I'm glad to say that for the third year in a row I have the great pleasure of being a judge for the NL Tidy Towns competition. In case you want to know a little more about Tidy Towns you can check them out over here. It's a fantastic program that rewards municipalities for beautification, environmental efforts and community involvement.
This year I'll be heading all the way over to the West coast and I'll be checking in from time to time on Twitter with pics and news along the way. Check out my Twitter feed along the right side of the blog or follow me @TheRuralLens
In the previous years I have met some great people and seen some amazing work by municipalities of various sizes. I'm sure this year will be no different so why not come along for the digital ride!
Thursday, 19 July 2012
Monday, 2 July 2012
20 Years and counting... 2
Perhaps the most recognized piece of video and phrase from the day before the official moratorium announcement can be found here. Unfortunately you can't skip the 2 commercials prior to the video.
20 Years and counting... 1
No one could ever say it better then Rex Murphy.
So go here and read why July may be a great month of summer and a reason to celebrate for Canada but it will always be bittersweet for Newfoundland and Labrador.
So go here and read why July may be a great month of summer and a reason to celebrate for Canada but it will always be bittersweet for Newfoundland and Labrador.
Monday, 18 June 2012
What's The Plan?
Take a few minutes and learn a little about municipal infrastructure and share it around. Great job By MNL.
What's the plan????
What's the plan????
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Another Nail in the Coffin
Once upon a time...
Municipalities in NL are somewhat of a new entity. While communities have been here for hundreds of years, municipal councils are much newer. In fact if you were to do a little digging you'd find that a great many of our 170 odd councils are less then 50 or 60 years old. If you were to dig a little deeper you might even find that many councils were established not to give voice to the common man, nor to help organize community resources but in fact were created as a tool to help legitimize the flow of money into communities. Following confederation there was some new money to spend in communities but there were very few legitimate avenues to facilitate the transfer. As such the new Provincial Government of NL encouraged the setup of municipalities to smooth out the process.
Jump ahead a couple of decades and there were still a large number of communities who were not interested in jumping on the municipal bandwagon but still wanted some of the cash to help run local programs. This gap was filled by Rural Development Associations (RDA). These were not for profit corporations that received government funding to provide some basic services on a regional basis. They offered many rural youth summer employment through basic community development initiatives. Then in the mid 1990's the NL Government wanted to shift the focus of regional development toward economic development and instead of funding the RDA's they cut their funding and instead created the Regional Economic Development Boards. Where the RDA's were smaller and usually had no or one staff these new RED Boards had larger budgets and had at least one full time staff person.
More recently...
Today there are 19 RED Boards with significant budgets and the ability to work with municipalities and other not for profits and businesses to leverage even more resources to invest in all areas of the province. The current funding structure is a partnership between ACOA, at 75% funding, and Gov of NL at 25%. While there have been many successes and many failures during their years of operation there is very little doubt that some of that money has been invested wisely and has resulted in job creation and more sustainable communities. Thats not to say the system is perfect, far from it. So much so that it has been the rumored mission of some folks within the Fed and Prov bureaucracy to kill the RED Board structure in hopes of the creation of a more effective and accountable system.
And then on May 22...
The Minister of State for ACOA announced that on May 21st 2013 ACOA would cease all funding to the RED Boards. Across all of Atlantic Canada that means $18 million less to invest in regional economic development each year. What kind of impact will this cut have on rural areas that benefit greatly from the assistance? How many jobs will be indirectly impacted or not created al all through this loss. Then there are the direct job losses for each of the 19 RED Boards in NL. WHile it is true that the Gov of NL still supplies 25% of the funding they are unlikely to want to invest any more given their current, and future, economic realities. Where then does this leave rural NL?
Last hope?
So what now? There is hope that the Gov of NL will step up and cover the lost revenue, or at least a portion of it....but I highly doubt it. The best scenario would see the available funding invested into municipalities for economic development purposes. While there are issues of accountability and the legislative ability for municipalities to "actively" engage in economic development, it is the best hope to maintain the economic development presence that RED Boards have been providing since the 1990s. The Current Prov Gov has been reluctant to commit to any enhancements to municipal funding but this development may force them to reevaluate their position. After all it may make more sense to offer that 25% funding to existing municipalities instead of trying keep 19 RED Boards on life support. Either way the real losers here are again the businesses and therefore the people of rural NL. Once the money is taken away it is highly unlikely it will return. At least not under the current Fed or Prov Governments.
In the end it may prove to be one more nail in the coffin for rural NL, and those who were elected to protect it will likely sit by and watch it continue to die a slow and painful death. Lets hope not though. Lets instead hope that some of them will have the fortitude to stand up a fight for a future that reflects our past instead of morning it's death.
Municipalities in NL are somewhat of a new entity. While communities have been here for hundreds of years, municipal councils are much newer. In fact if you were to do a little digging you'd find that a great many of our 170 odd councils are less then 50 or 60 years old. If you were to dig a little deeper you might even find that many councils were established not to give voice to the common man, nor to help organize community resources but in fact were created as a tool to help legitimize the flow of money into communities. Following confederation there was some new money to spend in communities but there were very few legitimate avenues to facilitate the transfer. As such the new Provincial Government of NL encouraged the setup of municipalities to smooth out the process.
Jump ahead a couple of decades and there were still a large number of communities who were not interested in jumping on the municipal bandwagon but still wanted some of the cash to help run local programs. This gap was filled by Rural Development Associations (RDA). These were not for profit corporations that received government funding to provide some basic services on a regional basis. They offered many rural youth summer employment through basic community development initiatives. Then in the mid 1990's the NL Government wanted to shift the focus of regional development toward economic development and instead of funding the RDA's they cut their funding and instead created the Regional Economic Development Boards. Where the RDA's were smaller and usually had no or one staff these new RED Boards had larger budgets and had at least one full time staff person.
More recently...
Today there are 19 RED Boards with significant budgets and the ability to work with municipalities and other not for profits and businesses to leverage even more resources to invest in all areas of the province. The current funding structure is a partnership between ACOA, at 75% funding, and Gov of NL at 25%. While there have been many successes and many failures during their years of operation there is very little doubt that some of that money has been invested wisely and has resulted in job creation and more sustainable communities. Thats not to say the system is perfect, far from it. So much so that it has been the rumored mission of some folks within the Fed and Prov bureaucracy to kill the RED Board structure in hopes of the creation of a more effective and accountable system.
And then on May 22...
The Minister of State for ACOA announced that on May 21st 2013 ACOA would cease all funding to the RED Boards. Across all of Atlantic Canada that means $18 million less to invest in regional economic development each year. What kind of impact will this cut have on rural areas that benefit greatly from the assistance? How many jobs will be indirectly impacted or not created al all through this loss. Then there are the direct job losses for each of the 19 RED Boards in NL. WHile it is true that the Gov of NL still supplies 25% of the funding they are unlikely to want to invest any more given their current, and future, economic realities. Where then does this leave rural NL?
Last hope?
So what now? There is hope that the Gov of NL will step up and cover the lost revenue, or at least a portion of it....but I highly doubt it. The best scenario would see the available funding invested into municipalities for economic development purposes. While there are issues of accountability and the legislative ability for municipalities to "actively" engage in economic development, it is the best hope to maintain the economic development presence that RED Boards have been providing since the 1990s. The Current Prov Gov has been reluctant to commit to any enhancements to municipal funding but this development may force them to reevaluate their position. After all it may make more sense to offer that 25% funding to existing municipalities instead of trying keep 19 RED Boards on life support. Either way the real losers here are again the businesses and therefore the people of rural NL. Once the money is taken away it is highly unlikely it will return. At least not under the current Fed or Prov Governments.
In the end it may prove to be one more nail in the coffin for rural NL, and those who were elected to protect it will likely sit by and watch it continue to die a slow and painful death. Lets hope not though. Lets instead hope that some of them will have the fortitude to stand up a fight for a future that reflects our past instead of morning it's death.
Thursday, 24 May 2012
Don't leave it to them
So here we are just over 7 months past a provincial election where we had the opportunity to advocate for changes to our political and government system. Has anything really changed? Is anyone paying attention? Even if they were, and some are, is there any kind of movement or feeling of positive momentum from any front? I don't suppose NL is much different then any other modern democracy in the sense that we love the political dogfights during election time but when it's all said and done most folks just assume good things are happening and that they did their part when they cast that ballot. Unfortunately that makes for a poor political system and a largely unaccountable government.
To be clear, this is not a partisan rant. This applies to many governments of various political stripes. They want us to be uninterested and largely uninformed. Its how bad governments get, and hold on to, power. I've written about voter apathy here before but this is something that I would consider even more important. Being part of a democratic society is demanding. It requires that as citizens we keep informed and express our opinions on important public policy matters. We cannot expect government or politicians to always have our best interests at heart so we have to fight tooth and nail to ensure that every decision and every action is indeed the best one possible. We have to demand the best from those who make the decisions that govern our province and our country.
Make no mistake, I am not writing this to point fingers. As regular readers will note this is my first post here for some time. As with everyone life demands regular attention and it is not always easy to keep informed and be active in public discussions. But it is necessary!
It can sometimes feel like a very daunting task to become involved. There are not many avenues to express a reasonably educated opinion and expect anyone to listen. There are certainly a few NL bloggers who keep at it regularly. A few callers to the open line programs do their best as well. From personal experience it can often feel like you are speaking to a crowd who have no interest in listening but I have to remind myself to just do my best to raise good points as often as I can. Even as a candidate in the last election my attempts to talk about real government policy and good governance practices fell largely on deaf ears. That may also be part of the reason for my lack of posts as of late. Well I've just got to suck it up.
Saying things once to a small crowd is not nearly enough to make a difference. Often things must be said repeatedly to all those possible to ensure that the discussion is taking place. Good government comes from real discussion and solid policy, and we need a whole lot more of both. So to hold up my end of the deal I will commit to posting at least one item per week on here related to government policy or rural issues in general and I ask that if you take the time to read this that you remain informed and do your best to drive the discussion. It is only when we push for open, educated discussion that we will make change. Don't leave it up to the media, politicians or bureaucrats. Good government in a democracy requires involvement. We cannot be passive and hope that those in power will make the right decisions without our input. Remember that the number one job of every politician is to get elected and then their second job is to get re-elected. We have to get informed and get involved, it's the only way to better government.
To be clear, this is not a partisan rant. This applies to many governments of various political stripes. They want us to be uninterested and largely uninformed. Its how bad governments get, and hold on to, power. I've written about voter apathy here before but this is something that I would consider even more important. Being part of a democratic society is demanding. It requires that as citizens we keep informed and express our opinions on important public policy matters. We cannot expect government or politicians to always have our best interests at heart so we have to fight tooth and nail to ensure that every decision and every action is indeed the best one possible. We have to demand the best from those who make the decisions that govern our province and our country.
Make no mistake, I am not writing this to point fingers. As regular readers will note this is my first post here for some time. As with everyone life demands regular attention and it is not always easy to keep informed and be active in public discussions. But it is necessary!
It can sometimes feel like a very daunting task to become involved. There are not many avenues to express a reasonably educated opinion and expect anyone to listen. There are certainly a few NL bloggers who keep at it regularly. A few callers to the open line programs do their best as well. From personal experience it can often feel like you are speaking to a crowd who have no interest in listening but I have to remind myself to just do my best to raise good points as often as I can. Even as a candidate in the last election my attempts to talk about real government policy and good governance practices fell largely on deaf ears. That may also be part of the reason for my lack of posts as of late. Well I've just got to suck it up.
Saying things once to a small crowd is not nearly enough to make a difference. Often things must be said repeatedly to all those possible to ensure that the discussion is taking place. Good government comes from real discussion and solid policy, and we need a whole lot more of both. So to hold up my end of the deal I will commit to posting at least one item per week on here related to government policy or rural issues in general and I ask that if you take the time to read this that you remain informed and do your best to drive the discussion. It is only when we push for open, educated discussion that we will make change. Don't leave it up to the media, politicians or bureaucrats. Good government in a democracy requires involvement. We cannot be passive and hope that those in power will make the right decisions without our input. Remember that the number one job of every politician is to get elected and then their second job is to get re-elected. We have to get informed and get involved, it's the only way to better government.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
For the Liberal Party of NL
I am a liberal. Both in the small l and the big L sense of the word. Not only did I run for the NL Liberals in the last election but I firmly believe that they should form the next Government of NL, and if I had my way I'd toss half the current Gov crowd out on their arses. Mind you, not because they're PC. But because they are not just useless, but they're actually damaging NL. But I digress, back to the Liberals.
It is commonly said that the Chinese word for crisis (weiji) also contains the word for opportunity. The NL Liberals should take heed that for them, there is both significant crisis and significant opportunity in their current predicament. Unfortunately for them the time to capitalize on that opportunity may be passing them by.
So from my humble armchair perspective I would like to offer some advice to the NL Liberal Party to help ensure that they take complete advantage of this opportunity and climb their way back to the top of the NL political mountain.
First the "Things to Do" list. These things will help the party attract supporters and prepare for eventually taking control of government. In no particular order:
Now for the "Things Not to Do" list.
It is commonly said that the Chinese word for crisis (weiji) also contains the word for opportunity. The NL Liberals should take heed that for them, there is both significant crisis and significant opportunity in their current predicament. Unfortunately for them the time to capitalize on that opportunity may be passing them by.
So from my humble armchair perspective I would like to offer some advice to the NL Liberal Party to help ensure that they take complete advantage of this opportunity and climb their way back to the top of the NL political mountain.
First the "Things to Do" list. These things will help the party attract supporters and prepare for eventually taking control of government. In no particular order:
- Act like a government in waiting. In other words don't just criticize the current policies, develop sound public policy and advocate for it. Act as though you know what you're doing and then do it. The worst that could happen is that policies you develop could actually be accepted. The best scenario would see the current government deny your great ideas only to their own detriment, and then when you form a government you already have great policy ready to go!
- Organize. One of the major holes in the campaign for 2011 was the lack of organization across the board. The political machine was broken, and it needs fixing. District associations were nearly nonexistent.
- Engage the public. People feel separate from the political process and some actually want to take part! Get them involved. Press releases are nearly useless, facebook and twitter are nice but there has to be an innovative approach to reaching out to people, putting a face on the party, and getting people involved in the conversation.
- Support good ideas. Even when they aren't yours. Good ideas are good ideas so don't be afraid to admit it when you see one that isn't yours.
- Be honest and bold. Be better then they are and inspire people. People need to know that you are in it for the right reasons, and that comes from integrity and honesty.
Now for the "Things Not to Do" list.
- Don't get drawn in to every argument. There's no end to the issues that can be debated but you need to focus on what's really important. Calling for Ministers to resign every week simply depletes your political capital.
- Don't be vague. Offer specific detailed proposals and criticisms whenever possible. Being too vague just makes it look like you want wiggle room to change the rules when you form government.
- Don't let the NDP lead. They made significant gains in the 2011 election and they certainly bring a different and valuable perspective to some issues. They will struggle with growing pains and you must show that the Liberal Party is the next party to form government.
- Don't be afraid. The biggest challenge is to overcome the fear of doing something that might upset someone. Be bold and take stands on important files. You are bound to piss off some people anyway so it may as well be over something important. Hard decisions are a very important of government, so show people you are up to the challenge.
I gladly admit that I'm no political genius. But I have been a candidate and I've long been a follower of the process and a voter. I want the best government possible, regardless of what political stripe the majority happen to be. Currently in NL the PC government has repeatedly shown that they are out of ideas and they are not up to the task of working in the best interests of the public. The provincial NDP will try to take greater control but they'll likely find that their policies are too far left, and weak on the financial side for NL.
The Liberal Party offers the best blend of experience and potential for innovation. They can form the next government in NL. But only if they truly take advantage of the current opportunity to demonstrate to the public that they are ready to rise to the challenge. The election of 2011 was a huge opportunity that passed them by. If they fail to cease this current opportunity then they will fall victim to their own crisis.
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