Message from the Central Vice-Chief – November 1, 2024

Nov 1

It is nearly the end of the term for Central Region Vice Chief, Andy Barker. Andy is finishing his third term on council, having previously served two terms (6 years) as the Exploits Ward Councilor.  Andy was invited to offer some outgoing words for the message from the Chief this week.

Typically, nowadays, political leaders tend to run a campaign with a slogan that will guide their course of action if their party forms the government. In the USA in 1992, the Democratic Party’s Presidential candidate Bill Clinton campaigned with slogan, “It’s the Economy Stupid”. That slogan was coined by Clinton’s campaign strategist, James Carville.

At our last Environment and Natural Resources Committee meeting in September, as Chair, I expressed the point of view that Qalipu First Nation needs to be more active in the better care of our planet; walk in the moccasins of our ancestors. Thus, I gave Carville’s slogan a twist with, “It’s the Environment Stupid”.

New sources are constantly informing us about natural disasters all over the world, with such disasters tied to global warming. Whether you believe in global warming or not, the health and safety of all life on this planet is totally dependent upon clean air, water, and land. To achieve a cleaner environment much of the corporate world needs a good kick in the shins – do better than you are doing. However, before you start putting the boots to industry, you might want to determine if you need a few kicks yourself by questioning your own behaviour. Do I constantly waste food thus pressuring the food industry to produce much more food than we actually need? Do I wait in drive- throughs for minutes on end all the while my vehicle pollutes the atmosphere with exhaust fumes? Do I use the highways, byways, and waterways as my personal dumping grounds for food and beverage containers and household refuse? Do I drive my off-road vehicle anywhere I please be it on peat lands or shorelines? Do I buy, year after year, fashion trend clothing and footwear that all too soon ends up in landfills here or abroad? Do I use more and more plastic decorations (sources of nano plastics pollution) for such events as birthday parties, graduations, Halloween, and Christmas? Do I make a rigorous valiant effort to recycle, reduce, and reuse? It is a humongous, but not impossible challenge, to rejuvenate our precious blessed world. However, to ignore that challenge, we do so at our peril.

It’s the Environment Stupid. Msit No’kmaq.