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A Letter from Your MP ›› Denise Savoie I know that for many of you, 2012 has brought another year of uncertainty with the recovery from the global economic recession still not in sight. This is a time when it is more important than ever for Canadians to feel that their federal government is safeguarding the public interest. Unfortunately, on so many levels, the opposite is true. The Conservative government has unilaterally cut federal health transfers, a move the Parliamentary Budget Officer warns will threaten the sustainability of our healthcare system and force provinces to cut vital services. They have cut hundreds of jobs at Service Canada resulting in a dramatic increase in the length of time needed to process employment insurance claims for Canadians who have lost their jobs. The Conservatives are dismissing
Climate change is a question of intergenerational equity. We must ensure that we leave a healthy planet for our children and future generations. opponents of the dangerous Enbridge pipeline as foreign-financed radicals, while the government gambles with our fragile coastline and exports value-added Canadian processing jobs to foreign refineries. It is not in the public interest for Parks Canada to allow a private company to construct an intrusive thrill-seeking structure in Jasper National Park at the approach to the world-renowned Icefields
Parkway. And yet this is what is being considered by the federal government. As I visited with friends and family in Victoria over the holidays, and spoke with so many of you at community events, I was encouraged by the determination to keep speaking out about the kind of society we want. Many of you have written to me to voice your opposition to the pipeline and are offended by the campaign out of Ottawa to discredit British Columbians who support a tanker ban and want to see Canada restore the strength of its environmental protection laws. I also heard from many constituents as they witnessed the loss of Canada’s international reputation at the climate change conference in Durban, South Africa, last fall. Climate change is a question of intergenerational equity. We must ensure that we leave a healthy planet for our children and future generations. We have many young MPs in our New Democrat caucus and they understand and also
convey to the Government that climate change is one of the major issues facing their generation. There is strength in working together, and in that vein I invite you to participate this month in a Community Services Fair that I am hosting February 11th, 1:00 to 4:00 pm, at the Monterey Recreation Centre, 1442 Monterey Avenue in Oak Bay. The event will bring together federal government agencies with community and non-profit groups that help people with issues ranging from support services for seniors, parents and new Canadians, to greening your home to accessing housing information and pension benefits. In March, I will once again be hosting my annual celebration of International Women’s Day, and I invite you to attend, Sunday, March 11th, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at The Belfry Theater. I also want to wish you all a Happy Chinese New Year as we embark on the Year of the Dragon.
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The Backyard Project It’s a Rat Proof Business for Everyone
›› David Segal Image 1: After separating the compostable food scraps from the ones destined for the landfill, you trudge outside to your compost bin. While balancing your bucket, you open the lid and just as you are about to dump your compost, a plump and well-fed rat jumps out, frying your nerves and resulting in your compost spilling over the side of the bin and onto your clothes. Ew, yuck! Image 2: You throw all of your food scraps into one bin, never blinking an eye regarding whether things are cooked, if there is meat, or questioning what can go in again, and walk confidently to your food waste decomposer. Opening the lid is a joy, as you have never had an encounter with a furry uninvited visitor, and in go your food scraps as you pride yourself on your contribution to lessening the burden on the landfill and the planet. Yay! Only a few short years ago, image 1 was
all too common for 9 year old Olive Unger, her mother Marianne and Lisa Helps. In fact, an incident in which a furry critter ran over Marianne’s foot as she was tending to the Earth Machine composter, provided the impetus for these three to start The Backyard Project. The business provides pest-free food waste solutions and other earth sustaining activities that people can implement right in their own backyards. The Backyard Project, formally known as Camosun Street Compost, aims to inspire people to experiment with simple sustainability solutions right in their own backyards. Firmly planted on a foundation of care for their neighborhood and planet, they focus on increasing food security, self-sufficiency and small-scale closed loop solutions to large-scale problems. The one they are currently most excited about is the digester, or food waste decomposer. According to Marianne,“it’s an extremely simple product that is revolutionary. The Backyard Digester is dug into the ground, you throw ALL your food scraps in it and the food does what it’s meant to do–it decomposes.” Lisa chimes in, “there’s no
A digester in action—it's an easy and effective way to compost in a backyard. Photo: Marianne Unger
big apparatus needed to haul away your food waste.” Unlike a typical compost bin, it does not require the addition of browns, nor does it require aeration or harvesting the finished compost. The Backyard Project is about finding creative solutions to managing food waste in your own backyard. They also have composting solutions that are both rodent proof and able to produce rich organic
matter for your garden. Finally, their own integrated system of backyard chickens are a wonderful example of what’s possible. Olive, Marianne, and Lisa are passionate about their vision to assist Victorians to nourish their soil, food, flowers, themselves, and their earth, and they are eager to meet and talk solutions with people at the upcoming Seedy Saturday on February 18th at the Victoria Convention Centre.
You’re invited to my Annual Celebration of International Women’s Day Sunday, March 11, 1-3 pm At The Belfry, 1291 Gladstone Avenue An afternoon of inspiring discussion and an exchange of ideas for building the kind of society we want. Please RSVP at 250-363-3600 Call 250-363-3600 for more information, or check my website – www.denisesavoie.ca
Denise Savoie, MP for Victoria www.fernwoodnrg.ca
February 2012
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