Political Action in Bear River

Main street, Bear River

Dear Friend of Bear River,

There is a current community push to deal with our critical village infrastructure issues around:

• Water and Sewage
• Parking & Road Restrictions
• Sidewalks/Boardwalks and Snow Removal

Two letters have been forwarded to me from Rick McMullen and Rob Buckland-Nicks and they will give you some background as to what is being proposed to deal with these issues. Your voice is critically needed to put some pressure on the powers-that-be to help us access some of the Federal infrastructure monies that the Harper government is currently distributing to communities in need. – Flora Doehler

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Letter from Rob Buckland-Nicks to our community:

Bear River’s difficulties come not from its beauty or rich heritage, nor from its proud and hard working residents or its many volunteer driven community groups and churches; or from the thousands of tourists so happy to have discovered us. Our difficulties come from being overlooked by the two dominant counties on whom we rely for political leadership.

Geography and bureaucracy have dictated that one side of the Bear River is in Digby County and the other side in Annapolis County. The towns of Digby and Annapolis have Municipal structures. Bear River is not incorporated, and having no Town Council must rely on its neighbours for some form of local governance. In short, we are sometimes reduced to searching for crumbs from two well set tables.

There are enough determined individuals to still get things done but when it comes to infrastructure, our pockets are simply not deep enough to deal with our current urgent problems. We are in desparate need of our share of infrastructure money from the federally allocated funds for “Shovel Ready Projects” in West Nova.

Greg Kerr, our Conservative government member in Ottawa, had agreed to meet with the people of Bear River provided that an Agenda be sent to his Constituent Offices and that the two Municipal representatives from Digby and Annapolis be invited to attend. When this was received he and his staff would confirm a date. We have heard nothing and yet the required materials were sent to him several weeks ago.

It is vitally important that our concerns and wishes be heard at this time, as it is unlikely that there will be this much infrastructure funding available for some time. I would ask everybody to write or Email to the Honourable Greg Kerr and politely ask him to come here and meet with us.

The Honourable Greg Kerr, M.P.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs 

House of Commons,
Ottawa (613) 995-5711
(613) 995-9857
kerr.G@parl.gc.ca
 
233 Water Street
Yarmouth, 902) 742-6808 
(902) 742-6815 (Fax)

Head of the Tide in Bear River.

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Suggested Agenda to Greg Kerr by Rick McMullen & friends

Mr. Greg Kerr MP
233 Water Street
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
B5A 1M1

Kerr.G@parl.gc.ca

Dear Mr. Kerr,

It has been confirmed with your constituency office that you are willing to come and meet with concerned citizens of Bear River as well as representatives of both Annapolis and Digby counties to address issues and concerns that we would like brought to your attention and we thank you for your time. A meeting of residents, businesses, and community groups and organizations was held on Wednesday, January 28 in Bear River to discuss an agenda in preparation for our meeting with you. In light of the infrastructure funding being made available through the upcoming federal budget as released on Tuesday, January 26, 2009, the following is what we would like to discuss with you at your earliest opportunity.

Water and Sewage: Although there is partial service in the town on both points, there are grave concerns that downtown has no consistent fresh water which has led to the temporary closure of the only currently operating restaurant in Bear River. Another entrepreneur and commercial property owner attending the meeting stated that they have plans to open their own restaurant within the next few months; for such a venture, the current lack of water is very disconcerting.

A minimum of twelve residences were also identified as having both the environmentally and socially unacceptable situations of directing their wastewater either towards, or directly into, local waterways. This is despite having collecting sewer lines within meters of the homes. In recent years, one stretch of houses had the material delivered awaiting the heavy equipment, only to have it later removed and the project annulled. With the current global concerns regarding the environment, this is an unacceptable situation in when a solution is within grasp with minimum effort.

Sidewalks/Boardwalks and Snow Removal: Although the Dept. of Highways from both Annapolis Royal and Digby service the roads in Bear River regarding snow removal and salt/sand distribution, the roadsides that should function as walkways are left to receive the snow plowed from the roads. It should be noted that Bear River does having an aging subsection of its population that, as a result, are left to walk on the plowed roads. All the residents at the meeting identified this as a safety concern and a strong motivator to have sidewalks installed, and to initiate a plan to provide employment to a resident in the form of sidewalk maintenance and snow removal.

Community volunteers clearing snow and ice for Winter Carnival.

Hand in hand with this, is the current disrepair of the boardwalk on the Annapolis side of Bear River. This necessary restoration would not only provide a boost to local employment, but also bring this community asset back to a safe and aesthetically pleasing state. It was also discussed that extending this facility provides an additional tourism draw. Tourism is a very strong component of the Bear River economy.

Parking & Road Restrictions: In conjunction with the sidewalk situation identified above; road markings for parking, and placing weight restrictions on particular roads and streets can be an initiative towards making the community more friendly to both residents and tourists alike.

Note that in the email containing this letter is an attached file from ACOA.This file is an assessment of Bear River that was done in 2007 commissioned by the now defunct BRIDGS organization. I trust the file may provide some further background to the issues addressed above.

I, those attending this initial meeting, and the residents and business owners, look forward to discussing these issues with you in Bear River to develop a plan to access the funding opportunity being initiated by the government you represent at a time of your earliest convenience. Once we have a date and time settled, we will make announcements to the community and the counties of Annapolis and Digby so any resident, business interest and local representatives may attend at a location in Bear River.

Thank you for your time and efforts in addressing these concerns.

Sincerely,

Rick McMullen

Vote Strategically! Vote George Barron, NDP!

Larry painted a banner for George's campaign

Right now in Canada and in the US we are in the midst of federal elections. Almost a year ago I went to the nomination meeting of George Barron, the New Democratic Party (social democratic) candidate for my new Nova Scotia riding. I was impressed with George’s all-round menschlichkeit. He is the kind of guy who truly believes in social justice, equality and equity and is willing to devote time and energy in making the world a safer, healthier place for all of us. We count George and his wife Pamela, a potter and gardener as two of our closest friends in Bear River.

George drives his tractor in Bear River's Cherry Carnival

I’ve been working on George’s election campaign because we’re friends and because I believe that he is an honest person with integrity who shares most, if not all of the values and beliefs that Larry and I share about life, about the environment and about our future on this planet.

On Monday, I went with George Barron to an adult upgrading school in Digby where all the candidates had been invited to speak to a group of 35 adult learners. Only George, a Green Party representative and the Independant candidate showed up. The Liberal incumbant and the Conservative candidate neither showed up nor sent representation. That gesture was interpreted as distain by the learners and I would tend to agree with them. Perhaps the votes from this small group were seen as insignificant. This gave George and the others a lot more time to speak, so that was good.

The audience was great – the students asked good questions and talked about some of the challenges they face in returning to school as adults. They showed a keen desire to develop marketable skills, to be able to earn a decent living for themselves and their families. Some are frustrated with their lack of voice in society and one woman asked George if he thought that voters should ‘rise up’ to protest our political system. Like voters everywhere, there is a certain sense of apathy about elections as in “What difference will my vote make anyway?” Using the chalkboard, George showed the group the majority strength that non-voters could have if they would just use their voting power.

The point he made is that more people in this riding did NOT vote last time around than those who cast ballots for the winner. I’m sure these stats bear out in many ridings across Canada. It must seem even more futile to bother voting when the current global economic crisis is swirling out of control.

I believe the opposite. I think that now is the perfect time for global citizens to stand up and say “I do give a damn about who is making decisions on my behalf and on behalf of future generations.” It’s time we kicked out the Conservatives, who are really representatives of large corporations, and not representatives of me and of you. As for the Liberals, I have to admit that I like Dion and I think he has a sincere interest in tackling global warming; but he has aligned himself with a party that is not interested in changing the fundamental way that our society functions so that we can improve the quality of life for all living beings.

There has been a lot of talk in this election about strategic voting, The rationale seems to be that people who oppose the Tories should chose the candidate (Liberal) that will most likely defeat the Conservative incumbent. But this philosophy presumes that the Liberals are a vastly different party than the Conservatives. I think that they are just a slightly kinder version. They also identify strongly with the aims and objectives of corporations, who are motivated by profit, not by  the common good of people, animals and the environment. Polls have consistantly shown that people like what Jack Layton has to say and believe he has a good understanding of the critical issues facing our country.

Doesn’t it make sense then that the best ’strategic vote’ would be to

• vote with your conscience? 
• vote for the party that you agree with?
• vote for the party that will work for regular citizens?
• vote for the NDP?

Here is a humorous, inspiring video that says just that:

No matter what the outcome is of our upcoming election is, several things are for sure. The planet is warming up; Greenland’s icemass is melting and we are at the beginning of a global economic crisis, the likes of which we have never seen before. We are also at the beginning of a global transformation that will require all of our best humanitarian and environmental efforts to help us to move forward. In this election, I will vote for the party that has the most goodwill and imagination to deal with this future. Why pick the parties that have been wearing blinders for the last century?

I’m voting for George, NDP and I hope you will too.

I’ll end with a slam poem that was written and performed by our son, Jesse about the old world order. Let’s boot those Tories out!

September Rains

It rained today and when it stopped for a little while, I walked down the path behind the house to the beaver pond and took some pictures. Everything is still very green because of the regular (but not excessive) rain we’ve had in August. Here is the path.

I noticed that the deep greens of August are giving way to a touch of yellow.

This is the prefect time of year – no bugs, warm days and cool nights.

The crickets are singing – night and day. A few leaves are starting to turn too.

Summer will soon transform into fall.

It’s a nice time of year to have a visit from Dianne and we sure aren’t going to let any September rains get in the way.

Dianne loves lakes and oceans and swimming, so yesterday we drove down to Mavillette Beach on the French Shore of Nova Scotia, just as a BIG FOG was rolling in. We could hear the fog horn and somewhere in the distance, the sounds of ocean waves. I think of Dianne as a daring person–she has riden the steppes of Mongolia on a horse and treked through the jungles of Hawaii and hosteled in Bejing- and that’s just this year!

So, I wasn’t terribly surprised that she would want to plunge into the frigid, churning waters of the Atlantic in fog conditions.

 I was a little worried about things like rogue waves and undertows when suddenly, the clouds parted and to allow enough sunshine to clear out some fog.

I watched her so intently that I forgot to take a picture of her in the water.

Next winter when we are loading wood into the wood furnace, I’ll remember September rains and fog and watching Dianne taking the plunge. I’ll smile to myself and I might even wish I’d braved those waters with her.

Gardening Teachings

One reason that I was so eager to live in a rural Nova Scotian community was to fulfill my years-long yearnings to grow vegetables and a few flowers. I’ve done some city gardening before, but most city lots are small and don’t have the full sun conditions that plants need. As a result, my old garden was limited to shade-loving plants and sadly, I could grow no vegetables.

Sunflower planted by the birds

My garden here is pretty modest compared with some of my friends, but it is huge for me and so far it tastes great! But besides enjoying the taste of the fresh produce, gardening is teaching me mindfulness.

It turned out to be a lot more work than I remembered and more time consuming too. I have become mindful of my body and it’s limitations. I believe now that active gardening is as effective as a regular gym workout due to the constant movement; the bending, stretching, squatting, lifting and physical exertion. A big surprise for me is that my hands are stronger now….and I KNOW that it’s from pulling weeds!!

Blue Lake runner beans mid June.

Eight weeks later the beans are tall and producing.

Blue Lake runner beans in early August

Gardening has taught me to be mindful of the weather. I have never been so aware of the amount and frequency of rainfall as I have in the last 6 months. I have enormous respect and reverence for independent farmers and the crap-shoot they go through every season with the uncertainty of the weather. Drought conditions aren’t easily fixed when you’re using well-water or when your fields are far from a tap! An intense short hot spell can make your lettuces bolt and spell the end of cool-weather crops..even when the heat disappears. Too much rain will bring out slugs that chew up your cabbage leaves.

Marigold and Basil

Now that I am reminded of the mindful work and tending of plants that goes on in order to produce a bean, I am astounded that farmers can make a living. It has become even more important for me to buy local produce…..indeed it seems ludicrous not to support farmers in our own community. Because apart from wasting resources by trucking in food that is grown here, I really want to make sure that the small farmers in the Annapolis Valley (or in Niagara or the Holland Marsh if I was in Toronto) will still be growing food for me when I can’t or don’t do it myself. There was a protest about this in New Minas this week.

I wanted to give you a visual tour of what was growing in my garden today.

Right now as I type this, I can hear the rain tapping on the red metal roof and sliding down to collect in the rainbarrel. This will give me a place to dip my watering can so that I can provide drinks to the plants in pots around the porch. I can almost see the plants stretching up to receive the rain. Like gardeners everywhere, tomorrow I will marvel at the growth spurt I see because no matter how much rain you can collect or how much you water, nothing has the magical growing effect of a summer’s rain.

Here is a little video showing the progress of the flower bed I dug into the front lawn. Rain has made all the difference.