“The Mouse in the Corner”

Posted On March 26, 2014

the old man in the hat

Canada is a neat place. New Brunswick is fantastic. I mean, where else can you put your beer in the snow to get cold and it is still there, still cold, 9 months later. Still in the snow. AND more snow.

But enough with the winter blues. To cheer us up we have only to rely on the federal government to get us out our funk. (yes, funk, with a N).

Our friends at the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission) are hard at work on our behalf. This is a government agency that works tirelessly to improve access to our modern media and telecommunications. The Commission has recently been involved in the elimination of one of the most serious threats to the Canadian consumer, the three year cellular contract.

Another important, but under- appreciated role of the CRTC, is to protect us from cultural genocide by promoting and policing the required percentage of Canadian media content that we are exposed to, i.e to protect us from those American imperialists. To this end (no pun intended), the CRTC has determined that the graphic images portrayed on our porn channels are not Canadian enough.
I am not even sure what that means, but I am glad Big Brother is out there check’n that stuff out and make’n it CAN- A- DI- AN!

On a lighter note, I would like to congratulate the New Brunswick conglomerate that has recently added the New Brunswick Government to their portfolio of investments. Although jobs are always appreciated and we certainly wish all the workers and contractors in the wood industry the very best, we are not sure that this, apparently friendly, takeover of our management and control of our commercial forests, formally owned collectively by the citizens of New Brunswick, is in the best long-term interest of the people of this province.

I will freely admit that I am not a forestry expert. However, I would like to point out a few observations. Whatever the future brings in the industry, I think it is safe to say that automation will increase in the mills, employment will stagnate or drop, and our forests will be devoured at an ever faster pace. This has been the state of affairs in the last 30 years, I see nothing in the recent government or industry announcements that would change this.

I know of no place in the advanced world that is actively decreasing protected areas. Sorry, this is just stupid. Yes, you cannot eat a tree. Nevertheless, that tree is more than a facial tissue, a newspaper or a paycheck. It is also a home for other, equally important things that we value- beauty, wildlife, carbon sink, flood control etc.

Sustainability. I do not know if anyone knows the “I’m going to bet the farm” magic number of trees that can/cannot be cut. I am sure that statisticians can make an “educated” guess as to what these numbers are and the bottom line is that we will not know until it is too late. I seem to remember that cod were so numerous that you could walk on the water on their backs. We know how that one went don’t we?

Throw in climate change in and all bets are off. All the numbers, all the estimates, are just that, estimates. Do we really want to push it all the way to the edge? ZERO margin of error?

This whole change in provincial forest policy is being presented so that any critics are branded as “job killers”, “family killers” and “irresponsible”.

Not so. This is about more than jobs. It is about the survival of our province. It is about what this province will look like in 10, 20 and 30 years. If we choose poorly, the result will take 50 years to fix. Do we really want the fox running the hen house?

The election is Monday, September 22, 2014. You decide.

the old man in the hat

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