Avalon

According to a just released report by The Ecology Action Centre and the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, Nova Scotians are eating less local food than a decade ago. Only 13% of our food dollars goes towards local produce.

The report states Nova Scotia farmers cannot produce at low enough cost to compete with imports. Unless a brand is created such as Northumberland lamb or Digby scallops produce is a commodity. As the report points out ‘The only way to be viable in the food industry is to be centralized with a huge market and all the raw materials at the most economical advantage. You have to have the cheapest inputs. Our inputs aren’t the cheapest (in Nova Scotia)’.

Most of the report’s recommendations are fine; buy local, encourage 4H clubs, eat healthier (although the mention of political pressure and ‘real’ pricing is worrisome). But these baby steps do nothing to overcome the root of the problem; the lack of low cost production. Only affluent consumers would consider paying an additional $2 a pound to support local lamb.

Nova Scotians want a vibrate farm industry and sustainable farming communities. The report alludes to the solution but does not recommend it; the creation of a large regional market. Government must create a low cost environment for all business and make Atlantic Canada a large regional market in which all producers can compete. Those producers who produce the best produce at the lowest price will grow and be able to compete with imports and in other markets. There is tremendous upside for our farming industry, Nova Scotia blueberries could be exported to Chile rather than visa-versa. To not do this is to betray our farming communities.

Here is the original report
http://www.nsfa-fane.ca/files/images/file/FM_Final%202010.pdf

THE WRONG MAN has quit in Ottawa.

It’s Industry Minister Tony Clement who should have resigned Wednesday.

It’s Mr. Clement who has lost sight of his ministerial duty to protect the integrity of the national census and of Statistics Canada.

It’s Mr. Clement who has settled for being a mere cheerleader for a government political decision to replace the mandatory long-form census with a voluntary survey.

It’s Mr. Clement who has turned a deaf ear to informed census users — provincial governments, health professionals, economists, scientists, researchers, charities — who say the change will seriously degrade data needed to plan things like health and education services, jobless benefits, transportation systems, government budgets and fund-raising.

It’s Mr. Clement who has misled the public by suggesting senior staff at Statistics Canada advised they could offset the risk of degrading long-form data by surveying more people and running ads to encourage compliance.

Government statisticians don’t believe this. We know this from the man who did sadly resign, Chief Statistician Munir Sheik.

In a statement on the StatsCan website, the departing head of the agency said he could not legally comment on his advice to the minister (though he noted the government is free to release it). But he did give us his professional opinion on the “technical statistical issue” at the heart of this controversy: “whether a voluntary survey can become a substitute for a mandatory census.”

Mr. Sheik’s judgment: “It can not.”

It can’t be said more plainly than that.

How could the minister be so out of touch with his experts’ view? Mr. Clement says he was entitled to assume officials were “comfortable” with a voluntary survey because they produced this option. Let’s see the advice and let the public decide whether the voluntary plan was recommended or just damage control after an imposed political decision.

It’s a sorry tale that no senior ministers would put their jobs on the line to stick up for competent government. They clung to empty titles while a good public servant chose resignation over being used as window dressing.

( edits@herald.ca)

The premise of this opinion is wrong.

Mr. Clement has not lost sight of his duty, far from it. His primary duty as a member of Parliament is to protect the individual from encroachment and harassment by government. And yes he also has a lesser duty ‘to protect the integrity of the national census and of Statistics Canada’ and this has put him in a dilemma; uphold the fundamental rights of citizens or stick with the experts. He made the right choice. The experts are predictably not happy because their task is made harder, hence all the electronic ink spilt on this affair. And this issue is not about the extent of the data collected or whether it is a public or private group who collects it. The issue is the national census conducted in an Orwellian fashion; ‘respond or else’ and Canadians should not stand for that. The principle is clear – one person being press-ganged into participation against their will is not worth the whole government policy formation process.

Industry Minister Tony Clement has spent the past three weeks defending the federal government’s decision to take away penalties for not filling out the long-form census. Anyone who didn’t fill out the census risked fines or jail time. The head of Statistics Canada, Munir Sheikh, has quit, saying a voluntary census can’t replace a mandatory one.

Coming from a quantitative and statistical background I understand the problems of voluntary sampling that may preclude statistical inference. People who decline to answer the census probably display a number of systematic biases, for example busy dual income families with children may decline more often than retirees thus skewing the results. Government by its nature rests on clear statistical patterns in order to formulate and implement policy. It is a real problem and Mr. Sheikh as a statistician knows this.

However, the idea that government may take punitive action against individuals who decline to participate in its studies is the greater evil. Individuals should be free to decide for themselves on their involvement. As John Stuart Mill said, ” …the only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his (or her) will, is to prevent harm to others”. Since we are, presumably, a civilized society and refusing to participate with government does no direct harm to others dropping the mandatory nature of the long-form is the only correct route. I trust this is or will soon be true also of the other census forms (2A, 2C, 2D, and 6) as well.

As part of its Five Point Democracy Plan the Atlantica Party wants an end to unrecorded voting in the Nova Scotia Legislature. According to the Know How They Vote Campaign during the 59th and 60th General Assemblies, out of 853 bills only 12 votes were recorded! More recent activity has been no better.

“In a time when electors want greater transparency this is a scandal,” says Atlantica Party Leader, Jonathan Dean. “How are voters to know who voted for what or even if their representative was present in the house during the vote? Without an accurate voting recorded how can electors assess their representation? And yet when we approached the Premier and the Liberal leader the need for recorded voting was dismissed out of hand.”

It takes two MLAs to request a recorded vote. During the June 10th Glace Bay all-candidates debate all of the candidates stated they opposed anonymous voting. “On June 17th during the Yarmouth all-candidates debate I publicly stated that I oppose all anonymous voting. So if elected I will work with my colleague from Glace Bay to ensure all voting is recorded for Nova Scotians.”

As part of its Five Point Democracy Plan the Atlantica Party supports free voting in the Nova Scotia Legislature. Free voting allows MLAs to arrive at their own decision on how to vote issue by issue. Currently MLA voting is dictated by their party resulting in constituents having no say. Ideally all votes should be free votes.

“If I am a sitting MLA and I am told how to vote issue by issue, why should I take the time and energy to consult with my constituents on these issues when their opinions will not alter my vote?”, asks Atlantica Party Leader, Jonathan Dean. “Atlantica Party MLAs will constantly be consulting with their constituents on the issues of the day and that will influence their final voting decisions.”

The Atlantica Party proposes a bundle of reforms such as Recall that are intended to substantively loosen party discipline.

“Pressure to vote a certain way from one’s party is valid and in fact a good and necessary thing, but not to the extent that all other influences are stifled such as one’s constituents wishes and one’s good judgment. What we need is a balance so that each MLA can decide freely how to cast their vote.”

As part of its Five Point Democracy Plan the Atlantica Party supports Recall legislation for Nova Scotia similar to the Recall mechanism currently in use in British Columbia. Recall allows a riding signature campaign to trigger a by-election.

Until Recall is established all elected Atlantica Party MLAs vow to be re-callable; they will resign their seat after a successful signature campaign according to the BC model.

“Public trust is at an all time low in Nova Scotia. Constituents deserve a voice within the legislature, yet have none since voting is not free. What is needed is a legislature that works for the people of Nova Scotia, not one that just ‘represents’ them.”, said Dan Wilson, Atlantica Party candidate for Glace Bay.

“We propose Recall to make an elected member better motivated to serve his constituency to the best of their ability. If for some reason, said MLA were to lose the confidence of those within the riding, the constituents would be able to trigger a by-election.”

“This legislation is not a new idea, it already exists in the province of British Columbia.” said Jonathan Dean, Atlantica Party candidate for Yarmouth. “Forty percent of the riding has to sign on within sixty days, that is quite tough but good since it stops partisan and frivolous recalls. In fact 19 of 20 recalls in BC failed since they could not reach the target.”

The Atlantica Party is pleased to release its Five Point Democracy Plan for Nova Scotians. Both of our candidates, Dan Wilson (Glace Bay) and Jonathan Dean (Yarmouth) will be campaigning on these reforms in the coming weeks, reforms that are vital to our democracy’s health.

FIVE POINT DEMOCRACY PLAN

Atlantica Party Leader Jonathan Dean calls on the government to give complete access to the Auditor General and his staff.

“Why is taxpayer money falling under solicitor-client privilege to begin with? No disbursement of taxpayer’s money should ever fall under any conditions that preclude public disclosure. ” said Dean.

The Atlantica Party proposes, as part of its reform of government, that all government departments regularly make public their finances.

“Where is the Legislature on this? Why aren’t they sitting so they can compel the government to abide by the Auditor General Act? It is the Legislature’s job to oversee the government. Why must the Auditor General go it alone? With a subverted legislature it is possible for a ‘pervasive policy of secrecy’ to flourish.”

Atlantica Party Leader Jonathan Dean is pleased to announce he will represent the party in the Yarmouth by-election scheduled for June 22, 2010.

Mr. Dean, 46, will offer a real alternative to Yarmouth voters, an alternative that Nova Scotia can do better than the status quo. “Nova Scotians want and need reform but the three old fashioned parties are determined to keep things the same. Now is the time for real change!”

Jonathan Dean is the Leader and one of the founders of the Atlantica Party, Nova Scotia’s newest political party. Jonathan believes it is vital for the people of Nova Scotia to take back control of the political process. More and more Nova Scotians are realizing that other than on election day they have no say. But the Legislature is the people’s and the representatives are the people’s; not the instruments of government or parties.

The other parties are intent on keeping things the same. Only the Atlantica Party as a pro-democracy grassroots movement can offer real change. And as a ‘reluctant’ politician Jonathan knows that the only way to affect change is to do so by forming government.

The Atlantica Party (AP) is Nova Scotia’s newest registered political party, having been officially recognized by Elections Nova Scotia on March 8, 2010. The Atlantica Party is Nova Scotia’s only principled alternative and Nova Scotia’s only fiscally conservative party. AP is a grassroots pro-democracy movement in the form of a political party intent on giving Nova Scotians a real option for reform; reform of our electoral system, reform of our political system and a set of economic reforms aimed at making Nova Scotia prosperous.

Jonathan along with colleague Dan Wilson (Glace Bay) will be campaigning on the AP Democracy Plan. “I am proud to offer Yarmouth the opportunity to be in the forefront of renewal and reform!”

Jonathan Dean grew up in Halifax and West Gore, Hants County. He went to school in Halifax and runs his own firm engaged in investment research. He lives with his wife Lynn and dog Titania in Bedford, NS.

For more information, please contact Jonathan Dean’s campaign at:
http://www.electjonathandean.com
electjonathandean@atlanticaparty.ca

Atlantica Party Leader Jonathan Dean is pleased to announce that Mr. Dan Wilson will represent the party in the Glace Bay by-election scheduled for June 22, 2010.

Mr. Wilson, 23, will offer a principled alternative to Glace Bay voters, an alternative that Nova Scotia can do better than status-quo mediocrity. “Year after year, and election after election, Nova Scotia has cried out for change. After each passing campaign, promises became nothing more than memories. The three status-quo parties only care about keeping things the same. We need reform!”

Wilson was formerly a member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, having worked on his father’s campaigns over the past decade. He has chosen to terminate his membership with the party in light of the recent expense scandal and a feeling of disenfranchisement. Wilson has chosen to join the Atlantica Party in order to bring real substantive reform to provincial politics.

The Atlantica Party (AP) is Nova Scotia’s newest registered political party, having been officially recognized by Elections Nova Scotia on March 8, 2010. The Atlantica Party is Nova Scotia’s only principled alternative and Nova Scotia’s only fiscally conservative party. AP is a grassroots pro-democracy movement in the form of a political party intent on giving Nova Scotians a real option for reform; reform of our electoral system, reform of our political system and a set of economic reforms aimed at making Nova Scotia prosperous.

Wilson will be campaigning to bring more accountability and transparency to the Legislature. For example, Wilson and the Atlantica Party believe that the House of Assembly needs to mandate all votes be recorded and disclosed real time so that constituents have an objective source of information for their MLA’s voting record. Additionally, Wilson believes that Nova Scotia should implement a system of recall, where constituents can trigger a by-election if displeased with their MLA.

“This is what it means to be accountable to the constituents of the town that I call home, and indeed all of the people in this province that I call home.”

Dan Wilson is the son of Dave and Nancy Wilson of Bridgeport. He graduated from Glace Bay High School with the class of 2005. For more information, please contact Dan Wilson’s campaign at:
http://www.electdanwilson.com
electdanwilson@atlanticaparty.ca