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Green Party Responds to Lahey’s Review of Forestry Practices

2018-08-23 By gpnsadmin 3 Comments

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.

Filed Under: General, Media Releases Tagged With: biomass, clearcutting, forestry, Lahey, pulp mills

Nova Scotia Greens Cheer Schreiner

2018-06-08 By gpnsadmin Leave a Comment

Ontario Greens Leader Mike Schreiner wins in Guelph. Photo: The Star

(K’jipuktuk) The Green Party of Nova Scotia says that Ontario’s election of the first Green MPP is a significant achievement.

“Mike Schreiner is our green light – his win shows that a fourth party has a place, even in our first-past-the-post system,” said Green Party of Nova Scotia leader Thomas Trappenberg. “This matters for us in Nova Scotia.”

The newly-elected Guelph, Ontario MPP joins other Green representatives from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia, bringing the total number of elected provincial Green officials in Canada to seven.

“If there was proportional representation in place, there would be more Green MLAs across the country,” notes Trappenberg. “Possibly even here in Nova Scotia.”

Trappenberg admits that Schreiner will have a challenging job. “With a majority government, it can be tough to get your own agenda across. But Greens are consensus builders,” he said.

“I have confidence Mike will put forward a strong voice for the environment, social justice, diversity and our other Green principles, and will work with other MPPs in a collegial manner to help all Ontarians.”

Meanwhile, here at home, Trappenberg has a message for Nova Scotians.

“A Green voice in the legislature will affect the quality and substance of debate. The people of Cumberland South have an opportunity on June 19 to help build the Green Wave by voting for Bruce McCulloch, to balance the government agenda with priorities of health and sustainability.”

Filed Under: General, Media Releases Tagged With: Green Influence, politics, Proportional Representation

Green Party of Nova Scotia Holds Earth Day Weekend Convention in Wolfville

2018-04-23 By gpnsadmin 2 Comments

For Immediate Release – 23 April 2018

(HALIFAX) –  Thirty members, guests, and observers of the Green Party of Nova Scotia gathered this weekend at the L’Arche Hall in Wolfville. The weekend marks the second Annual General Meeting since the Party’s near-dissolution in 2016.

In the last year, leadership reported that the membership has more than doubled. The 2017 election saw the Green Party run a slate of 32 candidates, and attain a record vote share of over 5%.

“We have really spent the last eight months building a solid foundation for growth,” noted Thomas Trappenberg, Party leader. “Ensuring that our regional grassroots members are supported had to be done before anything else. The election hit us so fast during our party’s recovery, we were in high gear. It was important to step back and make sure that our base was solid.”

Building Connections with Mi’kmaq Communities

In the last year, Deputy Leader Jessica Alexander reported making a special effort to build the Party’s connection with Mi’kmaq communities.  “We approached the Sipekne’katik Water Protectors with an offer to stand with them. We tried to be humble and respectful. We learned a lot about how to be supportive allies, and we know we have a great deal more to learn. We feel it is incredibly important to open spaces for indigenous voices.”

The Party invited Trevor Sanipass to open the conference with an education session on Mi’kmaq spirituality and culture. Sanipass, who ran for the NDP in the last election, is the great-great-grandson of the last hereditary Grand Chief, John Denny Jr.  Donning his ribbon shirt, Sanipass shared the Honour Song and tips for working respectfully and effectively with Mi’kmaq allies and offered a smudging to open the day.

A by-law amendment passed by consensus changed the party’s approach to including indigenous voices, allowing any members of indigenous origins to develop a suitable process and approach on their own terms.

(Political) Climate Change

Green Party of Canada Deputy Leader Jo-Ann Roberts delivered a morning keynote address, noting the success of the Greens in New Brunswick, PEI and British Columbia as a sign that the political climate is shifting in favour of the party. Later in the day, Thomas Trappenberg echoed this sentiment, noting that times have changed and the time has come to shut down the Northern Pulp mill in Pictou.

The day closed with a panel of cannabis experts—Myrna Gillis, entrepreneur and lawyer; Kenny Lord, consultant; and Andrew Laughlin, retailer—who discussed the state of the cannabis industry in a wide-ranging presentation. The party noted policy opportunities related to health, justice, business and agriculture.

 

-Photos to follow-

Filed Under: General, Media Releases Tagged With: AGM, indigenous, mi'kmaq, politics, provincial

Green Party Supports Friends of Northumberland Strait: #nopipe

2018-04-16 By gpnsadmin Leave a Comment

Federal and provincial Green Party leaders joined the Friends of Northumberland Strait in Pictou on Saturday, April 14, at an event to show their support for the #nopipe movement.

“It’s obvious to any Nova Scotian who visits the site that Boat Harbour is an ecological disaster.  No pipe! It’s time to think about what can be, without the miasma of pollution hanging over Pictou,” said provincial party leader Thomas Trappenberg.  “How many businesses and industries have not succeeded or not been pursued because of the mill?”

“The risk to fisheries waters is unacceptable,” added Green Party of Canada deputy leader Jo-Ann Roberts, who has recently returned to live in Nova Scotia. “We’re talking about an impact that will extend to other provinces, as our PEI neighbors have pointed out.”  

Trappenberg and Roberts were joined by Green Party of Nova Scotia deputy leader Jessica Alexander, David Hachey, who ran in the Pictou riding for the Green Party of Canada, as well as Green Party of Nova Scotia executive members June Trenholm and Charlene Boyce.

The #nopipe event featured a reading from The Mill by author Joan Baxter, along with a chowder tasting and lobster crafts for the kids, to underline the importance to local fishers of protecting the strait.

At a post-rally gathering at the Stone Soup Cafe, the group was joined by local Green Party members, No Pipe activists and Pictou West MLA Karla MacFarlane, who is the interim leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. A cordial and lively conversation followed.

The Green Party of Nova Scotia aims to bring a similar event to Halifax in June, to keep extending the conversation on how to successfully transition from the kind of industry the mill currently represents to our greener future.

Filed Under: General, Media Releases

Cynical political manoeuvring? Frack that.

2018-02-12 By gpnsadmin Leave a Comment

Frack Free Future
Western Australia’s protest campaign against fracking is called Frack Free Future.

Last week, Stephen McNeil told the Halifax Chamber of Commerce that he is willing to consider lifting the ban on hydraulic fracturing if a community builds local support for it. His comments are strategic political manoeuvring.

The Liberal party, which introduced the ban on fracking, now wants to make it clear to everyone that maintaining the public will to support the ban is everyone’s responsibility, except perhaps its own.

Justin Trudeau used this approach to justify abandoning electoral reform: blaming the population for not miraculously developing a unified voice. McNeil wants to weaken the ban without taking responsibility.

Let’s not dwell on how cynical it is to propose downloading the costs of a referendum or appropriate public consultation to municipalities, especially as McNeil’s own government has already paid for the Wheeler Report. Or, how fracking can release uranium and other radioactive minerals currently in our bedrock, Into our water supply,  possibly contributing to our province’s already high bladder and kidney cancer rates.

Let’s instead consider why anyone might want to frack.

Fracking can contaminate groundwater and deplete our freshwater supply.  Like coal mining, it is an industry that is dangerous, removes valuable resources from our province and can adversely affect the health of our population. Like coal mining (along with pulp and paper and cod fishing, and briefly, in Halifax, attracting Amazon), it is being positioned as our Last Chance to Get Rich!™

The number “60 billion dollars”, which has been proposed as a value on the natural gas that is embedded in our ground, may sound like a very juicy amount indeed, but that number is extrapolated, and is suggested to be a high estimate. Assume we start by finding a partner through our usual process of offering low to no taxes, payroll rebates, low- to no-interest, often forgivable loans, other subsidies, very favourable locations, plus an offer that we’ll take care of any ‘externalities’ like pollution. That partner will likely be some giant conglomerate with shareholders far afield. The timespan of the project will necessarily be short, as the price of alternative energies drops and the gas gets harder to extract. By the end, the amount generated in revenue to the province dwindles to a much smaller number, if any.  

Frick and Frack
Frick and Frack were funny, but fracking is no laughing matter.

In 2014, the Globe & Mail reported that the number of green energy jobs surpassed jobs in the oilsands. We need to invest our province’s resources into building jobs that are long term and forward facing, instead of propping up dying industries.

 

Nova Scotia has tremendous natural resources and as we cultivate diverse new industries (like biomedical devices, ocean technology, video game development and nutriceuticals), our rich resources really only help us by staying here.

There are many Nova Scotians looking for natural resources labour jobs like those that fracking might supply. People want to stay in rural Nova Scotia and earn a living. If we assign ap

propriate value to sustainable forestry, organic and sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry, those jobs will be there for more than just a few years. If we build the right infrastructure, more opportunities will open up in these areas. We will find ourselves much better off in the long run. Nova Scotians will be healthier, and the odds are, both our health system and tourism operators will benefit.

As voters, every time you go to the polls, you can choose a same-old cynical party, or a hopeful, healthier future. Expect better of your elected officials. Tell Premier McNeil, frack that.  

 

Filed Under: General, Leader's Blog Tagged With: Carbon Economy, fracking, Green Jobs

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