Protest expected at Province House today
Hundreds if not thousands of people are expected to sound off on a range of issues outside Province House today.
But there will be one overriding message from one coalition of groups to the politicians sitting inside: Stop ignoring us.
“The government isn’t listening to the people in this province about the things they’re dealing with — we’re talking about health care, education, mental health services, a lot of environmental concerns around the province with regard to clearcutting, the pipe in Northumberland Strait for Northern Pulp,” said Stacey Rudderham, an organizer of Nova Scotians Rise Up, which will take part in a mass protest beginning at noon when the legislature begins its spring sitting.
The most prominent issue these days is education, particularly the Liberal government’s decision to largely endorse a consultant’s report recommending education reforms, including eliminating the province’s seven English language school boards and removing 1,000 principals, vice-principals and supervisors from the Nova Scotia Teachers Union.
Last week, about 82 per cent of NSTU members voted in favour of authorizing an illegal strike or some other job action over the issue.
But said frustration with the political process in general is boiling over.
“There’s just basically lot of exasperation among the people in this province who are hearing that the government is dealing with stakeholders and we don’t seem to be on the list of stakeholders.”
As an example, Rudderham referred to her experiences with the Stop the Fall River Quarry movement. In November, the Environment Department dismissed three appeals against the province’s green light for Scotian Materials Ltd. to operate a 3.9-hectare quarry in an industrial area on Perrin Drive.
The project received a 10-year approval on June 19 that required the company to monitor dust, noise, ground and surface water, and also limited blasting in the area.
“We are not able to even gain access to the file when (an industry) application is made in our communities,” she said. “We have to apply for FOIPOP (freedom of information and protection of privacy) and in our particular experience here in Fall River, the FOIPOP can take six months to be fulfilled, which is long past the public consultation period.”
They’ve sent us bills for $2,000 for freedom of information requests, which is basically denying that it’s in the public interest for us the residents who are impacted to have access (to this information) on the basis of public interest or with regard to our environment.”
Stop the Fall River Quarry, the Shubenacadie Watershed Environmental Protection Society and MLA Bill Horne have filed with the Supreme Court to appeal the minister’s decision, Rudderham said.
While the quarry has been her main focus, she said her family has been affected by government decisions on the film tax credit, education and health.
“I’m also paying attention to all of these other issues because of what I’ve learned through my own experiences. The government needs to understand that’s happening across the board.”