View topic - Ministerial Letters on our rivers!

Here you go my paddle friends! Sharpen your typing skills!

The Navigable Waters act mentioned by name!



http://pm.gc.ca/eng/minister-transport-mandate-letter

More letters here.

http://pm.gc.ca/eng/ministerial-mandate-letters

Jeff
(stuck in N.B. but feeling good! )

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Choosing to save a river is more often an act of passion than of careful calculation. You make the choice because the river has touched your life in an intimate and irreversible way, because you are unwilling to accept its loss. — (David Bolling, Ho

Very encouraging to hear mention of "reviewing the previous government's changes to the Fisheries Act and the Navigable Waters Protection Act, restore lost protections, and incorporate modern safeguards". I am sure we will all be watching this carefully!!

Thanks for drawing it to our attention, Jeff!

The entire nation will be watching, I'm sure, on how the liberals are going to pull all these promises off and still carry out their tax cut to the middle class at the same time. Where are they going to get the money? How do they resolve conflicts?

But since canoe routes running through wilderness are what we're interested in... in BC several years ago, the government's promise, (maybe somewhat similar to what the Ottawa liberals are now promising), to make the province clean and green while at the same time encouraging business development to keep the economy going, rivers were made available to private hydro developers building run-of-river hydroelectric projects... good for climate change and "sustainable development", not so good if you want rivers to remain wild.






A map of private power projects – proposed, under construction and in operation around BC.




Anyway, we wait and see.

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I am impressed with the specific language! This is like waking up from a long bad dream....

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“What is the good of having a nice house without a decent planet to put it on?” - Thoreau

Quite! Now I can go from being horrified to 'mildly dissatisfied"!

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

Old saying goes something like this.... newly-elected politicians and voters are like newlyweds - at first the promises made are sacred, but as time passes, promises are forgotten and replaced by lies and cheating.

Obama's many environment promises are summarized here... some promises were kept, many were compromised as the difficulties of government became apparent, and some promises were broken.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter ... nt/?page=1

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No doubt the Liberals will have to "adjust" many of the things they want to do, once the real world obstacles come to the fore, but they still make up a program, and a vision of making this a better country to live in, that we have not had in 9 years.

When my information changes, I alter my conclusions. What do you do, sir?
(J. M. Keynes)

More widely known as has been paraphrased: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"

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It is amusing how people hate taxes -- but love the things taxes provide. TANSTAAFL
Fitness program designed for men over 40: https://www.fitnessin10formen.com/

Yep, there's always cluelessness in government, which looks bad in the press if it's discovered... to prevent that, some kind of distraction might be necessary, like Obama pointing out Keystone while refusing to look in the mirror. Or denial, aka outright lying, if there's some chance the public might fall for it.

...eg. Tricky Dick:




And that Monica Lewinsky hiding under the desk:

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Luckily, we do not have the American system here in Canada. The PM with a majority in Canada has a much easier time fulfilling his stated objectives than an American president, esp one with the opposition in control of 1 or both 'houses' and willing to stop at nothing to thwart the President.

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.

The difficulty that the liberals might have as time goes on, is where will they get the money to fulfill all these promises? Interesting to watch, how much lip service, deception, lying, delusion, whatever, will be needed if things don't work out as planned. Lots of fun, overpromise and underdeliver, as always?

And as for any difference on the American side vs Canadian, it seems likely that all politicians lie to some extent. This CBC source comments on the recent campaigning in Canada... I am not judging the liberals just yet since it's early days... still, all this promisemaking seems all too familiar, overpromise, underdeliver.

Can't wait for the conservatives to start in with some new attack ads as well... see, told ya so... sheesh...

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/popup/audio/pla ... 2673262507

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That's a terrific record ... thanks for including it in discussion (and offering it as a high benchmark for Canadian politicians). You aren't someone who thinks "compromise" is a dirty word, are you? It's easy to be an ideologue and to be opposed in your principles ... it's much harder to listen to opposing views, and seek a better informed middle and common ground (and advance long standing and challenging issues for the future). Obama has done just that. And with a year and a half left in term, and a possible democratic win in 2016, looks like a pretty solid foundation to build on to me!

Again, Canadians should be so lucky (since you keep bringing it up)!

Well, it actually wasn't, except to show that some political promises are in fact broken and Obama's were no exception. If protecting rivers is an issue, we need to be attentive to how things develop (no pun intended).

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It’s my guess cynicism and distrust of government isn’t going to do much to protect Canadian Rivers? Some would actually say that’s exactly what the “powers that be” would wish in such a situation. If you can’t find a way to stand up for environmental ethics and wilderness protection, perhaps resisting the urge to tear down those who have (and understand the difficult and challenging task of doing so) is a good place to begin. Check your short expectations at the door, these are very long term battles and will take generations and decades to shift and change.

If Liberals “restore lost protections, and incorporate modern safeguards” to navigable waters … does that mean they will have earned your vote? For someone who is “attentive to how things develop,” one would only hope.

There's more to it than that... the liberal agenda calls for a "review" of the act, and environmental assessments if restored, will now have to include consideration of bigger-picture climate warming measures in EAs. Having seen myself first-hand in government how well-intentioned measures translate down to action taken on the ground, and how politically-motivated money gets thrown at projects with the primary focus being optics in media, well, I'd say watch closely to see how the money is spent, and judge for efficacy.

At this point speculation suggests the Ministry of the Environment AND Climate Change is leaning heavily towards hydroelectric development since it's green whether it's needed or not... never mind that formerly wild rivers will be roaded and developed for power, the earlier example in BC providing some initiative.

But.... we'll see how this goes. There is a great need in government right now to DO SOMETHING, and my guess is there's a great deal of politically-motivated decision-making behind that.

<please note I didn't mention Obama and shortcomings thereof even once here>

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Well at least the new gov't is trying to improve the protection, which is a whole lot more than can be said for the previous one!

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Old canoeists never die---they just smell that way.