Environmental News from2xWinner BC and the World Feeding My Family • Corn on the Line • Land Grabs Ancient Forest Friendly Gold

March - April 2013 Newstand Price $4.95 Watershed Sentinel staff Don Malcolm and Susan MacVittie model our new T-shirts. You can have one too for only $25 postage included! T-Shirts are all organic cotton in Natural or Dark Brown, and come in Small, Medium, Large or X-large. They are pre- shrunk, but you should allow for a small amount of shrinkage. Only the Natural colour has the slogan “Be a Hip Wader.”

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November/Decemb Newstand Price er 2008 MegaThe P robleMs - $4.50 MegaEND Fix? – Changing the Vote of – Bute Battle – SavingPRICE Caribou – FreeInside: Trade with Colombia? Eat Globally, E&N – History of a Rip Off Get Sick Waste Not, Want Not Locally Rights for the Earth Gordo Goes for Gold! Plan B * Japan’s Slow-Life Salmon Wisdom * Inside: * Power Saver by the Numbers Depleted Uranium and Me Vol 18 No 1 ISSN 1188-360X

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Watershed Sentinel March-April 2013 Watershed

March-April 2013 Sentinel Vol. 23, No. 2 Food & Health 10 Cities Take on Toxics Monitoring Toronto’s new efforts to protect the air 12 Securing Our Future The world is facing a potential crisis of food security. The challenge is to produce and supply enough safe and nutritious food in a sustainable way for a growing global population. Edited by Susan MacVittie 13 Waste Not, Want Not Restaurants donate food for the needy 14 Genetic Engineering: Failed Experiment Lucy Sharratt examines the multiple Mordor, AB - Sustaining the Canadian Economy ways genetic engineering is failing 16 Food Policy Diana Bronson on Canada’s policy gaps Land & Water 18 Young Agrarians 4 BC Liberals Try to Privatize BC Forests Supporting a new crop of farmers 20 Corn on the Line 6 Revisiting Global Heating Dawn Paley explains how NAFTA changed Rex Weyler does the math on the climate change Mexico’s food situation dramatically that’s inevitable in our children’s future 23 The Day the Wheat Board Died 9 Update on Raven Coal Mine Proposal Gavin Fridell on how the government sided with corporate agriculture 34 Island Water Conservation and Care 24 Feeding My Family Not so easy in Nunavut Society 26 Land Grabs 8 Vote Environment Industrial agriculture displaces the Lisa Matthaus on how to make the Earth count in world’s poor for profit the political calculus, no matter who wins 29 Meet Your Maker Connecting local producers and buyers 11 Idle No More Heather Menzies on right relations 30 Government by Spin Machine Cover Photo Joyce Nelson tells us that what Hill + Knowlton’s Ester Strijbos clients want, Hill + Knowlton’s clients get. News & Other 18 3, 5 News Briefs 4 Letters Not a Subscriber Yet? 36 Wild Times Joe Foy on Site C Look for the subscription form inserted for your Printed on Enviro 100, post consumer recycled, 26 convenience FSC®-Certified paper, with vegetable inks. March-April 2013 EDITORIAL Watershed You Need To Know We know it gets depressing reading “bad” news all the time, and we Sentinel try to fill our pages with reminders that all over Canada, and all over Publisher Watershed Sentinel the world, millions of people are working very hard at a local level to Educational Society Editor Delores Broten produce a future that does not repeat the grim lessons of history. In this Managing Editor Susan MacVittie issue, we bring news about the world of food production, from FarmFolk Associate Editors Don Malcolm CityFolk in Vancouver to the National Farmers Union, which is helping Miranda Holmes young farmers get into the trade, and on a global level helping to organ- Graphic Design Ester Strijbos Renewals Manager Dawn Christian ize La Via Campesina with peasant farmers. These kinds of projects re- Special thanks to Norleen Lillico, Caroline present the work of thousands of volunteers. Sturdy, Arthur Caldicott, Anicca de Trey, Our new T-shirts at the Watershed Sentinel have the slogan, “Catch Jim Cooperman, Gloria Jorg, Norberto the News You Need.” This applies to knowing we are not alone in our Rodriguez de la Vega, Kathy Smail, Ray efforts to improve the world, and it also seems appropriate in light of two Woollam, the writers, advertisers, distribu- tors, and all who send information, photos, of the grimmer stories in this issue. and ideas. Deep thanks to our Board of Ecologist Rex Weyler looks global warming right in the eye, adds Directors: Anicca de Trey, Alice Grange, up the numbers and proves that the UN vision of limiting temperature Mike Morrell, Pam Munroe, Norberto increases to 2O Celcius is now impossible. The implications for human Rodriguez de la Vega, Susan Yates, and history are profound: “Earth has undergone changes of this magnitude Fay Weller. before, and will endure, but human culture has not. … Our progeny now Published five times per year Subscriptions Canada $25 one year, face an uncertain and troubling future.” $40 two years; US $35 per year, Joyce Nelson has her own way of meticulously adding up the evi- Electronic only $15 a year dence as she portrays governments so deeply embedded in PR spin that Distribution by subscription, and to even the current Minister of the Environment is a former employee of the Friends of Cortes Island and Reach for giant public relations company, Hill + Knowlton. Unbleached! Free at Vancouver Island and Vancouver area libraries, and by The two stories are not unrelated, and we think they represent the sponsorship in BC colleges, universities, other side of the news you need to know. and eco-organizations. Delores Broten, Comox BC, March 2013 Member Magazines Assn of BC and Magazines Canada At the ’Shed ISSN 1188-360X Daily updates: Our Facebook page features a daily update on the latest Publication Mail Canada Post Agreement environmental news, so let’s be friends! To find us, follow the link on our web- site at www.watershedsentinel.ca. We also post new press releases there daily as well as other news headlines, and the odd rant or rave from our blog, not to mention a searchable body of the stories from past issues. Geiger Counter: The Watershed Sentinel/BCEN Geiger counter is down PM 40012720 on the coast for the spring months, so if you are interested in being on the list to Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: borrow it, let us know. We will require a security deposit and postage. Watershed Sentinel Missing a Copy? If you are missing a copy or a bundle, please let us know Box 1270, Comox and we will make it good. Email [email protected]. BC, Canada V9M 7Z8 Ph: 250-339-6117 thousands of Email [email protected] When you want your message to reach http://www.watershedsentinel.ca concerned and active readers, please contact us for our rate sheet at: [email protected] or phone our office at 250-339-6117 Disclaimer: Opinions published are not neces- or see www.watershedsentinel.ca sarily those of the publisher, editor or other staff and volunteers of the magazine. Next issue ad deadline: May 1st. Copy deadline April 15th.

Watershed Sentinel March-April 2013 NEWS

Have You Heard? Compiled by Susan MacVittie

Activists Monitored No to GM PEI Salmon Monitoring of environmental ac- Islanders Say No to GM Salmon tivists in Canada has become the “new wants the production of genetically normal,” according to a researcher at modified Atlantic salmon eggs in PEI Surveillance Studies Centre at Queen’s banned. As the US moves closer to ap- University in Kingston, Ontario, who proving human consumption of GM has analysed security documents re- salmon in the next months, attention is leased under freedom of information focused on Canada, as the only source laws. The RCMP and the Canadian Se- of GM salmon eggs on the planet. The curity Intelligence Service view activ- experimental lab-created Atlantic ist activities such as blocking access to salmon eggs have been produced by roads or buildings as “forms of attack” AquaBounty, an American company and depict those involved as national se- in Bay Fortune, PEI, for more than a Billboard on Toronto’s Gardiner Express curity threats. Protests and opposition to decade, while the company tries to con- Canada’s resource-based economy, es- vince the US to allow the mutant fish into No Assessment for Farm pecially oil and gas production, are now grocery stores. Petition at: www.avaaz. Since the federal government viewed as threats to national security. org/en/petition/Stop_Frankenfish_ passed omnibus Bill C-38 this past sum- — The Guardian, February 14, 2013 Egg_Production/?ccjFNab mer, aquaculture projects in Canada —Islanders Say No to GM Salmon, will not be assessed for environmental Green Jobs in BC February 28, 2013 impacts by the federal government. Two BC’s environmental and labour new salmon farming operations in Nova movements have formed GreenJobs China To Tax Carbon Scotia will not undergo a provincial BC to build a BC economy that lowers China’s Ministry of Finance has environmental assessment either. The greenhouse gas emissions, creates green announced it will levy a tax on carbon Association for the Preservation of the jobs, and helps mitigate the results of cli- emissions. China’s Ministry of Finance Eastern Shore are actively opposing the mate change. They are calling on politi- said that direct taxes on resources, in- licensing of fish farming operations. cal leaders to adopt a green jobs plan for cluding coal and water, will also be forth- —Halifax Media Co-op, February 2013 BC. A GreenJobs BC Conference will be coming. held in the spring of 2014. Workshop and —www.greatnewsnetwork.org Cree Pull Out of Study case study ideas are welcome. February 20, 2013 The chief and council for the Mik- — www.greenjobsbc.org, February 2013 isew Cree have told Alberta Health that Shark Sanctuary they won’t take part in a long-promised, Arctic Ice Melting The Cook Islands have approved a government-funded survey that would A UK-led team of scientists has shark sanctuary in its waters and a ban assess the health of people living in Fort discovered Arctic sea ice volume has de- on fishing, possession or sale of shark Chipewyan and Fort McKay. clined by 36 per cent in the autumn and productsD. Broten in an area nearly the size of The Mikisew wanted assurances 9 per cent in the winter between 2003 Australia. About a third of ocean-going the study would focus on community and 2012. The findings confirm the con- sharks appear on the internationally-rec- concerns over cancer rates, which many tinuing decline in Arctic sea-ice volume ognised Red List of Threatened Species. believe are elevated because of the pres- simulated by the Pan-Arctic Ice-Ocean As top predators, overfishing of sharks ence of environmental toxins from the Modelling & Assimilation System. disrupts complex oceanic food webs. oil sands. — Natural Environment Research —www.bbc.co December 13, 2012 —Financial Post, February 22, 2013 Council, February 13, 2013.

Watershed Sentinel 3 March-April2013 LETTERS BC Liberals Aim to Privatize Crown Forests Just Before Election

by Delores Broten

The glory of BC’s vast forests, as well as the opportu- nities for employment and profits, has stirred passion in the Canada’s Water province since the Minister of Forests, Robert Sommers, Florida is having a bit of a water crisis these days, and was the first cabinet minister in the Commonwealth to go it was somewhat surprising that Canada is seeing signs to jail for accepting bribes. That bribe was for the awarding of it, too . Our springs are in terrible shape and getting of a Vancouver Island area-based license in 1955. In 1988, worse by the day. Lake levels are down. And yet, the water a political revolt erupted again over Social Credit govern- management districts can’t find a consumptive use permit ment plans to “rollover” the Crown forests of the province application they don’t like. Worse, the agricultural wells to the logging corporations. Now, after years of neglect, are not even metered, so no one knows how much water two decades of ecological disaster with the Mountain Pine is already being used. We have a FLOW, too, although Beetle, and the falldown and flipping of the industry to pen- it stands for something different – Florida Leaders On sion funds and speculators, the issue is back. This time, the lame duck government of the BC Liber- Water, or something similar. Many springs have ceased als has tabled, as part of an omnibus bill, Bill 8: the Miscel- flowing, and many more are so full of nitrates that they are laneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2013, amendments to the causing algae problems in the rivers they feed. It’s a mess. Forest Act which will allow the Minister of Forests, Lands Springs are rather like wild salmon in that they are and Natural Resource Operations at his or her own discre- a nuisance to those who are only interested in furthering tion, to convert current volume-based cutting licenses into industry regardless of the consequences on the planet, area-based ones, Tree Farm Licenses (TFLs). Because of wildlife, or people. the property rights which have been allowed to accrue to I continue to enjoy your magazine, as always! this type of license, the TFL, for all practical purposes, Fritzi S. Olson, Waldo, Florida turns public (and First Nations) land into private property. Because the conversions are intended to facilitate fibre supply to logged out, beetle-kill areas of the province like Nuclear Fuel Waste Article Burns Lake, they will guarantee over-cutting. Re: “Nuclear Fuel Waste in Canada” in Jan-Feb-2013- As Briony Penn explains in “Rolling over Crown For- Vol 23-No 1 by Anna Tilman. ests,” for the March Focus magazine: “Forest licences were Thank you for publishing information on this issue, originally set up with checks and balances to limit com- and referencing Save Our Saugeen Shores (SOS). We are panies from creating excessive “shareholder value” and to ensure some benefits came back to the public – either in happy to see this issue reaching a broader audience with the form of royalties or leaving the forest standing to pro- this well written article. May we suggest updating the on- vide all the ecosystem services that we enjoy. In the last line version of this article to include the most recent SOS 10 years, however, regulations governing licence holders petition signature count, which was last made public in a have been eroded to such an extent that those checks and deputation to Saugeen Shores Council on Nov. 12, 2012 balances just aren’t there anymore. With forest legislation with a count of over 2200 signatures. and regulations gutted, licence holders don’t even have to Troy on behalf of SOS provide management plans anymore.” These conversions of the land needed for economic di- versity, community stability and First Nations land claims would happen behind closed government doors, with public notice, but no real consultation. Watershed Cariboo North independent MLA Bob Simpson says Hampton Affiliates of Oregon, owners of Babine Forest Sentinel Products, were promised a TFL almost a year ago in a let- ter from Minister Steve Thomson, a clear abuse of process. The Watershed Sentinel welcomes letters but reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, legality, and taste. t Anonymous letters will not be published. Send your musings and your missives to: With files from West Coast Environmental Law, Bob Watershed Sentinel, Box 1270, Comox BC V9M 7Z8 Simpson, BC Tap Water Alliance, Wilderness Committee, [email protected] or online at Vancouver Sun, March 1, 2013. www.watershedsentinel.ca

Watershed Sentinel 4 March- April 2013 NEWS Around The World

Compiled by Susan MacVittie

Quebec. All were consuming a typical because they become more suscepti- Canadian diet that included GM foods ble to pests. This is being challenged such as soybeans, corn and potatoes. in Bhutan and some regions of Asia, Harper Changes Judge Given the potential toxicity of these where small landholders are develop- The Harper government has ap- environmental pollutants and the fra- ing new techniques to grow more and pointed Honourable Barbara L. Veld- gility of the foetus, more studies are are not losing soil quality. huis, the judge presiding over the needed. — The Guardian, February 13, 2013 landmark Ernst vs Encana case, to — India Today, May 11, 2011 the Court of Appeal of Alberta. The Global Grain Drops promotion removes Veldhuis from Pesticide & Bee Decline The world produced 3% less the multi-million dollar lawsuit be- The Royal Society for the Pro- grain in 2012 compared to 2011. The fore her decision was reached. The tection of Birds says neonicotinoids, drop was due to droughts that devas- lawsuit alleges that Encana, one of controversial nerve-agent pesticides tated several major crops – corn in the Canada’s largest natural gas produc- made by agribusiness giants Bayer United States (the world’s largest crop) ers, drilled and fracked shallow coal and Syngenta, are linked to decline and wheat in Russia, Kazakhstan, bed methane wells directly in the lo- in bees around the world and should Ukraine, and Australia. High prices cal groundwater supply between 2001 be banned. More than 30 separate sci- dampened use for ethanol production and 2004 near Rosebud, Alberta and entific studies in the last three years and livestock feed. Nearly half the thereby polluted Jessica Ernst’s water have shown adverse effects on insects world’s grain is produced in China, the well with enough toxic chemicals and from neonicotinoids, which are “sys- United States, and India. Global grain methane to make it flammable. temic” insecticides, meaning they consumption has exceeded production If Ernst wins it could set a prec- enter every part of the target plants – in eight of the last 13 years, leading to edent for other landowners who have including the pollen and nectar which a drawdown in reserves. Worldwide, been affected by fracking and prove bees harvest. The EU Standing Com- carryover grain stocks – the amount that regulators owe a duty of care to mittee on the Food Chain and Animal left in the bin when the new harvest public resources like groundwater. Health will consider a draft regulation begins – is enough to cover 68 days The delay may be a stall tactic and from the European Commission that of consumption, less than the 70 days cost Ernst more money. To donate: would restrict use of the three neoni- considered minimum. www.ernstversusencana.ca/donate cotinoids to winter cereals and other With drought persisting in key — www.thetyee.ca, February 22, 2013 crops that are not attractive to bees. producing regions, there is concern — The Independent, February 21,2013 that farmers in 2013 will be unable GM Toxin in Women to produce the surpluses necessary to Scientists from the University of Bhutan Goes Organic rebuild lowered global grain reserves. Sherbrooke, PQ, have detected the Bhutan plans to become the first — Earth Policy Institute, insecticidal protein, Cry1Ab, used country to turn its agriculture com- January 17, 2013 widely in GM crops, in human blood pletely organic, banning the sales of for the first time. The study found the pesticides and herbicides and relying toxin circulating in the blood of preg- on its own animals and farm waste nant as well as non-pregnant women for fertilisers. The small Himalayan and in fetal blood, implying it could kingdom is mostly mountainous ter- pass on to the next generation rain, where chemicals run off, and The study covered 30 pregnant people were concerned for the im- women and 39 women who had come pact they had on water and plants. for a tubectomy at the Centre Hospi- In the west, organic food growing is talier Universitaire de Sherbrooke in thought to reduce the size of crops Photo Ester by Strijbos

Watershed Sentinel 5 March- April 2013 Photo by Lights In The Dark The In by Lights Photo

spin a mythology that global heating is normal “climate change,” not real, or that it is caused by some force other than human carbon dioxide. Geoscientist James L. Powell documented 13,950 peer-reviewed, scientific climate arti- cles from the last 20 years and found that 99.83 % of these articles accept the unambiguous data that confirms global heating caused by human carbon effluents. The impostors perpetrate crimes against humanity and all of nature by de- nying these facts.

Sun vs. Carbon Recently, another “dissenter” has claimed that global heating is caused by changes in solar radiance. This claim defies the actual data, which remains clear as a bell. Heat- ing and cooling result from what energy scientists call “forcings,” direct heat, dissipation of heat, insulation that by Rex Weyler retains heat, and so forth. Annually, NASA’s Dr. James Hanson and others pub- e have zero years to solve our addiction lish updates on the well-documented forcings that impact to hydrocarbon energy. global temperature. The latest summary of these forcings is How many times have we heard: We contained in a paper by Dr. Andrew Glikson at Australian

have a decade, or we have three years, National University: “No Alternative to atmospheric CO2 or we have until 2020? In the 1980s, draw-down: A geological perspective.” Wecologists used to say, “We have to solve this by 2000,” Heat, or energy transference, is typically measured which is now a decade behind us. We don’t have ten years or in watts, about ¼ of a calorie of energy transferred in one three years, or any years. We are already far behind any sort second. Global heating forcings are measured in watts per of timeline that might have kept Earth’s temperature from square metre (Watt/m2) of Earth’s surface. Glikson’s paper rising +2°C from the pre-industrial era. We are now gam- documents the actual forcings – both cooling and heating bling our progeny’s future with runaway heating that could – that have impacted Earth’s temperature over recent cen- ravage human agriculture, devastate the remaining forests, turies. increase extinctions, and flood every coastal city on Earth. Determining the Net Forcing is a simple matter of add- ing and subtracting. The effects of volcanoes, solar fluctua- Global Heating tions, and human land use changes, net out to virtually zero. In the late 19th century, when Swedish chemist Svente Human greenhouse gases and human aerosols are the only energy forcings that have serious temperature impact. Arrhenius predicted the impact of carbon dioxide (CO2), he warned that the radiation absorption would add “heat” to Human Greenhouse gases: The heat forcing from hu- Earth’s atmosphere. In the 1970s, when ecologists learned man carbon and other gases has risen from approximately zero in 1800 to + 3.1 Watt/m2 today, rising annually, and from scientists about the risk of human CO2 emissions, we spoke of “global heating.” The phrase “global warming” accounts for about 95% (or more) of Earth’s temperature became popular in the 1980s, although “heating” is the cor- increase over the last two hundred years. rect scientific term. Then in 2003, the petroleum industry Human aerosols, particles of ash and sulphur dioxide public relations machine came up with “climate change” to that scatter and absorb sunlight, rise from burning tropical convince the public that the impact was natural and non- forests, coal, and oil, and now exceed the impact of volcanic 2 urgent. aerosols. The effect has reached about -1.6 Watt/m , a cool- It is time we return to the physically precise term, ing, which has mitigated the impact of heating from human “global heating,” because that is what we are doing: We are greenhouse gases. heating Earth’s atmosphere, land, and oceans, and simulta- The math is simple enough for grade-school children: 2 neously turning the entire Earth ecosystem acidic. +3.1 Watt/m heating from human greenhouse gases 2 Among modern society’s greatest villains stand the –1.6______Watt/m cooling from human aerosols little band of industry-funded “dissenters” – paid-off mar- + 1.5 Watt/m2 net heating. ginal scientists and mercenary ecology imposters – who So how much heat is this? Consider a typical 1500-watt

Watershed Sentinel 6 March-April 2013 CLIMATE CHANGE

space heater used to heat a room. Earth’s surface area is Runaway Global Heating 510 trillion square-meters. Multiply this by 1.5, and we see A comprehensive study of future temperature increase, the net heat forcing is about 765 trillion watts. This is the the MIT Integrated Global Systems Model (A.P. Sokolov, equivalent of placing 500 billion such electric space heaters P.H. Stone, et. al., American Meteorological Society’s Jour- across Earth’s surface, land and sea, 30 meters apart, run- nal of Climate, 2009) doubled the earlier 2003 estimates. ning 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. The MIT group ran 400 variations of the model. The This is the global net forcing that has resulted from projections indicate a median probability by 2100 of CO2 human industrial activity, from the build-up of CO2 in the concentration reaching 550 ppm and a median probability atmosphere. The net impact of fluctuating solar radiance re- of Earth heating by 5.2 degrees Celsius (°C). The minimum mains trivial regarding the temperature increase from these projected heating is now + 2.4°C by 2100, with a “very gases since 1800. small probability” it will be this low, and only with drastic, No confusion. No controversy. No hidden data. And immediate, global policy changes that reduce our reliance none of this is particularly complex science. Svente Ar- on oil and gas. rhenius roughly predicted these results over a century ago. So there you have it: The United Nations goal of re- James Lovelock estimated similar results in the 1960s. The stricting Earth’s heat increase to + 2°C by 2100, has already denialists huff and puff like 16th century church patriarchs, failed. A century of science and two decades of “climate who refused to accept that Earth orbited the Sun. meetings” have failed. The world’s governments and cor- porations have failed. As we exceed the + 2°C threshold, Feedbacks we risk runaway heating as the feedback mechanisms kick Unfortunately, our dilemma is even more complex. in. As we approach the median probability of Earth heating The heating creates feedback mechanisms that cause more by +5.2 °C, we almost certainly activate runaway heating. heating. Since 1800, atmospheric CO2 concentration has To global heating, we can add the greatest species col- risen from approximately 280 ppm (parts per million) to lapse in 65 million years. Earth has undergone changes of approximately 400 ppm, but since the extra heat is melt- this magnitude before, and will endure, but human culture ing the permafrost and releasing methane (CH4), and since has not. Throughout the Holocene, the last 12 millennia, methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas, climate scien- humanity developed agriculture, urban life, and industrial tists must calculate the “carbon-dioxide-equivalent” (CO2- technology in a relatively stable climate. In the last 200 e) that includes the methane impact. years, we have destabilized Earth’s climate; flooded our In fact, scientists must consider all the amplifying lands, air and water with toxins; turned the oceans acidic; feedbacks caused by warming, including at least methane and obliterated millions of species. Our progeny now face release from melting permafrost, albedo loss – changes in an uncertain and troubling future. Earth’s reflective properties from ice melt, vegetation loss As an ecologist in the 1970s, I believed that humanity from droughts and deforestation, fires, increasing due to would respond to the ecological imperative as it responded heating, and warmer water that sequesters less CO2 to the social imperative; that we would develop an ecologi-

Using the more appropriate CO2-e figure, since 1800, cal society just as we developed ideas of democracy, civil atmospheric CO2–e concentration has risen from 280 ppm rights, and women’s rights. Perhaps our natural optimism to 470 ppm, a 68% increase in the heat-trapping capacity bias and good intentions led us to believe circumstances of these gases in Earth’s atmosphere. The build-up of these would improve, but the data shows us something quite the gases, however, has not been linear, but rather exponential. opposite. It now appears that our optimism was misplaced. This means that not only are the gases accumulating, but The ecology movement may have one last chance, but the the rate of accumulation is increasing. We’re not just speed- stakes are now much higher, and our actions – to succeed – ing down the highway toward a cliff, we are accelerating. will have to be similarly more rigorous. Most of the change has occurred since 1950, and since these changes have unleashed feedback mechanisms, the t increase in greenhouse effect will likely continue even if we reduce fossil fuel use. Rex Weyler is an author and ecologist. This piece These data have led climate scientists to re-examine is adapted from the original, published January 5, 2013 the temperature increases expected over this century and in his Deep Green blog for Greenpeace International, projected temperature rise has been adjusted upwards in www.greenpeace.org/international/en/ recent studies.

Watershed Sentinel 7 March-April 2013 SOCIETY

Election 2013: Vote for the Environment Making the Earth Count in the Political Calculus, No Matter Who Wins

by Lisa Matthaus

Polling consistently shows that swing, making environmental stat- to govern BC should believe they can British Columbians have strong envi- utes enacted by one government vul- do so without a credible, thoughtfully- ronmental values, some of the strong- nerable to elimination by the next (for articulated environmental platform, est in Canada: from protecting salmon example, the moratorium on grizzly and a track record to back it up. to keeping our coast and streams free hunting, or Forest Practices Code), from oil spills, British Columbians which lacks the consistency neces- Opportunities to Act across the political spectrum speak sary to ensure environmental protec- We may still be a couple of elec- loudly and proudly to defend our nat- tion over the long term. It could also tions away from that full understand- ural legacies. imply the environment is ‘voted out’ ing, but there’s no time like the present Yet rarely do these values trans- when government changes. election period to let parties know late into a government willing to Second, environmental values that there are votes to be gained with prioritize environmental safeguards, don’t map solely to one side of the a credible and integrated environ- investments and opportunities. Envi- political spectrum: BC’s greenhouse mental platform. Key ways to do this ronmental commitments often seem gas emissions reduction targets and generally involve talking to your local to be seen as frills or an afterthought carbon tax were part of the most candidates, taking every opportunity in a party platform rather than a fun- ambitious climate action policies in to let them know their environmental damental, well-conceived and inte- Canada of the past decade, and were commitments – or lack thereof – are grated plank. This makes such com- brought in by a right-of-centre gov- some of the main factors that will in- mitments easy to jettison should they ernment in the belief that their con- fluence your vote. Some upcoming come into perceived conflict with stituency would support these actions. opportunities include: other, ‘must have’ commitments such Polling has demonstrated they were • Every time a canvasser comes as jobs or provincial revenues. right. to your door over the next couple of How to fix this? For some, the an- Several environmental organiza- months, instead of an annoyance, see swer has been to try and get one party tions have instead taken the approach it as an opportunity to get that mes- elected or another, believing that if that all parties need to understand sage across, regardless of which party we just had the ‘right’ government in that environmental values are funda- they’re with: ask about the candidate’s place they would be able to deliver on mental values for British Columbians, position on an environmental issue of environmental protection. along with health care, education and importance to you – locally or provin- But there are two flaws in that the economy, not just bells and whis- cially – and let them know if that re- reasoning: first, BC politics tends to tles. Ultimately, no party that aspires sponse is satisfactory. If the canvasser

Watershed Sentinel 8 March-April 2013 SOCIETY

at the door doesn’t know the candi- or social policy performance – which- vironment and the role it should play date’s position (they’re generally vol- ever party they’re with! in our future. unteers so aren’t always well-versed This is the on-going work of shap- t on every issue), ask for them to get ing our political discourse to ensure it Lisa Matthaus is with Organizing back to you with a response. delivers governments that are more for Change, a project of several BC • Ask environmental questions aligned with our deeply-held values. environmental organizations. Organ- at all-candidates’ meetings. Many An election is the main time the par- izing for Change will provide several organizations will have materials on ties really have to take note of what ways for you to take action this elec- their website that can help you form they’re hearing from the electorate – tion; get in the loop by signing up at questions, or suggest questions direct- all their ears are open! Make sure they www.organizingforchange.org. ly on various issues – pick some that hear about the importance of BC’s en- are close to your heart and hit the mic! Many other attendees will also be in- terested in the response. • Check out the Facebook and Twitter feeds of candidates – again, you can look to environmental or- ganizations’ web pages for suggested tweets and questions. • Watch for various action oppor- tunities from environmental groups you’re active with. There will be lots of ways to email all the parties and/ or your local candidates to let them know what’s important to you. The more personalized the better! Make sure you’re on the email lists of one or more organizations to keep up to date on issues and actions, especially Action on Raven Coal Mine once the writ drops April 16th. Under For the past three years, local governments, First Nations, the BC Shellfish Growers election advertising rules there are Association, non-government organizations, and thousands of citizens have voiced their limits on ‘public advertising’ that cur- concerns and/or opposition to the proposed Raven Coal Mine Project near the coast of rently appear to limit a lot of what you Vancouver Island by Fanny Bay, BC. might consider ‘normal’ communica- tions by environmental organizations, To make sure the Raven Mine isn’t built, it’s crucial for citizens to take action in three especially on websites or Facebook. major events that will happen in 2013: But those limits don’t apply to com- • The 50-day public comment period expected in the environmental assessment will kick munications directly to members, e.g., off as early as April 2013. We will provide news updates as well as Raven Coal Mine emails, so make sure you’re on key open house information, and give you simple directions on how to take action, and make lists to stay updated on your issues. it easy to take action. • When it comes time to vote, • The Provincial Election is scheduled for May 14, 2013. The coincidence of an election ensure environmental issues are part year has set the stage to demand political opposition to the Raven Coal Mine. The of the mix of issues that inevitably in- next government will also be the final decision-makers on the Raven Coal Mine at the form your choice. provincial level. We’ll let you know many ways to take action during the campaign. • Post-election: find opportunities • The Minister’s Review, which delivers a final decision following the environmental to let your MLA know how their en- assessment, will probably occur in the Fall of 2013. vironmental position, or that of their party, influenced your vote, and will We’re inviting you to visit our Raven Mine Action website www.ravenmineaction.ca again in the future. Tell them you’ll Please sign up to receive time-sensitive updates and action alerts about the Raven Coal be watching their environmental per- Mine. The time is right to send a united message of opposition, and we need your help formance as much as their economic now more than ever!

Watershed Sentinel 9 March-April 2013 HEALTH & TOXICS

A Millwatch Special Report From Cities Take Over Air Regulations Reach for Unbleached! http://www.rfu.org Toronto Public Health, toxic pollution, and the case of dental mercury

by Dave Stevens

In 2007, Dr. David McKeown, and cadmium are identified as being ber at TPH, says that voluntary com- Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, of high concern even though they are pliance and “green methods support” issued a report, Process to Identify released in small amounts.” that TPH is providing to reporting Priority Substances of Health Con- Overall the reporting program firms will reduce releases and health cern for Enhanced Environmental Re- gets pretty good marks. All of the impacts. She cited a similar program porting – Technical Summary. For an- data is available for download from in Massachusetts, which has achieved yone concerned about environmental TPH and the types of businesses and significant reductions without overt toxins, it’s interesting reading: “More their relative contribution are discern- regulation. than 80 per cent of estimated emis- ible from the public record. Mapping An obvious question was put to sions to air for Toronto Public Health’s is used to good effect so that it is quite her: why does the City mandate re- (TPH) 25 priority substances are not easy to see where the pollution origi- porting (with penalties for non-com- reported to the NPRI (National Pol- nates and modelling can be done on pliance) but not legislate reductions? lutant Release Inventory.)” that basis to estimate exposures. Both “Lack of jurisdiction,” she said. A rating was put in place that es- reporting and non-reporting facilities timated the toxicity of each of the 25 are audited. The data entry spread- Liability substances. A table shows the toxicity sheets are public and disclose the as- But what about the recent court equivalent potential for the substanc- sumptions used around emissions fac- case around the City of Kawartha es, ranging from 1700 for benzene to tors and their source documents. But Lakes, where the municipality was 140,000,000,000 for mercury. That’s there is more to environmental health found liable for pollution remediation not a typo, it’s a hundred and forty than counting who’s hurting you and for an oil spill they didn’t cause? Isn’t billion. The significance of this rating how much: there’s the business of the City going to have to take that is- is in the details of the report. stopping the injury. sue into account, especially now that TPH proposed a by-law, Bylaw they know more precisely what pol- #423, Environmental Reporting and Reduction Legislation Needed lution is actually present? It will be Disclosure Bylaw, which was duly Julie Sommerfreund, staff mem- interesting to see. passed and now in effect. 2010 was the If the City issues a business li- first year of a three year phase-in by Other Municipalities cence to a crematorium, as it does, industry of reporting to TPH, result- and if the cremation of corpses with ing, after a year of analysis and data Oakville, Ontario has passed dental amalgam fillings releases mer- quality, in the first annual report about a by-law requiring polluting facili- cury to the air, as it does, and people who is emitting what. The document, ties to get a municipal permit; the nearby are consequently exposed to Tracking and Reducing Chemicals in approval process is specified and mercury pollution (remember that Toronto, released in June 2012 and facilities deemed to have signifi- hundred and forty billion figure?) other supporting documents are avail- cant adverse health effects won’t what responsibility does the City able at www.toronto.ca/health/chem- be permitted. See: www.oakville. have? What is the prudent, precau- trac/background.htm. ca/environment/health-protection- tionary course? The 2010 data didn’t air-quality.html. It seems the law include crematoria, that comes in the Tracking Chemicals has not been challenged. 2011 data, now undergoing analysis In the next two years, the program Similarly, the Greater Van- for reporting to come this year. Last will expand. A sample quote from the couver Regional District, which year’s report came out in June so we 2012 report shows, “When data are has the authority to issue industrial have about five months to anticipate ranked by relative toxicity using an emissions permits, requires reports the results. approach called toxic equivalency po- from the polluting firms. These are t tential, the substances like polycyclic not collected into a handy inventory Dave Stevens is an air pollution aromatic hydrocarbons, mercury, lead but are available online. activist from Smithers, BC.

Watershed Sentinel 10 March-April 2013 SOCIETY

The sacred responsibility of appropriate alliance building

Rise by Andy Everson by Heather Menzies Kwakwa̱ ka̱ ’wakw artist In early January, a man identify- with the land. They carried on living ing himself as a seventh-generation in self-governing commons almost descendent of Chief Tecumseh, who until the Clearances drove them to led the Native Nations in an alliance settle here. As part of that local self- with General Isaac Brock in the War governance, they set limits, called of 1812, came to see Chief Theresa stints, on the number of sheep and Spence on Victoria Island. He stood cows to be sent to the upland com- across the sacred fire from where mon pastures, called shielings. The she sat, and explained that he’d felt stinting practices were informed by “called” by the spirit of his ancestor traditional knowledge practices – ob- to “stand up” and support her. “You servation embedded and immersed speak from the heart of the earth,” he in daily life on the land, plus oral in- said. terpretation of this in light of storied As I listened, I realized that he memory of weather and topography. was using a language that’s virtually And these in turn were reinforced by extinct in public discourse. Yet it’s a Celtic Christian faith practices that language that must be revived across kept them attuned to the sacred (God) all the nations, communities and gen- present in all they did and wherever erations that make up modern Canada they walked. if we are to realign our relations with brought us to the current impasse: The research I’ve done recover- the earth and with each other. deepening inequalities and alienation ing some of this heritage is my way to This is why the guidance of tradi- among the human inhabitants of this approach the sacred fire of the Idle No tional teachings has remained central land, evidenced most dramatically in More movement. It’s my way to take to Idle No More’s peaceful unfold- First Nations communities, plus the up the “sacred responsibility” Clay- ing. It’s also why the four founding degradation of the land itself, dra- ton Thomas Mueller, a Cree with the women were triggered by the bullying matically evidenced in the prognosis Indigenous Environmental Network, passage of the Harper Government’s for the Athabasca River watershed in talked about at the January 28th Idle second omnibus bill, C-45. It epito- light of plans for the Alberta tar sands. No More march on Parliament Hill. mized the denial of this language, There is deep public anxiety about By this he meant the responsibility “to the language of mutual respect and these developments, and a longing for speak for the ones that cannot speak recognition, of dialogue and relation- hopeful change. for themselves – the fish in the Atha- ship building. Instead, Harper used The Idle No More movement basca River” etc. his nominal majority to exercise ab- is an opportunity for such a change. Together, perhaps we can revive solute power, sweeping aside volumes In its call for all people to join it, in the language of right relations and of common-good policy, including to a Common Causes network, it’s an bring it back to Parliament Hill to protect the commons of the land, the opening for a new alliance between give ethical voice to the repeal of bills rivers and lakes, and opening the way native and non-native people in this C-38 and C-45, and to restore demo- for unilateral action on the part of re- country, at the democratic grassroots cratic and environmental due process source companies and their allies in level. But to succeed, it must maintain to policy making in this country. finance and infrastructure building. the language of right relations in all its t This language, of power as control dealings and its approach. Heather Menzies is completing and dependency, has long been asso- The challenge for me as a fourth- her 10th book, which speaks to the ciated with the elites who have shaped generation settler-Canadian is to draw themes of this movement. The work- relations between government, peo- from my own heritage when my Scot- ing title is To the Shieling: A Memoir ple and the land in Canada. And it’s tish ancestors lived in direct relations on Reconnecting with the Earth

Watershed Sentinel 11 March-April 2013 The world is facing a potential crisis of food security. The chal- lenge is to produce and supply enough safe and nutritious food in a sustainable way for a growing global population, which is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050. On February 14, a special joint meeting between the United Nations Eco- nomic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the General Assembly, world experts and the UN food agencies aimed at identify- ing steps to build a future free of hunger. It’s a complex issue. Food security is not just about food production; interac- tions of social, economic, and environ- mental factors add to and complicate the Jules Frank & Ian Mowat - Shellfish Growers challenges. In this feature section on food secu- Frederic Bay, Read Island rity, we explore some of the issues that affect our ability in Canada to be food Members of the Out Landish Shellfish Guild secure. These range from the policies that may drive our ability to sustain ourselves, Watershed Sentinel www.outlandish-shellfish.com12 to the challenges and opportunities that Photo by Ester Strijbos face Canadian producers and consumers. FOOD SECURITY

Restaurants donate food for meals to those in need Waste Not, Want Not

by Erin Nicols from his kitchens, the legal depart- will be receiving when CAFR makes ments did until they learned about their delivery. “The most creative Will Shields manages Communi- BC’s Food Donor Encouragement chefs work at these organizations. ty Angel Food Runners, a program of Act. What would you do with two trays of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank So- “There is always the concern lobster bisque and three trays of roast ciety in BC. His enthusiasm and dedi- about food poisoning. They are not chicken?” cation has resulted in the rescue of legally liable.” In addition to addressing hun- 725,000 pounds of food per year that All ten provinces in Canada have ger, municipalities all over Canada would otherwise have been wasted. a food donation act that releases any are searching for ways to address Organizations that received this food business or individual from liability the pressures on landfill sites and were able to serve 1.25 million meals as long as there is no intent to harm. the environment. Garbage sent to to people in need. Community food Imagine Canada lists the web links landfill is 30-40% food waste. Food programs range from after school for each of the 10 Acts on their web- and other organics produce methane care to community kitchens where site under Charity Tax Tools. when trapped underground in land- residents share recipes and teach each fills, away from the oxygen needed to other to cook, as well as programs “No one in the country create compost. Methane is 23 times providing free or low cost meals. should be going hungry. more potent than the well-known Nearly 900,000 Canadians turn Just get involved.” greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide. to Food Banks to make ends meet: Food that is donated doesn’t fuel 38% of those are children and youth, To ensure food safety, Food Run- climate change; instead it contributes 7% are seniors. Hunger is not a new ners maintains the cold chain from to the health and well-being of a com- problem, what is new is the amount of door to door. Food-safe trained driv- munity. It’s rare that an action can food that is wasted – 40% of the food ers using refrigerated trucks pick have as many positive spin-offs as re- that Canada produces is never eaten. up daily from restaurants and hotel covering and donating food. The value of this waste is $28 billion. kitchens. Food donations are placed Chef Gyurkovits offers this ad- The share that can be attributed to in single use aluminum-lidded pans vice to chefs: “No one in the country hotels restaurants and institutions is supplied by the Food Bank and then should be going hungry. Just get in- $224 million. frozen by the donors. Pickups are volved. We need key chefs to promote Chef Donald Gyurkovits, Presi- made in the morning and distribution this. If they do it, the rest of the chefs dent of the Canadian Culinary Fed- to organizations is complete by the will follow. This should be on the eration, a childhood friend of Shields, early afternoon. agenda of the 2013 Canadian Culi- has donated food to the Food Runner One of the 24 organizations that nary Conference in Edmonton.” program for about five years. The Food Runners delivers to is The Liv- FMI contact Gyurkovits: presi- change in daily procedures was “noth- ingRoom Drop-In Activity Centre, [email protected] ing, just a bit of time.” He incorporat- which serves close to 200 meals a day t ed about half an hour of work into his to clients with severe mental illnesses. Erin Nichols works for FarmFolk staff’s schedule so food from the night Food donations are essential to CityFolk, a not-for profit that is cul- before could be cooled and packaged run The LivingRoom. Eighty-five per tivating a local, fair, and sustainable for pick-up by Food Runners the next cent of the food that is served has been food system. Her area of expertise at morning. donated, with just 15% being bought FarmFolk CityFolk is food system op- While Gyurkovits did not have at retail. Shields acknowledges that timization. any hesitations about donating food organizations never know what they

Watershed Sentinel 13 March-April 2013 FOOD SECURITY

by Lucy Sharratt corn, GM canola, GM soy and GM exception of virus-resistant papaya GM crop technologies are failing. white sugar beet. Farmers in the US and squashes, the only GM traits on Genetically modified (GM or geneti- grow these four crops as well as GM the market are herbicide-tolerance cally engineered) herbicide-tolerant cotton, GM papaya (in Hawaii), some and insect-resistance. Last year we and insect-resistant crops are failing GM squash varieties, and GM alfalfa. witnessed the beginning of the end for to perform. Despite years of govern- There are no other GM crops planted these two traits and the stumbling at- ment and corporate research and de- around the world; it’s just these eight. tempts from Monsanto and others to velopment, there is little indication of For example, there is no GM rice, no patch up their chemical-GM farming an imminent new miracle GM crop to GM wheat and no GM potatoes or to- systems. prop up this floundering experiment. matoes – anywhere. The failure of the technology itself, Superweeds, Not So Super however, will not necessarily mean The GM apple – designed to Monsanto faces major defeat in the end of the GM experiment - un- not go brown after being the form of a weed of its own creation. necessary, illogical and destructive cut - is a product looking With the emergence of glyphosate re- technologies are approved all the time for a market, and has sistant weeds, Monsanto’s herbicide - but increasing public opposition de- failed to find one. Roundup, the largest selling herbicide fies the corporate plan to engender in the world, is reaching the end of consumer acceptance by simply of- Seed market concentration is one its market dominance. Many farmers fering no alternative. Despite every reason why most of the GM soy, corn in the US, and some in Ontario and possible government support and and cotton in the US is GM – 93% of Alberta, are now unable to kill weeds protection, after 17 years, the biotech soy, 88% of corn and 94% of cotton. with glyphosate (the active ingredient industry is struggling to maintain its While the Canadian government does in Roundup) and are having to turn big project. not keep such statistics, GM accounts to older herbicides such as dicamba for well over half our soy and corn and 2,4-D. To handle the new “su- Few Crops, Many Ingredients crop. The canola crop in Canada was perweeds”, Monsanto and Dow have While GM food ingredients have forced to surrender to widespread GM created GM crops that are tolerant to widely infiltrated packaged and proc- contamination and almost all of the dicamba and 2,4-D, so farmers can essed foods throughout North Amer- canola grown in Canada is now GM. use pesticides and still buy GM seeds. ica, the reality is that there are very However widely grown, the suite The development of dicamba and few GM crops and traits on the market of technologies from the biotech in- 2,4-D tolerant crops reveals that, de- globally. Farmers in Canada grow GM dustry is small and stunted. With the spite contradicting the warnings of

Watershed Sentinel 14 March-April 2013 FOOD SECURITY

environmentalists, corporations were It is close to approval in the U.S. and actively preparing for the emergence Environment Canada could make a of superweeds. The introduction of decision any day. The GM salmon these new herbicide-tolerant crops – would eventually make its way to BC approved in Canada late last year – is fish farms but the company’s pro- an admission of failure. It also repre- Photo E. by Strijbos posed first step is to produce the fish sents a colossal failure of imagination Corn is #1 eggs in Prince Edward Island, ship in dealing with the cycle of problems them to Panama to grow out and then in chemical-GM farming. The biotech in the top 10 ship the processed fish to the US con- industry is committed to addressing of the worst sumer market. This plan neatly avoids the problems that GM creates with a full environmental assessment and new GM products rather than with ac- GMO foods while the federal government has ju- tual solutions. The immediate result risdiction over safety assessment and for Canadians will be more chemicals approval, the economic burden rests in our food system. It also means a re- with provincial governments: Will duction of tools available to farmers PEI risk its tourism industry to be- as the chemical and input treadmill come the global supplier of GM fish is still going, but the wheel is getting ers before they approve a new GM eggs? Will BC protect its wild salmon smaller and staying on it is getting product. It’s effective public protest and fishing industries by taking a more expensive. that stands between the GM apple and stand to stop the introduction of the approval and this is why action in BC GM salmon? GM Salmon and Apple to the is particularly important. Rescue? Promises, Promises The newest GM products on the Provincial Governments It’s easy to make big promises immediate horizon come from small Forced to Act for the future of this technology but companies and make a mockery of Faced with near unanimous op- at what point do we conclude that the the grandiose industry promises to position to the GM apple from BC GM experiment has failed and that the feed the world. The GM fast-growing industry stakeholders and consumers, promised miracle crops are not going Atlantic salmon and the “non-brown- the BC government needs to step up. to materialize? The reality is that GM ing” apple could both be approved this The future of the province’s orchard- failed before it was even commercial- year in the US and Canada, despite ists and fruit processors and distribu- ized. Without farmer and public con- wide industry opposition and public tors needs to be protected from the sultation, the technology was doomed protest. GM apple. While all governments are to be misapplied by corporations to The GM apple stands as a glori- beginning to understand that not eve- suit their needs rather than the needs ous example of the misdirection of ry GM product is welcomed by farm- of farmers and consumers. There is no science to problems that already have ers and agribusiness and some pose democracy to prevent the misuse of solutions. The GM apple – designed serious economic threats, there are this technology and only inadequate to not go brown after being cut – is a no official mechanisms to deny ap- regulations to assess its safety. The product looking for a market, and has proval based on economic and social launch and continuation of the GM failed to find one. The BC Fruit Grow- concerns. This has to change, and in project is a mark of the failure of our ers Association and the US Apple As- the meantime, provinces have to find democracy. It will be public mobiliza- sociation oppose the introduction of a way to stand up for their industries. tion that will force an end to this ex- the GM apple, the companies that sell The BC and other provincial gov- periment and thereby revitalize our sliced apples don’t want to use it, and ernments will also have to step up to democracy. 69% of Canadians don’t want to eat it. protect their industries and ecosys- t The fact that the industry is re- tems from the proposed GM salmon. Lucy Sharratt is the Coordinator jecting this proposed apple does not, The Atlantic salmon are engineered of the Canadian Biotechnology Ac- however, mean that it won’t be ap- with genetic material from Chinook tion Network www.cban.ca proved. Our regulatory agencies do salmon and ocean pout to grow twice not consider potential market harm or as fast and, if approved, it would be Canola Field Photo by Gord McKenna the opinions of farmers and consum- the first GM food animal in the world.

Watershed Sentinel 15 March-April 2013 FOOD SECURITY Wither Public Policy on Food

The politics of food policy discussions

and vocal of all, the sive: Loblaws, McCains, PepsiCo, Conference Board of Heinz, Cargill, Maple Leaf, Nestlé, Canada. to name just a few. These companies boast billions of dollars in sales and P r i v a t i z i n g make hundreds of millions in annual Public Policy profits. They certainly see the food The Conference business quite differently from the Board of Canada average consumer, cook, or gardener! launched a new in- Joining the big food corporations by Diana Bronson stitute in 2011 called the Centre for at the table are government depart- Food in Canada. It is currently run- ments and agencies such as Agri- Canada’s food system is broken. ning electronic and in-person “con- culture and Agri-Food Canada, the Over 2.5 million Canadians are mod- sultations” on the goals and actions Public Health Agency, and even some erately or severely food-insecure; a it has defined regarding a Canadian provincial departmental “investors.” quarter of Canadians are overweight food strategy. Select groups of people The Conference Board has in- or obese; and 25% of our family vited the public sector to invest in farms have gone out of business in the “What is good for this process as “they are responsible past two decades despite impressive for the policy and regulatory environ- growth in our exports. Loblaws is not ment within which the private sector Calls for a national food policy necessarily good for corporations will operate.” This con- that would bring together concerns Canada.” veniently omits that the public sector around health, hunger and sustain- has much bigger responsibilities than ability are growing louder. The voices are being invited to “consultations” that, ie. ensuring that private corpo- are quite varied: there is the People’s in hotel rooms where they can fill out rations do not undermine the public Food Policy sponsored by a Canada- a questionnaire and hear the Confer- good. wide network of civil society organi- ence Board give their vision for a na- The food industry is now the big- zations, Food Secure Canada, a popu- tional food strategy. gest manufacturing sector in Cana- lar initiative in which thousands of The Centre for Food in Canada’s da. It employs the largest number of citizens participated; the recommen- mission is supposedly to create “a workers and generates $80 billion in dations of the UN Special Rapporteur shared vision for the future of food annual sales. This is more than textile, on the right to food, who visited Can- in Canada.” The Conference Board paper, machinery and aerospace com- ada in the spring of 2012; the Cana- claims to be “objective” and “non- bined. Obviously, food companies dian Federation of Agriculture has put partisan,” proudly stating that it does will have a lot of say about a national forward a National Food Strategy (and not engage in lobbying government. food policy – but we should not make the Ontario Federation went so far as But one look at its members’ list and the mistake of thinking that what is to trade-mark the name!); all five po- you see that it doesn’t need to. good for Loblaws is necessarily good litical parties in the House of Com- In fact, it doesn’t so much have for Canada. mons have stated we need a food pol- members, as “investors.” The list of Unsurprisingly, “industry pros- icy; and perhaps most well-resourced companies around the table is impres- perity” is the primary goal of the Con-

Watershed Sentinel 16 March-April 2013 FOOD SECURITY

ference Board process. While there developing and refining a policy that tional membership-based network are nods here and there to issues such is sustainable, just, healthy and wide- focused on zero hunger, healthy and as healthy and safe food and sustain- open for democratic discussion and safe food for all and sustainable food ability, there is little that is new, inno- improvement. systems. Join Food Secure Canada vative or of substance on these critical t and read Resetting the Table: A Peo- issues. Basically, the goals and actions Diana Bronson is Executive Di- ples Food Policy for Canada at www. contemplated in the documents re- rector of Food Secure Canada, a na- foodsecure.org leased thus far are only those that can be easily accommodated by the food industry without damaging their cur- rent business model. Key Issues of Concern about Food with CETA Hunger in the Land Through the Toronto Food Policy Council (TFPC) and Toronto Public Health, Toronto has been a North American leader in food security. The TFPC is concerned Furthermore, the Conference that the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement between Canada and the E.U. Board’s documents scarcely men- (CETA) will undermine the economic growth of the regional farm and food sector in tion hunger (which affects over two Southern Ontario. million Canadians), food insecurity in Aboriginal communities or in the Procurement North (where the cost of food puts a • CETA restricts the powers of municipal government to support local busi- healthy meal out of reach for many nesses and direct spending to create employment, environmental benefits, and other families), or the crisis of family farm- social or economic priorities. ing (where policies undermine local • Favors export industries at the expense of farms producing for the domestic market. Many of Canada’s agricultural exports stand to gain from this agreement - and sustainable markets despite the beef, pork, canola and others. However, Canada’s food processing sector, as a whole, increased consumer interest in sup- stands to lose. The EU is seeking to increase exports of these products into the Cana- porting them). dian market. Canadians need a national food Intellectual property and seed sovereignty policy and many of us were involved The intellectual property stipulations under CETA would allow corporations in drafting a blueprint for one, known to seize farms, farm assets and freeze bank accounts of any farmers alleged to have as the People’s Food Policy. What we infringed corporate intellectual property rights, even if these farms have been con- don’t need is yet another streamlined, taminated by seeds from neighbouring farms. fast tracked, industry-led process that Issue of standards The EU has a policy of zero tolerance for genetically modified organisms. This excludes the very voices that most makes it difficult for farmers exporting to the EU, especially grain and oilseed farmers need to be heard. where GM contamination through drift, cross-pollination or storage is almost certain. Is the federal government able to The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, representing the canola, barley, beef and meet that challenge? Or has it been pork export sectors is lobbying for policy that would tolerate a low level presence of so downsized that it delegates critical GM. The push for acceptance of GM products in the EU represents a lowering of envi- government policy to privately-run ronmental and health standards. think tanks? Can we really afford to Water leave the task of defining the future Historically, water has been off the bargaining table for Canada in free trade of food to some of the most profit- agreements. However, the EU has requested that Canada include drinking water ser- vices under CETA. able corporations in the country and Fallacy of free trade expect the crumbs to trickle down to There is no such thing as a level playing field in agriculture. This is why agricul- the hungry? ture is left out of most trade agreements. In 2004, farmers in Europe received subsidies That would be highly unlikely. It of about $6 a bushel. U.S. farmers got $2.50 a bushel, and Canadian farmers received would be much wiser to make sure a subsidies of only 40 cents a bushel. Agriculture is widely considered a domestic issue diversity of voices are heard loud and and a sector that requires special consideration. Because of these gross asymmetries, clear – including, above all, those who agriculture should not be a part of CETA. live with food insecurity every month, From a presentation by Lauren Baker to the “Exploring the Comprehensive Trade and that an open multi-stakeholder dis- Economic Trade Agreement between Canada and the EU: An International Workshop” cussion take place, and that different held in Toronto, Ontario, February, 2012. levels of government be tasked with www.cban.ca/Resources/Topics/Trade/Food-Agriculture-and-CETA

Watershed Sentinel 17 March-April 2013 FOOD SECURITY Photo Chaput Tara by Photo Alex by Chisholm Fletcher How the National Farmers Union is supporting a new crop of young farmers

by Alex Chisholm Fletcher In recent years, we have benefited perspective about the NFU, the NFU from becoming part of a much larger Youth and why I think building a A few years ago my partner and community of farmers, the National movement of young farmers is criti- I started a small market garden, Wind Farmers Union (NFU). We got in- cal. Whipped Farm, on Southern Vancou- volved originally through a meeting of ver Island. Like many new farmers, the NFU Youth; we were attracted by NFU in a Nutshell we didn’t come from farming back- the opportunity to connect with more In 1970 the Parliament of Canada grounds or have much money and had young farmers from across Canada. consented to merge provincial farm- only a few years of experience work- As we have learned more about ers’ unions into the National Farmers ing on a farm. Critically, we had sup- the NFU, its democratic structure, Union. The NFU provides Canadian port from other farmers in our com- history of fighting for family farms, farmers with a forum for addressing munity who shared their time, knowl- support of new farmers, solidarity common challenges and for develop- edge, equipment, and manure. They work with international farmers, and ing policies. While anyone is able to helped us get started and encouraged policy positions on pressing issues, join the NFU as an Associate Mem- us to keep going. Our experience we have become more involved. At ber, only active Farmer Members can made us realize how crucial it is to the last convention, I was elected to vote and hold elected positions. be part of a community of farmers, the Board of Directors as Vice Presi- The NFU is committed to: fam- to learn from each other, to help each dent of Youth. While I am very new to ily farms as the primary producers of other out, and especially to help more the position and have much to learn, food; gender equity in shaping food new farmers, like us, get started. I want to share some information and policy; environmentally-safe farming

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practices; fair food prices for farm- Despite the demographic trends, Board of Directors, as well as NFU ers and consumers; supporting youth there are encouraging signs. There is policy statements specific to Begin- farmers; improving communities; growing support from customers for ning Farmers. The NFU Youth also ensuring adequate supplies of safe local food and an interest in building works with other organizations who and nutritious food; and, standing in relationships and trust with farmers. share common goals and values; we solidarity with family farmers inter- Farmers are innovating new ways are happy to collaborate with Young nationally. of growing and distributing food: in Agrarians to mobilize and support The NFU is a founding member urban areas, on land trusts, through young farmers in BC! of La Via Campesina (LVC), the in- Community Supported Agriculture, ternational peasants movement that by bicycle, on incubator farms, in co- Building Food Sovereignty represents over 200 million farmers, operatives, with community invest- Being part of a community of peasants, agricultural workers, rural ment, and more. Through the NFU farmers enabled us to start our farm. women, and indigenous communi- Youth, I have gotten to know young It has also been one of the most re- ties. The NFU promotes food sover- farmers from across Canada who are warding and enjoyable parts of our eignty, a concept developed by LVC innovative, successful, and are active- farming experience. Being part of that goes beyond food security to ly building food sovereignty. the community of farmers also gives challenge existing power structures In Vancouver’s Downtown East- me hope for what this food movement and make explicit the need for rights side, Seann Dory, Co-Director of could achieve. Working as a whole to self-determination over how food is SOLE Food Street Farms, is turning we are much stronger than the sum of grown and distributed. As a member abandoned lots into raised box gar- our parts. organization, all NFU members are dens and training inner-city farm- Food Sovereignty in Canada is members of LVC. ers. In Central Alberta, Blake Hall, possible only if we work together and Herdsman at Prairie Gold Pastured grow more new farmers. Engaging NFU “Youth” Meats, grazes his livestock to mimic in organizations like the NFU gives At first I was skeptical. Being in the natural ecology of grassland herds us the ability to build support and a my late 20’s, I didn’t really think of my- and butchers his own meats. In Sas- strong unified voice for our genera- self as qualifying as a “youth”. In Can- katchewan, Kalissa Regier grows and tion and future generations of farmers. ada, depending on the province or ter- direct-markets certified organic whole With the resources, knowledge and ritory, minors officially become adults grains, pulses, oilseeds and stone passion of the NFU and its members and therefore stop being youth, at age ground flour on her family’s farm, and a commitment to Food Sovereign- 18 or 19. By most standards someone Hestia Organics. Outside of Ottawa, ty, I believe we have the opportunity my age would not qualify as a youth. Paul Slomp runs Grazing Days, a to help build real solutions to our most This was also the case for the NFU grass-fed beef CSA (Community Sup- pressing ecological and social justice 20 years ago when, according to Statis- ported Agriculture) financed with the challenges, while promoting real, long tics Canada, there were around 78,000 help of community investors. In Nova term prosperity, in our communities, farmers under the age of 35 in Canada. Scotia, Cammie Harbottle, NFU in Canada, and around the world. In 2011, the last census year currently Youth President, operates Waldegrave t available, there were around 24,000 Farm, part of a 100-acre Community This article was first published at farmers under 35, a precipitous drop of Land Trust. www.youngagrarians.org and is re- around 70%. Accordingly, over the last The NFU Youth gives young printed with their permission. Young 20 years, the NFU has amended its con- farmers the opportunity to connect Agrarians is a partnership project with stitution three times to increase the age with other farmers from across the FarmFolk CityFolk that is “engaging limit of “youth.” The upper limit is now country to learn from each other, young farmers, would be farmers and at 35, lower than the Canadian Young share strategies, address common the public in the reshaping of our food Farmers Forum age limit of 40. This challenges, and learn about and get system”. is the nouveau “youth” of Canadian involved in the NFU. Through the Contact NFU: www.nfu.ca agriculture. It reflects the many, often NFU Foundation, Youth members Alex Chisholm Fletcher and his prohibitive challenges that farmers face have access to financial support to at- partner manage Wind Whipped Farm, today and is an alarming indication of tend national conventions and Youth in Metchosin, Vancouver Island. He the state of agriculture in Canada. meetings. There are also two dedicat- can be reached at Support from Consumers ed positions for Youth members on the [email protected]

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After by Dawn Paley NAFTA, composition complete- Mexico’s Food ly changed, Mexicans Even in the quiet Situation Changed stayed with a very flat of late afternoon, the Dramatically consumption of fruits market down the street and vegetables, Canadi- from my apartment in ans and Americans started Mexico City is a hive of ac- to increase fairly dramatically tivity. Dozens of butchers cut up the intake of fruit and vegetables,” all kinds of meat and make sausag- Otero told Watershed Sentinel. “The es. Women display whole chickens, other interesting trend is that Mexi- and offer to prepare them according cans started to consume a lot more to what a passing customer desires. meat… It’s a type of North Ameri- There’s homemade ice cream for sale can diet that is becoming generalized across from a fish stand, and a -tor throughout the world actually, I mean tilla stand that always seems to have if you look at figures in many, many a line-up. I buy my vegetables from a countries in the world, that kind of man who stands at the top of a pyra- diet based on milk and meat is being mid of lettuces, tomatoes, avocados, generalized.” carrots, potatoes, and whatever hap- By 2009, for example, canola oil pens to be in season. While he weighs (used primarily in fast food and fry- and bags the veggies I select, he often ing) was Canada’s single largest ex- talks about how good Mexican food port product to Mexico. “If you want is, but how so many people don’t eat to know what are the sources of obes- the healthy and tasty things he offers ity, that’s where you should go,” said for sale. Before I started working on Otero, who is currently preparing a this story, I assumed he was just talk- paper on what he calls the “neoliberal ing up his business. diet.” Mexico’s obesity rate is one of As I began to research for this ar- the highest in the world, and is climb- ticle, I realized something: he’s right. ing with every soft drink consumed. According to The Economist, in Mexi- People’s diets in Mexico have co, “Diabetes is the top cause of hospi- changed drastically over the past dec- tal admission after childbirth, and the ades, in tandem with the transforma- second-biggest cause of death.” tion of the country’s agricultural sec- tor spurred by the North America Free NAFTA’s Shock to the Trade Agreement, signed in 1994. Countryside According to Simon Fraser Uni- versity professor Gerardo Otero, in But the changes to the farming 1985 Mexicans were consuming more sector unleashed by NAFTA repre- food than Canadians on a per capita sent more than a trend of people eat- basis. From the mid-1980s on, “Cana- ing hamburgers and fries instead of da started to surpass Mexico on a per tacos and drinking Pepsi instead of a capita intake of calories, and then the traditional Jamaica juice. Along with

Watershed Sentinel 20 March-April 2013 FOOD SECURITY

kilogram of corn it cost $3.72, com- pared to $1.67 per kilo in commercial farms. Both groups sell their product at a loss and rely on state support and other income to survive. “I have a hec- tare that’s maybe a quarter planted, and it gives me a ton (of corn per har- vest),” said Pedro Viafuerte, who has changes in Mexico’s food system, land in Mexico State, but who works NAFTA has caused a series of shocks as a custodian in Mexico City in order to the Mexican countryside, forcing to earn an income. “We use it for our many farm workers to abandon their personal consumption… and to fatten lands and look for work in cities or our livestock, because it doesn’t fetch in the US or elsewhere. It has turned the price it should.” Mexico into a food dependent coun- Because it is so difficult to turn try, which is no longer able to feed its a profit growing traditional foods, ac- population without imports. cording to a report published by the “NAFTA marked a breaking Agriculture, Society and Development point … NAFTA privileged com- journal last year, most Mexican peas- mercial agriculture, and small farm- ants no longer grow corn and beans ers were basically abandoned,” José as a means of economic survival. Herrera Vizcarra, an advisor with the Instead, “most of the production that Cardenista Peasant Union in Mexico peasants obtain from their land plots City, told Watershed Sentinel. (maize, beans, kidney beans, etc.) is NAFTA was preceded by legisla- for self-consumption … the greater tive changes allowing for the privati- part of monetary income is obtained zation of collectively-owned land. It from other activities linked to the land also resulted in radical cuts to subsi- (fruit, flower or vegetable production) dies and loans for farmers and other or of another type (commerce, paid supports in seeds, technical assist- work in factories or construction in ance, marketing and pricing that the Mexico or the USA).” state once provided. The last protec- No Profit in Farming tions for agricultural products under Canadian Mining Invasion NAFTA, which were applied to corn Agricultural subsidies in Mexico and beans, were dropped in 2008. On chalk in much lower than they do in Not only did NAFTA usher a January 31st of that year, over 200,000 Canada, which according to a 2005 flood of lower-priced staple foods into people marched in Mexico City estimate provided $3.7 billion to Mexico and increase migration away against NAFTA’s final blow to Mexi- farmers, and the US, which paid out from rural areas, it also opened the can farmers. Renegotiating NAFTA is $19.1 billion in the same year. Mexi- door to a massive expansion in the a key tenet of those pushing to regain can farmers, the majority of whom mining sector. Canadian companies food sovereignty in Mexico. farm plots smaller than five hectares, dominate this sector, making up the “NAFTA created a disloyal com- receive between $78 and $102 per majority of foreign mining companies petition, because the United States hectare per harvest cycle in govern- in the country. and Canada continued to subsidize ment support, according to Herrera. In Oaxaca, Vancouver-based For- agricultural producers, and we pulled “The peasants are often so poor that tuna Silver has been at the centre of the subsidies,” said Herrera, who has what they receive from [PROCAM- a deadly split between townspeople worked in Mexico’s agricultural sec- PO, the federal assistance program who are for and against the mine. tor for over 30 years. “It became im- for farmers], they use to satisfy their I had the chance to meet Bernardo possible for small and medium pro- basic consumption needs,” he said. Vásquez, a prominent community ducers to compete with producers A 2011 study showed that for activist and budding avocado farmer, from Canada and United States.” small farmers in Mexico to produce a Continued on Page 22 

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Mexico continued two per cent in Canada and the US. the enormous Angel of Independence Small, medium, and large farmers Statue. before he was killed in March, 2012. throughout Mexico harvest a total of “We believe that the only rela- He explained to me how the govern- just over 20 million hectares of land tion that we, as the growers, have with ment of Oaxaca claims his community each year, according to INEGI, the Mother Earth are the natural seeds,” – the rural Zapotec village of San José country’s national statistics agency. hunger striker Francisco Jiménez del Progreso – is poor, but the people Almost eight million hectares of corn Murillo told Democracy Now! “We who live there have very basic needs are planted in Mexico every year, fol- have to remember that Mexico has 60 and desires that could be fulfilled if lowed by pastures for ranching, sor- distinct varieties of corn that we have locals had better access to irrigation ghum, and beans. Mexico is widely cultivated over the last 10,000 years, and fair supports from government. known as the birthplace of corn, over and with this, we have fed the world. “The government calls us poor but we 52 races of corn grow here, some of It is a struggle for the life and health live well,” said Vásquez. “The people which may be uniquely suited to with- of our country.” say ‘we don’t want luxurious houses, stand the impacts of climate change. or luxurious cars, we need water for The struggle for food sovereignty our crops, we need fuel,’ that’s all “If you want to know and health is one that is reflected in we want, we don’t even need work. every facet of life in Mexico. These There’s a lot of work! What we don’t what are the sources of days, markets like the one around the have is someone to pay us for it.” obesity, that’s where corner from where I live face stiff Vásquez was clear about how competition from big box grocery people in his community need access you should go.” stores popping up all over the coun- to money in order to supplement the try. In 2011 alone, Wal-Mart opened crops they grow for sustenance. The That genetic wealth and diversity one store a day in Mexico and Central mining company, he said, didn’t bring of Mexican corn stocks, however, is America. anything worthwhile to the table. In- also under threat. It has been over 10 In the face of these changes, some stead, it divided the community. “We years since researchers began pub- farmers organize against genetically have fields and lands, we have work, lishing peer-reviewed articles prov- modified seeds, others get by, plant- what we don’t have is cash to get paid ing that the DNA from genetically ing traditional crops, while still oth- in, and the company isn’t giving us modified (GM) corn had begun mix- ers have packed up and moved away, money, they’ll give you chickens or ing with indigenous species of corn mostly to the US, but others to Can- little things like that, which the peo- in remote mountain areas of Oaxaca. ada, where they work to earn remit- ple don’t need,” he told me in an inter- The fight against genetically modified tances for their families. The changes view in February, 2012. corn has been ongoing since the first to Mexico’s agricultural and food sys- About a month after our inter- evidence of GM corn was discovered. tems over the past 30 years have been view, Vásquez was murdered when Some say this corn was introduced in severe, but they are not irreversible. an unknown assailant shot up his car Mexico through aid programs, where on the road to San José Progreso. His farmers were given corn seeds with- t cousin and brother, who were travel- out being warned that they were ge- ling with him, were both wounded in netically modified seeds. Dawn Paley is an editor-member the attack. Instead of contributing to According to Greenpeace Mexi- of the Media Co-op. She lives in Mex- improving the situation of rural farm- co, the world’s largest agro-business ico where she is at work on her first ers, mega-mining projects have time outfits, like Monsanto, Pioneers, and book. and again exacerbated local conflicts Dow Agribusiness, have put pressure and created long term environmental on Mexico’s new president, Enrique and water management problems. Peña Nieto, to allow commercial planting and harvesting of geneti- Genetic Wealth of Corn Races cally modified corn. A recent action to keep up the pressure against ge- Regardless of the difficulties they netically modified corn saw tens of face, farmers make up 20 per cent of thousands march in Mexico City as Mexico’s labour force, compared with well as a rotating hunger strike under

Watershed Sentinel 22 March-April 2013 FOOD SECURITY The Day the Wheat Board Died The fall of the Canadian Wheat Board and the rise of corporate agriculture

rations that dominate the world’s food The Board’s main activities cen- system. It is estimated that between tered on collectively managing prairie 70 and 90 per cent of the entire glo- wheat, resulting in higher and steadier

Photo by Wheat Initiative by Wheat Photo bal grain trade is controlled by just prices due to price pooling, stringent four corporations: the “ABCD group,” quality controls, and the ability of the composed of ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Board to use its immense weight to and (Louis) Dreyfus. These giant offer coveted large contracts to major grain traders have been rubbing their wheat importing nations for an addi- hands in anticipation of seizing con- tional price premium. The Board also trol of the multi-billion dollar market offered farmers indirect benefits, pro- once managed by the Board. moting new innovations and acting as Against these odds, the persist- a representative of farmers in disputes by Gavin Fridell ence and long history of the Board is with powerful corporate interests. all that more remarkable. In the first For example, the Board played a cen- In 2012, the Conservatives ended half of the twentieth century, poor tral role in blocking the introduction the 70-year monopoly seller status of prairie farmers mobilized against of Monsanto GM modified wheat in the Canadian Wheat Board, one of the powerful corporate rail, banking, 2004, and in recent years initiated an world’s largest and most successful organic program that has made Can- “state trading enterprises.” The gov- “A coalition of farmer ada one of the world’s top growers of ernment decision came without a vote groups has launched a organic grain. among prairie grain farmers, required Throughout its history, the Board by the Canadian Wheat Board Act, class action suit against the has brought countless gains to prairie and despite a 2011 plebiscite in which government.” farmers and served as a model exam- a majority of farmers voted to main- ple of effective collective marketing tain the Board’s status. The matter is and elevator monopolies, driving a in action, defending the livelihoods now before the courts, but the Board tide of radical agrarian reform that, of smaller grain farmers against the cannot simply be revived after having amidst the chaos and uncertainty of relentless tide of “free trade” rheto- been dismantled. Instead, a coalition the Great Depression and the Sec- ric, which frames corporate monopo- of farmer groups has launched a class ond World War, led to the decision lies as “market freedom.” This is no action suit against the government by the federal government in 1943 to small feat in a world where libertar- seeking billions of dollars in compen- authorize the Canadian Wheat Board ian fantasies so often rule the day (in sation. to act as the “single-desk seller” for rhetoric, not in practice as the recent Despite giving hundreds of mil- all Western Canadian wheat, durum, trillion dollar Wall Street bailout so lions of dollars each year in subsidies and barley sold internationally and powerfully reveals). Against the pre- to tar sands companies, to cite just for human consumption domestically. ponderance of a political culture that one example, the Conservative gov- Although originally envisioned as a celebrates individualism and selfish- ernment fashions itself as libertarian, temporary measure, the Board proved ness, the moral force and coopera- opposed to state intervention, and has to be highly successful and popular, tive ethos of the Wheat Board will be long virulently opposed the Board, and was continually renewed and ex- missed. favouring the interests of giant agri- panded over the next several decades, t business and anti-Board grain farm- frequently receiving support from Gavin Fridell is a Canada Re- ers. The future of the Board has long all major federal parties. During this search Chair at Saint Mary’s Uni- been tenuous in the face of declining time, Canada emerged as a leader in versity and author of the forthcom- numbers of smaller farms, the rise of the international grain trade and to- ing book, Alternative Trade (2013), ever-larger ones, and the global ex- day accounts for around 14 per cent of which features a chapter on the Wheat pansion of giant transnational corpo- the world’s wheat. Board.

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Inuit Protest the High Cost of Food and Cuts to Transportation Subsidies However, as Johnny Kasudluak, a chef and resident of Inukjuak states in a May, 2011 interview with Na- tion, many communities don’t use ice roads, and planes are the only op- tion in the winter to deliver food and goods. Kasudluak points out that un- der the new program the prices for non-perishable items such as canned goods and flour, which families have gotten accustomed to eating, have ac- tually increased because they are no longer subsidized at the same rate.

$11 for a Jar of Peanut Butter The high cost of food in the North is well documented and families often ration their groceries to make ends meet. On the Feeding My Family FB page, Northern residents have been by Susan MacVittie munities that replaces the Food Mail posting photos of food and products Program. during their shopping trips. $11.19 hen Leesee Papatsie Since the 1960s, food had been for a jar of peanut butter, $17.19 for started the Facebook shipped to remote communities in the a 1.2 kg box of Rice Krispies, $7.43 group, Feeding My Northwest Territories, Nunavik and for two pieces of broccoli. Food prices Family, to raise aware- other far north aboriginal communi- are accompanied by photos of wilted nessW of the high price of food in the ties through the Food Mail program, and bruised produce and products that North and to gather Nunavummiut where the transportation was handled are sold beyond their expiry dates. for a demonstration, she began with by Canada Post and subsidized by Though Nutrition North advocates a two people who said they wanted to the federal government. The subsidy healthy diet, it is challenging to eat help. Since that time in May, the FB program was changed in part because fresh produce when it is either too ex- group has caught the attention of the Canada Post said it was not set up for pensive or not fresh at all. world, gathering over 19,000 mem- food freight delivery and the program The question of what is nutri- bers – more than half the population was putting a strain on its service. tional for Inuit people is up for debate. of Nunavut, where Papatsie lives. While there are still subsidies on Researchers have proven that the tra- The success of the group high- all of the products being brought into ditional diet of country meat and fat lights the need for united discussion the north, it is only perishable items gives the highest calories needed for and action over the high cost of liv- that have a high subsidy rate. Any- withstanding the cold temperatures ing for people in the North, who face thing else from canned goods to flour of the North, but a steady supply of complex challenges to living healthy has a much lower subsidy rate and is country food is not available. Diet and productive lives. considerably more expensive if the re- changes with processed and packaged One of the current concerns for tailer opts to fly it in. Under Nutrition food high in sugars and cheaper car- food security in Nunavut is the intro- North, the government is encouraging bohydrates have now become a staple duction in October of Nutrition North, retailers to make alternative arrange- and with it, type 2 diabetes and obesi- a new food subsidy program for re- ments, through whatever means works ty. Although Nutrition North includes tailers, suppliers, and country food best for them, such as sea freight or country food in its subsidy program, processors in isolated northern com- truck delivery via ice roads. only country food processed in feder-

Watershed Sentinel 24 March-April 2013 FOOD SECURITY

ally regulated plants is eligible, leav- Many Nunavummiut were dis- access to computers or read English, ing smaller processors ineligible for appointed by Aglukkaq”s comments. flyers were distributed in syllabic for the subsidy. With increasing limits on hunting, the elders and announced through the In a place where the temperature such as the five year hunting ban on radio societies in the communities. does not rise above freezing for eight caribou in Labrador, the cost of fuel, The organizers asked the elders to to nine months of the year, food has snowmobile / boat parts, firearms and “give us advice or direction to make never been taken for granted, and ammunition, among other supplies sure we are doing the right thing in country food is closely tied to the needed for increasingly long hunting determining the best path on behalf of cultural identity of Inuit people. The trips as animal populations dwindle, our meek and less fortunate.” hunting, harvesting, and sharing of one online commenter pointed out, In August, another protest drew country food is integral in providing “food security is actually a BIGGER the attention of the national and inter- social cohesion and Inuit livelihoods issue for families that hunt ‘every national press. have been defined by their relation- day.’” The opportunity for more con- ship to the land. Inuit are communal Suppliers at Iqaluit’s monthly versation about food security took with their food - anyone who is in country-food outdoor market say place when Nunavut Food Security need of it, is welcome to it. A part they can’t keep up with demand. The Coalition, led by the Government of of the hunt is often shared with the number of harvesters able to hunt with Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. elders, not only out of respect, but regularity is smaller relative to the hosted a food security symposium in as a necessity. The Inuit have a his- population of Inuit who want country January 2013. More government strat- tory of coping with famine. In earlier food. egies might be hard to swallow when times, it was brought on by changes poverty reduction goals are needed. in the migratory patterns of animals - Adults living in However, symposium participant and in modern times it is affected in part Nunavut have a high Feeding My Family co-administrator by the transient nature of government Eric Joamie called the symposium ideologies and subsidies. prevalence of food “uplifting” and said food security isn’t insecurity at 68.8%, only about food but involves housing, Desparate Situation which is six times education, and financial literacy. Olivier De Schutter, the UN Spe- higher than the “The next steps are the objec- cial Rapporteur on the Right to Food, tives. We are about empowering peo- said during his visit to Canada in May, Canadian national ple to speak up; this is about working that he was “struck” by the “desper- average together on an issue,” says Papatsie. ate situation” indigenous people faced From the posts on Feeding My Fam- in the country. A report, Inuit and the The discussion about food in- ily, many people are offering support, Right to Food, submitted to Schutter security in the North is not new but from sharing information to donat- during his visit, stated that adults liv- with the advent of the Internet, people ing clothes and non-perishable items. ing in Nunavut had a high prevalence are able to address the problem with “What’s good about it is, that people of food insecurity at 68.8%, which is a unified voice. On May 11th, Coral are initiating [the conversation]. And I six times higher than the Canadian Harbour took the first steps and -or just have to sit back and smile.” national average and is the highest ganized a protest about high food documented food insecurity preva- prices and Nutrition North outside of t lence rate for any aboriginal popula- the Northern Store. In June, an un- tion residing in a developed country. precedented event occurred where To donate: email feedingnuna- Nunavummiut across Nunavut simul- [email protected] or check the list of “They hunt every day” taneously protested in their respective food banks under Files in the Feeding My Family Facebook group. However, Nunuvut MP, Health communities. Minister, Leona Aglukkaq, down- As one of the organizers, Papatsie played Schutter’s visit by claiming admitted that protesting is not a tra- Photo: Terry Adla, President of Inuit Tapiriit that indigenous people don’t face food ditional Inuit value, but she felt that Kanatami (ITK) speaking at Celebration of the Seal, security issues because “they hunt people needed to step forward and an event that highlights the importance of country every day.” speak out. For those that didn’t have food for Inuit. Photo credit: ITK

Watershed Sentinel 25 March-April 2013 Sponsored by Photo Kate by Pattison

Industrial agriculture displaces Food, feed, biofuel and other industrial commodities the world’s poor for profit are produced for the international or domestic market. Such land deals are often associated with low levels of transpar- ency, consultation, and respect for the rights of local com- munities. by Susan MacVittie In the last three years China has bought 7.5 million acres of farmland, mostly in Africa. Saudi Arabia has spent In March 2011, ethnic Maya Q’eqchi communities of $800 million on overseas farms. Japan is also buying huge smallholder farmers in southern Guatemala were violently farms in both Africa and South America. evicted by state security forces from land they had farmed for generations. About 3,200 people from 14 communities Water in the Polochic valley were forced off land they believed they had a right to live and work on. Within months, hun- Professor A. Haroon Akram-Lodhi, Chair of the De- dreds of hectares of the lush valley in the province of Alta partment of International Development Studies at Trent Verapaz were being planted with sugar cane that would be University and author of Hungry for Change: Farmers, turned into ethanol for European cars. Today, displaced Food Justice and the Agraian Question, told the Watershed families live by the side of the road with no access to shel- Sentinel, that access to water is a motivating factor in these ter or food. land grabs. “Around the world a lot of land grabbing is actu- It is a scenario that has been occurring in Brazil, Mo- ally about gaining control of water, which is far more scarce zambique, and many other developing countries. Since than land; without water, you cannot farm, and a lot of land 2008, when global food prices suddenly spiked, there has grabbers are from water scarce countries. This has been ac- been an upsurge in land investment by transnational cor- knowledged by the head of Nestle.” porations and private investors who purchase or lease large International agencies such as Oxfam and GRAIN tracts of fertile land, along with its minerals and water, dis- have been following this trend and have documented that placing viable rural communities of small-scale farmers. two thirds of land grabs are occurring in Africa. The Can-

Watershed Sentinel 26 March-April 2013 FOOD SECURITY

adian Foodgrains Bank estimates that, between 2000 and rity and Nutrition, a development assistance program now 2010, there have been land deals for over 200 million hec- spearheaded by the Obama administration, and the World tares of land in developing countries. That’s almost three Economic Forum’s Grow Africa initiative. times the amount of farmland in Canada. Investment is The World Bank plays a pivotal role in land acquisitions concentrated in areas where land is inexpensive, but still as a source of direct financial support for country govern- has good potential for crop production, including irrigation ments and as a policy advisor to the governments of devel- and access to markets. oping countries. Since 2008, the World Bank’s agricultural development strategy and official policy has supported Biofuel large-scale investments as a means of improving agricul- tural productivity and economic growth. The G8 countries While some of the land is being used for food produc- have provided the World Bank with resources and entrust it tion intended to export back to the home country (espe- to manage a spate of new global agricultural development cially by Middle Eastern countries with little agricultural programs. However, these initiatives are often developed in potential), biofuel crops such as palm oil, sugar cane and countries with weak governance and regulations and select- maize are on the rise. In fact, governments’ need to main- ed by investors looking to secure land quickly and cheaply. tain renewable energy targets have helped spur a rush for Communities in developing countries frequently lack land. The European Union (EU) member-states approved government-recognized title to the land they farm or hold the Renewable Energy Directive in 2010, which expects to in common. This results in insecurity of tenure, especially see the EU biofuels’ consumption double between 2010 and for women who live in countries where, according to law 2020. EU countries do not have enough or customs, they are unable to inherit land available to meet their targets, which land. The Mozambican farmers’ unions means biofuel crops have to be grown At least 15 Canadian stated that soon land will become scarce outside of Europe. A 2011 report com- for locals as the government leases more missioned by G20 leaders found that the companies have of it to foreign agribusinesses – displac- demand for food and feed crops for the acquired agricultural ing thousands of rural communities and production of biofuels is a significant or forest land in smallholder farmers with no official title factor in rising food prices and food price deeds to their land. volatility globally. As well as losing their developing nations In February, the World Bank’s Com- land and their livelihoods, indigenous since 2000 pliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) re- people are forced to buy food at local leased an audit showing that the World markets where increased demand and Banks’ International Finance Corpora- reduced supply drives up local food prices, pushing more tion (IFC) “knows very little” about the environmental or people into hunger. Biofuels may not be the green solution social impacts of its financial market lending, despite its ob- to climate change after all. jective of ensuring that any financing does not harm com- munities and the environment. Policy and the World Bank Oxfam have begun an online petition to ask the World Bank to help protect poor people’s rights by freezing its Though land grabbing is not a new phenomenon, the investment in large-scale land acquisitions while it sets a character, scale and pace of the recent wave of land grabs is fair standard for others to follow. Oxfam Canada has also distinct because it is tied to shifts in power and production been calling on Canada’s representative to the World Bank, in the global economy. The global rule-making institutions Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, to take a stand and put the of the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), the issue of land grabs on the agenda. Committee on World Food Security and the World Bank, have been busy promoting large-scale private-sector led in- The Canadian Connection vestments in developing country agriculture. The flagship project is the recently negotiated UN Voluntary Guidelines Institutional investors are extremely interested in Ca- on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fish- nadian land, which is far cheaper than in much of the world. eries and Forests. Other projects are the Global Agricul- Saskatchewan land has risen 20-25% in 2012 to $800-2000/ ture and Food Security Program (a new multi-donor trust acre for prime farms in southern Saskatchewan, but it is still fund that encourages public and private investment in ag- less than $7000/acre in California or $6,000/acre in Brazil. riculture), the G8’s so-called New Alliance for Food Secu- Continued on Page 28 

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Land Grabs continued

In a November 8, 2012 online Bloomberg Business article, Doug Emsley, president of Regina, Saskatchewan- based Assiniboia Capital Corp., the largest farmland invest- ment company in the nation, with some 115,000 acres under management valued at about $90 million, said that every day he fields calls from potential investors, from pension funds or family businesses that want to buy “from inside and outside Canada.”

Fueling the farmland price pressure are large real estate Photo Luc by Forsyth investment syndicates, such as Calgary-based Prairie Mer- chant, controlled by former Dragon Den multi-millionaire Today, displaced families live by the Brett Wilson. “I see Saskatchewan farmland as a long-term side of the road with no access to hold,” Wilson told Western Investor, “with a limited supply of good, arable farmland and ever-increasing demand for shelter or food. food on a global basis.” A major sticking point is the availability of land to for- to farmers, which he compares to “the return to serfdom.” eign investors. Ontario, British Columbia and other, smaller Sagan and other farmers are skeptical farm acquisi- Canadian provinces have no restrictions on foreign owner- tions will turn a profit for shareholders. Buoyed by high ship of farmland. An unnamed investor with a US man- commodity prices, some firms tout farmland as a better in- agement company recently acquired almost four per cent of vestment than gold, but farmers like Sagan know that farm- Nova Scotia’s land mass. ing is a long term investment, not a fast buck, and difficult The prairie provinces, though, keep individual foreign to manage from an office tower in downtown Toronto. investors from owning any more than 10 to 40 acres. In Indeed, Toronto-based investment company, Sprott Saskatchewan, where restrictions are the toughest, land is Resources, reported a net first quarter loss of $3.2 million seen as a natural resource that should not be controlled by in 2012 for One Earth Farms, a crop and cattle operation outsiders, said Mark Folk, general manager of the provin- that leases First Nation land. cial Farm Land Security Board. In some cases, said Folk, There are also speculations that buying Canadian interest in Canadian land has spurred would-be buyers to farmland may be a smokescreen for access to fields of pot- establish Canadian residency. ash, oil and gas. Land grabs in Canada have not been well-documented. Provinces do not keep inventory on large-scale land acqui- Against The Grain sitions. This blind eye approach has some people, particu- larly farmers, worried. While the National Farmers Union is starting to moni- Edward Sagan is a third generation Saskatchewan tor land grabs in Canada, international organizations con- farmer and the Saskatchewan Regional Co-Ordinator of the tinue to lobby against global land grabs. In response to National Farmers Union. Over the years he has watched as student pressure, Vanderbilt University in Tennessee took farmland prices rose and farmland bought and leased back steps in February to withdraw its $26 million investment in EMVest, an agricultural corporation with farms in five sub-Saharan African countries. Oxfam states that at least 15 Canadian companies have acquired agricultural or forest land in developing nations since 2000, including the Alberta Investment Management Corporation and the Quebec Pension Plan. A statement signed by over 60 environmental, development and farm- ing groups call for pension funds and other financial insti- tutions to stop land grabbing. Pension funds are reported to be the largest institutional “investors” in farmland world- wide and many pension contributors are not happy about how their savings are invested. t

Watershed Sentinel 28 March-April 2013 FOOD SECURITY

Connecting local food producers and buyers

One of the challenges faced by for retailers it eliminates the leg work small, local producers is access to a by putting everyone in the same room market to sell their products. In be- at the same time.” Photo Ester by Strijbos tween getting their hands dirty with In addition to “speed dating” farm work, many producers spend and open networking, there are work- Zero-Interest Microloans time online promoting and research- shops. And of course, there’s the food. for Food Producers ing potential buyers. Instead of booths offering samples & Processors The need to foster relationships that you see at regular tradeshows, the In British Columbia, the median and grow the local food economy ‘taste-test’ is a lunch provided via a age of a farmer in 2007 was 57 in BC was recognized by FarmFolk potluck, where the various producers years. This means that many CityFolk, co-organizers of Meet Your donate their product. farmers are set to retire in the near Maker, an event that was held in Van- Chef Dwayne MacIsaac, Presi- future and viable opportunities couver, Penticton and on Vancouver dent of the Island Chef’s Collabora- are needed to engage the next Island in February and early March tive and owner of Passioneat Foods, generation. Market demand for where food buyers and producers an ethical, grassroots catering com- locally grown food must be strong meet, network and grow their busi- pany out of Victoria, believes that enough to encourage a new crop of nesses. what you buy makes a difference to farmers able to confidently grow Since 2008, hundreds of restau- the community around you. “By sup- for the domestic market. rants, caterers, grocers, food delivery porting our local farms and markets FarmFolk CityFolk (FFCF), the companies, food processors, farmers, we are moving towards a stronger Island Chef’s Collaborative (ICC), fishers, and ranchers have met, nego- connection with each other and the and Vancity have partnered to tiated, and sealed deals worth more environment that we live in.” offer zero interest micro loans than a million dollars through Meet Part of that connection is contrib- to local food producers. The aim Your Maker. uting to BC’s food security by having of the fund is to provide capital “Without Meet Your Maker, it access to nutritious foods produced in for farmers, fishers, ranchers, would normally take weeks to make ways that are environmentally sound harvesters and processors to face-to-face business connections of and socially just. The 2007 Vancouver invest in equipment and materials this calibre,” says Robert Giardino of Food Assessment Report states that that allow them to increase the Lilikoi Specialty Foods in Vancouver. the amount of food consumed in BC supply of local food in their “It’s a huge opportunity for anyone that is produced in BC varies between region. Funds are raised from wanting to market their product, and 20-60%. Buying food produced close respective events—FFCF Metro to home helps keep Vancouver, Vancouver Island money in the local Feast of Fields, and the ICC Island economy and the Chefs’ Food Fest—to administer flavoursome taste a $250,000 capital pool, provided of fresh food can’t and managed by Vancity, for be beat. loans in Metro Vancouver, the t Sunshine Coast, the Fraser Valley, Meet Your Mak- Vancouver Island and the Gulf er is a project of Islands. FarmFolk City- Folk, which works For information contact Nicholas to cultivate a local, Scapillati, Executive Director, sustainable food [email protected] system.

Watershed Sentinel 29 March-April 2013 SOCIETY

Government by Spin Machine What Hill + Knowlton’s clients want, Hill + Knowlton’s clients get. What is Hill + Knowlton? The former employer of the Canadian Minister of the Environment, and so much, much more. Herein’s the tale about the tail that wags the dog.

by Joyce Nelson

Enbridge public relations (PR) cessful leadership bid and campaign In a puff piece about Kent’s home in advisor Hill + Knowlton Strategies to become Alberta premier. Toronto, the Toronto Star (Nov. 1, (H+K) has become the butt of jokes In October 2012, Carter (by then 2008) noted: “The recently elected because of those wildly distorting an- working for H+K) was invited to Conservative MP for Thornhill and imation maps for the Northern Gate- speak behind closed doors at the BC former vice-president of corporate way pipeline/tanker route and its bun- Liberal party convention, advising communications for the strategic gled handling of Enbridge’s 2010 Ka- delegates and Premier Christy Clark communications company Hill and lamazoo disaster. But while TV view- on campaign strategy for the upcom- Knowlton owns a home in Cabbage- ers laugh at the tagline – “It’s more ing provincial election. In Novem- town.” than a pipeline, it’s our path to the fu- ber 2012, H+K hired Brad Lavigne, After Jim Prentice suddenly re- ture” – H+K is ably earning its multi- former principle secretary to the signed from federal politics in De- million-dollar fees from Enbridge and NDP’s Jack Layton, as vice-president cember 2010, Harper appointed Peter other energy clients through its skill of public affairs. Kent as the new Minister of the En- in government relations alone. Less well-known is the fact that vironment as of January 2011. Within Peter Kent, the current federal Envi- hours of his appointment, Kent was Government Relations ronment Minister, worked for H+K endorsing “ethical oil” from the tar- Michael Coates, Canadian CEO before entering electoral politics. sands, and he told CTV (Jan. 9, 2011) and Chair of H+K, is reportedly well- that the tar sands have been the target regarded by the Harper government, Another Ethical Oiler of “slander and disinformation and having personally helped Stephen As reported by PR tracking web- outright lies … I’m not going to stand Harper with election debate prepa- site PubZone.com (Aug. 25, 2008), by while outsiders slander Canada, ration in 2004, 2006, and 2008. Ac- sometime in the summer of 2008, Canadian practices and values and cording to The Hill Times (Jan. 2012), Peter Kent was hired as a vice-presi- our ethical oil products.” Coates “sat out the last election cam- dent at H+K, where he “will focus on Kent subsequently abandoned paign [2011] because of the federal strategic client planning, leadership Canada’s commitment to the Kyoto lobbying commissioner’s ruling that training and senior media relations protocol and has presided over the getting involved may pose a conflict support.” Kent has an extensive back- muzzling of government scientists, of interest;” but Coates “remains con- ground with various news organiza- major cuts to Environment Canada nected to the Conservative Party and tions, such as CTV, Global, CBC, and staff and budgets, and the dismantling has the government’s ear.” Andrew NBC. As the now defunct PubZone. of decades of environmental regula- MacDougall, formerly with H+K, is com reported, “In addition to his new tion through omnibus bills C-38 and now Harper’s top spokesman. role at Hill and Knowlton, Kent will C-45 – all of which primarily benefits The revolving door has been use- continue to stand as the Conservative the oil and gas industry. ful to the company. In June 2012, H+K Party of Canada candidate in Thorn- According to my research, not a hired consultant Stephen Carter (Al- hill [Ont.] for the next federal elec- single mainstream media outlet has lison Redford’s former chief of staff) tion.” ever reported Environment Minister to be the PR firm’s national director Kent won his riding in that 2008 Kent’s former work for H+K, even of campaign strategy, focusing on in- election. As far as I can determine, though the latter’s involvement with frastructure and oil and gas issues. In only one other media outlet has ever Enbridge might warrant such a men- 2012, Carter had led Redford’s suc- mentioned Kent’s connection to H+K. tion. The media can dig when they

Watershed Sentinel 30 March-April 2013 SOCIETY

want to: they managed to expose inci- Calling the WPP Group a “con- In December 1992, CBC’s The Fifth dents from 25 years ago that led to the solidating force” in the midst of politi- Estate exposed this sordid PR story in recent resignation of Daniel Breton, cal polarization, the New York Times a masterful TV documentary called Quebec’s environment minister. reports that over the last dozen years, “To Sell a War” – which can be found WPP has been buying up so many on YouTube and still makes for fasci- The Parent Company lobbying firms, public relations firms, nating viewing. H+K is actually now a mere sub- media strategy firms, political con- sidiary of the largest PR outfit in the sulting firms, and advertising firms A Question world, the leader in what the New that it “has become, in effect, a special In his August 31, 2012 blog, York Times (May 14, 2012) calls the interest mega-firm, with offerings for Greenpeace’s Keith Stewart observed: multi-billion-dollar “influence-ped- conservatives and liberals, environ- “I’ve met quite a few Environment dling industry.” The UK parent com- Ministers over the last 22 years. In- pany – WPP Group, based in London deed, listening to the concerns and – has “a workforce of 158,000 in 107 H+K (for about $10 proposed solutions of environmental countries and 2011 billings of $72.3 groups is generally considered part billion.” Besides H+K, WPP owns a million from its Kuwaiti of their job description. But their real dozen other big PR outfits including clients) was able to job is to be the champion for environ- Burson-Marsteller, whose Canadian start the first US Gulf mental protection within government “affiliate” National Public Relations … So it came as a shock to have Peter is also advising Enbridge. war with Iraq through Kent, as his first public statement after WPP and its subsidiaries don’t its “hundreds of dead becoming Minister of Environment in reveal their client lists. But according January 2011, extol the virtues of ‘eth- to my research, WPP/H+K/National incubator babies” ical oil.’ Or hear him slander environ- Public Relations’ energy clients in- media fabrication. mental charities as ‘money launder- clude: Enbridge, Encana, Imperial ers.’ Which makes you wonder who, Oil, the Canadian Association of Pe- exactly, is he listening to?” troleum Producers (CAPP), TransAlta mentalists and polluters, gun lovers Stewart noted that since becom- Corp., Nalcor Energy, Teck, The Oil and gun haters, Tea Party die-hards ing Minister of the Environment, Pe- Sands Developers Group, the Cana- and public sector unions, old guard ter Kent had met 48 times with oil and dian Centre for Energy Information, media and their high tech competitors gas lobbyists and only seven times Spectra Energy, the Ontario Power – the entire gamut from left to right, with environmental groups. Authority, the Natural Gas Alliance, top to bottom.” While ignoring environmental SNC-Lavalin, the Government of Al- What happens when a PR mega- organizations, apparently Peter Kent berta, and China National Offshore firm appears to represent “the entire wasn’t even listening to the federal Oil Corp. (CNOOC) in its takeover of gamut” of political opinion? We’re in Commissioner of the Environment Nexen (approved by Harper in Dec. the process of finding out, but it’s use- Scott Vaughan, who on January 18, 2012). ful to recall that in the early 1990s, 2013 announced his early resignation H+K (for about after five years in the post (which is $10 million from part of the auditor general’s office). its Kuwaiti clients) Vaughan told PostMedia’s Mike De was able to start the Souza in September 2012 that “I met first US Gulf war with Minister Kent, I think, about half with Iraq through the times I tabled reports,” far less of- its “hundreds of ten than Vaughan had met with previ- dead incubator ba- ous environment ministers. bies” media fabri- Vaughan’s December 2011 re- cation – credited port on the transport of dangerous with having swung goods in Canada had found major American public problems with oil and gas pipeline opinion to the “ne- safety (see March-April 2012 Water- cessity” of the war. Continued on Page 32 

Watershed Sentinel 31 March-April 2013 SOCIETY

Spin continued shed Sentinel). His recent findings on By 2010 in the US, PR agents had come to outnumber greenhouse gas emissions reportedly professional journalists by a ratio of four to one. prompted Peter Kent to discredit the report. Last September, Vaughan had told Mike De Souza that he intended focused on preventing bad things Public Relations provide their own to study the effects of Bill C-38 on the from happening rather than enabling pundits to Canadian media outlets. environment. That’s not something responsible outcomes. This results in H+K’s Michael Coates is a blog- the Harper Cabinet would appreciate. a position of adversarial prohibition, ger for CanadianBusiness.com. A rather than enabling collaborative year ago (Jan. 19, 2012), Coates backed The Letter conservation to achieve agreed goals.” Natural Resources Minister Joe Ol- In January 2013, a letter – ob- The CBC reported, “Within ten iver’s rant about “radical environmen- tained by Greenpeace through access months of the request the industry had talists” and stated in his blog that “no to information laws and provided to almost everything it wanted,” as om- single group, whether environmental Max Paris at CBC News – revealed nibus bills C-38 and C-45 rewrote the or aboriginal, should be able to stand that in late 2011, the oil and gas indus- Canadian Environmental Assessment in the way of the economic prosperity try had requested changes be made to Act, gutted the Fisheries Act and the of the country overall.” the National Energy Board Act, the Navigable Waters Protection Act, and National Public Relations’ Bruce Canadian Environmental Assessment changed the National Energy Board Anderson regularly appears on CBC’s Act, the Fisheries Act, the Navigable Act and the Species at Risk Act. “At Issue” panel and his views are Waters Protection Act, the Species In a real democracy, this incrimi- often published in the Globe & Mail. at Risk Act, and the Migratory Birds nating letter would be a major news Rick Anderson, now a Senior Advi- Convention Act. story across the country. But in the sor at National Public Relations, pro- As reported by cbc.ca (Jan. 9, mock democracy of Harperland, the vides commentary to CTV’s “Canada 2013): “The letter, dated Dec. 12, 2011, letter has effectively disappeared. AM,” and “Power Play,” CBC’s “As was addressed to Environment Minis- Obviously, the Canadian media It Happens,” “Newsworld” and “The ter Peter Kent and Natural Resources “echo chamber” can easily go silent National,” the Globe & Mail, the To- Minister Joe Oliver. It came from a on command. ronto Star, the Edmonton Journal, the group called the Energy Framework Ottawa Citizen, iPolitics.ca, and Sun Initiative (EFI), which is made up of The Echo Chamber News. the Canadian Association of Petrole- By 2010 in the US, PR agents Meanwhile, BC’s Rafe Mair – a um Producers [CAPP], the Canadian had come to outnumber professional knowledgeable critic of Northern Energy Pipeline Association [CEPA], journalists by a ratio of four to one, Gateway, fish farms and fracking – the Canadian Petroleum Products In- according to The Death and Life of was fired by the CBC as a commen- stitute [CPPI] (now the Canadian Fu- American Journalism, by Robert W. tator this past summer. (Despite in- els Association) and the Canadian Gas McChesney and John Nicols. A writer creasingly catering to the neo-cons, Association [CGA]. “The purpose of for the Guardian in the UK (Oct. 4, the CBC had its budget slashed by 17 our letter is to express our shared 2012) noted that the ratio in Britain percent and in April 2012 announced views on the near-term opportuni- has moved “in the same direction.” cuts to current affairs shows and 88 ties before the government to address Even the Economist (May 19, 2011) news jobs.) regulatory reform for major energy was prompted to observe that “the in- Sun TV, sometimes known as industries in Canada,” wrote the EFI.” creasingly thin staffing of newsrooms “Fox News North,” is being run by The letter (signed by Brenda seems to be encouraging the spinners Luc Lavoie (long-time spokesman Kenny of CEPA, Timothy M. Egan of to be more shameless than ever …” for Brian Mulroney), who returned to CGA, Peter Boag of CPPI, and David Besides the endless press/video work for National Public Relations in Collyer of CAPP) explained that “the news releases, satellite feeds of client Sept. 2009 and took over the running basic approach embodied in existing interviews/sound-bites to TV/radio of Sun TV in Sept. 2010 when former legislation is out-dated. At the heart of stations, press junkets, astroturf web- Harper spin doctor Kory Teneycke most existing legislation is a philoso- sites, ghost-written op-eds, promises left the station. Sun News provides a phy of prohibiting harm; ‘environ- to malleable reporters of “access” to regular outlet for “ethical oiler” Ezra mental’ legislation is almost entirely their clients, WPP/H+K/National Levant, who has been spouting in-

Watershed Sentinel 32 March-April 2013 SOCIETY

flammatory rhetoric against the Idle the activists spread their message No More movement. In November 2012, H+K about the dangers to agricultural land H+K’s Michael Coates blogged and southern Ontario’s water supply (June 22, 2010), “From a PR and PA client The Highland through ubiquitous lawn signs, neigh- [public affairs] perspective the addi- Companies (backed by bour-to-neighbour conversations, lo- tion of Sun News offers our industry a $23 billion US hedge cal and alternative media coverage, an opportunity for our consultants to local community events and farmers’ be at their creative best … If the suc- fund) cancelled its markets, social media, enlisting sup- cess of Fox TV in the US is any indi- application for a mega- port from local businesses, and (bril- cation, edgy and entertaining will win liantly) by engaging the interest of plenty of viewers. And our clients will quarry in southwestern Canadian chefs. have a whole new network on which Ontario, after a six- “Foodstock 2011,” a fund-raiser to get their messages out.” year struggle. One of held in a field next to the mega-quarry On April 23, the CRTC will site, featured fares prepared by chefs consider Sun News Network’s ap- the interesting things from across the country and attract- plication to force cable TV carriers about that struggle is ed 28,000 people. “Soupstock 2012,” to distribute Sun TV as part of their held in a Toronto park last October, at- basic cable package. Such mandatory that it was basically tracted 40,000 people for an afternoon carriage would allow Sun TV to re- ignored by Canada’s of soup-tasting while listening to live ceive millions of dollars per year from mainstream media. music and brief anti-quarry speeches. Canada’s cable TV subscribers (about Barely a month later, The High- $4 per subscriber annually), whether land Companies group, admitting that they watch Sun TV or not. scientific opinion are granted equal it had no “social licence” to proceed, weight by the media. backed out of its mega-quarry plan. PR Hallmark But in Canada, that time-tested The take-away here is that Cana- In their 2012 book Merchants of H+K PR strategy is being taken much dian mainstream media coverage had Doubt, co-authors Naomi Oreskes further by the Harper cabinet itself, little to do with the activists’ success, and Eric Conway focus on the endur- including Peter Kent, with govern- but the corporation involved (and ing effectiveness of a PR strategy de- ment scientists being muzzled, fired its PR advisor) couldn’t ignore the veloped in the 1950s by H+K for its en masse, and even their research fa- groundswell against it. tobacco clients. The authors call it the cilities dismantled and destroyed. t “Tobacco Strategy,” in which H+K Joyce Nelson is an award-win- gathered their own paid team of “in- Food For Thought ning freelance writer/researcher and dependent” scientists to persuade the In November 2012, H+K client the author of five books, including public and government regulators that The Highland Companies (backed Sultans of Sleaze: Public Relations there was no scientific link between by a $23 billion US hedge fund) can- and the Media. cigarette smoking and cancer. celled its applica- Merchants of Doubt meticulously tion for a mega- traces how that same PR strategy (and quarry in south- often, the same group of scientists) has western Ontario, since been used to challenge scientific after a six-year evidence on acid rain, destruction struggle against it of the ozone layer, toxicity of DDT, by local farmer ac- second-hand smoke, climate change tivists. One of the – thereby delaying regulatory action, interesting things muddying the science, and confusing about that strug- the public on environmental issues. gle is that it was Under this strategy, established sci- basically ignored ence becomes just another competing by Canada’s main- “side” in an issue, while corporate- stream media. financed scientific studies or bought Und au nt e d ,

Watershed Sentinel 33 March-April 2013 WATER

Island Water Conservation and Care

by Cathie Howard

In the summer, when the popula- Presently WS is working with the tion of Hornby Island, BC swells to Hornby Island Community School five times its winter size, residents to encourage students to learn about hope the winter rains will replenish Hornby’s groundwater and, hopefully the depleted aquifers, groundwater, become involved in conserving it. watersheds and wetlands. Photo Roger by Mommaerts Hornby Water Stewardship members All of Hornby’s water is locally continue to study water, that absolute acquired, either from rainwater catch- necessity, and its ongoing influence ment or groundwater. Wells are filled on people in a small, remote commu- with groundwater which comes from nity. one of four Island aquifers. There are t no surface lakes or year round rivers. The widening in some of the creeks Cathie Howard is are like small ponds that, along with a member of the the wetland areas, help to sustain the Hornby Island water table. Water Steward-

More than 20 years ago, the Is- ship Group the Friends of Cortes Island lands Trust began asking the BC gov- Sustainability Education Fund ernment to create groundwater legis- lation to address island-wide concerns The Ditch Project was undertak- related to water use, water quality en to discover if a fecal-contaminated Care of Septic Tank/Field decline, and well interference. Laws ditch could be naturally cleansed with Systems were needed to develop and regulate special plant roots and a series of grad- a groundwater management program uated rock weirs that would aerate the Proper digestion in the that could protect the quality and waterflow. This could make run-off tank requires 3 measures: quantity of groundwater. So far, the less contaminated when it spilled onto legislation does not exist. Sandpiper Beach, used by both swim- 1. Regular pumping of the septic tank In 1993, the Hornby Water Stew- mers and shellfish pickers. When the (every 3-5 years) ardship Project (WS), begun by vol- project was completed, in the 100 me- This will prevent the settled sludge and unteers concerned about the evidence tre test area, a 30% reduction in the floating crust from growing to the point of water deterioration around the is- amount of fecal coliform in the runoff where they take up room. If this happens land, chose to find and study the caus- was found. The project showed that the liquids pass through the tank too es. It was discovered 20% of the 600 simple, affordable approaches could quickly, providing inadequate time for wells tested were not safe for drinking remedy problems, and also indicated digestion of solids necessary to produce and were of poor quality, involving the need for proper, individual sewage effluent with small suspended particles. high total coliform or saltwater intru- treatment. sion. High coliform content in runoff Another successful groundwater 2. Minimizing the volume of water is usually related to improper – or saving program was “a rain barrel for drained into the septic tank non-existent – sewage treatment. The every garden.” In seven years WS sold This can be done by installing water devices group concluded that both water con- over 400 food grade 45 gallon drums and minimizing amount of water used. servation and the treatment of sewage to collect rainwater. Barrels, stacked needed stronger, more specific regula- sideways and placed at a downspout 3. Avoid the use and disposal of tions. became water pyramids. Others went products harmful to bacteria Since then educational and to gardens, some onto decks for veg- Hazardous material can ranging from ‘hands-on’ programs have been devel- gie and flower pots, which, on refill- household cleaners to paint thinners, oped for Hornby Island, though sew- ing during fall downpours, provided a and including unused antibiotics, should age problems still contribute to the house with toilet flushing water dur- not be allowed to drain to the septic tank. pollution of groundwater and beaches. ing power outages.

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Watershed Sentinel 35 March-April 2013 by Joe Foy Canoes drifting down the Peace river in the he more I look at the proposed 2012 Paddle for the Peace event Site C Dam project, the more it A small part of the Peace River farland that Tlooks to me like a rusting ship, would be drowned if Site C Dam went ahead drifting in the ocean, its engine dead, rudder waiving aimlessly in the waves, its captain and crew long gone for calm- er waters. How long will it drift and how much damage will occur when it finally hits the rocks, no one knows for sure. But what I do know is this: All British Columbians had better pay very close attention right now to this hulk of a mega-project – or we’ll surely be pay- ing and paying and paying in the future. BC Hydro’s Site C Dam project rose from the dead in the early days of the Gordon Campbell government. I say rose from the dead because this Today Captain Campbell is long massively expensive and damaging gone and the private power plants and white elephant of a dam had twice been the looming Site C Dam project are turned down by the provincial energy producing an ever growing vortex of review panel known as the BC Utilities debt, environmental degradation with a Commission (BCUC). The BCUC has great risk of more to come. consistently ruled that the new monster BC Hydro, once a revenue genera- Yes, you read that right. The only dam is clearly not in the public interest. tor for the people of BC, is now project- ones who could ever use Site C Dam Early in his tenure Premier Gordon ed to lose $1 billion over the next four power would be the dirtiest of BC’s Campbell had rolled out his BC energy years – largely due to the purchase of ri- industries. So much for green power. plan with all sorts of good words about And it’s not likely even these industries protecting the environment by produc- BC has a surplus of hydro power – just would buy Site C power at the high cost ing green energy. He proceeded to al- as the Site C Dam project is working necessary to build the dam – so in the low the staking of hundreds of BC riv- its way through a joint provincial and end the ratepayers and taxpayers (that’s ers and streams by private hydro power federal environmental review you and me) would be subsidizing the companies. He then later declared that coal, oil and gas industries. BC Hydro would build the Site C Dam diculously expensive hydro power from Little wonder that so many people on the Peace River near Fort Saint John. the private operators. BC has a surplus have come out against the Site C Dam. In Campbell’s vision, BC would pro- of hydro power – just as the Site C Dam The aboriginal owners of the region, the duce a huge amount of so called green project is working its way through a Treaty 8 group of First Nations, have de- energy that could be sold at a great profit joint provincial and federal environ- clared their strong opposition. As have to California. And because Site C and mental review. many of the farming families in the the private hydro power plants would It’s going to take an army of law- valley. The Site C Dam, if built would produce green energy, there would be yers to get out of the crazy expensive drown over 100 kilometres of precious no need for BCUC oversight. private power contracts the BC govern- valley bottom farmland, wild life habi- When it became apparent that ment has already signed. But the Site C tat and First Nations sites. California would not be buying our Dam isn’t built yet. It’s not too late to In a province with not enough farm so-called green power, Mr. Campbell’s save ourselves a lot of hurt. land and too much electricity – it’s time government in Victoria simply declared The Site C Dam is projected to to sink the Site C Dam once and for all. that the private power projects and the cost over $8 billion – though its likely Site C Dam would be needed to keep the the cost would spiral to north of $10 bil-  lights on in people’s homes in Vancou- lion due to the unstable ground under Joe Foy is Campaign Director for the ver and Victoria. And the ship that Mr. and around the proposed dam site – all Wilderness Committee, Canada’s largest Campbell had launched just kept drift- for electrical power we don’t need and citizen-funded membership-based wil- ing along as the government ordered BC could only sell at a loss to the coal, oil derness preservation organization. Hydro to plan Site C Dam construction. and gas industry.

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