Economy, environment should be viewed together, minister tells Yarmouth audience

By Eric Bourque

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com



Nova Scotia’s environment minister was in Yarmouth Wednesday to kick off a provincewide tour promoting the importance of the green economy.

Speaking at the Grand Hotel, Mark Parent said people have to view the economy and the environment not as opposing forces but as going together, like “two halves of one whole.”



He acknowledged during an address to business and community leaders that this may not jibe with the traditional way of seeing the economy and the environment and the relationship between the two.

“It does take a different way of looking at things,” he said. “It takes a new way of thinking.”

He spoke a bit more about this later in an interview, saying that for too long the economy and the environment have been viewed as antagonists.

“Sure, there are tensions,” he said, “because you’re having to do things in new ways, but we have the ingenuity, we have the common sense, I believe, in Nova Scotia. We have 11 universities, 13 campuses of the community college. We have a small province that could be more nimble in the global community and take advantage of this, but we need to do so. It’s not just going to happen. We’re going to have to work hard at it, but the opportunity’s there.”

He cited during his presentation the progress Nova Scotia has made with regard to solid waste management and the reputation the province is developing as a leader on this front.

As more countries look for new sources of energy, better methods of dealing with waste etc. – perhaps turning to Nova Scotia for help on these issues – terms like “environment, economy, sustainability (are) words we’re going to hear everyday for the rest of our lives,” the minister said.

A similar message was delivered in a statement issued in conjunction with Parent’s Yarmouth visit, which cited “helping to solve the world’s environmental challenges while growing Nova Scotia’s economy” as “key to the future of the province.”

Aside from a presentation by the minister, Wednesday’s event included a talk by Andy Racine of Corporation Service Company, who spoke briefly about the efforts that earned CSC an RRFB Nova Scotia Mobius Environmental Award for small business of the year.

Intent on doing something positive for the environment, the workers formed a team, went to management for help and got the support they needed, Racine said.

What he and his co-workers were able to do in terms of waste reduction is an example of what virtually anyone can accomplish, he said.

“Each and every one of us can make a difference,” he said.

He put in a good word for Waste Check, saying business people who want to go green should contact the region’s solid waste authority about how best to proceed.

The environment minister cited CSC’s green initiative as an illustration of how Nova Scotians are taking action.

“What’s so exciting about it,” he said, “is (to have) everyone pitching in together, buying in and coming up with innovative, new ways of doing old tasks…They’ve shown that it can be done. And it saves money.”