the Cover LetterDate: March 31, 2009To: Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Environment From: Individuals and organizations interested in Sable Island Re: A proposal for the establishment of a Sable Island Research Fund
Dear Minister Prentice,
We, the thirty-five undersigned, are researchers, environmentalists, business people, artists, authors, and representatives of public-interest organizations.
In July 2008 we wrote to Minister of the Environment John Baird to express our great appreciation for the allocation of funding to support the Sable Island Station, as announced on June 6th 2008. The decision to establish a National Wildlife Area is also most welcome, as is Environment Canada’s recognition of the central importance of the Station in ensuring the long-term stewardship of Sable Island.
We are writing now to recommend that the $64,000 currently provided by Environment Canada to the Sable Island Preservation Trust, a member organization of the Atlantic Coastal Action Program, be redirected and used to establish a Sable Island Research Fund. This would allow those funds to be spent in direct support of quality programs on the Island and its conservation, rather than to subsidize the Trust. We believe that the time to do this is now, given Environment Canada’s announced commitment to Sable Island Station and its role in research and conservation.
Our rationale for this proposal is our firm belief that the monies presently being provided to the Sable Island Preservation Trust are not resulting in effective monitoring or research on the Island. Moreover, we were distressed by complaints made by the Sable Island Preservation Trust in response to your Department’s otherwise welcome announcement of funding for the Sable Island Station (as reported in the Globe & Mail on June 9th, 2008, attached). You should know that the Trust does not represent the views of the larger community whose interests include Sable Island. In a letter (attached) we sent to the editor of the Globe & Mail we attempted to correct the negative spin provided by the Trust.
In our view, the Sable Island Stakeholders Advisory Committee (the terms of reference and membership are attached), now in its fifth year of operation, represents the Sable Island community. Its mandate is to review and monitor activities on the Island. This committee is well suited to managing the proposed Sable Island Research Fund, with the help of a small amount of administrative support from Environment Canada.
On the following pages, we provide the background, justification, and further details of this proposal. The proposal presents a vision—planning for organization, terms of reference, management, and operation would be completed with input from Environment Canada and the larger community whose interests include Sable Island, particularly the Sable Island Stakeholders Advisory Committee.
We believe that this proposal provides for effective and merit-based use of scarce financial resources, and that it will increase interest in Sable Island on the parts of universities, governmental agencies, and citizens’ organizations. These benefits will result in a much greater amount of environmental monitoring and research than is achieved by the present arrangement, in which the equivalent funds are given to the Sable Island Preservation Trust (via the Atlantic Coastal Action Plan). Research and monitoring on Sable Island are critical to conserving its biodiversity and heritage values, and are well integrated with larger-scale programs relevant to climate change and atmospheric pollution. Furthermore, the proposed fund would support a component of the stewardship necessary once Sable Island is formally designated as a National Wildlife Area.
We believe that the creation of such a fund is the logical next step in Environment Canada’s long and valued involvement in Sable Island and its conservation.
We would appreciate your consideration of this proposal and look forward to discussing it with you and your staff. Please note that four of the signatories here are past members of the Sable Island Preservation Trust’s Board of Directors, one of whom was a founding board member and the organization’s first president.
Yours sincerely (in alphabetical order),
Colleen Barber Associate Professor, Department of Biology Saint Mary's University, Halifax, NS B3H 3C3
Sandra Barry Editor, author & independent scholar, co-founder Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia; on the advisory board of the Elizabeth Bishop Society, Hartwick College, NY 1323 Dresden Row #3, Halifax, NS B3J 2J9
D. Bruce Batstone Manager, Marine Services Group, AMEC Earth and Environmental 32 Troop Avenue, Unit 301, Dartmouth, NS B3B 1Z1
Richard Beazley
Paul Brodie President, Balaena Dynamics Ltd. 316 Kennedys Road, Boutiliers Point, Halifax, NS B3Z 1V7
Mark Butler Policy Director and Marine Volunteer, Ecology Action Centre 2705 Fern Lane, Halifax, NS B3K 4L3
Susan Crowe Singer & songwriter, Corvus Records 860 Bridges Street, Halifax, NS B3H 2Z7 Joan Czapalay John L. Grice Pierre-Yves Daoust Professor, Pathology & Microbiology Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PEI C1A 4P3
Gretchen Fitzgerald
Anne Forbes Former Research Associate from Nova Scotia Agricultural College; and Former member of Sable Island Environmental Advisory Committee RR #1 Debert, NS B0M 1G0
Bill Freedman Past Board Member, Sable Island Preservation Trust Professor, Biology Department, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4J1
Janet Godsell Former researcher of seal biology on Sable Island; exhibit researcher for "Sable Island: A Story of Survival", Nova Scotia Museum. 77 Sunnylea Road, Wellington, NS B2T 1A2
Craig M. Harding Past Board Member and Chair of the Conservation Committee, Sable Island Preservation Trust Chief Crown Attorney (retired), Western Region, Public Prosecution Service PO Box 1138, Liverpool, NS BOT 1KO
Sara Iverson Professor, Biology Department, Dalhousie University Halifax, NS B3H 4J1
Zoe Lucas Researcher, Sable Island Green Horse Society PO Box 64, Halifax CRO, Halifax NS B3J 2L4
Clive MacGregor Consulting Chemist, Oceanographer, Registered Occupational Hygienist, MacGregor Associates Ltd 3852 Rockhead Crt, Halifax, NS B3K 6B5
Ian McLaren Past President, Sable Island Preservation Trust Professor Emeritus, Biology Department, Dalhousie University Halifax, NS B3H 4J1
John Merrick Past ex-officio board member, Sable Island Preservation Trust Manager (retired) of Environmental Monitoring, Meteorological Service of Canada 61 Rockmanor Drive, Bedford, NS B4A 2V5
Karen Mulhallen Professor, Department of English, Ryerson University, and English Department, University of Toronto; Editor-in-Chief,
Descant Magazine. Irene Novaczek Director, Institute of Island Studies University of Prince Edward Island 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PEI C1A 4P3
Dorianne Rheaume MD, Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University Halifax, NS B3H 4H7
David Richardson
Roger Savage Artist (R.C.A.) 611 Shore Road, Liverpool, NS B0T 1K0
Raymond St-Pierre Environmental Assessment Coordinator (retired) Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada, Atlantic Region 57 Fletcher Drive, Fall River, NS B2T 1J2
John Swain CEO, Survival Systems Training Ltd., and The Atlantic Petroleum Training College 40 Mt Hope Avenue, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4K9
Susan Tooke & Richard Rudnicki Visual artists, writers & illustrators of children’s books. 2575 Elm Street, Halifax, NS B3L 2Y5
Kelly Toughill Assistant Professor, School of Journalism University of King's College 6350 Coburg Road, Halifax, NS B3H 2A1
Jennifer Veres & Mike Veres Founders and proprietors (retired) of Jennifer's of Nova Scotia 351 Whistlers Cove Road, East Dover NS B3Z 3W5
Larry Wilson Assistant Commissioner (retired), Maritimes Region, Fisheries and Oceans Canada 17 Hazelnut Court, Dartmouth, N.S. B2X 3V4
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