. A revered poet, esteemed naturalist, distinguished scholar and editor, celebrated teacher, and famously witty speaker, <snip> McKay’s talk, “Dragon, or Tectonic Lithofacies Map of the Appalachian Orogen,” will be, he says “an attempt to approach one of the most famous and important maps in geology from both sides of my brain, the scientific and aesthetic.” The Appalachian orogenic belt is an ancient mountain range extending from Alabama to Newfoundland. Dr. McKay will also read from his poetry works tomorrow, Friday, 7PM, Beaconsfield Carriage House, as part of the UPEI Winter's Tales Author Reading Series. -------- Also tonight:Green Party Community Forum #1 -- Charlottetown, 6:30PM, Farm Centre, 420 University Ave. "Join us for a conversation about what matters to you – and help build real solutions for Prince Edward Island." Registration requested. Other sessions are planned on the coming months. Facebook event details -------------------------------- With news that Nova Scotia appears to be signalling that maybe their fracking ban isn't so solid, here is a report from earlier this month in the publication Environmental Health News: http://www.ehn.org/do-fracking-chemicals-cause-cancer-2532123436.html It describes the publication of some research in the journal Endocrinology, (publication date, today) on "Gas Operation Chemical Mixtures Altered Mammary Gland Development in Adult Female Mice"
This latter link is for the abstract of the article. The first link gives
a more plain language description of the research and findings. A new Tale of Robin Hood - The Guardian Letter to the Editor July 26, 2012Recently in The Guardian newspaper our finance minister likened himself to Robin Hood. A real stretch of the bow string me thinks. However, Minister Wes Sheridan’s recent comments have inspired another great Island story on a par with Anne of Green Gables. It goes like this: Once upon a time there was this merry scary band of outlaws; they lived deep within the city. Their leader was the bad sheriff Ghiz of Nott(listen)ingham. Robber Hood Sheridan was his right-hand man. He was busy planning a new way to rob the poor and give to the rich. Meanwhile, the resident camp faith giver, Friar Tuck McKinley, was attending another last supper. The merry scary band knew the locals were restless and may at any minute take to the streets waving dangerous banners and flags. However, the merry scary band were not worried, Little John Vessey had a Plan B, he would build a fast escape route through Bonshaw to Borden where they could safely hide out in the hills until things cooled down. The merry scary band were a merry lot, they had lots of money and credit cards, and if the locals cast them out, they had rich government pensions to see them through. The merry scary band had nothing to worry about; they would just live happily ever after. --Frederick (Ben) Rodgers, Ebenezer------------------------------- Recapping the first part of the steps to reduce plastic, a list of 100 items by Beth Terry, and others point out that one of the biggest impacts you can have is not to drink bottled water, and point out times it really just isn't necessary, when you are at events, or planning something. It also doesn't hurt to point out when a place keeps or reinstalls a water fountain and/or water bottle refilling station. It's good to see these show up at schools (especially with the push to pop machines), and discouraging that a place like Murphy's Community Centre has big pop/water machines on its main level, where a free water fountain would make a healthier and kind gesture. -------------------------------- "Environmental Degradation is an iatrogenic disease induced by economic physicians who treat the basic malady of unlimited wants by presribing unlimited growth.... Yet one certainly does not cure a treatment-induced disease by increasing the treatment dosage." --Herman E. Daly, Steady-State Economics |
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