Newsletter #6
Sierra Club - Chebucto Group
This is the 6th issue of Sierra News from the Chebucto Group.
In this issue: Upcoming Events
Forestry Working Group
Chebucto Group letter to WWF
Jim Campbells Barren Update
Background on Jim Campbells Barren
Excomm List
We always need volunteers (and especially in the summer)! Contact any
excomm member for more info.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday, June 2, 8:30 am - 8:30 pm
Election Day! Exercise your franchise.
Thursday, June 5, 7 p.m.
Meeting of the Chebucto Group Excomm. For more information, contact Nadia
at 425-5119.
Tuesday, June 10, 7 p.m.
The next meeting of the Conservation Working Group will be held at 2099
Gottingen Street (Oxfam office). For more information, contact Nadia at
425-5119 or Cass
June 21-22
Sierra Club Outing: kayaking at Lower Prospect. Call Ron for more
details, 425-7381.
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FORESTRY WORKING GROUP
The Conservation Working Group is forming a sub-group to research forestry
issues. If you are interested in this group, please contact Ron, 425-7381.
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LETTER TO THE WWF Contributed by Paul Falvo
Dear Monte Hummel,
If Ken Saro-wiwa were alive today he would no doubt be even more
shocked than I to learn that WWF Canada has nominated Shell Canada for an
environmental award. I write on behalf of the Chebucto Group of the
Sierra Club to express our deep disappointment with your decision.
Notwithstanding any environmental benefit that might accrue from the
local project in question, the environmental devastation and human rights
violations caused by Shell Canada's parent company, Royal Dutch Shell,
should preclude the company from anything but the most intense
criticism... and I shudder to think of the political and public relations
value which Shell will derive -- with your help -- from this award.
Attached is an article which I respectfully suggest should be required
reading for WWF Canada directors.
The Chebucto Group is particularly disappointed because our
Conservation Committee has considered working with local WWF organizers in
the past; this recent event, which in our view compromises the integrity of
WWF in the eyes of the public, may hamper future cooperative ventures.
Sincerely,
~paul falvo
Chair, Chebucto Group
Sierra Club
E-mail Monte Hummel:
Regular mail: WWF Canada
90 Eglinton Avenue, # 504
Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Z7
Telephone: 1-800-26-PANDA
[Note: the attachment is long and has not been included in this
newsletter. If you would like a copy, e-mail Heather.]
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JIM CAMPBELLS BARREN UPDATE Contributed by Heather Breeze
Regal Goldfields, the company that is proposing to explore the Jim
Campbells Barren for gold and other minerals, held an open house/
information session on May 23 in Cheticamp, Cape Breton. Several members
of the Sierra Club and other concerned groups from the Coalition to Save
the Barren attended. The Barren was formerly a candidate area for
protection under Nova Scotia's protected areas systems plan (for more
information, see article below).
Government representatives from the provincial Departments of
Natural Resources and the Environment were there to answer questions, as
were representatives from Regal and the mining industry. No government
representatives from the parks section of the Department of Natural
Resources attended. Members of the Coalition to Save the Barren believe
that the open house was not a legitimate replacement for a public meeting
by the company, but was an exercise in public relations. The open house
format made it impossible for attendees to hear the concerns of others.
The Nova Scotia Salmon Association is urging other Coalition groups
to make one final effort to collect signatures on petitions. They plan to
send the petitions to the government in mid-June. Petitions can be
picked up at p'lovers. Please return them to the next Conservation
Working Group meeting on June 10, or drop them off at the Oxfam offices,
2099 Gottingen Street, before that date.
If you are interested in hearing more about the Open House, please
contact Heather, 429-5094,
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THE JIM CAMPBELLS BARREN, Contributed by Allison Denning
CAPE BRETON, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA
As part of a strategy to protect many of its 77 natural
landscapes, the Nova Scotia government, in 1995, undertook a study of
candidate sites. The study, which involved extensive public consultation,
recommended 31 sites be protected. Public consultation was conducted by a
public review committee which travelled the province of Nova Scotia during
the year to receive input on the government's initiative, the Proposed
Systems Plan for Parks and Protected Areas in Nova Scotia. The review
committee brought 63 recommendations to the government, including: 1) that
31 candidate protected sites in the province receive protection, and 2)
that a moratorium on development for individual candidate protected areas
continue until these areas could be protected fully by law. In November,
1995, the government officially agreed to implement the recommendations
and protect these unique natural areas.
One such area was Jim Campbells Barren, a site in Northern Cape
Breton, southwest of the Cape Breton Highlands National Park,
approximately 1700 hectares in size. On November 21, 1996, the government
of Nova Scotia removed it from protected status, claiming that there were
mineral rights claims that had to be honoured. It failed to mention that
only 20% of the Barrens had existing claims and that there were no claims
on the remaining 80%. The delisting of the Barrens occurred without
public consultation, in backroom negotiations between mining interests and
the Nova Scotia government. One of the reasons for the delisting of the
Barrens is said to have been the finding of gold in the area, with
speculation that there may be as much as 15 million ounces of gold on
site. There has also been a recent push toward further excavation of the
Barrens to search for gold and other metals, not only on the 20% where
mineral claims are present, but also on various portions of the other 80%.
One of the purported 'goals' in 1995, when considering protecting
areas of Nova Scotia, was to have an "open and effective public
consultation to encourage the active involvement of interested and
affected Nova Scotians in the planning and management of protected areas".
As was evidenced by the backroom negotiations which led to the delisting
of the Barrens, public consultation was not a priority.
The central issue with the delisting of the Barrens is this; if even
after extensive public consultation to ensure the protection of the
natural environment, the government can delist it behind closed doors,
what is to stop other natural areas from being resigned to the same fate?
As a result of the Barrens decision, industry has recently begun
pressuring government to remove various other "protected areas" from
protected status in order to exploit their resources. Has Jim Campbells
Barren set a precedent? Will the government cater to industry's interests
despite public opposition? How much say does the public have in the
protection of its environment?
Only time will answer these questions. Currently there is much
opposition being voiced from various local and regional environmental
groups and concerned citizens. The media has been publicizing the issue
of the delisting of the Barrens, and with a provincial election on the
horizon in the not-to-distant future, perhaps the government will begin to
open its ear to hear the screams of the people over the roar of industry.
For more information concerning the Jim Campbells Barren, please
contact the Sierra Club Chebucto Group, (902) 425-5119, who is working on
this issue in conjunction with several other environmental groups in the
area, in particular, the Nova Scotia Salmon Association.
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CHEBUCTO GROUP EXCOMM
Chair (away until July) Paul Falvo 492-1995 pfalvo@chebucto.ns.ca
Vice (Acting) Chair Nadia Stuewer 425-5119 n_Stuewe@bass.stmarys.ca
Conservation Nadia Stuewer 425-5119 n_Stuewe@bass.stmarys.ca
Cass Elliott 455-3852 au361@chebucto.ns.ca
Outings Henrietta Mann 496-8235 HMANN@shark.stmarys.ca
(away until mid-June)
Programme Jack Devenney 463-0090
Henrietta Mann 496-8235 HMANN@shark.stmarys.ca
(away until mid-June)
Youth Arciris Garay 443-8472 af169@chebucto.ns.ca
Membership Allison Denning425-1379 adenning@is2.dal.ca
Derek Fenton 423-6486 Habitat2%HX1FHM%DFOSF@maritimes.dfo.ca
Secretary Allison Denning425-1379 adenning@is2.dal.ca
Publicity Heather Breeze 429-5094 aa670@chebucto.ns.ca
Jeff Johnston optimal@istar.ca
Treasurer Jack Devenney 463-0090
Fund Raising vacant
Web Master Ben Tremblay 423-8682 ab006@chebucto.ns.ca
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