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Letter From The Publisher
Back in Your
Mailbox Again!
Well, we're a bit late, but Coastal Communities News is still
in business. In the last issue, we issued a heads-up to our readers
that the November/December issue may be our last. The evidence you hold
in your hands proves the inaccuracy of that, and for this we are all
delighted.
Our thanks for our ongoing ability to publish this magazine must go
first and foremost to the Nova Scotia Department of Education, which
was wise enough to see the educational value in keeping people in our
rural and coastal communities in touch with one another through our
pages. Thanks are due to two other provincial departments as well: both
Community Services and Economic Development saw fit to put some funds
in a pot that will allow us to continue our visits to your mailbox.
No, it's not guaranteed funding for ever and ever. In this day
and age, there isn't any such thing as that, as any of our readers
involved with local community groups know all too well. But the help
the province is providing will give us some breathing space to seek
alternative, longer-term sources of support for this publication. Over
the next few issues, we'll be working in partnership with adult
literacy groups in different parts of the province to help them tell
their own stories in their own ways. Watch for that, and for more of
the sort of community stories you've come to expect in these pages.
A couple months ago, the Coastal Communities Network (CCN)
feared that its voice would be muted by the demise of this magazine.
We're grateful that this isn't about to happen. Through
the pages of this magazine, as well as through its many other important
endeavours, CCN will continue to be A Large Voice for Small Communities.
CCN's Editorial Board
back to top
Fundy Gem: Harbourville
A Great Place to
Run out of Gas
by Scott Milsom
There are few more stirring views in all of Nova Scotia than those
offered after coming up from the Annapolis Valley over the North Mountain
and down toward the Fundy shore on a sunny day. As you descend, the
blue of sky meeting the deeper blue of sea delights the eyes. There
are a number of roads in Kings County alone that climb out of the Valley
and then fall seaward to small communities along the Bay of Fundy, places
such as Scot's Bay, Hall's Harbour, Baxter's Harbour,
Canada Creek, and Morden. But none offer a more stunning panorama than
the road leading north from Berwick to Harbourville. As I coast down
the north slope of the mountain on a crystal-clear Friday morning in
late November, I see the familiar sky-meets-sea vista, punctuated only
by the high brown cliffs of Ile Haute at the mouth of Minas Channel
and the far shore of Cumberland County and Cape d'Or.
I've come to try to get a sense of what moves this little community
of 250 to 300 people, and to that end I've agreed to meet local
resident Holly MacDonald in the Harbourville
Community Hall. I arrive and am met by Holly and about a half-dozen
other women active in the Harbourville Restoration Society (HRS), which,
among other things, is responsible for the running of the Hall. There's
a bit of an emergency to deal with: the furnace isn't working,
and it's cold enough that the pipes might freeze. But after a
few phone calls and a fair bit of tinkering, the heat comes on and,
though a chill remains, the danger has passed. The women get busy about
the Hall, putting up Christmas decorations and making preparations for
a community pot-luck supper set for the coming Sunday.
Holly tells me that the Community Hall was, until sometime in the 1960s,
a two-room schoolhouse. When the school was shut down, the Harbourville
Women's Sewing Circle, which has been a going concern in this
community for more than 100 years now, took over the building,
Holly tells me. When the HRS got together a few years back, it
made sense for it to take over the Hall, but if it hadn't been
for the ladies of the Sewing Circle, this building would have been long
gone by now.
The people of Harbourville, through the HRS, have been at work for a
number of years in a long-term effort to fix the community's crumbling
wharves. In days gone by, Harbourville was the busiest port on the Nova
Scotian side of Fundy, but as seaborne commerce declined over the years
the wharves were sorely neglected. The HRS was founded in 1999 to address
the need for major repairs. The provincial Department of Economic Development
pledged $200,000 some time ago, but it was contingent on our ability
to find matching funds from other sources, says Holly, who serves on
the HRS's Board. Just yesterday, we received word from the Atlantic
Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) that they're going to pitch
in with $250,000. Together with funding already secured for wharf repairs
through an agreement between the Annapolis Valley First Nation and the
federal Department of Fisheries, the money now in place will go a long
way toward all that needs to be done. We still need about another $500,000,
but we're delighted with this most recent news. Fixing the wharf will
be a big boost for the community, and it will do wonders for tourism
in the area.
Indeed, the good news seems to motivate the women as they go about preparing
the Hall for Sunday's gathering, when the HRS will make its official
announcement to the community about ACOA's decision. That's
not the only piece of good news we'll have Sunday, quips
Holly. Santa will be here too.
Among the women at the Hall this morning is Harbourville native Mary
DesRoches, who now lives on the other side of the North Mountain
in Somerset, just north of Berwick. After coffee, Mary and I leave the
other women to their work and she takes me on a round of visits that
begins next door at the home of life-long Harbourville resident and
Sewing Circle member Jenny Morton. She invites us into
her living room, which commands a lovely Fundy view.
I was born in this house, Jenny tells me. My Dad
used to drive the mail between Berwick and Harbourville, back in the
days, long ago, when there was still a post office here. Jenny
can remember back to the 1930s, a time when Harbourville was a bustling
port. Groceries would come by boat from Saint John, and there
were, at one time, five stores here, and two hotels, she says.
Then, in the '50s, we had a dance hall here, and people
of all ages would come to the dances. Local musicians would play country
music, and, though there wasn't supposed to be any drinking, bottles
got passed around. But there was never any trouble.
At one time, there were lighthouses both in Harbourville and on Ile
Haute, and Jenny remembers a particular Christmas tradition that developed.
The lightkeeper on Ile Haute would be very isolated from the
rest of the world, especially in winter, Jenny explains, and
people in Harbourville developed the habit of lighting a bonfire on
Christmas Eve as a way of wishing him and his family a Merry Christmas.
He would signal back with a fire of his own to let us know that all
was well.
Mary, who attended elementary school in the two-room schoolhouse that
is now the Community Hall, remembers the Harbourville lighthouse. At
one time, my father was the lightkeeper there, but the Coast Guard closed
it down in the 1950s, she says. I remember getting out
of school one day in the early 1960s, and there was the Coast Guard,
tearing down the light. I was devastated, and angry too, because there
was nothing wrong with the structure. It was a lesson to me as a young
person that, if people in communities want to be heard, well, they had
better start speaking up. The light on Ile Haute is still operated
by the Coast Guard, though it has been automated since the 1950s.
After our visit with Jenny, Mary and I drive up a dirt road to see Margaret
Swindell, who owns and operates a small farm on the outskirts
of Harbourville. Like Jenny Morton, she too can boast that she still
lives in the house in which she was born. This house was built
in the middle of the nineteenth century, she tells me, sitting
in her farmhouse kitchen. My Dad bought it in 1923, and I took
over from him in 1963. As a kid, I'd tag along with Dad as he
did the chores around the farm. (If it was dark, he'd use an oil
lamp, because we didn't get electricity here until after World
War Two.) When I went to school, I had to wear a dress, but I'd
come right home after classes, go up to my room, put on my pants, and
go on out to the barn.
I remark that there can't be too many farms around the province
operated by single women. I never had any interest in marrying
anyone, she tells me, because I like being my own person,
not having to ask anyone's permission to do things. She
explains that she raises beef cattle and grows grain, potatoes, hay,
and also tends a small vegetable garden. I used to also keep
some dairy cattle, she says, but I got out of that ten
years ago, when the last of the cream trucks that used to come up over
the mountain stopped coming.
I've liked the life I've lived here through the years,
she tells me just before we leave. I've been happy, and
I wouldn't trade my life for Queen Elizabeth's.
Our next stop is Fundy Lore, an art gallery that features
the works of painter Horst Maria Gilhauman and is operated
by Ly Munk. As Mary and I admire the beautiful paintings
and prints that feature Harbourville's day-to-day life, Ly tells
me that she and Horst, who was born in Germany in 1936 but emigrated
to Ontario in his 30s, discovered Harbourville after the couple came
to the area in the early 1990s so Horst could study philosophy at Acadia
University in Wolfville. We fell in love with Nova Scotia because
of its unique lifestyle, and with Harbourville for the very same reason,
Ly says. When we first came here, the community had seen better
times, but in recent years there's been a huge resurgence of community
pride. There's a restaurant that's been operating here for
four years now, and the gallery is entering its third year.
We make a final stop at the home of Greg Hamilton,
who fishes scallop, herring, mackerel, and lobster from Harbourville,
and who also operates a fish market on the waterfront during the summer
months. We find him hard at work in his garage, which is dominated by
the rusty, wheel-less hulk of what he tells me is a 1935 Ford. I'm
looking at this as a two-year project, Greg says of his restoration
effort. I got the body on the Eastern Shore for $500, but I expect
I'll sink thousands more into it. I'm having a really hard
time trying to find a front grille for it.
Greg, who is married and has three grown children still living in the
area, is one of seven people (including two Native fishermen from the
Annapolis Valley First Nation Reserve near Cambridge), who fish out
of Harbourville. In my younger years, I worked as a carpenter
in the Valley, he says, but I wanted to get into fishing,
and I did that in the early '80s. I've seen changes over
the years in the fishery here. On the negative side, of course, the
groundfish have gone way down, but on the positive side of things, lobster
catches and prices have been remarkable. And new practices adopted in
the scallop fishery over the years seem to have helped the stocks, so
things look good for the future of that fishery too.
As Mary and I head back to the Community Hall, she explains that there
are a lot of non-residents who have bought land in the Harbourville
area in recent years. They come here because of the beauty the
community offers, she says and most of them are great
additions to the community. But it's made land prices go through
the roof. I'd love to move back here, but it's just too
expensive now.
Back at the Hall, the furnace has by now done its warming work and the
women have pretty much got things ready for the upcoming Sunday. After
the Sunday supper, Holly MacDonald tells me, we'll
have a Christmas Food Drive for the Berwick Food Bank here, and then
we'll close her down for the season.
When I remark that the people of Harbourville seem very welcoming to
people who come here from away, Lois Bearden, one of the women who has
busied herself through the morning here replies, I'm one
of them. Back in the '70s, Russia Road [which veers off the main
road from Berwick as one descends into Harbourville], was pretty much
'hippy central.' My husband's Mom was a Cajun, and
he didn't want to go to Vietnam, so we figured it was a good time
to come up here and look into his Acadian roots. We got to Harbourville,
and ran out of gas. We've been here ever since.
As I head back up over the north slope of the North Mountain toward
Berwick, I take one last look in the rear-view mirror of the lovely
vision of Ile Haute, then check my gas gauge, seeing that I'll
be fine. But, So what? I think. Even if I ran out of gas,
I'd simply coast back down to Harbourville, where I know I'd
be well taken care of.
For more information on Harbourville, visit <www.harbourville.ca>.
To learn more about the art and philosophy of Horst Maria Guilhauman,
visit <www.tilltoppress.com>.
If you have a front grille for a 1935 Ford in your garage or attic,
please call Greg Hamilton at 538-9707.
Discussion Points
1. Can you see, or feel the effects of, the deterioration of rural infrastructure
and government services in your own community?
2. Do you believe there are seniors in your community who have in their
memories valuable lessons of history that might benefit younger generations?
If so, how might you be able to help preserve the wisdom of those memories?
3. If agriculture is major part of your community's economy, how
has the decline of small farm operations affected life in your community?
4. How open do you believe your community is to people from away who
move into your midst? If it is open, why do you think that's so?
If it isn't very open, why not?
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CCN's 2002 Proud Community Awards
Dancing, and
Celebrating, Excellence
More than 70 people gathered at the Glengarry Best Western in Truro
on the evening of November 13 for the Coastal Communities Network's
(CCN's) third annual Proud Community Award (PCA) presentations
and Gala Dinner. Regaled by good food and Irish dance the young
people of Truro's Leydon School of Irish dance put on quite a
show representatives from community groups across the province
celebrated ten outstanding achievements of individuals and organizations
that have made Nova Scotia's coastal and rural communities better
places to live.
After reviewing scores of nominations, our panel of judges selected
two finalists in each of five categories. After dinner, the winners
and runners-up in each category were revealed. They were:
Community Innovation, Winner:
Truro Tree Committee
Recent years have seen the devastation of many trees across the province
by Dutch elm disease. The Truro area has been particularly hard hit,
and beginning in 1999 this group decided to make the best of a bad situation.
Since then, more than 30 sculptures celebrating the town's heritage
and history have been made by a number of artists. Handed the lemons
of Dutch elm disease, this group has made lemonade and,
in the process has honoured Truro's history and heritage. As well,
the group has produced a booklet to guide visitors on a Truro
Tree Sculpture Tour.
Community Innovation, Runner-Up: River John CAP Site
Committee
These volunteers are committed to promoting the rural way of life and
furthering the economic development of their village through information
technology. They view education as central to this, and they have offered
no-cost courses on computer troubleshooting, as well as other courses
to help local businesses and individuals hone their computer skills.
The Committee has established a program that offers businesses within
a three-mile radius free access to the internet without tying up a phone
line. To see more about the work of this Committee, visit <www.riverjohn.com>.
Culture, Winner:
CKJM-Cheticamp Co-op Radio
A group of citizens concerned about the erosion of Acadian culture in
the Cheticamp area formed a non-profit co-op in 1992 to raise funds
for a community-based radio station. In 1995 CKJM went on the air, and
since that time it has successfully preserved and promoted the local
culture. The station has, from the beginning, been open to the community.
With more than 60 percent of the programs hosted by volunteers, virtually
everyone in the community is given the opportunity to participate. For
the past seven years, CKJM has been fostering both cultural and community
pride in the Cheticamp area.
Culture, Runner-Up:
Weymouth Falls Community Unity
This group was established to help the African-Nova Scotian communities
of Digby and Annapolis counties overcome existing barriers relating
to employment issues. It soon realized, however, that community members
had broader concerns, including education, the preservation of heritage,
community pride, economic development, youth, and other issues. The
group holds regular meetings and workshops, and offers programs to highlight
community strengths and to overcome barriers to local development.
Resource Management, Winner:
Scotian Gold Co-op
With its re-organization in the 1980s, this farmer-owned co-op has helped
Valley apple growers overcome the fickle demands of the global marketplace.
While half of Nova Scotia's apples go to low-yield commodity products
like juice, the vast majority of Scotian Gold apples are premium eating
apples. The co-op has worked to develop new varieties of high-end apples,
and has helped give producers control of their future. Today, co-op
members have the ability to plan for the continuity of their farms for
future generations.
Resource Management, Runner-Up:
Guysborough County Inshore
Fishermen's Association
This group has brought together small-boat fishermen along the coast
of Guysborough County to work democratically in their common interest.
Through this group, crab allocations are shared by the inshore fleet.
It is also involved, in partnership with other fisheries organizations,
in several lobster conservation programs and is active in the management
of groundfish resources for inshore harvesters. Throughout all its deliberations,
this organization has always stressed the twin themes of democratic
representation and the sustainability of fisheries resources and harvesting
methods.
Small Business, Winner:
Ray Doucet, Manager, Cheticamp Co-op
As manager of this local co-op for the past 30 years, Ray has seen annual
sales rise from $200,000 to approximately $10 million. Having expanded
to a full grocery section, an in-store bakery, and hardware and building-supply
sections, the co-op has helped keep millions of dollars in the community.
Ray's devotion to community is evident in his volunteer efforts
that successfully challenged government plans to take health-care services
from the Cheticamp area. He also worked tirelessly to help local fish
harvesters and plant workers take cooperative ownership of a local fish
plant.
Small Business, Runner-Up:
Homestead Craft Shop at Maud's Place
In partnership with Maud's Place, a fledgling heritage museum
in Brookfield, this venture has brought together more than twenty area
craftspeople in a cooperative effort to both market their wares and
stimulate growth in the local economy. Operated this past summer from
mid-June to mid-September, the shop was staffed entirely by volunteer
craftspeople. Many who had previously restricted their sales to Christmas
bazaars were able to expand summer sales. Through the project, local
craftspeople democratically shared their talents and ideas. Plans are
now well underway for the 2003 season.
Youth, Winner: Graham Dixon
This fourteen-year-old is a reliable and innovative volunteer at the
Samuel Wood Museum Complex in Wood's Harbour .He has helped with
food-drives, fund-raising events, and Child Wellness Days. Whenever
something needs doing at the Complex, Graham is there, filled with ideas
and enthusiasm. When a fire escape needed replacement, Graham seized
the initiative by drawing up plans and ordering lumber. When computers
needed moving, Graham offered fresh ideas and lent a central hand. No
matter what is needed at a given time, others at the Complex know that
Graham can be relied on to both come up with good ideas and then follow
through on them.
Youth, Runner-Up: Cornelia van den Hoek
Cornelia, who has just finished high school, hails from Economy, Colchester
County. After attending a youth leadership course, Cornelia noticed
that many people in her area had to drive an hour to attend 4-H activities.
So, she organized a large group of both adults and young people to establish
the Glooscap 4-H Club in Economy. This has allowed more local young
people to become involved with 4-H. Cornelia also noticed another need
in her community a chronic shortage of swim instructors. So,
she took two years of courses, and, in cooperation with local pool owners,
has offered swimming instruction in three different local communities.
In past years CCN held its Proud Community Awards as part of its Annual
General Meeting. This year, however, it decided to hold a two-day event
that included a Trade Fair, workshops, and a Town Hall
meeting hosted by the Nova Scotia Rural Team, a group consisting of
representatives from federal and provincial governments as well as a
number of community-based activists from around the province. CCN also
found sponsors (see box, this page) to help defray the costs of the
event. We are grateful to all of them.
Although CCN often has to deal with things that don't work for
coastal and rural Nova Scotia, the 2002 Proud Community Awards were
a celebration of what is working. All the finalists serve as inspirations
to those of us still working away in our efforts to make our communities
better places to live and work.
For more information on the Coastal Communities Network,
its Proud Community Awards, or the 2002 winners and runners-up, contact
Scott Milsom, CCN Communications Officer, at 445-7168.
Discussion Point
Does your community or municipality find ways to celebrate those whose
work betters life for the entire community? If so, how?
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Nova Scotia's Farmers
Growing to
Feed the World
Farmers feed the world. In Nova Scotia, more than 50 different crops
are grown and many types of livestock are raised. Safe, quality food
is a top priority for farmers and the agricultural industry in the the
province. Agriculture is responsible for more than 16,000 Nova Scotian
jobs.
Try your luck at our Agri-Quiz to test your knowledge of this vital
Nova Scotian industry
1. How many people does one Nova Scotia farmer feed?
a: 100
b: 120
c: 140
2. What type of apple is grown only in Nova Scotia?
a: Cortland
b: Delicious
c: Gravenstein
3. How many litres of maple sap does it take to make
one litre of maple syrup?
a: 20
b: 30
c: 40
4. How many eggs can a hen lay in a year?
a: 184
b: 284
c: 384
5: What is Nova Scotia's provincial berry?
a: cranberry
b: strawberry
c: blueberry
6: How many glasses of milk does a dairy cow produce
each day?
a: 100
b: 200
c: 300
7: How many beef farms are there in Nova Scotia?
a: 1,000
b: 2,000
c: 3,000
Answers
1: b 2: c 3: c 4:
b 5: c 6: a 7: a
Source: Nova Scotia Dept. of Agriculture
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Charities and
Democracy
People who live in Nova Scotia's small rural and coastal communities
are all too well
aware of a dynamic shift in government over the past several years.
In the name of fiscal responsibility, the feds decide
they are getting out of a particular business. (Remember, for example,
the days when Ottawa felt it was part of its job to manage and maintain
wharves because they were central to the viability of so many of our
coastal communities?) When such things happen, people look to the provincial
government for support. But, not being given any resources from Ottawa
to help out with these former federal responsibilities, the buck gets
passed on to municipalities. Typically, these are at least as starved
for funds as the province, and the job at hand inevitably has to be
picked up by groups of unpaid volunteers. (For example, look to your
local Harbour Authority, which is almost certainly made up of unpaid
volunteers. Look also at more distant and lower quality health care,
or to local school closures, to see the effects of federal and provincial
unloading of responsibilities.)
People in our communities typically band together in the face of this
withdrawal of responsibility on the part of government. They do what
they can by forming community-based organizations to fill in the widening
gaps of need. Whether the job before it is providing alternative transportation
for those needing health care or organizing a drop-in centre for young
people, community groups are in constant need of funding. While many
government programs might underwrite specific projects, they are almost
universally unwilling to fund core activities for these
community groups. And, as often as not, government agencies will ask
for matching funding from other sources. Community groups
typically spend much time and effort dressing up their core
activities as projects in order to secure funding to do
the work that needs to be done in their communities.
There is another potential source of funding community groups might
make use of, but the way things stand today, many of them are unable
to. There are many charitable foundations and generous individuals who
would like to help local community groups with their worthwhile projects,
but current taxation regulations make it very hard for community groups
to take advantage of this. Because of the taxation benefits of giving
to charity, charitable foundations, in particular, can only fund activities
defined as charitable by the Canada Customs and Revenue
Agency (CCRA), the gatekeeper of charitable status in
Canada. Sadly, many community groups that apply for charitable status
are turned down, because of the very outdated definition of what activities
qualify as charitable.
The laws regulating charitable activities in Canada are based on English
laws from the 1600s, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. They restrict
charities to the following four activities: the relief of poverty, the
advancement of education, the advancement of religion, and other purposes
beneficial to the community. You would think that other purposes
beneficial to the community would include all sorts of good works,
but the courts have interpreted this very narrowly. And, the way the
CCRA defines the advancement of education is also narrowly
interpreted. It may not include, for example the publication of educational
materials that raise public awareness about a given issue. In fact,
the CCRA's definition is so narrow that it usually includes only
educational institutions. So, while the CCRA might consider giving a
man a fish as the relief of poverty, if you simply show
him how to fish, it may not be considered the advancement of
education. You might have to put the man in a classroom and teach
him how to fish there in order to qualify under the CCRA's current
definition. You'd think learning to fish might involve water somewhere,
wouldn't you?
Along with such narrow definitions, the CCRA enforces another regulation
that often leads to applications for charitable status being denied.
This is its ten percent rule, which restricts the advocacy
activities of any charitable organization to ten percent of all its
activities. Thus, an organization that offers aid to people with, for
instance, lung cancer, would probably be looked upon as a charitable
organization by the CCRA, but if that same organization was found to
be spending eleven percent of its efforts to promote clean air and smoke-free
areas it could be judged to be doing too much advocacy work and therefore
have its charitable status denied or revoked.
So, a charity can distribute band-aids to injured workers, but it had
better not advocate too strongly for safer workplaces. To make matters
worse, the CCRA's interpretation and application of its regulations
is often inconsistent and arbitrary. The environmental group Greenpeace
is considered too political for charitable status, while
the Fraser Institute, a right-wing, pro-big business think-tank, is
not. In recent years, a YWCA in rural Ontario was refused charitable
status until it removed mention of women's rights in its application.
In Québec, a Christian group was told it would be refused charitable
status because its mission the elimination of torture
involved lobbying certain governments to change their policies. So,
the group could cheer up prisoners who had been tortured, but it was
not allowed to appeal to governments to stop torturing people in their
prisons. And, the list of such examples goes on.
Happily, there's a national coalition working to help the process
of change along. A Vancouver-based group called the Institute for Media,
Policy, and Civil Society, together with the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy,
have launched a Charities and Democracy project to hear
the voices of community groups across the country and to develop means
to convince the federal government that changes to our charities laws
are essential. Change is needed to allow community groups to do the
work that has to be done to assure the survival and development of our
small communities. In 2001, the project heard from over 700 people as
part of a National Dialogue on Charities and Advocacy. This past fall,
workshops were held across the country to further the movement for change.
Other countries such as Scotland and Australia have recently updated
their charity laws to reflect 21st-century realities. It's long
past time that Canada did the same.
Government representatives from departments at all levels have appealed
to community groups across Nova Scotia and across Canada
to tell them how government policies can be harmonized to benefit our
small communities. Well, folks, here's an ideal place to start.
Scott Milsom
For more information on the Charities and Democracy
project, visit <www.impacs.org/policy/>.
Discussion Points
1. How does government downloading affect people in small communities?
2. How can getting charitable status help make the work of community-based
groups more effective?
3. Is education something that can only happen in a classroom?
Can you think of things that have helped educate you that took place
outside a classroom setting?
4. Should environmental groups that advocate policy changes for environmental
reasons be considered charitable?
back to top
Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve
Working for the
Environment, Practically
by Scott Milsom
In 1987, as the environmental movement was gaining ground across the
globe, the United Nations (UN) issued the Brundtland
Report. Named for the Norwegian Prime Minister of the time, it was also
given the title Our Common Future. It defined sustainable development
as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. That's
a huge order, but since that time the UN has been working to promote
the concept.
One of the means it has chosen to move this work forward is through
the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's
(UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Program, which has seen the
establishment of more than 400 biosphere reserves around
the world, including twelve in Canada, and one the Southwest
Nova Biosphere Reserve (SNBR) in Nova Scotia.
Lunerburg-area resident Wanda Baxter is the voluntary
Project Coordinator of the SNBR Association, and I
met her to try to get to the bottom of the biosphere reserve
concept, and what it might mean to people living in southwestern Nova
Scotia.
The SNBR received its designation in September of 2001, after
a group of local volunteers made application to UNESCO, Wanda
says. The whole idea of biosphere reserves is that it's
a voluntary thing. Perhaps the word 'reserve' is a bit unfortunate,
in fact, because it implies that there won't be change. Of course,
there will. The biosphere reserve concept recognizes that education,
culture, and the economy are all inter-linked. Each biosphere reserve
has a core protected area, and in our case this is Kejimkujik National
Park and the adjacent Tobeatic Wildlife Management Area. But the biosphere
is far larger than these smaller protected areas, and we are looking
at the five counties Annapolis, Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne and
Queens that make up the SNBR. The whole of southwestern Nova
Scotia is really a unique series of ecosytems.
Wanda explains that the SNBR and other biosphere reserves serve three
functions. First is a conservation function, to conserve landscapes,
ecosystems, species, and genetic variation. Next is a development function,
to foster economic and human development that is culturally, socially,
and ecologically sustainable. Finally, there is a logistical function,
providing support for research, monitoring, education, and the exchange
of information related to issues of conservation and development.
We're working with landowners throughout the entire area,
Wanda says. Our first aim is education: it's important
that people see the SNBR, not as something intrusive, but as something
that can be helpful in people's development plans. The keyword
is 'sustainability.'
How, I ask Wanda, would the laying of sewer pipe in Yarmouth in, say,
ten years from now, be affected by the existence and growth of the SNBR?
It's not that we'd want to go in there and tell them
they have to do it this way or that way, she responds. We
don't ever want to develop into anything resembling a regulatory
body. In an ideal world, our existence would simply mean that more information
was available, that the 'sustainable development bar' was
set higher, and that people in Yarmouth might take some pride in the
fact that they were laying their sewer pipes in a way that was better
for the environment than before.
Through partnerships with government agencies, environmental groups,
and researchers, the SNBR has worked to raise awareness about species
at risk, such as the very rare and secretive southern flying squirrel,
which in Canada is found only in the southern parts of Nova Scotia,
Québec, and Ontario. Along with the southern flying squirrel,
Wanda tells me, other 'species at risk' in southwestern
Nova Scotia include the mainland population of moose most of
whom spend much of their time in the Tobeatic the pine marten,
Blanding's turtle, along with several plant species. We're
working to raise awareness about all of these species.
The SNBR Association is working with government and private landowners
in a buffer zone around Keji and the Tobeatic to promote the goals of
conservation and sustainable development. It's entirely
a voluntary thing, Wanda says, but companies like J. D.
Irving and Bowater are anxious to get involved. Sure, it's good
public relations for them, but it's also good for the environment.
It used to be that environmental activists were mostly finger pointers,
pointing at bad practices. But there has been a paradigm shift, and
environmentalists are now working with the private sector and local
communities to better the environment and promote sustainable practices.
Wanda, who is from the Kingston Peninsula not far from Saint John, New
Brunswick, studied English at Mount Alison and the University of New
Brunswick, and then took an Environmental Ethics course at Dalhousie.
I was always awed by the way the natural world was portrayed
in literature like the descriptions of the English moors in
Brontë's Wuthering Heights and the writings of Henry David
Thoreau, she says. But as much as I loved school and learning,
I found that I wanted to get involved in more than the theoretical:
I wanted to dive into work that was practical, useful. After
going west to get a Master's degree in Environmental Planning
and Policy at the University of Calgary and graduating in the fall of
2001, she and her partner moved to Lunenburg. Soon, a job opening came
up, and Wanda found a way to apply her book learning in a practical
fashion by working with the SNBR Association. (Funding for that position
has dried up, at least for the time being, though Wanda continues to
work with the SNBR Association on a voluntary basis.)
One of the central aims of biosphere reserves worldwide is the promotion
of products that stem from environmentally sustainable practices. In
southwestern Nova Scotia, forestry products spring immediately to mind,
and the SNBR Association is engaged with a number of forestry organizations
to promote such products. But there is also another area with tremendous
potential: We are working with governments and the private sector
to help develop ecotourism in this part of the province, Wanda
tells me. Much has already been accomplished in this area, but
there is still a huge amount of untapped potential for ecotourism in
this part of the world.
Although the biosphere reserve concept is currently stalled in the United
States as part of the anti-UN sentiment in that country
the biosphere reserve concept is being embraced enthusiastically by
governments in Europe, and elsewhere globally. In Europe,
Wanda says, biosphere reserves are being embraced by governments.
It's something of a top-down approach there. Here, though, we
need to build things from the ground up, to make the biosphere reserve
concept a community-driven one. There's now a Canadian Biosphere
Association in place, and there's a National Roundtable on the
Environment and the Economy, which promotes the concept of biosphere
reserves and advises the Prime Minister. And the concept is also being
promoted by the Assembly of First Nations.
Last year, a group on Digby Neck was fighting to block plans by an American
company to develop a quarry. It wrote to UNESCO and asked them why the
SNBR Association wasn't helping them in their battle. We're
still brand new, Wanda explains, and we can't engage
in such struggles at this point. We are working to get firmly established,
and our priorities right now are structure and democratic governance.
We're quite encouraged by the fact that the province and a number
of municipalities have been very supportive. As well, we've had
piecemeal funding from Parks Canada and Environment Canada.
The SNBR is the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada, and having brought
municipalities onside, the Association is now looking for the province
to show its commitment and endorsement of the project. A February meeting
will set the course for the Association for the next three to six months.
It seems that the biosphere reserve concept will probably catch on here,
as it has in many other countries. Our environment will only be the
better for it.
For more information on the Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve,
visit its website at <www.thegreenpages.ca/snbr-rbsn>.
Discussion Points
1. Do economic priorities sometimes get in the way of environmental
ones? Can you think of examples in your own area?
2. Can you think of any ways that economic activities in your area might
be changed to help the environment?
3 Do you think there should be times when environmental factors should
take precedence over economic ones when it comes to a proposed economic
development?
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Law Reform Commission of Nova
Scotia
Making the Law
Serve the People
by William H. Laurence, Legal Research Counsel, Law Reform
Commission
of Nova Scotia
Can you think of a recent example of the law touching your life? Have
you sat on a jury? Do you administer the estate of a deceased spouse
or relative? Does a former spouse pay maintenance to you? Perhaps one
of the many administrative tribunals that operate in the province made
a decision that affected you. If any of these examples apply, then you
have likely benefited from the work of the Law Reform Commission of
Nova Scotia.
The Law Reform Commission is a small public body that proposes changes
to the province's laws in order for them to work better, or to
become fairer, more understandable, or better suited to current ideals
of justice. Since its establishment in 1991, the Law Reform Commission
has published reports on a broad range of topics relevant to Nova Scotians
domestic violence, maintenance enforcement, the probate system,
juries, mortgages, and mental health law are some of the subjects about
which the Commission has proposed legal reforms. Remarkably, though
a provincial public body, the Law Reform Commission has been operating
since 2001 without government funding. The Commission receives all of
its funding from the Law Foundation of Nova Scotia.
The Law Reform Commission does not make the province's laws. Rather,
law-making is the responsibility of the elected members in the House
of Assembly, through legislation, and of the province's judges,
through their case decisions. Nonetheless, Law Reform Commission proposals
are reflected in a number of provincial statutes. Assembly representatives
from all political parties have referred with approval to Commission
reports or to Commission work generally, during the course of legislative
debates
The Commission's work has also influenced the manner in which
government operates. For example, in the area of appointments to public
agencies, boards, and commissions, the provincial government recently
acknowledged, consistent with a 1997 Commission report, that the process
for choosing people should be transparent. This would
include ensuring that the criteria for an appointment would be consistent
with the agency's purpose and publicly available, and that the
process for identifying and selecting people would be clear.
The Commission's influence goes beyond legislation and government
policy. Commission reports serve an important educational function.
Available for free, either in print or through the internet, they are
used as a source of legal information by a wide range of community members.
Commission reports are used as course materials at post-secondary institutions.
Government, public interest groups, and other organizations use Commission
reports in order to develop awareness of issues and to focus discussions
among interested people. Commission reports are distributed widely.
They are available, for instance, at public and university libraries
in Nova Scotia.
Another significant role of the Commission is responding to enquiries
about the law or about aspects of the Commission's work. The Commission
does not provide legal advice, nor does it intervene in legal cases.
Nonetheless, since 1991 Commission staff have responded to a large number
of enquiries made by telephone, by fax, by letter, by e-mail, or in
person. In replying to enquiries, Commission staff have provided legal
information, copies of Commission reports, along with other documents
and contact details for government departments and other relevant institutions.
The law is meant to serve Nova Scotians. If a law is obsolete, unworkable,
confusing, or unfair, it performs a disservice, and it should be changed
or eliminated. The Law Reform Commission is committed to raising public
awareness about problems with our laws and to proposing forward-thinking
changes that will help to ensure our laws are clear, relevant, effective,
and fair.
If there are aspects of the law that you'd like to
have changed, the Law Reform Commission welcomes your comments. It can
be reached by phone at 423-2633, by fax at 423-0222, by post at 1484
Carlton Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 3B7, or by e-mail at <info@lawreform.ns.ca>.
To find out more about the Commission, visit its website at <www.lawreform.ns.ca>.
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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
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:
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