Comment by Alasdair McKay
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One of the problems facing geo-oriented firms in N.S. is that there is no industry organization which can maintain their interests.


At the time that I wrote this letter, both the president and the vice-president of GANS ( the Geomatics Association of Nova Scotia ) assured me that a submission to Industry Canada was being made by GANS. There had been significant and lengthy discussion about private-sector / public-sector competition during the summer of 1994 by the Industry Committee of GANS. Many of the issues which were discussed were about contracts of much greater value than the $70000 contract which I had brought up, but my submission was much better documented than most of the others under discussion and was considered a good example of what the GANS industry committee wished to complain about. This assurance from GANS was so emphatic that, when I came across some additional material, I simply forwarded it to Industry Canada and to GANS at the same time as an addendum. I was a little surprised to hear from Industry Canada that they had not received anything from GANS. I assumed that there had just been some secreterial delay and forwarded most of the material directly to Ind. Can.

In early 1995, at the GANS AGM, discussion of this issue was sidestepped, and I am somewhat unclear about the current thinking of GANS on such topics. GANS is not specifically an industry organization and the views of its industry committee do not necessarily carry weight with the organization as a whole.


I had also approached the Atlantic Geoscience Society on this point, although, as a past president (1980 - 1982) of that society myself, I was aware that it has always considered itself to be purely an academic organization. I received from AGS a reply in which it was stated that the executive committee had determined that it would be inappropriate to involve the AGS in the matter, but that, nevertheless, many of the executive committee members had expressed considerable concern as individuals about the points I had raised.

One of the problems facing geo-oriented firms in N.S. is that there is no industry organization which can maintain their interests.

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