ATLANTICA - Welcome to Ambiguica

[Oscar]

The Dominion, August 2007 — Issue #47 Canadian News

Welcome to Ambiguica - Round two of the Atlantica debate

by Stuart Neatby

With the exception of the Provincial-Federal row over the Atlantic Accord, the biggest news story, in terms of sheer column space, to hit Atlantic Canada over the past month centred on Halifax street demonstrations campaigning against a proposed ‘Atlantica’ trade zone. On June 15, a demonstration of about 400, organized to coincide with an “Atlantica: Charting the Course” conference of corporate and government leaders from throughout the Northeastern region, ended with scenes of brief confrontations between black-clad demonstrators and police. Photos of the ‘black bloc’ would be splashed across the front pages of local and regional newspapers for days, almost entirely supplanting any discussion or coverage within the mainstream media of the Atlantica trade corridor itself.

In the midst of this near-blackout of media scrutiny, the announcement of $558,000 in funding by the federal government for the development of an “Atlantica Council,” whose main objective will be to lobby for and “champion” the Atlantica notion, passed almost unnoticed. Similarly, the bizarre appointment of American businessman Jonathan Daniels, head of the Eastern Maine Development Corporation, to head the Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce, also received little media focus. Daniels’ appointment, which had been expected for more than a year, signals the centrality of the Atlantica proposal within the agenda of Atlantic Canada’s business elite.

The Atlantica trade zone would link Canada’s Atlantic provinces with Eastern Quebec and the New England states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Upstate New York. According to Charles Cirtwell, president of the right-wing Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS), which has been a leading proponent of Atlantica, the scheme is simply “about people with common needs–in a common neighbourhood–coming up with common solutions.”

Lost in this neighbourly rhetoric are the concrete realities of the Atlantica proposal. The Atlantica website outlines a proposal whose main thrust is the re-orientation of the port of Halifax and the rest of the northeastern region to a transportation entry point and highway corridor for cheaply produced goods from China and India. Such goods would be trucked from Canada’s East Coast and through New England to the ‘heartland’ urban markets of Montreal, New York and Boston. In addition, the website includes a number of proposals focused upon further facilitating the export of oil and natural gas resources from Atlantic Canada exclusively to the United States, creating a combined energy grid between Atlantic Canada and New England and generally harmonizing regulations and immigration policies between the two regions. The website is also remarkably frank in its dislike for social policies and refers to minimum wages, union density, government spending and the size of the public sector as “public policy distress factors.”

Of Highways, Truck-Trains and Prosperity

The Atlantica proposal has generated protests from labour, environmental, trade justice, and anti-imperialist organizations in Atlantic Canada. Scott Sinclair, researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and author of the critical report Atlantica: Myths and Reality¸ notes that the Atlantica proposal, although guided by the free market fundamentalism of global trade initiatives like NAFTA, places remarkably little emphasis on trade between New England and Atlantic Canada.
“There’s something wrong with an economic development strategy that’s based on turning the region into a conduit for goods that are produced outside the region in Asia and are intended to be consumed outside the region,” said Sinclair.

Atlantica could also carry with it devastating environmental costs due to increased greenhouse gas emissions from giant “truck-trains,” multi-cargo transfer trucks. Environmental journalist Tim Bousquet, in a recent article for the Halifax weekly The Coast, estimates that the tripling of truck traffic in the northeastern region, as a result of the Atlantica scheme, could increase Nova Scotia’s greenhouse gas emissions by “something like five million tonnes.”

In addition, the Atlantica proposal also contains remarkably little mention of the fishing or farming sectors, which have traditionally been a staple of the local economies of both Atlantic Canada and New England, or of the details about how the Atlantica proposal would impact local indigenous communities.

Such sectors appear to be expendable within the worldview of some of Atlantica’s more radical proponents.”The painful reality is that the world changes and traditional ways of life often do not fit with the new circumstances,” wrote Cirtwell in a column in Halifax’s Chronicle Herald on the opening day of the Atlantica conference.

“If urban centres are growing, then serve that market and don’t worry about the declining local one.”

Exclusion

As unpopular as such notions might be within regions of Atlantic Canada, where the rural population constitutes nearly half of the total population, Atlantica’s proponents have managed to line up prominent political support for the cause. The conference in June began with a keynote speech by Nova Scotia Premier Rodney Macdonald and featured a presentation by Conservative Foreign Affairs Minister Peter Mackay. The announcement of federal funding for the Atlantica council followed a $2.1 billion federal commitment to ‘gateway initiatives,’ of which Atlantica appears to be a primary target.

Critics pointed out that it seemed accepted as a matter of faith that the economic fate of the “Atlantica” region would be decided solely by business and corporate leaders. Participants of the “Atlantica: Charting the Course” Conference paid a $600 fee to attend. This alone ensured that the representation from labour, environmental, indigenous, or even farming organizations would be left off the table entirely.

When asked about the lack of representation from other parties outside of the business sector, the Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce’s in-coming American President Jonathan Daniels replied that “everybody has been invited into this process.”

When asked about the prohibitive nature of a $600 entry fee to such an invitation, Daniels then shrugged. “Well, we’re not going to be able to get everybody to the table. We’re going to get the people who really truly want to be interested in the development of this.”

The Uninvited

Outside of Halifax’s World Trade and Convention Centre, the anti-Atlantic protests had a remarkably different flavour than during the inaugural Atlantica conference, held in Saint John, New Brunswick, in early June 2006. During this conference, trade union leadership in the region had mobilized significantly, bringing in representation from Acadian workers in the Mirimichi, Moncton and Bathurst regions as well as the predominantly Anglophone regions of Fredericton and Saint John. The heads of the Federations of Labour of Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick and Newfoundland were also present at this mobilization and spoke out publicly against Atlantica.

By contrast, organized Labour in Halifax played little role in the mobilizations and teach-ins outside of this year’s Atlantica conference, aside from a well-attended town hall featuring Maude Barlow at Dalhousie University on June 13. Although the main demonstration was arguably as large as the Labour-sponsored march in 2006, the makeup this year was predominantly composed of smaller, grassroots organizations operating under the banner of the Alliance Against Atlantica. There was also a larger contingent of individuals who had travelled a fair distance, from places as far away as Guelph, Hamilton, Montreal, Fredericton, Maine and Indiana, in order to oppose Atlantica. Actions throughout the week included a sizeable critical mass bike ride, a full day of workshops, a Friday evening street party and a spontaneously organized disruption of the lunch of former AIMS director Brian Lee Crowley.

The split of the ‘black bloc’ demonstrators from the main march on June 15, as well as the subsequent scattered confrontations with police, resulted in an overwhelming use of force by police. Ironically, the majority of the 21 arrests occurred after demonstrators within the ‘black bloc’ march were attempting to disperse by moving towards the base of Citadel Hill. They were corralled, surrounded, and heavily tasered by police. One demonstrator was held down by three police officers and tasered until he became unconscious. It took more than five minutes for an ambulance to arrive on the scene. Michael Doyle was also pepper-sprayed by police, seemingly because he witnessed police use of tasers.
“I was yelling ‘that guy is getting tasered for no reason,’” said Doyle.
“And then the guy just sprays me.”

Police subsequently laid a combined total of 70 charges against demonstrators, including assaulting a police officer, unlawful assembly and wearing a face-mask with intent to commit an offence.

Welcome to Ambiguica

In the midst of all the arrests, demonstrations and photo-ops to emerge from the second round of Atlantica/anti-Atlantica events, the Atlantica concept itself has become extremely muddied and largely ambiguous. Even political support for this initiative appears ambiguous; Premier Macdonald has been using the words ‘Atlantica’ and ‘Atlantic Gateway’ interchangeably to describe the initiative, despite the fact that many view the ‘Gateway’ as a more limited project aimed almost solely at expanding the traffic within the Halifax harbour. As Here! New Brunswick columnist Chris Arsenault has noted , even Atlantica’s proponents have stated that regional business leaders have become confused about whether to put their support behind the concept of an ‘Atlantic Gateway’ or a broader ‘Atlantica’ concept currently advocated by AIMS.

The confusion seems to be magnified further by the fact that the Atlantica discussions have been largely informal. At present, there is no signed agreement or proposal that has been put forward for an Atlantica trade zone. All the decisions regarding the proposal appear to have taken place within board meetings of either the Atlantic Provinces Chamber of Commerce or the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies.

It is the ambiguity of the Atlantica proposal that may offer the greatest threat to its success. However, given the entirely closed-door nature of the discussions that have taken place, it would be premature for Atlantica’s opponents to claim victory. The “Atlantica: Charting the Course” conference concluded with no specific recognition amongst the 200 delegates of any need to include farmers, environmentalists, labour organizations, or Atlantica critics within the discussion of the economic future of Atlantic Canada and New England.

[Oscar]

Annual Meeting of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee of Ministers on Internal Trade

http://www.scics.gc.ca/cinfo06/830877004_e.html

NEWS RELEASE Ref: 830-877/004

Halifax, Nova Scotia - September 7, 2006

Federal-Provincial/Territorial Conference of Ministers Responsible for Internal Trade

Progress achieved on an action plan to improve internal trade

Halifax, Nova Scotia – September 7, 2006. The Committee of Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers responsible for Internal Trade (the Committee) met today in Halifax, and was joined by Premier Gary Doer of Manitoba on behalf of the Council of the Federation. The federal government was represented at the meeting by The Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry. Premier Doer and the Committee reached agreement on an ambitious action plan to make major progress on internal trade.

A key component of today’s action plan is a strategy to improve labour mobility. Ministers and Premier Doer announced that by April 1, 2009, Canadians will be able to work anywhere in Canada without restrictions on labour mobility. While previous efforts have resulted in progress, today’s announcement will result in full compliance by all regulatory bodies. The Committee welcomed a proposal from the Forum of Labour Market Ministers (FLMM) to ensure compliance with the labour mobility provisions of the AIT in response to direction from the Council of the Federation.

The Council of the Federation’s Workplan on AIT and their summer communiqué also directed that the FLMM consider improvements to AIT labour mobility provisions by reviewing elements of the recently concluded Quebec-Ontario Cooperation Agreement on construction labour mobility, as well as the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement recently signed by Alberta and British Columbia . The Council of the Federation mandated the FLMM to establish a process of mutual recognition for recognizing the foreign credentials of professionals in Canada.

Eleven provinces and territories and the federal government have agreed to move quickly to finalize the AIT Chapter on Energy. Nunavut is not yet a signatory to the AIT.

The Action Plan also calls for progress in the following areas:

Ministers of Agriculture will report back by December 2006 to the Council of the Federation and the Committee on Internal Trade with an action plan for the completion of an Agricultural and Food Goods Chapter that includes all technical measures, ensuring that any new agreement does not interfere with Canada’s orderly marketing systems.

Agreement within twelve months on revisions to the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) to ensure that there is an effective, fair, efficient, accountable and enforceable dispute resolution process. Ministers also insisted on the administrative nature, instead of judicial, of such a process. Ministers will report back to Council of the Federation in August 2007 in order to ensure that enforcement provisions will be in place by September 2007.

Lead jurisdictions will continue work on the development of measures to ensure that each government will take into account trade/mobility effects when changing or introducing regulations.
Ministers also agreed to consider the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement signed by Alberta and British Columbia and the Quebec-Ontario Cooperation Agreement with a view to identifying elements that could be imported within the AIT.

The Honourable Richard Hurlburt, Nova Scotia Minister of Economic Development, chaired the meeting and welcomed the progress on an Action Plan that embraces efforts across a full range of internal trade issues. The Action Plan follows up on the agreement at the July 28, 2006 meeting of the Council of the Federation to “establish ambitious timeframes for internal trade reform.”

Mr. Hurlburt welcomed the collective efforts of all Ministers to reduce and eliminate barriers to internal trade and mobility. “I believe that Ministers have taken a major step forward today in ensuring our efforts to increase trade within Canada will lead to substantial progress as quickly as possible,” he said.

Premier Doer joined Mr. Hurlburt in welcoming the new action plan, stating that, “I am delighted to see the commitment of all governments to move ahead ambitiously to improve interprovincial trade and believe that the Action Plan that we have agreed to today will serve as the basis for solid progress in addressing remaining internal trade barriers.”

The federal minister of Industry, The Honourable Maxime Bernier, welcomed the significant progress made on internal trade. “This meeting was an excellent example of collaborative federalism. The new government believes that one of the keys to a strong economic union is reducing and eliminating internal trade barriers. Canadians should and will be able to work and live wherever they wish across the nation.”

Today’s action plan builds on the Council of the Federation’s priority of strengthening the economic union, including enhancing internal trade and their Workplan which was approved in February 2004.The Workplan has led to a number of successful initiatives to improve the Agreement on Internal Trade, including:

Successful completion of negotiations to cover Crown Corporation procurement under the Procurement Chapter of the AIT.

Improvements to the AIT dispute resolution mechanism, including actions to improve procedural fairness, streamlining the consultation requirements into a single mechanism; allowing original panels to determine if panel reports have been complied with; ensuring that appointments of panellists where a Party fails to name one.

Re-engagement of governments on internal trade. Ministers Responsible for Internal Trade have become re-engaged on issues, meeting in-person or by conference call 4 times since January 2004, after having not met in over 2 years prior to establishment of the Workplan.

Premier Doer will recommend to Premier Williams, chair of the Council of the Federation, that ministers meet again in January 2007, with Newfoundland and Labrador in the chair, to continue their work to strengthen the Canadian economic union.

[Oscar]

Premiers to tackle labour mobility and other issues at N.B. meeting

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007 ... 00234.html\

August 7, 2007

FREDERICTON (CP) - Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald says he wants a national policy to allow workers to move freely from one province to another.

MacDonald said Tuesday he plans to pitch the idea when he meets with the other provincial and territorial leaders at the annual premiers meeting beginning Wednesday in Moncton, N.B.

MacDonald said the recent Trade Investment Labour Mobility Agreement between Alberta and British Columbia could serve as a model for a national system.

But he said that, if necessary, he is prepared to seek separate agreements for Nova Scotia with individual provinces.

"If I don't see that happening across the country with all provinces and territories, then I'm prepared to move forward with discussions with other provinces and, in fact, plan to do so," MacDonald told reporters in Halifax.

Paul Moist, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said he's not a fan of the labour agreement between Alberta and British Columbia.

He said certain NAFTA-like powers given to corporations under the agreement could threaten government decisions.

Moist will be among a number of special interest lobbyists attending the three-day premiers meeting in Moncton.

He said there's growing interest in the premiers' deliberations because the federal Conservative government appears to be ignoring certain issues, including climate change.

"There's a void in Canada right now with little federal leadership and the premiers can fill that void," Moist said.

The premiers begin their work on Wedneday by meeting with aboriginal leaders.

Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine says poverty on Canada's reserves tops his list of concerns for the session.

Fontaine will be promoting First Nations people - 60 per cent of whom are under 24 years of age - as the answer to Canada's growing labour shortage.

Although not part of the premiers' conference, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions also will be meeting in Moncton to put forward their concerns.

Linda Silas, president of the federation, said health-care staff shortages are an urgent and growing problem that the premiers should be addressing.

"We have a severe shorage of nurses and doctors and other health professionals," Silas said.

"The premiers have to get the message that health care must always be a top priority

[Oscar]

In New Brunswick, Gateway freeway expansion cancelled despite signed contract

http://www.straight.com/article-382624/vancouver/
eric-doherty-new-brunswick-gateway-freeway-expansion-cancelled-despite-signed-contract

By Eric Doherty, March 21, 2011

It seems that “Gateway” is a popular name for unpopular freeway projects. Like in the Lower Mainland of B.C., the provincial government in New Brunswick had been trying to push through an expensive freeway expansion scheme called Gateway over the objections of local residents.
The similarities between the two Gateway schemes is uncanny. There was even a bog that was threatened by Gateway on the outskirts of Saint John, New Brunswick—Renforth Bog. In the Lower Mainland it is Burns Bog in Delta that is threatened by the Gateway freeway scheme.
The difference is that the people of Saint John who opposed plans to widen the Mackay Highway to six freeway lanes have won already. On March 18, the government of New Brunswick sent out a media release titled “Mackay Highway project amended”. The release states: “After serious consideration, our government has determined that the Mackay Highway expansion project will be amended. It is part of this government’s mandate to review all capital projects to reduce costs. As a result of this review, we have concluded that the proposed widening of the Mackay Highway is not necessary at this time.”
Of course, this is impossible according to the logic of many fence-sitting politicians here in B.C. It was a done deal—the contract had been signed. But Saint John residents kept the pressure on, and municipal politicians such as Mayor Ivan Court attacked the freeway plan on both economic and environmental fronts.
There is probably something to the New Brunswick government’s claim that cancelling the Gateway freeway expansion contract was based largely on budget pressures. Conservative premier David Alward is under considerable pressure to cut a ballooning deficit, as is Premier Christy Clark here in B.C. Ghost freeways—which were started but never completed—are very often the result of strong citizen opposition combined with a budget crunch.
However, a larger historical shift may also be at play. The budget problems facing both B.C. and New Brunswick are largely due to the economic meltdown triggered in part by the record spike in oil prices in 2008. Now, only three years later oil prices are soaring again, and again threatening widespread economic disruption. Even a moderate disruption in Middle East oil supplies could push prices toward $200 a barrel, which would spell global economic chaos.
We were warned about the potential for a destructive cycle of oil price spikes and economic crashes years ago—the oil price rollercoaster. For example in the wake of the 2004 oil price spike, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hirsch Report warned of exactly this likelihood. Hirsch recommended an immediate crash program to reduce U.S. dependence on oil, noting that even 20 years would be a tight time frame to make the necessary changes.
Urban freeways are largely designed to facilitate sprawling suburban subdivisions, but it is hard to sell automobile-dependant real estate when gas prices are soaring and people are worried about their job security. Premier Alward’s cabinet may be facing an immediate budget crunch, but they can also see that the age of cheap and stable oil prices is over.
In B.C. our new premier and the NDP leadership contenders are facing some difficult choices. For decades voters have responded positively to any blacktop proposal, with only a few notable exceptions. But now, politicians can see that the ribbon cutting ceremony for a new freeway might correspond with another oil price spike—making their project look misguided and reckless. Building for a future that no longer exists is not much of a problem for politicians, as long as they are only screwing up the lives of future generations. It becomes a big problem if that future arrives when they are still in power.
Governments should have stopped expanding urban roadways, and shifted to investing in public transit decades ago when global warming was identified as a serious threat. However, both politicians and voters often put immediate gratification ahead of longer term well being. The good news is that there is no longer much immediate gratification to be gotten from cutting ribbons on new freeways.
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Eric Doherty is a member of the Council of Canadians’ Vancouver-Burnaby chapter and StopThePave.org.
He is helping to organize an Earth Day action against the South Fraser Perimeter Road freeway on April 22.