Community Economic Development Coming of Age in Nova Scotia Gas and Tomatoes Help Town Prosper Mystery of the Deeps Underwater Opportunity Culture: Front and Centre Wade's World Nova Scotians Missing the (Shrimp) Boat "Son of TAGS"

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Community Economic Development Coming of Age in Nova Scotia The future of Nova Scotia's coastal and rural communities was at the top of the agenda during the weekend of May 8-10 as the Coastal Communities Network hosted more than 210 community builders and government representatives from across the province at "Building our Future: Respecting our Past." The conference, held at White Point in Queens County, brought together the results of 13 smaller, regional seminars on community economic development (CED) that CCN organized across the province earlier this year. Over the three days of panel and small-group discussions, delegates from all walks of life examined the past and present state of CED in Nova Scotia and explored economic and social developments that are, or should be, moving coastal and rural communities forward toward necessary transformations. The objective of the conference was to identify where we are now, where we want to go, and how we can plan actions to help us get there. By the time the delegates headed home on Sunday afternoon, those objectives had been achieved: they had identified a number of ways CCN could move the process of CED forward, and there was a strong sense among them that CED in the province could be at the threshold of major growth. Jerri Costa works with the Digby District Learning Network, an adult literacy organization. Like most delegates, she came away from the conference with renewed hope: "The conference energized me, and I'll go back to my community with fire-and-brimstone enthusiasm for CED. Communities need to have hope, and the fisheries crisis diminished that hope in many communities, but with CED, hope is building. Now, we have to bring that sense that there's a positive future to more and more communities." Grace Illsley of the South Colchester Development Association echoes Jerri Costa's sentiments: "The conference provided an opportunity for everyone to pool their experiences and resources, and to become a common voice. It gave people the feeling that their communities are not alone our problems are the same. Communities can work together and learn from one another." Things began on Friday evening, with consultant Rick Williams outlining the challenges facing CED in Nova Scotia. He noted that, over the past 20 years, the populations of rural communities have been falling, while the number of people in the Halifax area has been growing steadily. (Interestingly, neighboring New Brunswick, despite similar economic circumstances over the period, has not experienced any similar population shift.) Williams then outlined how EI reform and federal cuts have worked to destabilize the economies of rural and coastal communities. He concluded by saying that the future of Nova Scotia's small communities will improve only if those who live there take control of the resources around them. Williams's parting comment set the stage for a panel discussion that followed his presentation. John Kearney of the Extension Department at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish described recent successes in community-based fisheries management. Tiiu Poder, Executive Director of the Enterprise Development Centre at St. F.X., then addressed the potential for revitalizing rural communities through the development of cultural industries, noting, remarkably, that the 1998 payroll of Salter Street Films will exceed that of Sydney Steel. John Parker, Director of the Antigonish Regional Development Authority, then spoke of the potential that Sable gas holds for economic development in coastal and rural communities across the province. The evening concluded with a brief wine and cheese reception before everyone headed to bed to be ready for a full Saturday agenda. Saturday was the sixth anniversary of the Westray disaster, so the morning session began with Rev. Russell Harding offering a thoughtful prayer reminding everyone that not all "development"is good development. A moment of silence was then observed in memory of the 26 men who perished underground on that terrible morning in 1992. Following this memorial, the leaders of the 13 regional seminars CCN had organized across the province earlier in the year came forward. (Interestingly, 12 of the 13 were women.) Rick Williams then presented an overview of their meetings, noting that over the past two years rural and coastal communities had progressed from a mood of shock and denial at the fisheries crisis to one of developing realistic new attitudes that will allow communities to survive. He then outlined the strengths, resources, and opportunities facing rural and coastal communities, pointed to some of the successes that have been achieved, and outlined some of the challenges we face today. Each of the 13 regional leaders then summed up the experiences of their own community discussions and shared their own understandings of the success and failures, the obstacles and opportunities, that lay behind and before them. After a short break, the delegates broke up into 13 smaller groups, each one made up of people from different geographic areas and with a range of different back grounds, for smaller collective discussions. After lunch, the entire group met once again to summarize the results of the morning's small-group discussions. A number of speakers then presented their own perspectives on CED to the delegates. These included Jim Stanley, currently head of the provincial government's Technology and Science Directorate, Juan Tellez, who was introduced as a former "Bolivian revolutionary" and now serves as Director of CED at the Nova Scotia Community College in Truro, Joanne Fewer, a working mom on staff at the Halifax Regional Development Authority who also serves as Chair of Nova Scotia Citizens for CED, and Arthur Bull, Co-Chair of CCN and Director of the Digby Neck Regional Development Authority. After another brief break, delegates returned to their 13 small groups to discuss the role governments can and should play in CED. At the same time, the 35 government representatives met together to reflect on what roles they might themselves play in the process. After this long and grueling day of talk and thought, everyone was glad to enjoy a great dinner and then unwind at an evening of "Fun Raising" led by Donna Crozier. While a disc jockey spun tunes, Donna encouraged folks to let their hair down by taking part in the karaoke singing and winning prizes in spur-of-the-moment "CED Trivia" contests. A great time was had by all. On Sunday morning, it was back to the serious business at hand, but not before every mom was tracked down and given a rose in honour of Mothers' Day. Delegates then spent the morning summing up the previous day's small-group discussions on the role of government and then listening as government representatives shared their own perspectives. Finally, the delegates returned one last time to their small groups to work out where CCN can go from here to move CED forward in Nova Scotia. After lunch, consultant Rick Williams came forward once again to summarize the final round of small-group discussions. He pointed to several steps aimed at furthering the cause of CED that had been identified by delegates. These were: that CCN put its report of the weekend conference forward, as a means of education and advocacy for CED, to all three levels of government, to communities, to aboriginal and CED groups, to Regional Development Authorities, to voluntary planning agencies, to the academic community, and to others; that education and training, focusing on CED as something broader than solely economic, be offered to community leaders and residents, and to those working in government; that CCN develop and clarify its mandate to include rural as well as coastal communities, and that it work more closely with Regional Development Authorities to develop their respective roles in CED; that CCN, Regional Development Authorities, governments, and CED organizations work together to create an accountability and evaluation framework for all CED initiatives across the province; that all delegates return to their communities with a responsibility to share the results of "Building Our Future: Respecting Our Past," to promote CED in their communities, to lobby with decision makers and others for CED initiatives, to expand information-sharing, networking, and CED promotion, to develop databases and use information technology to catalogue resources and success stories, and to begin planning for annual events with goals and benchmarks built into them to move the process of CED forward. CCN member Alvin Martell believes that the weekend conference "was a benchmark for CED. Before, communities felt there was no partnership with government when it came to CED, but now we've brought them to the table. This is the beginning of a new process of understanding between communities and government." Martell's sentiments were shared by the other participants, who came away from the conference with a renewed and expanded sense of the central role CED will play in the economic and social development of our rural and coastal communities as we move toward, and beyond, the millennium. There are already many encouraging CED success stories in small communities across the province: "Building Our Future: Respecting Our Past" has now set the stage for many more. back to top Gas and Tomatoes Help Town Prosper Sheet Harbour, where the East and West Rivers meet on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore, has a "feel"about it that is somewhat different from that of many other coastal and rural communities in the province. Maybe this has something to do with its history. Unlike most places in the western part of the province, along the Northumberland Shore, and in Cape Breton, no railway has ever come close to Sheet Harbour. Although fishing is important to outlying communities and helps boost retail trade in town, few Sheet Harbour residents are themselves directly involved in the fishery. Instead, the town has looked inland to the resources of its forests and streams to fuel the lumbering, pulping, saw-milling, and shipbuilding activities that have, through the years, provided local people with a livelihood. The first Europeans to come to the area were United Empire Loyalists who had fled the American Revolution and had received Crown grants of land near the mouths of the East and West Rivers. They, however, were not the first arrivals: the Mi'kmaq had long depended on the riches to be found in the area's waters and forests, and today between 55 and 60 Mi'kmaq live on a reserve in the town itself or on another not far away, at Beaver Dam. Although nature has given much to the people of Sheet Harbour, it has also, at times, taken away. Such was the case in August of 1971 when Hurricane Beth struck. A pulp mill, owned by American-based Scott Paper and employing about 80 local people, was virtually destroyed when upriver booms holding logs in reserve let go. Rather than rebuild and modernize the plant, which was built in the 1920's, Scott promptly decided to shut it down, dealing quite a blow to the small town. While Sheet Harbour may have been down, it was far from out. During the Buchanan years, a large-capacity Industrial Port was created to take advantage of the town's deep harbour and proximity to markets. For a few years in the late 80's and early 90's, the Scott Paper plant in Pictou County took advantage of a newly built road linking Sheet Harbour to Stellarton by shipping a portion of its product to the American market through Sheet Harbour. But when Scott sold the Abercrombie plant to another industrial giant, Kimberley-Clark, production was shifted to consumer products, and other routes were used to serve the central Canadian market. As in other Eastern Shore communities, since the Sable gas development was announced, people in Sheet Harbour have been eager to get some of the work involved. And, for the next few months at least, they are getting it, in spades. Earlier this year, Shaw & Shaw Ltd., an Alberta-based player in the petroleum field, landed the contract to supply the undersea piping that will link the offshore gas fields to landfall in nearby Guysborough County. The highly specialized piping is being prepared at, and shipped from, the Industrial Port. The project, which is only just gearing up as of this writing (mid-July), is expected to be complete by the end of the year, but between now and then more than 200 people will find work there. It will have a huge impact on the town's economy and its population of about 800, and also on the surrounding area. As encouraging as the Shaw & Shaw enterprise might be for the people of Sheet Harbour, they are also acutely aware that those jobs won't last out the year. But it's a different story for the Industrial Port's other major tenant. Northern Fibre Terminals Inc., a joint venture involving the Japanese industrial conglomerate Mitsubishi, began operations last fall, shipping at least a half-dozen boatloads of hardwood chips to Japan annually. And, it plans to keep doing so for at least a decade, providing about 20 direct jobs at the Industrial Port and another 80 or so indirect jobs harvesting hardwood, which is not used by Nova Scotia-based pulp companies. The hardwood chips are used in Japan to produce very high quality, bleached and coated papers. Wood chips and piping are not the only products that have created work at the Sheet Harbour Industrial Port. Telephone poles have been shipped to ports as far away as Turkey, and frozen fish meal from Iceland is often off-loaded at the Port. It is then trucked to Truro, where it is made into pet foods and fertilizers. The activities at the Industrial Port are traditional industrial operations that rely on primary resources, but there are also less customary, more innovative, things taking place in the area. If you drive just a few miles east of town, pass the bustling fishing community of Sober Island, and continue to Grant's Cove, where the asphalt turns to gravel, there, on your right and looking as out-of-place as possible, is a massive collection of greenhouses. Welcome to Dewdrop Gardens, the first commercial hydroponic farming enterprise in Canada, and certainly the largest in Nova Scotia. Founded in the 1970's by Jim Keizer, who now runs it together with his son Tim, Dewdrop ships thousands of pounds of cucumbers and tomatoes to grocery stores across the province every year, and has customers as far away as Boston. It's a year-round operation, as vegetables are harvested even on the shortest day of the year. About 20 people work there during the summer peak, and even in the dark of winter eight to ten people are kept busy. "Who would believe it? Grant's Cove a full employment community," quips Jim. Cedric Boutilier has worked at Dewdrop Gardens since he finished high school in Sheet Harbour ten years ago. "The work's not too bad," he says as he shows me around the largest greenhouse in Nova Scotia, which the Keizers bought from the province after it shut down its tree nursery in Middle Musquodoboit in 1994. "A lot of my friends from high school had to move away. I'm glad for this," Cedric nods, indicating the whole operation, "it's meant that I could stay at home." Don Derry and Brenda Farris work with the Sheet Harbour and Area Board of Trade, and one sector they think is ripe for development is tourism. "We're trying to find ways to make visitors stop here a while," says Don. One of the ways they hope to do that is through a waterfront development plan funded jointly by the province and Human Resources Development Canada. Its central focus is a park and pedestrian bridge planned for both banks of the West River, just outside the centre of town. Most of the work will be done over the next five years. "If people are happy to stop here for a few hours," Brenda says, "maybe then they'll have lunch at a local restaurant, and then perhaps decide to spend the night." Another project that could bring future visitors to the area is being carried out by the Eastern Shore Wildlife Association, which is now in the third year of a ten-year project to reduce water acidity in the East and West Rivers. With the assistance of its members, other people in the community, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and Nova Scotia Power, the Association limes both rivers each year in an effort to increase both trout and salmon populations. Association Secretary Jack MacDonald says his members volunteer their time for the project and, although salmon stocks have yet to rebound, trout seem to thrive on the improved waters. "I've never seen the sea trout like they've been so far this year," says MacDonald. "It's amazing. There are a lot of qualified guides and such in this area, and if we can get people to come for the fish, it'll put money into the area." With all the current activity in the Sheet Harbour area, unemployment is lower than it's been in many years. And, with new technologies, some of the people who in the past would have had to move away to find a job can now work out of their homes. Nonetheless, certain problems and challenges still face the community. "For one thing," says the Board of Trade's Don Derry, "a lot of people in this area have limited reading skills. It's a problem that needs a good deal of work." As well, the temporary nature of the pipeline operation at the Industrial Port is also a cause of great concern. But the town has lived through ups and downs throughout its history, and the lessons of that history will hold the people of Sheet Harbour in good stead as they look to the future. back to top Have You Seen This Turtle? Mystery of the Deeps by Kathleen Martin, for the Leatherback Sea Turtle Working Group They can grow to the size of a double bed and weigh up to a ton. They can dive more than a kilometre into the sea, and they maintain body temperatures as high as 18 C above the surrounding water temperature. They eat only jellyfish. They are born in South and Central America, and a portion of their declining population spends the summer off the coast of Nova Scotia. The leatherback turtle is the world's largest reptile, and one of its most mysterious. "We know very little about the basic biology of leatherbacks their growth rates, their reproductive behaviour, their life span," says Mike James, Coordinator of the Leatherback Sea Turtle Working Group, which is interested in finding out more about the turtles, including their distribution in Nova Scotian waters. "We don't fully understand their ocean travel routes, and we have no idea where in the open ocean the juvenile leatherbacks are. There are no records of small leatherbacks at sea. Researchers only began documenting the leatherbacks' presence here in the 1960s, and even then nobody did in-depth studies on the turtles," says James. "Fishermen have always known that leatherbacks are part of the marine environment in Atlantic Canada, but nobody has asked them to contribute to research on the animal until now." The Leatherback Sea Turtle Working Group depends on information from fishermen, because they encounter the animals more than anyone else. James has spent the last five months traveling throughout coastal communities in Nova Scotia talking to fishermen about leatherbacks, as well as to school children and operators of whale and seabird tour boats. The contacts he has made so far have been encouraging. Not only have many people volunteered to help with the project, but many have also reported past sightings. One thing he learned was that there were a large number of leatherbacks feeding in Shelburne Harbour last August. "That kind of phenomenon has only been documented a few times for this species," says James enthusiastically, "and it occurred here. That's significant. It's possible that there were more leatherbacks off Shelburne last year over the course of three days than we had previously thought would come to the province in a year." Biologists used to think leatherbacks found in Nova Scotian waters were individuals that had strayed from their southern habitat as they followed the Gulf Stream in search of jellyfish. "But we now believe that isn't so," explains James. "The animals that are here mean to be here, because they know they can find lots of jellyfish here. And the turtles are here every year. But apart from knowing that leatherbacks eat jellyfish, we still know very little of their habits in the North Atlantic." The number of leatherbacks that come to Nova Scotia, and where precisely they go when they get here, is so far unknown, but James is optimistic that the information he's receiving this summer will help him begin to answer these questions. "We've recorded 34 new leatherback sightings already, and it's only July," he says excitedly. "It's August that's the peak leatherback month in our waters." James attributes a large part of the Leatherback Sea Turtle Working Group's current success to people who have volunteered to put up its distinctive blue-and-yellow, "Have You Seen This Turtle?" posters across the province, and to those who have gotten the word out to people in coastal communities. The Working Group is interested in all sightings of leatherbacks, alive or dead. Anyone who has seen one should record the date, time, and location of the sighting as precisely as possible, the sea and weather conditions at the time, and, if possible, the water temperature. The Group would also appreciate any photos that might be taken of the turtles. To report a leatherback sighting, or if you are interested in taking part in or learning more about any aspect of the project, please call Mike James, toll-free, at 1-888-729-4667. Underwater Opportunity by Terry Dwyer, Nova Scotia Scuba Association They call it "adventure travel" travelling to new places to enjoy the natural environment by participating in such activities as rock climbing, scuba diving, or white-water rafting and it's one of the world's fastest growing tourism sectors. The wealthy, middle-aged "baby boomers" of North America and the growing well-off classes in Western Europe have combined to create a great demand in this sector. In their leisure, these people are looking for the qualities offered by adventure travel: excitement, a level of risk, unique experiences, some education, and lots of fun. Analysts at the federally run Canadian Tourism Commission believe that the worldwide demand for "adventure vacations" will continue to grow well into the next century. A recently released study by the Economic Planning Group of Canada ranked scuba diving as one of the top five marine tourism markets for this province, describing it as "an opportunity for Nova Scotia to promote a world-class product among a very targeted user group." There are more than 100,000 active divers in Britain alone, and diving conditions there are similar to ours in Nova Scotia. The typical British diver travels in groups of 10 to 16 people at least twice a year for up to two weeks at a time. Most of them are experienced divers looking for clear water and shipwrecks to explore. Another 70,000 divers living in Germany and 30,000 in the northeastern United States might come here for our clear waters, numerous shipwrecks, and the favourable exchange rates on our dollar. Several coastal communities in Nova Scotia could benefit from this already established and growing market. Shipwrecks abound along the province's Atlantic coast. Ingonish, Arichat, Louisbourg, Canso, Lockeport, and Yarmouth are just a few of the communities that could benefit from serving the scuba tourism market. As well, local fishermen know their coastline and local conditions well, and many own boats that could be altered or converted. Such economic development is sustainable, and would benefit local businesses as well as boat operators. All that's needed to bring everything together is a well-rounded, sustainable community development plan, training, education, awareness, and an infrastructure that caters to travelling divers. The market awaits. Culture: Front and Centre Tiiu Poder, Executive-Director of the Enterprise Development Centre at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, was a guest speaker at CCN's "Respecting Our Past: Building Our Future" conference at White Point Beach in May. She spoke of the importance of our cultural industries, both to the province's economy and to the day-to-day lives of Nova Scotians. Here is a summary of what she said. In Nova Scotia, cultural industries are so much a part of our daily lives that we often fail to notice the huge impact they have on us and our environment. Because we take them for granted, we are at risk of "throwing the baby out with the bathwater." A great deal of information is available about the cultural sector, but perhaps the most important report for Nova Scotians is one by Statistics Canada that tracked the impact of cultural industries on the provincial economy from 1990 to 1995. The study reported that in 1994-95 the cultural sector had a $445-million impact on the provincial economy, that it provided more than 21,000 direct jobs (almost 6 percent of the provincial labour force), and that culture's direct impact on the economy was greater than the combined effect of the fishery, trapping, and forestry. Over the five-year period the StatsCan study examined, the number of employed people in the province dropped by 1.3 percent, but the number working in the cultural sector grew by 20 percent. (Nationally, employment in the cultural sector grew by just over 5 percent in the same period.) All these figures, even though they are three years old, show that something significant is happening in Nova Scotia. Since 1995, the film industry has more than doubled in size, bringing $100 million into our economy this year. There has also been explosive growth in the music industry (witness the most recent East Coast Music Awards). With the formation of the Nova Scotia Arts Council and the Nova Scotia Cultural Network, we are starting to build a stronger foundation for the cultural sector. The StatsCan figures have also prompted an initiative from Human Resources Development Canada for development of a Cultural Sector Strategy for the province. Congratulations to them for being awake to the needs of the province. Nova Scotians are more culturally oriented than other Canadians. Here are some more interesting statistics: on average, 25 percent more Nova Scotians visit museums and galleries than do other Canadians, 26 percent more attend festivals and fairs, 24 percent more make crafts, and 51 percent more are involved in photography. (They're inspired, no doubt, by the beauty of this province.) When it comes to playing musical instruments, we are 7.3 percent above the national average, and our level of post-secondary education is 1.8 percent higher than the rest of Canada. There are many reasons for all these things. Nova Scotia has a rich heritage and a vibrant history in the arts dating back to our Celtic roots. Nowhere is there a more vivid demonstration of this than in Cape Breton, where Celtic traditions are alive today in music, song, dance, stories, and art. These traditions are central to such success stories as those of The Rankins, Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie MacMaster, Mary Jane Lamond, and many others who are making it on the international stage. If we look at the economic implications, this is all new money for Nova Scotia. The development of today's culture has been helped by institutions like the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, a world-renowned university dedicated to the teaching of visual art, craft, and design. St. Francis Xavier University boasts what is probably the best jazz programme in the country. Many students from away come to our universities, fall in love with the province, then choose to stay or return. More than two decades ago, Nova Scotia also appealed to many sensitive Americans who chose to jump the border rather than go to war in Vietnam. They brought their skills to small rural communities, such as Bear River, a community vibrant with visual arts and crafts. This province continues to provide a haven to artists from around the globe who come here for the lifestyle and the beauty they find here. A large group of Buddhists chose to give up their spiritual base in Colorado to start anew in Nova Scotia. What a tribute! Our culture is enriched by many other "come-from-aways," such as Silver Donald Cameron and Robert Frank, who call Cape Breton home. Hollywood actors such as Jack Nicholson and Michael Moriarty have taken up residence here. Filmmakers come for several reasons, not the least of which is our new, world-class sound studio, Electropolis, which was created in large part to serve Salter Street Films. That organization is the brainchild behind This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Lexx: The Dark Zone, and Emily of New Moon. This year, the Salter Street payroll will exceed that of Sydney Steel! When we speak of tourism, we must acknowledge that cultural tourism is another huge subject of its own. Reflect, if you will, on a small coastal town like Mahone Bay. Examine what draws tourists there in droves during the summer months. (It's not Tim Horton's!) Tourism Nova Scotia recently commissioned a study on "Cultural Tourism in Nova Scotia," and the provincial Tourism Industry Association has developed a "Strategy for Developing Cultural Tourism in Nova Scotia." This is big business! So, how are governments reacting to all this? In 1995, spending on culture declined by 9.7 percent, while Ottawa reduced its support to the province by 17 percent. (Fortunately, municipalities were a bit more enlightened: their contribution to culture increased by 15.2! percent between 1990 and 1995.) The argument is often raised that the arts are heavily subsidized by the public purse, but what isn't acknowledged is that more than 50 percent of that comes right back in the form of taxes from the revenue generated. In 1994-95, the three levels of government contributed a total of $165 million, and $86 million came back in taxes. (With the taxation changes in the past three years, my guess is that even more taxes are now going back to government from the cultural sector.) And there are many other benefits to local businesses that are impossible to measure precisely. Many people think the "Year 2000 " computer blip was the biggest "oops" in the last half century, but there is another one taking place right now, under our very noses. If I suggested that we should eliminate all computer training from our public schools and universities, educators would tell me such a suggestion was ridiculous. But what are we doing with the arts? Over the past decade, the powers-that-be have decided that art, music, and theatre were expensive frills our public school system could no longer afford. Our children are being deprived of the joys of culture, and we are at risk of creating a culturally illiterate society in which people will not know how to appreciate culture, never mind participate in it. Young people will be relegated to "popular culture," vegetating in front of the television watching American sit-coms and police dramas while becoming increasingly de-sensitised to violence. They will listen to The Spice Girls or whatever becomes the next "cool" trend and decide to spend their allowances on the latest CD. This is junk food for the brain! Most young people will accept what they are fed and will fail to develop the critical thought processes essential to navigating among the mountains of information in today's world. Why do we continue, as a society, to pass over culture as the mainstay of our society - as the very essence of its being? Maybe there's some kind of perverse Victorian hangover out there that has us believing that if we enjoy it, it can't be good for us. Cultural industries are a welcome growth industry for our beautiful province. They are clean and non-polluting: forests remain intact and waste disposal is not an issue. Culture provides stimulation, as well as information and education. Culture keeps our children out of trouble and provides hours of enrichment and activity for our senior population. Nobody is too old to participate: in fact, cultural activities are an area in which age is an asset. Many of the world's greatest artists didn't reach their peak until well after retirement age. We should acknowledge the importance of our cultural sector, and then do all we can to support its ongoing development. We should bring art, music, and theatre back into our public schools. We should provide support at all levels by investing in training programmes for the cultural sector that will increase our business and marketing skills, our manufacturing and export markets. We should develop parallel professions in arts management and administration. We should provide a welcome atmosphere for local artists and those who come from away. We should visit them and buy their work. We should engage, participate and advocate. We should make culture a conscious part of our lives. Note: "The Cultural Sector" : Who We Mean Just what do we mean when we speak of "the cultural sector"? The following are just some of the people and things we're talking about: writers, publishers and agents of books, periodicals and newspapers; film production companies, actors, screenwriters, studios and location shoots; television and radio stations and their employees; songwriters, composers, arrangers, musicians, singers, recording companies, distributors, publishers and performances; choreographers, stage actors, opera singers, orchestras, playwrights, directors and producers; theatre, dance, opera and choral companies; painters, sculptors, commercial art galleries and restoration service; wood carvers, glass blowers, potters, jewellers, weavers and rug makers; dance, film and music festivals; architects, graphic designers, illustrators and costume designers; photographers and their studios; advertising agencies; museums, archives, libraries, parks, gardens and historical sites. There are also others companies and organizations that provide cultural industries with infrastructure or other services. These include: printers; framers; recording manufacturers; educators; municipal, provincial and federal government departments and agencies; professional associations and talent agencies; presenters, promoters and booking agents; software developers; trade unions. back to top Wade's World Back in 1994, tiny Hillsburgh United Church in Bear River had no running water. There was a chemical toilet in the basement that sometimes gave off a rich odour, and in the summer a hose strung to a neighbour's place provided cold water, but parishioners could only get hot water for church suppers and the like by using a propane burner. So when a church meeting came around to deciding what to do with $500 that had been raised for the church's building account, many thought that running water and a hot-water heater might be just around the corner. Instead, the parishioners decided to use the cash as seed money for a play the community was trying to put together about the fishery crisis. The play that was developed, titled From Our Children, was put together by local people in the area, and raised awareness of the issue, both in the church and the wider community. In 1995, it was made into a video that ever since has been both entertaining and raising awareness in small communities and congregations across the province, and even as far afield as the Philippines. Although he'd probably deny it, the sparkplug behind this project was Hillsburgh's Minister, Wade Reppert. And it's far from the only community initiative he has spearheaded since he came to the community in 1989 to serve the Three Rivers Pastoral Charge, which includes churches in Clementsport and Weymouth along with the one in Bear River. In fact, wherever Wade finds himself, good things seem to happen. Wade, now in his mid-40's, was brought up on Grand Manan Island. After working for several years in New Brunswick's Fundy Region for the provincial Department of Fisheries, in the mid-1980's Wade gained a degree from Emmanuel College in Toronto, then returned to Saint John to try his hand as an Urban Ministry Worker. There, he worked with street kids and people with dependency and other problems, and helped to set up a user-run food bank. While in Saint John, Wade also helped set up an exercise programme for single moms. But this was an exercise programme with a difference. Rather than having a trained professional come in to run the classes, Wade arranged for the moms themselves to get the necessary training, so they could run their own show. Whenever Wade's around, that seems to happen a lot: people running their own show. Wade himself is deeply involved in community activities he serves as President of both the Bear River and the Grand Manan Historical Societies and this means he is often unable to make the Sunday rounds of his three churches. When this happens in the United Church, the minister usually has to scramble around to find another from a neighbouring church. Wade found another solution: he designed a programme in his churches called "Make Worship" that has trained the parishioners themselves to perform the services. Wade's parishioners have also set up a small food bank, and like the one he helped organize several years ago in Saint John, it's run by those who use it. In 1994, Wendy Muirhead, President of the Maritime Conference of the United Church, paid a visit to Wade's charge. Normally, such affairs are occasions for polite speeches and dry-as-dust meet-and-greets. Not on Wade's turf. A panel discussion was organized to discuss the relevance, or otherwise, of the church in the community. As Wade recalls it, "The people roared." Three Rivers' Treasurer Evelyn Henshaw well remembers that gathering. She recalls how one man stood up and told the panel that organized religion didn't mean much to him. His work had taken him into homes where, Evelyn says, "People have problems that many people can't even imagine." The man then asked the parishioners whether they had ever spent time in homes shattered by seemingly impossible problems. "It made us sit up," Evelyn recalls, "and try to see the reality of other people's problems, and to try to appreciate and share them." That panel discussion was only part of the itinerary Wade and his parishioners put on for Ms. Muirhead. They arranged to take her up in a helicopter to see the effects that corporate clear-cutting of the forests was having in that part of the province. That flight raised awareness of the issue, in both the community and the United Church. "It helped give the issue a higher profile," recalls Eric King, who works out of the Church's Maritime Conference office in Sackville, N.B. "It helped us think more deeply about forestry practices, so when something like the Nova Nada-Irving controversy came up in Yarmouth County, we were able to come out strongly in support of the monastery and the monks." Of course, hiring a helicopter didn't come cheap, but Evelyn Henshaw remembers that it was quietly paid for, out-of-pocket, by a parishioner. "That's the kind of thing," she reflects, "that shows the meaning of community." Although Wade is hard at work in his own community, he also finds time to be active in the United Church at the national level. And, later this summer, he will travel to the United Kingdom to attend an international conference on rural ministry. "He's always so active," says Evelyn Henshaw, "it makes you wonder how one person can cover so much territory." Adds Eric King, "Wade always has three or four things on the go. And if there's not enough going on for his liking, he creates things." One of Wade's biggest projects in recent years was working to help put together an unusual Small Business Trade Fair in Bear River on the 1996 Labour Day weekend. To lay the groundwork, he helped establish ICARE, the Inter-Church Action for Regional Enhancement to bring other area churches into the project. It worked together with the Western Valley Regional Development Authority to organize the event. Most trade fairs are pretty predictable. People working for big companies stand behind expensive booths, hawking, directly or indirectly, their wares to small companies, and to one another. Not in Bear River! It was strictly a small-business affair, with modest prices for exhibitors, and only those businesses wholly owned within Digby and Annapolis Counties were eligible to take part. And it was a huge success, with over 145 small businesses making connections and finding ways to work for and with one another. For Evelyn Henshaw, the trade fair was a personal landmark. Today, she helps make ends meet by caring for three seniors in her own home, but back in 1996 the military base in nearby Cornwallis, where she had worked for more than 25 years, had recently shut down. "I found that I needed to find a few more years of employment," she recalls. "The trade fair gave me the confidence to think that I could do something. So I tried this." The arrangement has worked out well for all concerned. Evelyn is able to supplement her pension, while three seniors, who would otherwise probably be in institutions, receive the kind of in-home care that simply couldn't be provided by a larger operation. Never one to rest on his laurels, nowadays Wade is busy with a number of new projects. In one of these, Wade has set his sights on "Juan Valdez." We've all seen the TV images of the simple and smiling small Latin American farmer whose great joy in life is to produce great coffee for giant corporations that will make people in the developed world happy. Of course, the realities of corporate power and Third-World poverty paint a very different and far less cheerful picture. Wade is working with a New Minas-based consumers' co-op called Just Us Coffee, which gets its beans from another co-op of small coffee growers in Chiapas, Mexico. Together, they're trying to put a small dent in the corporate control of our food system by raising awareness in Valley communities, while at the same time helping yet another community not so near at hand. Another of Wade's current projects is a Rural Ministry Website he is helping to put together on the Internet. "Technology," he says, "is having an impact on rural culture and community life. Kids are learning to zap things in video games, but too many aren't aware of the beauty of the waterfall out behind the back fence." The Website's Mission Statement encourages "people in rural churches to start community-based, faith-in-action projects that will bring spiritual, social and economic benefits to their areas." You can bet that Wade will bring the same spark, originality, and determination to this project that have marked his other efforts over the years. Maybe there should be a road-side sign on the information superhighway warning the likes of Donkey Kong and Super Mario Brothers: "Caution - Wade at Work." back to top Northern Shrimp Nova Scotians Missing the (Shrimp) Boat When federal Fisheries Minister David Anderson announced the 1998 allocations of northern shrimp in mid-May, four Nova Scotia communities were not happy with what they heard. After an earlier Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) announcement that quotas in some areas would jump to as much as twice their 1997 levels, fishermen in Lismore, Canso, Mulgrave, and Petit-de-Grat had applied for a share in a fishery that many people in Newfoundland have termed a "bonanza." Instead, the entire 28,000-tonne quota increase was granted to the same Newfoundland interests that were given all of the 1997 allocation of almost 58,000 tonnes. (Taken together, the four Nova Scotian applications asked for just 5,400 tonnes, less than 20 percent of the 1998 increase, and only one-tenth of the total Canadian harvest of northern shrimp.) In Halifax, all parties in the provincial Legislature supported a resolution condemning DFO's decision. "This is unbelievable," commented Provincial Minister of Fisheries Keith Colwell. "Nova Scotia has a historic attachment to the area and a legitimate right to harvest northern shrimp. The requests from Nova Scotia-based companies were very modest, and I am shocked that they were rejected. Too often, DFO has failed to take into consideration the interests of Nova Scotian communities when making these kinds of decisions." While four different communities in the province were hoping for a slice of the shrimp pie, disappointment was most severe in Canso, where fishermen, the Town of Canso, and Seafreez, a Canso-based processor that is the town's main employer, had come together in an effort to gain a small share of the quota, and so directly create about 30 jobs while securing up to 300 other jobs in the hard-strapped community. In May of 1997 a group of the town's laid-off trawlermen met to decide on how to spend $1,500 in left-over union dues. They agreed to form the Canso Trawlermen's Co-op, a workers' cooperative that, it was hoped, would find ways to put its members back to work. It worked together with town officials, Seafreez, and the province, and had high hopes for its members when it was announced that northern shrimp quotas would be almost doubled this year. But those hopes were dashed by Anderson's mid-May announcement. At a press conference held in Halifax in early June, Pat Fougere, President of the Canso co-op, told the media that "DFO is mismanaging our fishery in epic proportions, and large industry players are doing a very good job of getting rich and keeping the fish plants of foreign countries running at peak production levels." The trawlermen are particularly upset at some of the "principles" DFO used to justify its decision to grant all the newly allocated shrimp to Newfoundland. One of these, that "those adjacent to the resource will have priority in fishing it," ignores the fact that Canso boats have a long history of harvesting in the areas in question. Fougere pointed out that, in the twelve years prior to the virtual shutdown of the Newfoundland groundfishery, ships of the Canso fleet landed thousands of tons of catch for processing at 18 different ports in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Canso trawlermen are also upset that much of the processing of the "industrial" shrimp caught by the large companies benefiting from DFO's shrimp allocations are being processed in Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. "Which type of federal policy would you support," Fougere asked, "one that sees fish stuffed in containers for processing in foreign plants, or one that puts Canadians to work?... It is painfully obvious that one approach is the correct approach and the other is a result of government and companies having money as a main interest." Fougere predicts that those granted the 1998 allocations will not be able to harvest all the shrimp assigned to them and that the resource will then be made available either to foreign vessels or to the larger players that will have already caught their quota. "How much additional resource, above and beyond their own, will DFO allow the large offshore companies to harvest?" Fougere asked. Others were also upset about Anderson's division of the resource. Bobby MacDonald, who chaired the committee that lobbied for some of the quota to go to ACS Trading in Mulgrave, pointed out that there are currently Newfoundland and New Brunswick boats fishing shrimp off Nova Scotia and sending it back to their own provinces for processing. "Why," he asked, is this being permitted "when we have processing capacity in this community?" In late June, DFO held a draw in which fishermen in the Canso and Isle Madame areas gained the right to harvest about 45 tonnes of shrimp near those ports, and this will help to ease at least a bit of the frustration. But the fishermen who had harboured much higher hopes for their communities before Anderson's allocation of the 1998 northern shrimp harvest remain unhappy. Many hope that the province will be able to wield some influence with Ottawa when it comes to allocation of the resource next year. "Provincial bureaucrats have always supported our efforts," says Pat Fougere. "But the political arm of the provincial government needs to become more knowledgeable about fisheries issues under the jurisdiction of the federal government and to start aggressively researching, packaging, and pressing for Nova Scotia's inherent fishing rights." back to top "Son of TAGS" Many folks have been asking about the successor to The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy (TAGS), which was announced by DFO Minister David Anderson in late June. In late July, more details were made public, but there's still a lot to be worked out. Here's what we know so far about the "Son of TAGS": Altogether, there will be $730 million available to Atlantic Canada from Ottawa under the new plan, of which about 15 percent is earmarked for Nova Scotia. The total figures for the Atlantic fishery are divided up as follows: $250 million to retire groundfishery licences, $180 million for final, lump-sum payments to TAGS clients, $135 million for "adjustment measures" to help those now receiving TAGS become self-employed, or for re-training, $100 million for community and regional economic development, and up to $65 million for a "cost-shared" early retirement programme. Here are the main highlights for each of these sections: licence retirement programme. Those who retire their groundfish licences will, it seems, have to leave the fishery permanently, sell or return any other licences they have, and surrender their Personal Fishing Registration, or its equivalent; early retirement. In order to be eligible for the announced programme, which is to be cost-shared with the provinces after upcoming negotiations, TAGS clients must be between 55 and 64 years of age as of December 31, 1998. The early retirement benefit will equal 70 percent of a claimant's weekly TAGS cheque. Only those who do not make use of any of the other post-TAGS measures will qualify, so early retirement can't be used in conjunction with the licence retirement programme; final, lump-sum payment. This will be available to TAGS clients who do not opt for either a licence buy-out or early retirement. The maximum anyone can receive will be the amount they would have received had they continued to draw TAGS benefits until next May, the date the programme was originally scheduled to end. Those with earned annual income of less than $26,000 will get full payment, while those who earn more will receive less, on a sliding scale that will see those earning more than $40,000 getting nothing at all. The amount eligible people receive will depend on the duration of their original TAGS entitlement and benefit rate, and the payments will be taxable, but not insurable for EI purposes. It's expected that final, lump-sum payments will range from a few hundred dollars to more than $14,000; adjustment measures. This programme will be designed to help people on TAGS leave the fishery altogether. It will provide assistance to those seeking to find work through job-creation partnerships and self-employment. It will also help clients with skills training and provide financial assistance to those wishing to move from small fishing communities to larger centres. As well, EI regulations introduced last year to make more people on TAGS eligible to apply for EI will be extended beyond a previously planned expiry at the end of August; community and regional economic development. This aspect of "Son of TAGS," to be administered by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, seems to be the most difficult to get a handle on at this point. Ottawa says it wants to help communities by encouraging regional and local development through federal-provincial cost-sharing agreements. Its goals are to "improve the investment climate" in small communities and to provide infrastructure, such as hatcheries for aquaculture, attractions for tourism, and "centres of excellence" for technology. It is important to bear in mind that the final form of all of these measures is, at this point, far from certain: everything is still open to the possibility of change. Ottawa's announcement of "Son of TAGS" is riddled with phrases like "subsequent to consultations with provinces and stakeholders," and so precise details are not yet available. Already, however, a number of fisheries organizations have criticized several aspects of the plan. In particular, many believe that the licence buy-back programme shouldn't require that fish harvesters surrender their other licences when they sell their groundfish licences and that the early retirement plan should be available to all TAGS recipients older than 50. Stay tuned to Coastal Communities News for more details as they become available. Got a question for Dear Cod? Contact us at: #10, 3521 Windsor St., Halifax, N.S. B3K 5G6 Phone: 445-7168 Fax: 445-7134 e-mail: ccnews@ns.sympatico.ca We also welcome your comments and community updates. Let fellow CCN members know what's happening in your area. back to top Coastal Communities News Acknowledgements Coastal Communities News is published bi-monthly by the Coastal Communities Network, a non-profit society registered in the province of Nova Scotia. Coastal Communities News is made possible by the generous efforts of many volunteers, and by financial contributions from Human Resources Development Canada, and by donations and in-kind contributions from the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Culture, as well as from member groups and organizations. We welcome all articles and submissions, from individuals and groups, with content in keeping with the role and nature of this magazine. We reserve the right to edit all submissions. Except where additional credit has been given, all articles are prepared by the Editor and Editorial Board. Join the Coastal Communities Network Our Mission Statement The Coastal Communities Network is a volunteer association of organizations whose mission is to provide a forum to encourage dialogue, share information, and create strategies and actions that promote the survival and development of Nova Scotia's coastal and rural communities. "A Large Voice for Small Communities" CCN is made up of organizations rooted in Nova Scotia's coastal and rural communities, and it is the diversity of its membership that gives it strength. Your organization, and your community, can help CCN determine its direction and strengthen its voice still further. Join the Coastal Communities Network today. How to Become Involved in the Coastal Communities Network CCN's strength lies in its membership, which is made up of organizations rooted in Nova Scotia's coastal communities. The range of member organizations is very broad, including churches, fish harvester groups, municipalities, community and regional economic development agencies, unions, universities, and local community groups. CCN welcomes the participation of any organization that represents the interests of a coastal community or issue and is interested in working together with similar groups across the province. Your organization can become involved in a number of ways: — by participating in regular monthly meetings of the CCN membership. These are held in Truro (usually on the first Tuesday of each month), and allow representatives from member organizations to review what is happening in coastal communities across the province, plan actions on issues of common concern, and review progress on CCN-sponsored projects; — by getting on our mailing list to receive regular copies of Coastal Communities News. Send us your name and address by mail or fax, or call us directly; — by contributing written articles to Coastal Communities News, and so letting everyone know what's happening in your community; — by taking part in CCN workshops and information sessions. Special events like this are held on topics of importance to coastal communities (for example, community economic development, co- management in the fishery, etc); — by inquiring about CCN's resource library, which includes information, reports, and studies on topics that affect the future and sustainability of coastal communities. You may contact us at: CCN Coordinator: PO Box 1613 Pictou, N.S. B0K 1H0 Phone:(902)485-4754 Fax:(902)445-7134 e-mail:coastalnet@ns.sympatico.ca CCN Communications Office: Phone: (902) 445-7168 Fax: (902) 445-7134 e-mail:ccnews@ns.sympatico.ca back to top

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