Published June 10, 2008
Hello GPNS members and interested readers,
Good to see Mr. Watson contributing to the debate again. Before reading further please know that we are talking about an idea and it is just an idea at this point, one of many ideas I have. Such an idea of organizing the voice against uranium mining in our province would need the consent of our party members. There is a great number of other issues out there that we can address as well, but it would be good to have some direction.
As quoted on my blog page “A great leader not only performs exceptionally but sees the talent or strengths in others and assists them to success.” In the context of organizing a “We say no to uranium campaign” most of the infrastructure is already in place, aside from potentially organizing a consolidating event like a rally. Nova Scotia is blessed with a tremendous array of small community groups and organizations, all of which want to spend energy towards good causes.
Our role would be to reach out and engage these community groups and have them in turn reach out to citizens. What we need to do is organize the dozens of advocacy groups into one voice and have themselves work towards the cause with us the Greens facilitating and offering support. The initial focus is on the issue at large, not the Greens, as the issue of uranium mining is beyond partisan politics.
One may ask what would be the advantage to the Greens to entertain such an idea. From an organizational perspective we would be engaging citizens who have experience and the motivation to organize themselves and we can attract some of those people to help build our party. The ripple effect would cause quite a buzz for the Greens, thus attracting more people to the party, imagine the media coverage the whole scenario would generate as well. It would be a snowball effect.
The most important reason for us to organize a clear voice against the possibility of mining uranium is that it is bad for the environment, a principle that transcends any politicking. And we as a entity that values our environment needs to be involved, even if that means taking the lead.
Opposition to uranium mining transcends many demographic lines and is a potent avenue of engagement for us to capture the attention of the entire province. With that captivated audience we can expand on what we have to say and offer as a party giving us an opportunity to further build support and organizational capacity.
Mr. Watson suggested that we need to follow the lead of the community organizations and NGOs that would blaze the trail against uranium mining. The word follow stuck out the most in that sentence. To follow what? Our province does not need more followers right now, our province needs leadership and vision, something that has lacked severely over the past decades and our potential has never been realized. The political establishment has been following for far too long, too timid to take a stand and push for something better, and our province as suffered because of it.
My ear has been to the ground and I know for certain such a grassroots facilitative organization against uranium mining can springboard our Green Party into the consciousness of the provinces citizens. With the fruits of such an engagement we can then start pushing for progressive, sustainable change, showcasing practical ideas all the while building our party and support.
As stated this is just an idea. There will be more I will share.
Kind regards,
Barton J Cutten
GPSN leadership candidate
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