A study [pdf] by U of T researchers Nina Mazar and Chen-Bo Zhong purports to show that people who purchase green products behave less altruistically. [P]eople act more altruistically after mere exposure to green products than after mere exposure to conventional products. However, people act less altruistically and are more likely to cheat and steal, after purchasing green products than after purchasing conventional products UK Guardian columnist James Baggini thinks he know why: The general truth lurking behind these findings is that the feeling of being pure is a moral contaminant. In ethical terms, the best never think that they are the best,...

21 March, 2010

One of the nice discoveries in my role as manager and chief film-picker for the Cape Breton Island Film Series has been the movies of Ramin Bahrani, the Iranian-American director of dramas like Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, and Goodbye Solo. Bahrani portrays the extraordinary lives of ordinary people in a naturalistic style that is almost documentary in character. We were the only film series in Canada to show Chop Shop; by the time Goodbye Solo came out a year later, Bahrani's movies were de rigueur on the indie circuit. Bahrani grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Roger Ebert calls him...

21 March, 2010

A diesel-powered Pete's Frootique truck idles unattended on Doyle Street in Halifax Saturday morning, needlessly spilling volatile organic compounds into the crisp spring air. Update: Contrarian reader Colin May points out: Parked on the wrong side of the street, in a no parking zone, too close to a stop sign. Three strikes and you're...

13 March, 2010
Several readers have questioned, taken issue with, and even canceled subscriptions (!) over my criticism of overly cautious school closures, particularly my suggestion that union sympathies may play a role in unwarranted snow days.
Since when are school administrators (who make decisions about snow days) part of the teachers' union? [TB]
Snow days are decided upon by the School Board. The teachers and their union have nothing to do with it. Teachers have to show up on snow days to babysit any kids dropped off by parents. The fact that you are so silly as to blame Unions—good heavens how silly!—I have now figured you out: Another Conservative who will blame the victims for all the country's ills. [AMcG]
At least in HRSB, the school officials who make the call are school board Superintendents - not unionized, but management. [AB]
Another possible explanation is the requirement to please big, risk-averse insurance companies. [BW]
OK, so now I've done what I should have done before posting, checked with Peter McLaughlin, my ex-Daily News colleague who now speaks for the Nova Scotia Department of Education. Turns out the situation is at once more complicated than I suggested, and less clearcut than my interlocutors believe. Full explanation after the jump.
06 March, 2010

In addition to her invaluable work on Sable Island, Zoe Lucas has, for the last five years,  hosted annual public meetings where scientists, government officials, industry representatives, and naturalists like herself have briefed the public on developments affecting the island.The sixth of these sessions takes place at 7 p.m., Wednesday, March 3, at the Theatre Auditorium, McNally Building, Saint Mary's University. This year's meeting takes on special significance because of the secret deliberations currently underway between the Harper and Dexter governments over the level of protection to be afforded Sable in years to come. Federal Parks Minister Jim Prentice and provincial...

02 March, 2010

A former Parks Canada employee sends this comment on the prospects for Sable if Harper Environment Minister Jim Prentice succeeds in making it a National Park: I continue to have a great affection for this institution and its objectives...

28 January, 2010
For the on-line record, and thanks to Joey Schwartz's OCR magic, here is the start of the Sable MOU signed Monday, with the remainder after the jump. To download the official PDF version, click here and the unofficial Word version here.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (hereinafter referred to as "MOU)

BETWEEN

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA AS REPRESENTED BY THE MINISTER OF THE ENVIRONMENT (hereinafter referred to as "CANADA")

AND

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF NOVA SCOTIA AS REPRESENTED BY THE MINISTER OF NATURAL RESOURCES (hereinafter referred to as "NOVA SCOTIA")

RESPECTING

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FEDERAL PROTECTED AREA ON SABLE ISLAND IN THE PROVINCE OF NOVA SCOTIA WHEREAS Sable Island is a remote island located about 160 kilometres from mainland Nova Scotia near the edge of the continental shelf;

27 January, 2010

Canada and Nova Scotia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the future of Sable Island Monday amidst considerable fanfare and media coverage.  Surprisingly, and unusually, the actual text of the agreement was not made public at the time. Normally such agreements are posted on government websites at the time of such announcements. Thanks to the communications folks at the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, Contrarian has posted a copy which you can download here. [PDF file].* The MOU confirms that the process annouced Monday will unfold in two stages, only the second of which will involve the public. First, provincial and federal...

27 January, 2010

Lots of developments in what promises to be a continuing thread here. The ineffable Zoe Lucas has started a discussion forum on the question of a National Park vs. National Wildlife Area on her wonderful Green Horse Society website, your definitive source for news and information about Sable. Discussions also continue on the Hands Off Sable Island Facebook Page, now approaching exceeding 500 members. At the department's initiative, I spoke this morning with Harold Carroll, Director of Parks for Nova Scotia Natural Resources, who explained that the consultation process announced Monday will unfold in two phases: First, federal and provincial authorities will review...

27 January, 2010

[Correction appended] Harper Environment Minister Jim Prentice wants to protect Sable Island by turning it into a national park. He has a funny notion of protection: Prentice would protect the island by ending the current ban on visitors impediments to tourism. He would protect the island by inviting the private sector to ferry tourists out to visit Sable. He would protect the island by continuing to allow oil and gas drilling off its shores. He would protect the island by permitting the slaughter of seals that whelp there. He would protect Sable by building park facilities to "take care of" the tourists he would "encourage" to...

26 January, 2010
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