Green Party of Nova Scotia

Building a Sustainable Future Together

Tick tock… building urgency

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by Thomas Trappenberg
In Korea, last week, the IPCC released a Special Report for Policy Makers which has set the world abuzz.
They identified that a lack of urgency is hampering efforts to keep climate change in check: the effects of climate change are outrunning us.
Here in Nova Scotia, our government has expressed the attitude, “we’re already doing our share” as a way of sidestepping the federal government’s proposed carbon tax. In this race, meeting an already soft target is not an excuse to rest and let others catch up. This is not competition among provinces or countries — this is everyone racing to survive. We have achieved a significant reduction in GHGs, it’s true, and the efforts of Efficiency Nova Scotia / EfficiencyOne can’t be overstated. But as Dr. Larry Hughes points out,
“about half of the (30% target) reduction was achieved by accident rather than design with the closures of paper mills and the Dartmouth refinery, a decline in transportation emissions, and an over 60% increase in residential electricity rates between 2005 and 2015.”
Much of Nova Scotia’s GHG reductions are from loss of industry, not from strong government action switching us to renewable energy. We cannot smugly tell the rest of the country to catch up when we are resting on laurels of industry closing or going elsewhere.
The Green Party of Nova Scotia has some solid ideas of how we can continue to fight the effects of climate change locally, and set an example for others to follow globally.
  • Nova Scotia needs to engage in full cost accounting. We can’t let “externalities” be an excuse. For instance, we have agreed to BP drilling offshore. This may not count toward our GHG totals due to accounting magic, but we have a moral obligation for the climate effect that is ultimately produced because of this.
  • Build resilient communities. Strong, resilient communities where people care for one another and share resources are needed to help us be able to adapt to the changes that face us.
  • Get rid of coal. 100%. Coal causes air pollution in our province, releases mercury into our atmosphere, and affects the health of Nova Scotians on top of climate change concerns. Mining it has caused some of our greatest disasters. Even if it weren’t an imperative for climate change, getting coal out of our energy mix makes good sense for our health and the safety of our workers. Think it can’t be done, that getting rid of coal is too drastic? Scotland and Ontario have done it.
Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May has called for immediate discussion federally on this report. Governments at all levels should be doing the same.
Perhaps this is part of the reason why our neighbors in PEI and New Brunswick (and our countrymen in BC) are voting Green. With so much coastline, the effects of climate change are more immediate and apparent.
I encourage you to join us. The world needs action, and it needs to start now.

On Whipping Votes and Making Deals

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by Charlene Boyce, Green Party of Nova Scotia Co-President

The recent New Brunswick election results engendered a lot of interest in the more obscure aspects of parliamentary procedure. What happens when the winner is really not evident?

This election has gone a long way toward showing the serious drawbacks of first-past-the-post in a splintered electorate. We may not be accustomed to minority governments, but once we have  three or more active parties, they become not just a possibility, but an expectation.

The “Big Two” (for now!!), the Liberals and Conservatives found themselves in a practically-tied face-off due to the precedent of favour that the incumbent government enjoys. This left newcomers The People’s Alliance and David Coon’s Green Party with the enviable position of being courted for support. Interestingly, the way the numbers broke out, even with a deal and an ‘alliance government’, a clear majority is not so clear.

Many news anchors were talking to David Coon, asking whether the Greens would ‘prop up’ the Liberals.

Now, those of us familiar with Green politics know that we don’t whip votes. That is a thing we are known for. Our MLAs, MPs and other elected representatives are expected to vote with their conscience. Since we rely heavily on facilitated discussion and consensus building, we often find ourselves agreeing with our esteemed leaders, but not always.

So how does a party leader guarantee support to another government if she or he cannot whip votes?  This is a question I asked of my party executive, some of whom have a lot more experience than I do.

The answer is, the same way all decisions are made. The elected New Brunswick Greens would meet and discuss and decide as a collective whether they would enter into any kind of agreement, and what kind of agreement, if any, that would be.

The New Brunswick Liberals therefore needed to negotiate not just with David Coon, a more known entity to them, as he has been an MLA for several years; but also with Megan Mitton and Kevin Arseneau, brand new MLAs.

It is situations like this that make politics my favourite spectator sport.

Green Party Replies: Cannabis

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We are happy to respond to inquiries from Nova Scotians. Send your question to gpns@greenpartyns.ca.

The Green Party recently received this inquiry:

What is your stance on marijuana dispenseries? I feel they should be allowed to operate in Nova Scotia. So many people rely on these locations.

This is our reply:

Thanks for reaching out to us. The topic of cannabis legalisation has engendered a lot of discussion among our members. We don’t yet have a comprehensive party policy on the topic, and all of the offshoot related issues. However, these are three basic statements we have agreed on:
  • We don’t like the monopoly imposed by NSLC.
  • We support studies into further potential medicinal uses of cannabis.
  • As with everything, climate change is a fundamental concern, so we want to ensure that the growing and production of cannabis products are as low impact as possible, minimizing GHG production.
At our recent AGM, we had a terrific panel presentation from Andrew McLaughlin of the Cannapy dispensary, Kenny Lord, active in cannabis business for years, and Myrna Gillis of the Aqualitas production facility.
If you want to discuss further, please feel welcome to reach out.
-Charlene Boyce, Co-President, Green Party of Nova Scotia
If you would like to contribute to future policy, become a member now, and join us on October 27 at our Policy Conference in Pictou.

Opinion: Let’s Shift Our Focus to the Future

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We debut a new feature on our website, Green Voices. We will share opinion articles from our members in this space. We begin with Karin DeVries, who is the Executive Representative for the Minas Basin Region.

Chronicle Herald 5th of July 2018

N.S. cabinet shuffle shifts focus to mining, forestry and environment

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1582192-n.s.-cabinet-shuffle-shifts-focus-to-mining-forestry-and-the-environment

Premier Stephen McNeil shuffled his cabinet on the 5th of July 2018, saying he wants his Liberal government to focus more of its attention on the province’s mining and forestry industries.

By: Karin DeVries

On the 5th of July 2018, Premier Stephen McNeil shuffled his cabinet, saying he wants his Liberal government to focus more of its attention on the province’s mining and forestry industries. Since then, we have seen more media coverage about mining and specifically about uranium and gold mining.

I believe there are more economically beneficial and environmentally sustainable industries to focus on for our future. Apart from sustainable forestry, the mining and forestry industries damage our health and environment. In addition, these are not sustainable without subsidies and that means taxpayers’ money. It is true that these industries will generate revenue and will create some short-term jobs. After the mines are no longer economically sustainable, all our good quality wood has been consumed, and the remainder of the wood left prone to the diseases and insects that characterize monoculture, then what?

How do I see the future in our province related to industry? In the future, stricter international environmental regulations and emission controls will become effective and I am advocating for more environmental, “health friendly” and sustainable technology. Many companies already acknowledge that this will be the new status quo.

Transforming municipal solid wastes and industrial waste into high value fuels and recyclable materials at lower costs than landfilling is not new but needs to be developed and implemented in Nova Scotia. I believe that this one industry that Nova Scotia should focus on, recycling waste. I do see this as a good start and not the end goal. Reducing waste is the goal. I also realize that certain recycling technologies are not environmental and health friendly, so each technology needs to be assessed before being implemented in Nova Scotia. But there are some really good technologies available that have already proven themselves for many years.

“In the future, stricter international environmental regulations and emission controls will become effective... Many companies already acknowledge that this will be the new status quo.”

Another beneficial area of focus on is power generation using solar, wind and hydro. I do not consider the mega hydro projects where a tremendous amount of nature, wildlife and human habitat are being destroyed as a proper solution for power generation.

When the renewable power generation is in place, the extra generated power can be stored and used to create biofuels from waste. This to be used when there is not enough generated renewable energy available and there is a need for fuel for engines, gas turbines, or boilers. Also, the extra generated power can be used to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen and use hydrogen as fuel.

I believe that Nova Scotia should invest in the above-mentioned sustainable and renewable technologies and developments. Nova Scotia has focused already too long on the “dirty” industries and with the result of wasting money on waste disposal clean-up, on forestry study after forestry study and paying for health issues caused by environmental pollution.

Attaining 100% sustainable power generation in Nova Scotia, Scotia will take considerable time and resources, but it is better to start working on it now and change our focus to the future and future technologies rather than continuing to invest in the old (dirty) technology that will only offer short-term economic benefits.

The above is all very feasible, it only requires a change of focus and determination to make a change.

I joined the Green Party because I believe in what I have written above and the Green Party most closely aligns with my beliefs.

Green Party Responds to Lahey’s Review of Forestry Practices

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August 22, 2018

Find the Independent Review of Forestry in Nova Scotia here.

“Trees are more than standing biomass. Forests have value to tourism, in fighting climate change, in supporting agriculture and preventing erosion. Mr. Lahey’s call for a strong reduction in clearcutting is a good start, but this province has a way to go before we can really say we are protecting our natural capital,” says Green Party of Nova Scotia leader Dr. Thomas Trappenberg.

“What assurance do we have that this set of recommendations won’t join the 2011 report  on a dusty shelf in the Minister’s office, along with all the pulp mill reports and hundreds of other environmental recommendations?”

The Green Party released their reaction to William Lahey’s Independent Review of Forestry Practices today.

The good: Lofty Goals

The Green Party applauds the review’s calls for less clearcutting on public land. We support Dr. Lahey’s calls for environmental assessments of forestry operations on public land. Further, we endorse his recommendation for independent oversight of the report’s implementation

The bad: Compromise

As Mr. Lahey indicates, reduced supply of trees from public land will shift harvesting to private lots, and there is no concrete plan to combat clearcutting on private woodlots.

“The Review team estimates that these measures could, in combination, reduce the wood taken from Crown land by between 10 and 20 per cent, although further analysis is needed to confirm that estimate… My recommendations for Crown land, if implemented, are likely to increase demand for wood from private land, including woodlot owners… A shift in harvesting to private land will also, at least in the short term, likely mean more clearcutting overall, since roughly 90 per cent of the harvesting that happens on private land is by clearcutting. My conclusion is that this is better than the status quo, where not enough  ecological forestry is happening on Crown or private land”

The Green Party urges the minister to consider the long term potential for this natural resource within the framework Mr. Lahey has envisioned. A robust forestry strategy would provide tools and offer incentives to private woodlot owners who choose sustainable harvesting methods, and ultimately support a stronger high-value end product market in Nova Scotia.  

The ugly: Herbicide

To concentrate monoculture production into a smaller proportion of public land, one of the recommendations is to allow herbicide use on public land: “high‐production forestry entails not only planting but early competition and density control measures, including the use of herbicides.”

The rationale is that limited use of herbicide will sufficiently increase yields on a portion of land to allow much less overall land to be used for intensive production. This really hinges on the rest of the recommendations of the report being adopted, so it leaves the door open for continued and accelerated herbicide use.

This is based on the idea of maintaining the monoculture, primarily for pulp mill use, a strategy we find based on very short term thinking and a rapacious use of our natural capital.The Green Party of Nova Scotia calls on the government to implement the recommendations of the Lahey report, taking immediate action to limit clearcutting on Crown lands to 20% and setting up an independent arms-length Forest Practices board to implement this review.