TWENTY-FOURTH YEAR, NO. 1194 CANADA’S POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSWEEKLY MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013 $4.00 By JESSICA BRUNO By LAURA RYCKEWAERT By LAURA RYCKEWAERT By JESSICA BRUNO By CHRIS PLECASH 2 THE HILL TIMES, MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013 FEATURE OPINION BUZZ GEORGES BANK & FISHING ON HEARDTHE HILL Feds need to keep BY THE HILL TIMES STAFF Georges Bank Wiseman releases new book, The Public moratorium, now Discussions between Natural Resources Canada and the Intellectual in Canada Nova Scotia Department of Energy aimed at drafting ‘mirror legislation’ to protect Georges Bank from oil and gas activity elson Wiseman has a new book out, The Buzz around expected Cabinet NPublic Intellectual in Canada, which through 2022 seem to have reached an impasse this spring. looks at “the place of the public intellectual shuffle gets louder in the context of a rapidly changing and A specific date for the next Cabinet shuf- diverse Canadian society in an increasingly fle has emerged from the tide of gossip and been open to oil and gas activity, except interdependent world.” speculation surrounding Parliament Hill: for Georges Bank. A three-person panel Published by the University of Toronto, Tuesday July 9. PMO spokesperson Andrew review in 2000 looked at the productivity The Public Intellectual in Canada features MacDougall has confirmed a shuffle would of the ecosystem, trans-boundary issues, an “all-star cast” of contributions from take place this summer, and consensus in and the risks associated with oil and gas the chattering classes is that it will be in the development and recommended a con- Environics President Michael Adams, also BY Claude d’Entremont a bestselling author of Fire and Ice and first half of July. By that math, the shuffle tinuation of the Canadian moratorium. Unlikely Utopia: The Surprising Triumph would have to take place in this week. The panel recognized that not only could of Canadian Pluralism; Council of Cana- Bureaucrats at one Crown corporation EST PUBNICO, N.S.—Discus- the productivity of the spawning bank dians national chairperson Maude Bar- have been told to expect changes to come Wsions between Natural Resources be at risk in the event of a major spill or low; Sylvia Bashevkin, down July 9. A number of bills prepared by Canada and the Nova Scotia Department blowout, but that the oil pollution would an academic and the public service but not introduced in the of Energy aimed at drafting “mirror leg- quickly flow into American waters due the author of many House are also on hold, in case departments islation” to protect Georges Bank from strong circular current on Georges. Such books, including get new ministers. Some government Hill oil and gas activity through 2022 seem to an event could have negative consequenc- Women, Power, staffers are also holding off on summer vaca- have reached an impasse this spring. As a es for U.S./Canada relations. and Politics: The tion plans, in case they find themselves learn- result, Georges is without the protection This spring, Natural Resources Minis- Hidden Story of ing a new portfolio in the coming weeks. of an oil gas activity moratorium, backed ter Joe Oliver and his staff have continued Canada’s Unfin- A strike against the potential legitimacy by federal and provincial legislation for to refer to a verbal promise to protect ished Democracy of the date is the government’s tendency to the first time since 1991. Moratorium leg- Georges until 2015, as opposed to the and Welfare Hot announce major changes—such as the approv- islation expired at the end of 2012. unanimous wishes of the Nova Scotia Buttons: Women, al of the Nexen deal, or changes to the senior Georges Bank is a shallow, under-sea House of Assembly to extend the protec- Work and Social bureaucracy—on Friday evenings, just as every- plateau, that stretches from the mouth tion through 2022 and to entrench that Policy Reform; one who cares is settling into Happy Hour. of the Bay of Fundy in Canadian waters protection with joint provincial/federal leg- Gregory Baum, But we all know only one man really almost to the shores of Cape Cod in islation through the Offshore Accord Acts. a student knows when the shuffle will happen: Prime American waters. Georges has a rich I come from a plain-speaking fishing of the Minister Stephen Harper. fishing history and was the subject of a family. The 10-year moratoria supported inter- boundary dispute between the two coun- by the Mulroney and Chrétien govern- action Rae joins U of T’s School of Public tries that was finally decided at the Inter- ments have been reduced to just three of national Court of Justice in The Hague years. The strong legislation that sup- Policy and Governance in the early 1980s. Canada was awarded ported the past two moratoria has been The full nelson: Nelson Wiseman, reli- Former interim Liberal leader gion and about 20 per cent of what is the most pro- replaced with a verbal promise from a editor of the recently-released Bob Rae, who announced he was ductive spawning and fishing grounds in politician. Previous federal governments book, The Public Intellectual. society, resigning as the MP for Toronto and the North West Atlantic Ocean. looked to leadership from Nova Scotia on Centre, Ont., on June 19 to focus One of the features that makes the moratorium decision. Minister Oliver, former on his role as a First Nations longtime Georges so productive is the strong cir- who represents a Toronto riding, follows advocate, has added a new cular current that flows around the bank, the lead of bureaucrats focused on oil and editor of The Ecumenist; Stephen Clark- title to his resumé: On son, author of many books including trapping nutrients and larval marine life. gas development. The intentions of the July 1, Mr. Rae officially That same circular current would quick- Canadian government, from an American Canada the Reagan Challenge, co-author joined the University of The Big Red Machine and University ly spread oil pollution in the event of a perspective, are unclear at a time when of Toronto’s School spill or blowout to the American side of the Canadian government is in an all- of Toronto professor; Tom Flanagan, aca- of Public Policy and demic and award-winning author Beyond Georges. Georges is not only home to court press to convince Americans that Governance as a commercially fished species, but it is a we are serious about climate change and the Indian Act: Restoring Aboriginal distinguished senior Property Rights; economist and author rich feeding ground for marine mam- the need to protect the environment. What about Bob? Bob fellow. mals, seabirds, tuna and swordfish. Oliver wrote the Nova Scotia Energy Pierre Fortin; Alain-G. Gagnon, Canada Mr. Rae has Research Chair in Quebec and Canadian Rae is now a distin- American-Canadian relations on Minister on Dec. 19, 2012 and closed guished senior fellow already also been Georges Bank have evolved since the his letter by saying, “…we are open to Studies at l’Université due Québec à acting as the chief Montreal; philosophy professor Mark Kin- at the U of T’s school World Court decision settled the boundary exploring options to extend the mora- of public policy. negotiator on behalf to one of cooperation, principally in the torium to 2022.” The two governments gwell, also author of national bestsellers of nine First Nations Better Living, The World We Want, Con- joint management of groundfish stocks. could reach an agreement to amend the communities in their dispute with the Ontar- As an owner of a fishing and process- Accord Acts this fall if the “will to get it crete Reveries; economist and academic io provincial government over resource John Richards; Globe and Mail European ing business based in Nova Scotia, I am done” starts with Oliver. Continuing to development in an area of First Nations land vitally interested that Georges Bank trot out the verbal promise of two more bureau chief Doug Saunders, also author known as the “Ring of Fire” in the James of Arrival City: The Final Migration and remains protected by a moratorium from years of protection will only be inter- Bay Lowlands north of Thunder Bay, since the risks of oil and gas activities. My preted as an Ottawa agenda not aimed at Our Next World; Conservative Senator accepting the role last May. Hugh Segal; Margaret Somerville, found- family has lived in the Pubnico, N.S., protecting this rich, American/Canadian Now, Mr. Rae has also accepted a role at region for 13 generations. Our history is ecosystem, but one of phasing out the ing director of the McGill Centre for Med- the University of Toronto. icine, Ethics and Law; Janice Gross Stein, tied to the fishery. Georges Bank is the legislated moratoria of the past 20 years. Mr. Rae is a graduate of the University only area in Canadian Atlantic waters Claude d’Entremont is a a third- an internationally-recognized authority of Toronto, having studied both his under- on conflict management and co-author to have witnessed a sustained recovery generation manager of a family fish har- graduate and law degree at the university, of a groundfish stock (haddock). It is vesting and processing business in West of The Unexpected War: Canada in Kan- and his work there led to him being awarded dahar; and, of course, Prof. Wiseman, a the main species that we process in our Pubnico, N.S. Mr. d’Entremont has been a Rhodes Scholarship. plant and export to markets in New Eng- engaged as a harvester and supervisor in well-known political pundit who teaches As of publication, a by-election date had Canadian government and politics at the land and eastern Canada.