Planet Haliburton

On this episode of Planet Haliburton we take a look at the challenges, possibilities and limitations of protecting Cottage Country lake water quality and shoreline health via municipal by-laws and other planning tools with Dr. Neil Hutchinson, of Hutchinson Environmental Sciences Ltd. in Bracebridge.

Development pressure on Haliburton and other cottages country shorelines has been increasing in recent years and the Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions on vacation travel has turned that trend into a virtual feeding frenzy.

All this is happening coincident with rising concerns over lake water quality, declining levels of natural shoreline vegetation and climate change with its associated increase in air and water temperatures, blue -green algal blooms, extreme weather events, insect and disease infestations and biodiversity loss.

These tensions have increased the pressure on local municipalities to assume a large and more aggressive regulatory presence on the shoreline at the same time as decades of austerity-driven budgets and downloading of responsibility from senior levels of government have severely stretched their capacity to do so.

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This episode of Planet Haliburton features a conversation about Eco-Socialism,

This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

“Blue-Green Algae: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” with Dr. Elizabeth Favot

“This episode of Planet Haliburton focuses on the causes and consequences of the increased incidence of blue-green algae blooms across Ontario and, more recently, here in Haliburton County in the fall of 2020.

Blue-green algae, or “cyanobacteria”, is naturally present in all our lakes and plays a very important role in aquatic ecosystems. But, as is common with many other essential things on our planet, too much of a good thing can also be very bad for people, other creatures and biosphere, not to mention the local economy.

My guest on its program is Dr. Elizabeth Favot, a new resident of Haliburton Village, who’s just completed her doctorial thesis on the Long Term Environmental Trends in Ontario Lakes Impacted by Cyanobacterial Blooms, at Queens University in Kingston.

Among other the other things that can be done to minimize the risk posed by blue-green algae, in this age of global warming and climate disruption, this program emphasizes the need to reduce the amount and speed with which phosphorus, rock salt and other harmful substances enter into our lakes.

Well-vegetated natural shorelines are one of the key ways to reduce the risk of blue-green algae blooms and all the disruption they can leave in their wake.’

https://canoefm.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Resource-List-for-Planet-Haliburton-January-28-2021.docx

This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

“Building Back Better from the Pandemic and Climate Emergencies”, with Annamie Paul, Leader of the Green Party of Canada, December 10, 2020

This episode features a conversation with Annamie Paul, the newly-elected leader of the Green Party of Canada about “Building Back Better From the Covid-19 and Climate Change Emergencies”.

Key systemic fault lines in Canada’s economic and social institutions have been on stark display during the covid-19 pandemic. From the failure to stockpile enough personal protective equipment to the disastrous impact of covid-19 on the elderly residents of our increasingly privatized long term care facilities, the virus has exposed just how vulnerable and dependent our public and private health systems have become on global corporate supply chains.

And, now that a number of promising vaccines are headed for final regulatory approval, the consequences of Canada’s lack of domestic vaccine production capacity has become painfully obvious. And, of course, the Climate Emergency continues to loom ever larger in the background and there’s no vaccine for that.

Discussion also touches on what role Paul sees the Green Party playing in the building of a Climate Justice Movement strong enough to force climate action commensurate with the scale of the climate emergency.

This is a link to a resource list for this episode.

On this episode we continue our environmental impact assessment of the Doug Ford government.

From the immediate hollowing out of Ontario’s Climate Change laws and his cancellation of 752 green energy projects, within weeks of becoming Premier in June of 2018, to his more recent efforts to undermine what remains of the ecological protection and restoration capacity of Ontario’s 36 Conservation Authorities, Doug Ford has cut a wide swath. So wide that its difficult to keep an up-to-date list, let alone take proper stock, of the real on-the-ground impact of Ford Nation’s on-going war on public sector environmental stewardship.

It would be hard to find someone better placed to help us appreciate the cumulative environmental impact of what Doug Ford has been up to, than Dianne Saxe, the last independent Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, following Ford’s legislated elimination of her position and agency, effective in May of 2019.

Dianne, has recently been appointment as Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Ontario.

https://canoefm.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/PH-Resource-List-Doug-Ford-Env-Impact-Assessment-With-Dianne-Saxe-Nov-26-2020-Rev-1.pdf

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“A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency” With Seth Klein.

All mainstream Canadian political parties say they accept what climate scientists are saying about the seriousness of climate emergency and the need to urgently cut GHG emissions. At the same time, however, they allow those emissions to continue, unabated, year after year.

To discuss the growing gulf between what our leaders say and do about the climate emergency, as well as how citizens can mobilize to change all that, this episode of Planet Haliburton features a discussion with Seth Klein, author of the recently published book “A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency”.

This link will take you to a resource list for this episode.

This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm

“Pension Fund Capitalism and the Covid-19 Pandemic” Program Description

On this episode of Planet Haliburton we take a look at the relationship between the Covid-19 Pandemic, the incredible rate of infection and death in our Long Term Facilities and the investment practices of large public sector pension funds.

It’s no secret that the SARS-Cov-2 virus has wrecked disportioncate havoc among elderly residents of our country’s Long Term Care Facilities.

Less attention has been paid to who owns and operates those private for-profit long term care facilities and why private facilities are experiencing higher than average rates of infection and death.

Join me for a conversation about the connections between Covid-19, for-profit long term care, and public sector pension funds with Kevin Skerrett, a long time researcher with the Canadian Union of Public Employees and an author of the 2018 book “The Contradictions of Pension Fund Capitalism”.

Resource List for “Pension Fund Capitalism and the Covid-19 Pandemic”, with Kevin Skerrett, October 26, 2020

https://canoefm.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Resource-List-for-%E2%80%9CPension-Fund-Capitalism-and-the-Covid-19-Pandemic%E2%80%9DJ-with-Kevin-SkerrettJ-October-26J-2020.pdf

This week Tery Moore and Korey McKay cover Climate Change Planning in Haliburton County.

https://www.haliburtoncounty.ca/en/planning-and-maps/climate-change.aspx

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“On this PH episode we explore local climate change planning activism with two representatives of Climate Action Muskoka (CAM), Linda Mathers and Tamsen Tillson, who explain their efforts to build build wide-spread community support for a climate emergency declaration in the District of Muskoka.

In the face of the complete failure of national governments over the past 30 years to slowdown, let alone reverse ever-increasing GHG concentration in the atmosphere, many activists have redoubled their efforts to encourage municipal climate emergency declarations and the development of local climate action action plans.

This podcast is hosted by ZenCast.fm