Erich the Green

We need our NRTEE

2012-05-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

The root of good, democratic government is the idea that the public are best served by having input into decisions that affect them. In a diverse, pluralistic society like Canada, with so many different regions, cultures, and industries, it’s even more important to draw from a wide cross-section of the populace in crafting policy. Plus, as our world becomes ever more complex, the role of independent, non-partisan, expert advice is crucial.

That’s why the government, in past years, set up a variety of arm’s-length advisory bodies, such as the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE). Canada’s cultural and economic history is deeply tied to our environment. Our identity is locked up with images of forests, lakes, mountains, farms, and wildlife. (Just watch the national anthem films shown at TV station sign-off or movie theatres and you’ll know what I mean). Founded on fur and lumber and other natural products, even today our economy depends heavily on our environment; clearly we must maintain a healthy ecology while we work to improve our economy.

And this was a challenge the NRTEE tackled head on. Drawing together distinguished experts from politics, industry, and science, their specialty was crafting in-depth studies to help politicians plan public policy. A diverse bunch themselves, they worked together very well, and managed to reach strong consensus. Most of all, each member was very committed to Canada’s best interests – I know, because I personally knew at least three NRTEE members, including a former Chair and two Vice-Chairs.

But the NRTEE has fallen prey to the insecurities of the Harper Government, which is determined to silence any dissenting voices. With a ruling mandate from fewer than 40% of Canadian voters, the Harper government has adopted a liquidation sale attitude toward our natural resources. In the name of making a fast buck, they bulldoze over any potential source of objection, especially to tar sands expansion and the associated new pipelines. Sincere respondents at environmental assessment hearings (including myself) are dismissed as radicals, charities are accused of laundering foreign money, and advocates for the environment are threatened with audits and the loss of charitable status.

The NRTEE’s main sin? For years, they have consistently reported the consensus of industry and ecological experts that we need a carbon tax, and they’ve shown it’s not only affordable, but can even help our economy innovate and grow. Of course, this is heresy to Harper. The NRTEE’s politically-motivated executioncomes despite the fact that the majority of its members were appointed by this current government, including three former Tory cabinet ministers! In the drive to build a total echo chamber, the Harper government isn’t satisfied merely to continue ignoring NRTEE reports; now they are terminating one of the best advisory bodies the Canadian government has ever had. It will be sorely missed.

TAKE ACTION: For ways you can help stop the budget implementation bill killing the NRTEE, visit this website.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner, published under the title "Ecology as important as economy restoration"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Toward a Better Future: Wind Power

2012-05-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

Guest blogger: Shawn P. Conroy

Energy prices have been continuing to rise North America. And yet, in some countries like Germany electricity bills have been falling. Countries like China are increasing their wind generating capacity by almost incredible amounts. China has select wind power as part of a suite of power generating options because it's affordable, predictable and not prone to massive failure. Here's a video talking about the current state of wind power around the world:

What I found most interesting about the video is that generating electricity out of wind power was something seriously considered before we had too much cheap oil. But as oil prices rise wind power becomes even more feasible. If you are interested in common myths about wind power being talked about here are two web pages: One from the Canadian Wind Energy Association and another from Why Wind. Some of these myths were discussed briefly in the video.

The video also pointed out grid storage--the idea storing power you've made at low demand times and using it during high demand times. You can find out more by reading my previous article about Plug-in Electric Vehicles.

Ban bottled water? Thanks for the suggestion.

2012-05-10T15:34:00.002-07:00

Last week in lamenting Barrie’s litter epidemic, I urged readers to “refuse bottled water”, a choice I’ve already made. This seems to have ruffled the feathers of the water-bottling folks at Nestlé Waters, who wrote in this week refuting what they took as a call to ban bottled water. Why are they so concerned that they’d take my helpful suggestion as a call for a ban? Perhaps because such calls are being made, across Canada and right here in Barrie, on very strong grounds.

Now, to be clear, I don’t think anyone’s actually demanding we outlaw bottled water. There are education programs to help people understand that tap water is just as safe and convenient, easier on the environment, and vastly cheaper than disposable bottled water. And there are campaigns asking municipalities, school boards, and other organizations to “ban” bottled water within their own facilities. This just means they stop selling it on their premises and commit to providing convenient alternatives, such as fountains or filling stations for refillable bottles.

Is bottled water so bad? Nestlé’s letter says not all water bottles get trashed; they make up only 1-4% of our landfill. Yet if you separate garbage into 50 categories of trash, any type will be about that proportion, so it’s a meaningless assertion. They also take pride in paying 50% of the blue box program cost, which means taxpayers, including folks like me who don’t create this waste, must cough up the other half!

What are the relevant numbers? The energy to make each bottle, run the plant, ship the bottle, chill it, and recycle it would fill each water bottle ¼ with crude oil. Although if bottles were truly recycled, the old plastic would go into the new bottles, which it doesn’t.

Tap water has fewer bacteria than 70% of bottled water; Canada’s had 29 recalls of 49 bottled water products between 2000 and 2009. And 40% of bottled water is just tap water in a throwaway container.

Why pay 1000 times more for the same thing? The most successful marketing campaign of all time? Collective lunacy? Both? The Lorax film depicts the madness of marketing bottled air, an allegory for bottled water, but apparently we’re the crazy ones.

To learn more about bottled water’s impacts and alternatives, meet Ontario’s eco-adventurers the Water Brothers at Ecofest Barrie on June 9^th, in honour of this year’s water theme. As they note in their episode “Bottlegate”, we don’t live in a desert; must we carry water every time we step out, lest we dehydrate before our next stop? Why not re-fill a bottle with the best drinking water in the world, free from the tap?

My last column didn’t promote a water ban, but this one does. The Council of Canadians has formally requested Barrie follow other municipalities, including Tiny Township, in adopting the Blue Communities resolution, which includes not selling bottled water in civic spaces. Contact your Councillor and urge the City to do its part to make tap water more convenient than bottled, to lead by example in protecting our water, environment, energy, and wallets while reducing waste and costs.

Published in my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner under the title "City must lead residents back to the taps"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is 60% tap water.

Plenty of ways to keep our beautiful planet squeaky clean

2012-05-02T20:58:00.001-07:00

Last week’s Spring Into Clean was an annual ritual Living Green helped found back in 2003. From a few dozen people picking up litter around the lakeshore, it has since spread to parks, schoolyards, ditches and parking lots across Barrie and includes thousands of students, families, coworkers, and other citizen groups. Hopefully you took part, but if you didn’t, don’t worry: the battle against litter can still use recruits.

The City of Barrie also has an Adopt-a-Park/Trail program. If your friends, classmates, coworkers, team or family have the gumption, sign up to look after a park for a year. You commit to spring and fall litter clean-ups on your schedule, and otherwise keep an eye on things to let the City know of any major trash or vandalism in the meantime.

Myself, I’m the proud adoptive “father” of two parks. With Living Green, my family and I tidy Queen’s Park in downtown Barrie twice a year, while with the Green Party, we do the same along the trail in Sunnidale Park each spring and fall.

But this year’s day at Queen’s Park featured a nice surprise, as it had less litter than usual. The reason, we discovered, is that L.S. Shane of Unity Market & Studios has been diligently taking himself and, when available, volunteers on downtown litter clean-ups every Sunday afternoon. Since they often visit this park, the usual backlog of winter waste wasn’t waiting, although sadly we did still manage to fill several bags with fresh trash. So if you want to help but can’t wait for fall, or don’t want to adopt your own park, you can join Shane any Sunday at 2 pm at Unity (at the bottom of Toronto Street) and help keep our downtown presentable.

But of course it would be best if there weren’t litter to gather. The City is always trying to improve the presence of trash receptacles, even introducing deeply-buried year-round garbage cans, to help with the winter months when cans used to be absent. There is also a slow but steady growth in the availability of recycling bins in public spaces.

Yet the true tragedy of litter is that, even when picked up, it remains an environmental catastrophe. Litter sent to landfill doesn’t disappear, it just becomes tomorrow’s problem. So the real challenge for everyone is to create less in the first place – less waste, even less recycling. Carry a mug to get coffee or tea, instead of needing a throwaway. Refuse bottled water, and fill a metal bottle with Barrie’s crystal-clear tapwater (filtered, if you prefer). Eat an apple or banana instead of a plastic-wrapped candy bar or bag of chips. Carry reusable shopping bags. If we don’t make litter, we won’t have to dispose of it.

UPDATE: This column generated a letter to the editor from Nestlé Waters Canada. You can read it here, and see my response in tomorrow's column.

Another UPDATE: Another letter to the editor ("Letter of the Day"), this time from Don MacNeil of Barrie's Council of Canadians responding to Nestlé .

Published in my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "Plenty of ways to keep our beautiful city squeaky clean".

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Earth Day, your Catalyst for Change

2012-04-20T11:31:00.001-07:00

As Earth Day 2012 approaches, many things get us thinking about the future, and how our actions today impact it. One of the strongest triggers is having children – we think not only of our own future, but of theirs. This is a natural reason to worry about the impact we have on the ecosystem and whether they’ll be able to enjoy the health and natural world we are so blessed with today.

But it’s also a great catalyst to make important changes or resolutions, to reduce our impact and our worries. While expecting our first child, we grew concerned about the harms that chemicals in household products might do to unborn or growing babies. So we cleared out all our store-bought chemical cleansers and started making our own with home-made recipes. We found what we put together from basic grocery-store ingredients worked just as well as the chemical cocktails we’d previously used, so we never went back. If you want to make the same switch, you can find handy recipes at www.LivingGreen.info, in the Eco-Library under “Save Money Being Green (Non-Toxic Cleansers)”. Nowadays you can also purchase many pre-mixed natural toxin-free cleaning products.

Another source of waste and pollution is disposable diapers. For our children, we joined a diaper-recycling service that collected soiled diapers, recycled the plastic and composted the rest. However, that service has since gone out of business. But if you’re concerned about the waste and pollution of disposable diapers, there is another solution: cloth diapering. It’s changed completely since we were kids –modern products work just as well and conveniently as disposables, and even save you money.

Last year I wrote about an amazing event for which I served as witness, setting an official Guinness Book world record for the most babies changed in cloth diapers at one time. Barrie’s contingent of 30 babies (and parents) were one of over two hundred locations, over two dozen in Canada, which made the Great Cloth Diaper Change a success. With the record of over 5,000 fresh baby bums confirmed and documented, we’re trying to beat it with even more for this year’s Earth Day. So if you have a baby using cloth diapers or are willing to give it a try, please take part in the event this Saturday, April 21^st at Holly United Church, 211 Marsellus Dr. You can sign up online at BarrieGCDC2012.eventbrite.caor show up by 11 am to register in person for the official change at noon.

Even if you’re not changing a baby, drop by the event to learn about a number of local and sustainable infant-focused businesses and products, such as Barrie’s own Glow Bug Cloth Diapers and Down to Earth Baby Gear.

Published in my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner.

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Discussing the winter that wasn't

2012-04-12T09:44:00.000-07:00

Everyone talks about the weather, yet seems to ignore our changing climate. To call this past “winter that wasn’t” strange is the understatement of the year. Globally, the past year saw a new high of $380 billion in economic cost of catastrophic weather events, and there were over 129,000 new weather records set in America.

Meanwhile, here in Barrie, we had so little snowfall that I never even broke out our large shovel. The bay was only frozen 60 days, not only the shortest period in recorded history, but less than half the average of only a century ago. Anyone still denying we are well into a period of unprecedented global warming really has their work cut out for them.

And yet there are still deniers, who claim (even at the same time) that global warming isn’t happening and that it’s due to solar activity, or just normal variation. Science continues to show both of those arguments to be groundless. And it only makes sense – over the past century human activity has increased carbon in the atmosphere by 40%. Who can honestly believe such actions don’t have consequences? Only the self-deluded.

Climate change will have major consequences for Barrie, and we are already beginning to see them. First, of course, is the loss of traditional industries, especially in valuable tourist markets. Skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, and ice-fishing all produce significant income for the region, yet are in danger of disappearing. And of course our children rue the loss of tobogganing and outdoor skating.

But there are even more serious consequences on the horizon. The lack of snowfall this past winter means far less soil moisture from the spring melt. In general, climate change means greater chance of drought, interrupted by shorter, heavier rainfalls and floods, while pests escape the winter die-off and come back stronger each year. These will hurt farming in this otherwise rich agricultural region, just as many are re-learning the joys of local food.

Luckily, citizens of Barrie are rising up to try and address this issue, promoting ways to prevent climate change, and finding ways to adapt to the changes that will be forced upon us. One such organization is Transition Barrie, whose monthly meetings discuss and plan local action on climate change, energy insecurity, and global economic breakdown. It is very likely that, in future, we will need to be more self-reliant, like in days of old.

Want to learn more about these issues? Attend the next Transition event Wednesday, April 18^th at 7 PM in the Huronia Room at City Hall. Speaking will be local cardiologist Brad Dibble, author of the book “Comprehending the Climate Crisis”. Come out and meet other local citizens who care enough to take action, or bring your questions for Dr. Dibble. Myself, I’m eager to ask him what role he feels our federal government should play in this issue.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner, published under the title "Climate change should shift our perceptions"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Protect your children from Nature Deficit

2012-04-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

With spring arriving before anyone’s expectation (except perhaps Wiarton Willie), children again feel the call of the outdoors. Meanwhile, horrible revelations trickle out from the Stafford murder trial, feeding parental nightmares of assault or kidnap. As father to two young girls, I share those concerns on a visceral level.

While there will always be a need to guard and street proof our children, we must keep our fears in perspective. If we keep children inside or shuttled around in cars, instead of outside and walking to and from activities, we risk doing them even greater harm.

As famed nature artist Robert Bateman noted when he spoke near Barrie last fall, although we resist this realization, most child abuse comes at the hands of relatives or family acquaintances – even in the Stafford tragedy. Rare is the child harmed by a true stranger. Keeping children inside can’t protect them from those who already have access, and only feeds a false sense of security.

Sitting in front of a video screen instead of playing outdoors leads to a variety of harms, including lack of concentration, exposure to violence or inappropriate sexuality, or even the growing cadre of online sexual predators. Supervising kids’ internet use 24/7 is beyond even the most involved parent. And of course physical inactivity feeds the obesity epidemic of our modern age.

Lack of outdoor time is not just physically unhealthy, but a mental problem we are just starting to understand. Termed “Nature Deficit Disorder”, this goes beyond failure do develop respect and appreciation for our natural world. It can also feed attention deficits, depression, or other mood disorders. Time spent freely exploring and playing in fields and forests is of huge benefit to a developing child’s psyche. Exposure to nature reduces stress and anxiety, improves grades, and creates real childhood memories for a lifetime.

Keeping children safe outside is not as hard as you might think. In addition to teaching about “stranger danger” and whom to contact in an emergency, the simple buddy system is remarkably effective. A lone child (or teenager, or even adult) may be a tempting victim to the feared roaming predator, but a group of two or three is an almost impossible target, which is why you don’t hear of drive-by group kidnappings.

Growing up in a small farming town, I was never far from a field or forest and can’t even count how much time I spent outdoors. In today’s urban environment, I struggle to provide my children with even a fraction of that amount of nature exposure. Yet this year I’m determined they will experience nature not just in books or zoos or documentaries, but in their own hands, eyes, and minds.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner, published under the title "Exposure to nature reduces stress, anxiety"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing

Canada

Combining renewable power for reliability

2012-03-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

Right-wing pundits were crowing this past week that green energy (by which they mean solar and wind) is unreliable and too expensive, so we should abandon any government subsidies. But they rely on a combination of falsehood and selective facts. In reality, ALL electricity generation is subsidized, and reliability issues plague most electricity sources.

One constant tactic by the pundits is to blame all of Ontario's electricity cost increases on new solar or wind supply, although in reality wind makes up only 2% of our supply and solar inputs are still negligible. Up to this point, neither one of them has a significant impact on electric bills. The other thing they ignore is to treat any renewable energy subsidy in isolation, never mentioning (for example) the $367 million a year we pay in subsidies for coal power we're not using, or the billions of dollars we have paid, and continue to pay, in all kinds of subsidies for nuclear energy. And they never look at the huge impact on our economy from coal or other polluting energy sources in terms of health costs, lost productivity, and lower crop yields. If you actually look at renewables in the context of all our various electricity supply policies and costs, they are a comparable price. Wind is already competitive with other sources on the open market, and solar soon will be.

What the pundits mean by “reliability” is actually dispatchable generation, electricity generated right when you need it, idle when you don’t. Yet the only major power source in Ontariowhich truly does this is natural gas plants. Run-of-river hydro (like Niagara Falls) is either gathering energy, or letting the water flow by. Coal power ramps up or down over a slower timeline; at best to match predicted hourly demand. Nuclear is always on, so they call it baseload power; you can’t turn it on and off as needed. Current demand often dips below base load supply, so we periodically must pay to dump excess nuclear power.

But there is more to reliability than dispatchability. Wind and solar are intermittent, but we know there will always be some windy days, and the sun will rise every day, and both of them are free. We don’t know gas costs of future years, so we can’t rely on gas-fired electricity to stay cheap. Nuclear plants also have reliability issues. Shut down by the big blackout of 2003, it took days (rather than the expected hours) to get them back up. Every time we take a nuke offline for maintenance or repair, it takes longer than expected, and vastly higher cost, to get it up and running again.

To better use solar and wind, we simply need storage capacity. One form of storage on the horizon is the batteries of electric or plug-in hybrid cars. Connecting to the grid when not on the road, they will allow storage of extra electricity when sun & wind are generous, to be drawn back at times of peak demand.

Yet even without batteries, renewable energy can be on-demand with the concept of the Combined Power Plant. This is where different renewable generation sources, like solar, wind, hydro and biomass plants, are linked in a single supply system. When wind and sun are abundant, hydro builds up reserves and biomass is idle. When they are not, hydro and biomass draw on their reserves as needed to make up the difference. Computers match them to minute-to-minute demand fluctuations. This combined system is just as reliable and powerful as a conventional large-scale power station, as was successfully demonstrated in

Germany

five years ago.

Although Ontario hasn’t enough dam-based hydro to do this on a large scale now, we could certainly pair our solar, wind, and biomass with hydro imported from Quebec and Manitoba, or possibly new dams of our own on James Bay, for a reliable, 100% renewable electricity supply.

A shorter version of this was published in my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner under the title "Combining renewable power a bright idea".

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing

Canada

Earth Hour: mindfulness and a Super Drive

2012-03-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

The past winter that wasn’t (subject of an upcoming column) couldn’t be a more clear and blatant signal from Mother Nature that we must find a more sustainable lifestyle as quickly as possible. This means scaling back, rather than expanding our use of tar sands oil (see my March 8^th column), and using renewable energy instead of more nuclear power (another upcoming topic). Overall, it means learning to prosper while consuming less energy and materials. Luckily, energy efficiency is cheaper than energy expansion, and conservation is free. We don’t lack the technology, just sometimes the will.

Earth Hour addresses that. Switching off for an hour on a Saturday night won’t generate significant electricity savings, especially since it’s during a low-demand time already, when we have (due to nuclear plants) more electricity than we need. But the true purpose is to flip a switch in our minds, so I hope you’ll be taking part.

For the third year, the Barrie Green Party will do our part by hosting our Earth Hour Super-Drive. This is your chance to clear out the old electrical or electronic devices you don’t need anymore, or that have broken down. We’ll be filling a GreenGo Recycling truck with anything that used a plug, battery, or chip. Old cell phones are a special item of interest; please gather and bring them to us.

And while we’re being mindful of the planet, we can also be mindful of the needs of the less fortunate in our community. The Barrie Free Clothing Centre is undergoing renovations for a grand re-launch, so it’s a great time for you to clean out a closet and donate wearable used clothing. Food is another basic need that sometimes can’t be met on a limited budget, so we’re also taking donations to the Elizabeth Fry Grocery Assistance Program. Some cans or boxes of food can light up a hungry family in a way no light bulb can.

And this year we’re doing a special celebration of Earth Hour with a candlelight reception for Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner. Despite switching off the power, the house will be filled with electricity as we share drinks, food and conversation.

The Earth Hour Super-drive takes place on Saturday, March 31^st between 1:30 and 4:30 PM in the parking lot behind 110 Dunlop St W, off Toronto Street. If you have items you can’t easily transport, email pickups@BarrieGreens.ca beforehand and we’ll arrange to send our truck to you. For tickets to the Earth Hour reception that evening, visit www.BarrieGreenParty.caor call 705-730-7591. And wherever you are, take some time next Saturday evening to switch off the ever-present electronic hum and appreciate some natural peace.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner under the title "Earth Hour Super-Drive offers opportunities"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Relive your Love: education in action

2012-03-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

One of the best ways of learning is doing, so education programs where students accomplish real-world tasks are a great way to enhance academic study with practical experience.

I did the co-operative education program at the University of Waterloo, working a total of 2 years in various corporate and government positions. My wife started her teaching career even earlier than most, through a high-school co-op program where she assisted in a primary classroom. Nowadays, it seems that most secondary and post-secondary institutions offer a variety of co-op programs where students can spend one or more terms putting their early lessons to use in a real workplace. I’ve even come full circle; after being a co-op student in the early 90s, I now find myself supervising high school and college co-ops working for volunteer organizations I help run.

Another way to marry practical effort with study is through class projects that support or create a real-world application. Georgian College’s new Event Management program is one example. Events are important to most industries, both business and non-profit, so students with these skills can expect to find work in many areas. But while learning how to plan events this spring, Georgian’s class is also putting on a real one: the Relive your Love event supporting Gilda’s Club Simcoe Muskoka.

You may recall comedienne Gilda Radner, who became famous in the original cast of Saturday Night Live. Her comic genius was cut short when she died of ovarian cancer in 1989; she had noted that cancer gave her “membership to an elite club I’d rather not belong to”. From that quip came the inspiration for Gilda’s Club, an organization founded by her friends in her honour. Its clubhouses provide supportive spaces for men, women, and children with cancer to meet, discuss, and share their experiences.

A week from today, on Thursday March 22^nd, the local chapter of Gilda’s Club will benefit from a romance-themed fundraiser at downtown Barrie’s new Mady Centre for the Performing Arts. The event starts at 6:30 PM with cocktail reception featuring a live band and gourmet hors d’oeuvres and food stations, before moving into the theatre at 7:30for a gala screening of the Oscar-winning 1973 film “The Way We Were” starring Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford.

Each $35 ticket includes not just the film, but a drink, food, popcorn, live entertainment, and a chance to win items in the raffle. Funds raised will be split between Gilda’s Club and the Georgian College Events Management Scholarship.

For tickets, call 705-739-4228 or go online to www.theatres.barrie.ca. If you or your business would like to be a sponsor recognized at the event, contact Lauren Hill at 705-790-9169.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner, published as "Co-ops can have some far-reaching benefits"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing

Canada

Tar sands an integral part of the fatal fossil furnace

2012-03-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

A recent study by my friend, Nobel-recognized Canadian climatologist Andrew Weaver, created a tornado of spin supporting tar sands expansion. It’s even drawn the enthusiasm of prominent climate skeptics, only too happy to cherry-pick the study and misrepresent its results.

All Weaver has done is state the obvious: there is far more coal buried around the world than oil in the sands of Alberta. That’s nothing new. He’s provided some calculations which show that burning all the world’s coal will cause far more global warming than burning all the Athabaskan bitumen.

But that doesn’t mean dirty tar sands oil is harmless. Far from it! Tar sands boosters put forward the puffery that we need to transition from dirty coal to cleaner oil. But our expansion of bitumen extraction isn’t in any way aimed at reducing coal burning, it’s meant to feed expanded consumption and production. It will be added to coal emissions, not subtracted from them. Coal extraction itself requires large amounts of diesel fuel and other oil products to power the digging machinery, transport trucks, trains, and ships. They are all part of an interlinked system dependent on fossil fuels of all types. One also can’t overlook that cleaner natural gas is used to produce dirtier tar sands oil used to transport dirtiest coal to wherever it is burnt.

And none of this considers the major effects on air and water quality, and massive deforestation, another global warming driver.

The International Energy Agency reports that to avoid unacceptable warming, we must not build any new fossil fuel infrastructure. That means no new coal plants, no new pipelines, and no expansion of the tar sands. That tar sands are just a fraction of global carbon reserves doesn’t let them off the hook. Treating their warming effect of .4 °C as too small for concern is the classic fallacy of composition, when you say “my part is small, it doesn’t matter in the big picture.” But when that argument is used by every participant and you add them together, the total is huge.

It’s like saying “it doesn’t matter if I pee in your pool, my pee is only a tiny percent of the water”. True, but if all swimmers take that attitude, pretty soon you have more pee than pool! Each of us will only ever play a small part, but unless most of us do our part, the problem will only worsen. As the Loraxwarns, “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

The solution? Immediately begin shifting our investment to clean, renewable energy, while using conservation and efficiency to economically reduce our needs. More on that in future columns.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner, published as "Oil-sands emissions no different from coal"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

The colour of privatization is ORNGE

2012-03-01T06:28:00.000-08:00

Disturbing facts and allegations are coming to light about Ontario’s air ambulance service ORNGE, including excessive salaries, nepotism, taxpayer-funded profit-making schemes, and failure to provide expected medical services. The suspected $6.7 million helicopter kickback dwarfs the alleged Airbus cash collected by former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. So what is the overall lesson in this story?

Many people, especially through social media, are using this to heap scorn on the McGuinty Liberal government. For them, corruption or incompetence in any publicly-funded endeavor is further ammunition to tar the minority premier. Yet in their eagerness to attack, they undermine their own ideology.

More than anything else, ORNGE is the saga of privatization of public service. Before ORNGE, air ambulance service was managed directly by public health officials. But over the past decade, in the push for privatization, it was thought wise to hand it off to a private corporation.

The aim of privatization is to get the same level of service at a lower cost. Less public administration is a path to save money or control rising expenses. A service “run like a business” will theoretically be better at finding savings or innovation in a competitive market. Government sets the standard and the price, then the winning bidder is paid the set price to meet that level of service. What could be simpler?

Well, ORNGE demonstrates the resulting complexity. Many complain that top executives of government-owned agencies or corporations are overpaid. Yet their compensation pales in comparison to the millions of dollars in salaries, bonuses, or stock options top executives or owners of private corporations collect, all while staying off the “sunshine list”. Meanwhile, at the bottom, it’s expected that salaries of non-unionized front line employees will be lower, creating the “savings”. The better executives can restrain general payroll through layoffs or salary cuts, the more profit they or their investors can pocket – all bankrolled by taxpayers.

Meanwhile, public authorities have less oversight or control of the day-to-day operations of the service, or the major capital decisions, such as fleet purchases or facility construction. When the owners create lucrative spin-off companies, lie to investors about their qualifications, or find other ways to profit from publicly-funded infrastructure, government can at best play catch-up. One of the purported benefits of privatization is reduced need for oversight, so it would be silly for government to heavily monitor a service it has already sold off. So they don’t, and this is what happens.

Those opportunistically using the ORNGE fiasco to attack the governing party need to realize their underlying message: privatization is a failure, we need bigger government to directly manage more aspects of society. Is that really what they want to say?

UPDATE: The Green Party of Ontario has just released a position that follows the ideas of this column, and calls for a review of all P3s (public-private partnerships, the term politicians and business use for privatization of public activity) in Ontario to prevent similar waste or abuse of taxpayer funds in other areas.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "Attacks on government over ORNGE misdirected".

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Do high school hijinks threaten Central's future?

2012-02-23T10:10:00.001-08:00

Barrie Central Collegiate’s future is news again, as the school board prepares capital priorities for the Ministry of Education. A new Central is on the list, which is spun as a good news for Central supporters. Yet this request raises more questions than answers.

First, the timing. In some years, the Ministry asks school boards to compile wish lists. This year, it has not. There is no pressing need for staff to draft a list, nor for trustees to approve and send it on. So why go through this exercise now?

And what about the details? Funding is sought to build a new downtown high school for 400 students. If this strikes you as a shockingly low number, that’s because it is. Although the staff report claims this represents the outcome of the Accommodation Review Committee, no such number was ever presented at the ARC. It’s less than half the current enrollment of 905 or even the projected 834 student population of 2021-2022, to say nothing of the downtown growth the city and province expect (but the board staff dismiss). Apparently it comes from subtracting everyone currently bused in or enrolled in the alternative programs that work best downtown.

This tiny figure originates from planning staff who earlier ruled out the future of a high school with fewer than the 1200-1400 students they arbitrarily declared optimal. If today’s numbers aren’t big enough, how could only 400 be floated? I’m all for smaller schools, but this strains credulity.

From the start, staff resolved to close Central, while the community ARC was adamant that it be saved. Is it possible that, in the guise of following the ARC’s recommendation for a rebuild, staff are actually trying to get Central’s future rejected by the Ministry, so they can resume their original path to closure?

Coincidentally, a name from the past has returned. When the Barrie high school ARC launched with bells tolling for Central’s imminent closure and sale, the board’s Associate Director was Carol McAulay. But she left the process about halfway through, moving on to new employment. Meanwhile, a surge of Central support secured a reprieve. If Central had closed on the staff’s proposed deadline of June 2012, for sale signs would be popping up any day now.

Yet with Barrie’s downtown struggling to fill leases and replace burnt-out buildings, who would buy a large lot zoned for educational use?

It turns out Laurentian University is eager to own a piece of downtown Barrie for their planned satellite campus. And guess who’s in charge of securing that property? Laurentian’s new VP Administration, Carol McAulay. I wonder if she had a spot in mind when she hired on?

Published in my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner under the title "Barrie Central debate back in the crosshairs"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Toward a better future: Plug-In Hybrids & Smarter Grids

2012-02-16T20:36:00.000-08:00

Guest blogger: Shawn P. Conroy

Energy prices continue the rise because people turn to increasing our capacity: as we build more power generation plants, we have to pay for this with higher energy prices. But do we really need to make new, large and costly coal, gas or nuclear power plants? At the same time, what about cutting gas emissions from cars? As the industry moves toward hybrid cars some have asked if instead of burning gasoline we will need to burn coal to fuel these cars. But the truth is that electric cars and plug in hybrid cars can really help our over all power grid. We don't need more power, we need smarter, efficient power.

Below is 10 minute video that explains how our power grid works, and how smart grids and plug-in and hybrid cars can help us more efficiently use the power we already have.

Basically, we can use the car batteries as batteries for our cities, charging when power demand is low, and feeding that power back in to the grid when power demand is high. This elegant solution is better than what we have now. You can choose to have your car suck power out of the grid when energy prices are cheap, like at night. Then, you can allow your car to feed that power back in to the grid when prices are high. You benefit. The power company benefits. Other consumer benefit. It's what the Office TV show would call a win-win-win. This could steady our power demand making peak times of the power grid more manageable. This isn't the only way of shifting power. In any case, power shifting is very important because it increases the efficiency of our power grid:

Grid energy storage (also called large-scale energy storage) refers to the methods used to store electricity on a large scale within an electrical power grid. Electrical energy is stored during times when production (from power plants) exceeds consumption and the stores are used at times when consumption exceeds production. In this way, electricity production need not be drastically scaled up and down to meet momentary consumption – instead, production is maintained at a more constant level. This has the advantage that fuel-based power plants (i.e. coal, oil, gas) can be more efficiently and easily operated at constant production levels.
(From Wikipedia's article on Grid energy storage.)

Power shifting allows us to more efficiently use the power plants we have now, and reduced the need for new power plants. This results in less expensive energy, cleaner air, and greater efficiency without sacrificing anything. It's simply a better way.

Landlord info session coming up

2012-02-16T20:31:00.000-08:00

Are you a landlord, or have you considered purchasing a rental property, or renting out a room or apartment in your house? If so, then the Landlord Information Session on March 7^th is for you.

Presented by the Barrie Chapter of the Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness, this forum will provide lots of useful information on many topics, and let you ask questions or connect with experts who can help solve many landlord issues.

Homelessness and lack of affordable housing are problems that must be addressed in many ways, and private market rentals are part of the solution. Yet many landlords get turned off due to a bad experience, while other potential landlords are scared away. This doesn’t have to be the case; there are community resources that can help make renting a better experience for landlords and tenants.

This session will include presentations from a lawyer with the community legal clinic who will explain rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants, and perhaps debunk some myths about both. Did you know that it’s a myth that a tenant can’t be evicted in the winter, or that it is illegal to charge more than one month’s rent as a deposit? Or you might not know that you pet bans aren’t effective anymore, but it’s getting easier to ban smoking in rental units. Get other useful information from the Community Legal Clinic at this session.

One group who have trouble with housing are those with a disability. Yet a tenant with a reliable monthly government cheque may be the least likely to fall behind on the rent, since you don’t get laid off from a disability! Yet some landlords worry that a tenant with a disability might cause more problems. A representative from the Canadian Mental Health Association will explain the resources that can help landlords and tenants have a harmonious relationship so our most vulnerable aren’t left unhoused.

A representative from Simcoe County will explain grants or credits available to renovate a rental unit to be more accessible. Not only does this provide better housing, but it expands your potential market, especially as the population ages. There will also be advice about tax benefits from a professional accountant.

One tenacious problem these days is bedbugs. Luckily, there is a new way of dealing with them in a single, non-toxic treatment, and it will be presented at this session.

The Landlord Information Session is on Wednesday, March 7^th and runs from 6:30 to 9 PM, at Collier United Church. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Kelly Bell at kbell@simcoecommunityservices.caor 705-739-9909 by February 29th. We’d love to see you there, to help support you in your rentals.

Published in my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner as "Info session available for aspiring landlords".

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Better OAS reforms are possible

2012-02-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

Since Prime Minister Harper’s surprise announcement at the billionaire’s conference in Davos,

Switzerland

, reforms to Old Age Security (OAS) have been hotly debated.

Often mentioned is that by 2030 we will have a peak level of seniors, and their benefits will cost about 50% more of our GDP than now. So how to prepare over the coming two decades?

The first thing to put on the table is the purpose of OAS. It is not an earned pension; you don’t pay into it, it isn’t saved up, you don’t earn it. Any Canadian over 65 receives it, regardless of how much, or how little, they contributed to society over their lifetime. Lifelong workhorse or surly slacker, struggling single mother or comfortable trust-fund loafer, recipient of a 25-year prison sentence or an Order of Canada – you are eligible for the exact same benefit.

The pensions you earn and save are CPP, your RSPs, and (if you have one), your employer pension. No reform should take these away from anyone.

But OAS was created before CPP, before RSPs, before most people had workplace pensions, and designed to provide basic security for the elderly, keep them off the streets and out of food banks.

Yet now it’s treated like an entitlement, a little monthly perk. Full OAS continues almost up to $70,000 income, and you still receive some past $110,000! To put this in perspective, median Canadian income is around $30,000, which means half of us get by on less. So the first reform for OAS is to stop giving it to those who make double the average income, and target more toward those struggling to get by on less. Start the reduction at $45,000 and phase it all out by $70,000. (Keep in mind that retirement income is pegged at 70% of working income, so a pension of $70,000 is like a salary of $100,000.) We taxpayers need to help our struggling seniors, not give mad money to snowbirds.

But rather than delay benefits to 67, as the Conservatives have suggested, how about adopting the age flexibility of CPP. That way, you could start benefits as early as 60, at a lower rate, or delay as late as 70, for a higher monthly cheque. This way, those in the most need are not left behind.

But most important, let’s reduce our need for seniors’ welfare altogether, by strengthening our contributory pensions. Increase CPP contribution rates and benefits. Allow people to voluntarily top-up CPP as if their income were at the yearly maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE). Protect private pensions from bankruptcy and corporate raiders.

The better we can save for retirement, the less we’ll need government to look after us, and the better we’ll feel about it.

Published in my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner under the title "Saving now means a healthier retirement". Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Do our MPs really deserve to 'win Lotto 308'?

2012-02-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Last week, Prime Minister Harper flew to

Switzerland

to make statements on our nation’s pension sustainability, spurring much talk back here in

Canada

about which pensions need reform, and whether there will be wealth enough to pay our retirement benefits in the future.

Everyone agrees that the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) will remain solvent for the long term. But there are real questions about the future cost of Old Age Security (OAS), and some well-deserved uproar about the rich pensions our Members of Parliament receive.

Today I’ll talk about MP pensions, and in future columns look at OAS and the issue of public service compensation in general.

First, the facts: each of our 308 Members of Parliament has a base annual salary of $157,731, plus expenses, with bonuses for MPs who serve in Cabinet or other special roles. MP salaries are thus in the top 2% or better of Canadians, which gives them several options for financing retirement. Their mostly taxpayer-funded pension plan kicks in after 6 years in office and begins paying out at age 55. By way of example, our Barrie Member Patrick Brown will be eligible for $46,049 per year by 2015, or $64,989 if re-elected again. (These benefit amounts come from the report issued by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation).

This generous plan was founded in 1952, to protect MPs from a loss of income. Otherwise, only the rich could afford to stand for public office. At the time, it made sense, but since then, new options have arrived, including CPP and RRSP programs. Their salary is well above the yearly maximum pensionable earnings for CPP, and above the level of maximum RRSP contributions, so an MP can reap the maximum from each of these plans. Yet the MP pension has not been amended to take today’s situation into account.

We need not go as far as Ontarioor Alberta, which both offer no pension for members of their provincial legislatures. I’m also worried that ending MPs pensions could go hand-in-hand with windfall buyout payments, as happened under Ontario premier Mike Harris in 1996.

An MP’s role involves real work of real value, so they deserve a fair pension like any other Canadian. But do they really deserve to, as one of my friends puts it, “win Lotto 308”?

What seems fair to me is for MPs to receive a pension in line with the rest of Canadians. Their contributions should be matched dollar-for-dollar, and their nominal retirement age should be the same as for the rest of us: sixty-five. They should be able to fully participate in CPP and RRSPs. Including those other benefits, this would ensure that MPs received a fair reward without putting an unnecessary burden upon the public purse.

Published in my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner.

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Taking a Second Look at Second Suites, part 1

2012-01-26T17:07:00.000-08:00

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation insures mortgages so aspiring homeowners need a lower down payment. But the CMHC also keeps a finger on the pulse of the housing market in each community, both ownership and rental.

Theirnews for Barrie isn’t good. Rental vacancy rates dropped to 1.7% in 2011 and are projected to be only 1.5% in 2012. A healthy vacancy rate is 3%, providing a good choice in units for tenants and a secure market for landlords.

Two main consequences of low vacancy rates are higher rents and worse choice in units. People must settle for apartments which are too small, in the wrong part of town, or otherwise substandard, yet pay more for them. Lousy or overpriced housing is one more stress for families already struggling with higher electric and water bills and increasing gas prices or transit fares.

New rental housing isn’t coming very fast, if at all. There are promises to include affordable housing in the mix in the new annexation lands, but those are still many years off. Even once construction starts, higher density affordable units are usually the last to be built, only after the developers have made the big money selling premium properties.

Intensification is great, but there is a dearth of affordable housing proposals for our existing urban areas. Any higher density proposal meets with zoning obstacles and neighbourhood opposition, and most apartment buildings that get approved are aimed at seniors. This leaves out the rest of the demographics.

One of the best and quickest solutions would be to increase the facility for second units (apartments in houses, or granny suites) in all existing neighbourhoods. In fact, in recognition of this, the province is requiring municipalities to alter their official plans to allow for greater use of this housing mode, as part of the Strong Communities through Affordable Housing Act.

Second suites are a gentle form of intensification. Requiring no new construction or infrastructure, they don’t create a visible change in the neighbourhood. Instead, they fill underutilized space in existing homes. Our houses have grown larger while average family size has shrunk, leaving a lot of half-empty homes that can easily be split and shared.

Second units make housing more affordable for tenants and owners. A young family buying a home can rent out part of it to help pay the mortgage. Seniors and empty-nesters with an apartment get help with expenses, and someone to share yard work and show-shoveling duties. Aging or emptying residential areas are renewed as younger families move in. Having more residents improves the sense of community and security of the street.

In part two, I will address myths behind common objections to second suites.

Published in the Barrie Examiner as Root Issues: "Second suites a gentle form of intensification"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Sam’s legacy thrives on through special Guatemalan project

2012-01-20T09:51:00.000-08:00

Not many people get the chance to truly save another’s life. My cousin did, before his own life was cut short. Now, in his memory, one village’s children get a better education, as January marks the beginning of the new school year in

Guatemala

For three years Sam Clarke volunteered with the Guatemala Stove Project, the charity founded by my uncle Tom of which I’ve written before. In 2007, he helped as a photographer, taking photos of the families with their new, efficient ceramic cookstoves provided by Project donors. In one household, he noticed the mother was hiding a young girl behind her skirts. He investigated and discovered she suffered from a severely cleft palate.

Among poor rural Guatemalans, disfigurement like this means a tragic life of shame, misery, poor health, and ostracism. But the Project helped this little girl and turned her life around. The Project covered her travel costs to a distant city where an American medical charity provided a series of surgeries. She can now speak and eat properly, fully participate in her family and community, and someday marry and have a family of her own.

Sadly, Sam’s own promising young life was cut short the following year, when he was struck and killed while biking from class at London’s Fanshawe College, where his passions for music and social justice were just beginning to be expressed. But his legacy lives on through the Sam Clarke Memorial Fund.

In 2009 the Fund built and equipped a schoolhouse in the remote Guatemalan village of Panimaquim. Named “Escuela Los Niños de Sam,” this two-classroom brick building provides the village’s 35 children with a good place to learn, complete with two-room latrine, washing station, and its own kitchen where local moms take turns cooking healthy meals. The Project initially funded two years of school lunches and has set up a chicken coop with 100 chickens as a self-sustaining source of food and income so students can continue to have a healthy lunch in years to come.

The Project’s next goal is a scholarship fund for higher education for a couple of the village’s children. This impoverished region would benefit greatly from the professional skills of a local doctor, nurse, lawyer, or teacher.

One of the Guatemala Stove Project’s strengths is flexibility. The $225 per stove that donors give allows for some extra discretionary funds which can be used for things like that young girl’s travel expenses, or for the wheelchair the project bought for a 10-year-old with cerebral palsy who was still being carried on his mother’s back. If you’d like to help with projects like these, or support the Sam Clarke Memorial Fund directly, please visit www.GuatemalaStoveProject.org.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner.

I know you are, but what am I?

2012-01-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

According to Resource Minister Joe Oliver’s open letter, I’m a foreign-backed environmentalist “threatening to hijack our regulatory system to achieve my radical ideological agenda”. Really?!

Utilizing rhetoric and misleading information, the Minister tars people trying to exercise their democratic rights in hearings examining the Northern Gateway pipeline proposal as some kind of anti-Canadian force. He even denigrates our own regulatory process, already significantly weakened (or as the spin goes, “streamlined”) under the Harper regime, with false anecdotes about skating rinks [1] and misattributions of the MacKenzie Valleypipeline delays [2].

Oliver accuses anyone questioning Northern Gateway as being against all forestry, mining, oil, gas, even hydro-electricity. Who are these people? Certainly not the ones I know within the environmental movement. My colleagues are well aware that we need a balanced economy, but also know that undertaking major projects with insufficient planning and oversight leads to critical accidents with tragic consequences. This specific project could easily result in massive leaks, not to mention the catastrophic oil spills that tankers at the end of the pipeline could inflict upon a very sensitive BC coast.

Canadaneeds a sustainable economy, one which will provide generations of prosperity and preserve our magnificent natural wealth. Recklessly extracting fossil fuels at the fastest rate robs future generations of their share of wealth while destroying the ecological systems that keep us all alive and healthy. Vast resources exist under our feet, but that’s no reason to ignore all factors other than maximizing extraction dollars today.

As David Suzuki has noted, the goals of those who urge caution in such projects are actually pretty conservative: to live within our means, save some for tomorrow, and consider the legacy we leave for our children.

And as pointed out by Vancouver Observer writer David P. Ball, Oliver’s letter uses the same rhetorical devices as a recent speech by Syrian dictator al-Assad, painting a picture of a looming and maleficent foreign influence trying to harm Canada. Yet all sense of proportion is lost. Sure, some Canadian environmental groups have received financial support from American foundations with shared goals of environmental preservation. Yet how much money has poured into tar sands development from foreign multinationals and Chinese government-owned companies? Billions of dollars and counting. Foreign firms have bought claims to so much tar sands that I wonder if we can still call it “our” oil.

And how can we call such oil “ethical” if the ownership, decision-making, and profits fall to the same countries we deride as “unethical”? Foreign investment clearly strongly influences the federal and Albertagovernments, and they seem willing to step on democratic consultations so they can stuff their pockets faster.

I’m a foreign-backed radical? Back at you, Minister.

Notes:

[1] Minister Oliver claims that overbearing federal environmental assessment standards delayed the use of a frozen pond for skating for two months. In fact, it was an outdoor rink in a schoolyard, and the two months didn't delay it, as it was ready for Christmas skating. And the only reason it would need federal permission is because it is within Banff national park; but in fact all it needed was school board permission.

[2] Oliver claims it took 9 years to approve the MacKenzie Valley pipeline. Yet its application was filed in 2004 and approved in 2011, which is only 7 years. And the last year's delay was due to a disagreement on funding between the proponent and the government, nothing to do with any environmental review.

A shorter version of this was published as my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner under the title "Joe Oliver needs to take a look in the mirror".

Update: Further analysis from the Vancouver Observer, this time comparing Oliver & Harper's messaging to McCarthyism.

Stoneleigh to share priceless knowledge

2012-01-05T16:12:00.000-08:00

A year ago, Transition Barrie and GEAR hosted energy consultant and financial analyst Nicole Foss to a packed crowd at Georgian College to offer her perspective on the global financial and energy crisis that we currently see unfolding.

Nicole, who writes under the pen-name ‘Stoneleigh’ on website The Automatic Earth, brings a wealth of knowledge about the continuing sovereign debt crisis and the impact of unsustainable energy policies.

Based on a farm near Ottawa where she and her partner are preparing off-grid self-sufficiency to weather the coming storm, Nicole has been speaking all over North America, Europe and Asia on the global financial situation and its correlation to the energy crisis looming in our not-too-distant future. Parallels between energy subsidies and financial bubbles teach important lessons, both in how we arrange our systems and how we pay for them.

Her analysis suggests we have developed an unsustainable credit bubble over the past 30 years that must eventually burst. Many of the forecasts Nicole made here last year are already playing out on the global stage. Europe’s debt crisis stumbles from bad to worse, the American position worsened by an administration hostage to partisan gamesmanship. Meanwhile, special interests continue to drive energy policy.

Foss outlines the circumstance that led to this situation both from a financial and resource perspective and lays out her interpretation of the likely outcome using past market crashes as models for market reaction.

She then offers her perspective on ways to reduce and prepare for the impact of what she predicts will be a correction more severe than the Great Depression. Individuals and communities that take steps now to prepare for the effects of debt saturation and resource scarcity stand a much better chance to control their own financial destinies.

Canadians have so far escaped much of the fallout of this global crisis, but it will catch up with us. We are a resource-based economy, importing much of our necessities via lengthy supply chains. With a global economy that runs on credit, a bursting bubble will cause almost all commerce to halt, a worst-case scenario averted (or delayed) in 2008 only through massive bailouts and support of failed financial institutions in the USA.

Please join us next Tuesday, January 10^th at 7PM at Barrie’s Southshore Centre to hear Stoneleigh’s update. A $5 donation is appreciated. For tickets, Call Mike at 705.721.6867 or email Karen at rightmove@sympatico.ca

Given the complexity of the situation and the conflicting messages broadcast through various media, hearing a well-informed and unbiased analysis of the events that will have increasing impact on our personal lives is a valuable investment of time.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner, published under the title "Be informed in the face of looming collapse"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Participatory democracy works on many levels

2011-12-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

A recent study indicates that the main reason for the dropping voter turnout is a feeling, from non-voters, that the political process is unresponsive and doesn’t engage them.

One of the solutions I strongly support is electoral reform to a proportional system, where all votes count, instead of creating a class of “losing” votes. But another reform, one which takes place between elections, is participatory democracy. It’s something that is already happening effectively in some cases, and should be expanded.

The example I am most familiar with is the Lake Simcoe Protection Act and Plan. Both the Act and Plan were created through a fantastic process of public consultation and feedback, one I’ve enjoyed being a part of.

In each case, only the barest outline was established before public consultations were held. Under the supervision of outside moderators, various civic organizations came together and brainstormed what the contents should be. Those ideas were then codified into a draft, which went to another series of sessions for revision before finalizing the Act or Plan.

Sometimes public consultation is really just a show, a way to pretend the public is involved while the lawmakers just do whatever they had in mind in the first place. But in this case, the regulations truly followed the public input. At the reviews of the drafts, the civil servants who had written the text heard firsthand feedback from the public, and worked with them to achieve clarity or fine-tune the wording to better suit the intent. It was really an amazing part of the experience to sit face-to-face with the person who had written the phrasing in the draft text, and have that person accept suggested revisions to incorporate into the next version.

At the end of this process, the resulting regulations became law. As a participant, I saw firsthand how the final laws reflected a consensus, where possible, or else a balance of interests. The goals of conservation and sustainable development were aligned as much as possible, and the regulatory and enforcement mechanisms were based on what the public & experts felt would be most effective.

This whole process was government at its finest. Rather than clashing ideologies coming to a head with an ultimate winner and loser, the process was open to all and everyone who took part could claim some victory.

My only complaint is that this process isn’t used for all of our legislation. Too many bills or regulations are one-sided and top-down. I look forward to a day when every major set of laws or regulations, even our annual budgets, are established through this kind of public consultation, with ideological politics left in the dark past.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner.

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of Earthsharing Canada and the Ontario School of Economic Science.

Give the gift of time this holiday season

2011-12-15T13:53:00.000-08:00

As my young daughters learn the Christmas story, I am reminded of local parallels. A clear part of the story deals with transient homelessness, and the kindness of strangers to those in need. A young couple, forced into travel by government bureaucracy and taxation, find themselves without a place to stay and resort to sleeping in a stable, even as they give birth to their first child. In some ways this story seems quaint to us now, but in others it is all too real.

Like most cities, Barrie lacks sufficient affordable housing, and many people find themselves without a place to stay. Some are long-time residents who have lost a job or home, while others have recently come to Barrie seeking a better life. They enter our shelter system, but that system is also overburdened. Literally, there is no room at the inn. Yet just like in the season’s tale, there is an alternative. Rather than a barn, it is a church basement. Several Barrie churches donate their facilities for overnight emergency shelter in the winter, and many other partner churches provide meals or volunteers.

But more volunteers are still needed, there remain spots unfilled. The most difficult spots to fill (although not to work) are the overnight shifts and the days around Christmas. It takes no money to provide this most basic assistance, just the gift of a few hours of your time. In particular, if you are a woman and can do an evening or overnight shift once a month, or a man available first thing in the morning, the program really needs you. There is also a continuing need for spare or back-up volunteers to be on call, especially during the busy holiday season when plans may suddenly change. Some families invite a needy person to share Christmas with them; perhaps someone in your family can support this program on that day, instead.

When we hear the Christmas story, we like to believe we would have treated this young couple kindly. Well, you still have that chance, for as that baby, full grown later said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” I find this an inspiring idea regardless of one’s personal beliefs. If we are to judge a society by how they treat the least among them, then you can play a role in redeeming our Canadian society and our Barrie community, right here and now.

To volunteering with Barrie’s Out of the Cold program, or donate, visit www.BarrieOutoftheCold.org or call 705-331-1396. I wish you a holiday of family, friends, food, and a place to share them.

Written for my Root Issues column in the Barrie Examiner.

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

Have yourself a merry local Christmas

2011-12-09T10:26:00.001-08:00

Paroxysms of gift-buying mean holiday season has truly arrived.

It’s the thought that counts, which is true in many ways. Obviously it means thinking about the recipient: choosing the perfect gift for their personality or needs, or simply remembering to think of them at all! But when gift-shopping this year, try also to reflect on the economics of your purchase.

If you shop local, your money circulates within the local economy, becoming a gift to everyone around you.

Yet shopping local doesn’t simply mean not shopping in a bigger city or online. Even from a nearby store, if you just buy another gadget off the shelf, much of your money leaves our regional, or

Canada

altogether. So this year, try to focus on gifts that are actually locally produced, so all the money stays here.

So what does that mean? Well, not a lot of durable goods are made in this area, under the decline of manufacturing. (A new Napoleon grill would be a notable exception – if it fits your gifting budget!) But many consumables are made locally, and make wonderful gifts.

Sigrid’sBakery, for example, comes personally recommended by Vice-regal Consort John Ralston Saul. And did you know there’s a Barrie bakery specializing just in butter tarts? (The SweetOven). How much more Christmasy can you get?

Or if liquid libations are more the style to warm your loved-one’s heart, fresh brews from Muskoka, Creemore, or Flying Monkeys are well within the 100-km range, as are vintages from the new Holland Marsh Wineries. (Old Man Winter will even chill them for you, for free). Or even make your own, like we do at winexpert.

A major local gift category is services. Massages, spa visits, hairstyling, housecleaning, even car detailing are great certificates to receive. In today’s hurried world, someone looking after (or cleaning for) you is a blessed relief. And these services have all taken a hit from the HST raising their prices, so they need your support.

Entertainment is another good choice. Instead of buying another CD or DVD off the shelf, how about tickets or vouchers for local performances? There are several worthy theatre companies in the area.

At any age, lessons can be a fun gift. My daughters loved their trial month at Lewis Karate School. Fitness membership or dance, music, or other lessons can expand a person’s happiness and wellbeing, while supporting local business. And all of these gifts tend to be low-footprint, when it comes to the Earth. Plus, myriad Group-Jag-Deal coupon programs make them very affordable.

Among our greatest gifts are this Earth and our local community. Share those gifts with others: give back by giving locally this year.

Written for my Root Issues column, published in the Barrie Examiner under the title "Give back by giving locally this holiday season"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is a director of the Ontario School of Economic Science and Earthsharing Canada.

No honours for violent classic rock

2011-12-01T12:42:00.001-08:00

Today marks the middle of this year’s White Ribbon Campaign working to end violence against women, which brings to mind something that’s bothered me for some time.

In Canadawe like to believe we’ve made great strides in equality and reduction of gender violence. We’re particularly horrified by the concept, in other nations or cultures, of “honour killing,” where women are murdered by their own families for supposed moral transgressions. Such acts are disparaged as barbaric, whether they happen elsewhere or are imported here.

Yet vestiges of similar ideas lurk in our own popular culture, even in classic rock music.

One song is Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “Hey Joe”. This folk standard describes a man shooting his wife for infidelity, in a matter-of-fact, non-judgmental fashion, as if this were the normal response to that situation.

I can see how perhaps in a live show this song could be put in some kind of educational context by the singer, but played on its own in “classic rock” circulation, all it does is condone spousal murder. Jimi Hendrix was an amazing guitar player, and the song showcases his talents well. But so do dozens of his other great recordings – why does this particular one get so much airplay today?

A song I find even more disturbing is Hendrix-inspired Canadian rocker Pat Travers’ version of “Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)”. It is the song of a man combing the town for his ex-girlfriend so he can beat her unconscious for dumping him. And it’s not enough to tell this tale – Travers has the audience, men and women together, enthusiastically sing back the chorus response. By taking part, the crowd internalizes their own acceptance of this violence.

Now, I’ve never favoured censoring music, and I’m not demanding these songs be banned. But I am asking why program directors choose to spin them, when there are so many thousands of other great rock songs to choose from that don’t glorify gender violence?

Luckily this last song is redeemed, in a way, in a new version by the Brothers Dubé, the teen & tween trio from Ottawa featured on this year’s CP Holiday Train. They have re-worked “Boom Boom” to protest rock-em sock-em hockey violence and the resulting concussions. In doing so, they give me hope for our future generation.

If only the previous generation of “classic rockers” running our radio stations could be as enlightened as our youth. Is that too much to ask?

Learn more about the White Ribbon Campaign at www.WhiteRibbon.ca, and about local Dec 6 events at www.BarrieShelter.com.

Written for Root Issues in the Barrie Examiner, published under the title "Play songs that don't glorify gender violence"

Erich Jacoby-Hawkins is the son of a wonderful woman, husband to another, and the father of two wonderful daughters, and urges all men to stand up against violence against women.