\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\nMy Own Story (or, parts thereof\u2026)<\/b><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n
Ever since I can remember, I have been a passionate advocate for nature, for wildlife and for the natural world.\u00a0 As early as about age 6 or 7, I can recall having a rummage sale where I sold off a bunch of my old toys to raise some money which I donated to the World Wildlife Fund.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t very much, but it was everything I had.\u00a0 I thought it was wrong that species should be going extinct and, I was determined \u00a0that we should be doing something about it.\u00a0 Sounds a bit geeky, but to me it was the most natural of things and a very early recognition that \u201cdoing the right thing\u201d was what was important to me and what gave me the greatest satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.<\/p>\n
I was born in 1953 in Middlesbrough, a heavily industrialized town in the north east of England.\u00a0 Home to iron ore refineries, steel mills and huge petrochemical complexes, it was a pretty grimy town.\u00a0 But it was also surrounded by remarkable countryside \u2013 the Yorkshire moors in one direction, the Yorkshire Dales in another, and a string of captivating seaside towns and fishing villages along a magnificent coastline.\u00a0 Although I didn\u2019t realize it at the time, the presence of this heritage \u2013 nature and culture, harmonious together \u2013 was burned deep inside me as the measure of how the world should be.<\/p>\n
I was fortunate to live on the edge of town.\u00a0 Just down the street from our home were \u201cthe woods\u201d \u2013 only a few hectares, and surrounded by roads and houses, but an oasis nonetheless.\u00a0 And next to the woods, the \u201cbig lake\u201d.\u00a0 Not much more than a small pond (and so named because it was larger than the small lake, which was really just a ditch full of water), but large enough to support an active ecosystem, with two kinds of stickleback, two species of newt, frogs, toads, caddis flies, reeds and lots of other less noticeable but just as fascinating bugs and plants.\u00a0 For a bunch of pre-adolescent kids, these places were special indeed \u2013 they were \u201cours\u201d, our realm, and they became our second home.\u00a0 It\u2019s here that my connection and love for nature was seeded, and became a part of me.<\/p>\n
When I was 13, my family moved to Canada, to Victoria.\u00a0 For the first few years, we moved around B.C., following my father\u2019s work opportunities, and finally settling in Nanaimo.\u00a0 After graduation from high school, I left for a few years to attend the University of Victoria, where I majored in Biology and Environmental Sciences, working as a teaching assistant and at the Forest Research Centre to pay my way through school.<\/p>\n
I also took a couple of years to travel.\u00a0 Hitch-hiking across Canada (in the dead of winter \u2013 perhaps not the smartest timing decision I\u2019ve ever made) gave me a tremendous appreciation for the scale, abundance and magnificence of this country, and just how incredibly fortunate we are.\u00a0 I also did the obligatory (for \u201c1970\u2019s youth\u201d) hitch-hike\/train trip around Europe and North Africa.\u00a0 It left me overwhelmed.\u00a0 There is so much diversity, such richness and such a profound sense of place and belonging in those cultures that have such deep histories.\u00a0 But there is also an amazing commonality and connectedness among people.\u00a0 Regardless of our different backgrounds and experiences, the fact that we may see things differently and speak different languages, we all want the same fundamentals for ourselves and our families:\u00a0 to be happy and to be respected, to have things (and people) in our lives that we care about and to live our lives with a sense of integrity and purpose.<\/p>\n
Returning home to Nanaimo, it wasn\u2019t long before I met Sandra\u2026we fell in love and began a new phase of our lives together, with our son Jesse.\u00a0 I began working at the Pacific Biological Station, first with salmon enhancement projects, then with crustacean fisheries and finally with the marine mammal program.\u00a0 While all of these projects were rewarding intellectually, this was at a time when the federal government was beginning to push its research more and more away from pure research toward industrial support (a.k.a. resource exploitation), and I began to question the real value of what we were trying to accomplish.\u00a0 Eventually the funds for the marine mammal projects largely dried up (i.e. they didn\u2019t see any big financial returns), and my time in (pure) research ended.<\/p>\n
During this same time, however, I was beginning to get more directly involved in local political activism.\u00a0 I\u2019d already been involved with a few environmental groups, although in a fairly passive way.\u00a0 But since I returned from travelling I was also much more interested in the health of the community, as well as the health of the environment.\u00a0 What spurred on my activism was a proposal to rebuild the highway through the heart of Nanaimo and, incidentally, right through the living room of my house \u2013 kind of a no-brainer motivator.\u00a0 This was in one of Nanaimo\u2019s oldest and lowest income neighbourhoods.\u00a0 The proposed new road alignment would have torn the community apart, and there appeared to be no-one able or willing to stand up against it.\u00a0 So, along with a few other local residents, we formed a community association and fought back.\u00a0 The highway project got shelved, and we went on to address a host of other community issues, both within our own neighbourhood and, in partnership with other community groups around the City, across the whole region.<\/p>\n
This coalition of groups evolved into Nanaimo\u2019s first progressive civic political organization.\u00a0 We contested a number of seats on City Council \u2013 for which I was a candidate \u2013 and the School Board, trying to bring a fresh and more democratic voice to local politics which, for years, had been dominated by development interests.\u00a0 While I was not elected, it was a tremendous experience that taught me a great deal about communications and about what it takes to get things done in the public realm.<\/p>\n
Some time afterwards, Nanaimo\u2019s Member of Parliament, Ted Miller, advertised a job as policy\/political advisor in his Ottawa Office.\u00a0 He was the fisheries critic for the New Democratic Party, and was looking for someone who understood the fishing industry, but who also had local political knowledge and connections.\u00a0 Right up my alley.\u00a0 I won the job and so moved the family to Ottawa.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t take long to figure out what my new job was all about.\u00a0 Arriving at the office on Parliament Hill for the first day (a rather awe-inspiring experience in itself), I found a gift of a coffee cup left for me by my predecessor.\u00a0 It had the caption \u201cAround here I have a very responsible position.\u00a0 Whenever anything goes wrong, I\u2019m responsible.\u201d\u00a0 It spoke volumes.<\/p>\n
Parliament Hill is a place of egos and one-upmanship.\u00a0 It\u2019s as much about getting credit as it is about doing the right thing.\u00a0 While I truly believe that (almost) everyone \u2013 politicians, their staff and bureaucrats alike \u2013 goes there with the best of intentions and an honest desire to make things better for the people at home and or the country as a whole, their passions quickly become captured in the political circus that drives so much of our public discourse.\u00a0 It\u2019s no longer just a matter of doing the right thing, or even doing the best you can, it\u2019s more a matter of figuring out how who will benefit (and who will pay)and then figuring out how to get your way.\u00a0 And, of course, to be seen to be doing what you want to be seen to be doing.\u00a0 It is always about shaping public perceptions and gaining ground \u2013 moving toward the next election.\u00a0 While some things do get done, they are not always (in fact, rarely) done in just the right way, and are not always (in fact, rarely) what is most needed \u2013 they are what evolves from an imperfect and self-absorbed political structure that inhibits change and has its own priorities.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, there are some remarkably dedicated and passionate people involved, and it is an exciting and dynamic environment in which to work.\u00a0 It demands a thick skin, but also creativity and an ability to focus.\u00a0 It is about applying strategy and tactics in all things, and exercising sound analysis and good judgment.\u00a0 And it\u2019s about communicating, effectively and extensively.\u00a0 I learned a lot during my seven years in Ottawa.<\/p>\n
I worked for only a year with Ted Miller and then, after the 1984 election which ushered in the rather nasty and vindictive Mulroney era, moved on to work with Iain Angus, a newly-elected MP from Northwestern Ontario, who was appointed as critic for Transportation.\u00a0 After the 1988 election, I helped establish a new position, that of Caucus Administrator\/Assistant to the Caucus Chair, which I held until 1990, when I moved to Toronto to work at Queen\u2019s Park with the new Ontario Government.<\/p>\n
As exciting as it had been working with the \u201copposition\u201d on Parliament Hill, working as a part of the Government was a quantum leap more rewarding.\u00a0 While we understood the constraints, our expectations of what we wanted to achieve were high.\u00a0 I worked with Ed Philip, a long-time MPP from the Etobicoke area in Metro Toronto, who was appointed Minister of Transportation.\u00a0 I was hired as his policy advisor.\u00a0 We were able to significantly advance rapid transit infrastructure in the Metro area, and begin a wholesale strategy for the \u201cgreening\u201d of transportation across the Province.\u00a0 This included protection of the Red Hill Creek valley in the Hamilton area from destruction by a proposed new freeway development.<\/p>\n
After a year or so, a Cabinet shuffle moved us to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Technology, where I took on the role of Chief of Staff.\u00a0 This was a challenging portfolio, especially in light of the relative hostility of much of Ontario\u2019s industrial sector toward the government.\u00a0 Nevertheless we were able to implement a more progressive industrial strategy for the Province, open new avenues of opportunity for small and medium sized businesses, and expand trade ties with key parts of the world, taking advantage of Ontario\u2019s significant multicultural population.\u00a0 We were also able to take steps forward to reduce emission levels at pulp mills across the Province.<\/p>\n
Another Cabinet shuffle eighteen months later saw us take on responsibility for Municipal Affairs and for the Greater Toronto Area.\u00a0 Now in the second half of the government\u2019s mandate, we picked up initiatives started by our predecessors in the portfolio and we were able to complete creation of the Rouge Valley Park (Canada\u2019s largest urban wilderness park) and the Waterfront Trail through Toronto.\u00a0 We were also able to complete a new Planning Act for Ontario, which provided, in my view, the best and greenest planning regime in the country.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, our government did not survive the next election, and much of the progress we\u2019d made was quickly undone by the vicious Harris government that followed.\u00a0 Many of the most significant changes (for example, some of those in the Planning Act) never saw the light of day.\u00a0 It was a harsh reminder that political progress is fleeting and can be undone with a stroke of the pen.\u00a0 True change can only come when it is deeply embedded in the population, and made tangible.<\/p>\n
With the loss of government, came a requirement for a new party leader.\u00a0 I was asked by Tony Silipo, a well-respected and passionate Toronto MPP, to manage his leadership campaign.\u00a0 I\u2019d managed numerous riding-based election campaigns over the years, but this was a much larger venture, spanning more than six months and dozens of communities.\u00a0 We put together a dynamic and very visible multicultural campaign and, while we did not win the contest outright we were able to position our team to influence the final outcome and establish Tony as the deputy leader.<\/p>\n
After the campaign, I took on a position as Executive Director of a community centre in the west end of Scarborough.\u00a0 However after only a few months on the job, came an opportunity (and an anticipated necessity) to move back to B.C., where we would be closer to our aging parents.<\/p>\n
We moved on to a rural property just outside of Sooke (actually, it\u2019s in Saseenos).\u00a0 Just an acre in itself, but it backs directly on to many thousands of acres of Sooke Hills wilderness.\u00a0 The property contains a fairly small, but solid, log house and an even smaller one bedroom cottage, which provides the opportunity for family to live with us.<\/p>\n
After a few months of the \u201ccountry gentleman\u201d lifestyle (a.k.a. employment insurance), I found a job managing a community centre in the Fernwood district of Victoria \u2013 an eclectic, mixed neighbourhood with lots of challenges but lots of potential \u2013 and quickly found myself back into the community development work I\u2019d been involved with years ago.\u00a0 It was rewarding.\u00a0 There were many tremendous people involved with the centre, and we developed some great programming that made a real difference in many people\u2019s lives.\u00a0 But it also had its frustrations:\u00a0 there were very few resources and little consensus in the community about what it wanted and\/or needed.\u00a0 As a result there was a resistance to change and progress was very slow.\u00a0 I felt, often, like I was simply spinning my wheels.<\/p>\n
A couple of years later, I came across The Land Conservancy of BC.\u00a0 They were, at that time, attempting to purchase the 3,400 acres immediately adjacent to my property.\u00a0 That area, it turned out, was owned by a company with tentative plans for a potentially massive housing development.\u00a0 It had also become, in the past couple of years a playground for off-road vehicle enthusiasts, and was rapidly being degraded.\u00a0 TLC wanted to protect the area from inappropriate development and activities and see its natural values permanently protected as a park.\u00a0 I offered to help, and provided some observations and documentation about the kind of inappropriate activity that was occurring on the site.<\/p>\n
Not long afterwards, I was offered a job with TLC.\u00a0 Finally, I thought, after all my years of doing so many other things, this was an opportunity to put all my energies directly into conservation \u2013 my first passion.\u00a0 TLC was a marvellous place to work.\u00a0 Its executive director (and founder), Bill Turner, had pulled together a dedicated and incredibly passionate group of staff and volunteers, and imbued the organization with his own \u201cnever-say-die\u201d brand of optimism.\u00a0 Everyone at TLC truly believed they could achieve great things, and they did.<\/p>\n
TLC was about taking direct action.\u00a0 Simply talking about conservation, or trying to convince someone else to do something no longer held any interest for me.\u00a0 I\u2019d been doing that for years (particularly in my \u201cpolitical\u201d work) and it leads, at best, to a giant spinning wheel.\u00a0 It\u2019s a mug\u2019s game that goes nowhere but in circles.\u00a0 It had become abundantly clear to me that if we are to effect real change and see real progress in our society, we must take direct and personal responsibility for what we want to see happen \u2013 we can\u2019t leave it to someone else.\u00a0 As Gandhi said, we must \u201cbe the change that we want to see in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s what we did.\u00a0 As Deputy Executive Director, I helped build TLC into a highly effective and well-respected force for conservation in BC (and across Canada).\u00a0 By cultivating a broad-based and high-profile approach to protecting special places that were of value to communities, we were not only able to protect hundreds of sites \u2013 directly owning and managing over 50 \u2013 covering 130,000 acres across BC, but we were also able to positively influence and help other conservation organizations and government agencies to enhance their own conservation work as well.\u00a0 And we were able to encourage thousands of people to get directly involved as volunteers, tens of thousands to help with donations, and hundreds of thousands to get outside and enjoy\/appreciate the special places we had all worked to protect.<\/p>\n
The work at TLC produced great rewards, but it was never easy.\u00a0 Right from the outset, TLC never had enough resources \u2013 particularly money \u2013 to do what we wanted\/needed to.\u00a0 However, when you\u2019re out to change the world, not having enough resources simply goes with the territory.\u00a0 It\u2019s always a juggling act and it\u2019s always nerve-wracking, like walking a knife edge.\u00a0 But that\u2019s what it takes if you want to make a difference.<\/p>\n
Twice over TLC\u2019s 15 years, the Board of Directors lost its nerve, and lost its way, in response to very difficult financial challenges.\u00a0 Naively believing they could find a quick and easy path to stability and sustainability, they looked for solutions in cutbacks and personnel changes (including myself and the Executive Director), and tried to change the nature of the organization into something much more limited in scope and actions \u2013 but, unfortunately, also in effectiveness.\u00a0 The first time (in 2009) we fought back through a Board election process, and the membership responded by installing a new Board and reinstating us with a strong majority.\u00a0\u00a0 However, as much as we wanted to believe otherwise, the cancer had been seeded and we were never able to fully recover.\u00a0 We were unable to operate again with the same effectiveness and support as we had achieved earlier. \u00a0So when we ran into difficulties again, in 2011, and the Board reacted again with much the same ill-advised approach as in 2009, the cancer had spread further and there was nothing we could do about it.<\/p>\n
While TLC is now being dismantled, and its future is in doubt, it is also in the hands of others. While we still care a great deal about the properties we protected, about the many people who supported us along the way, and about the integrity and the potential of the land trust movement, we\u2019ve had to wash our hands of TLC.\u00a0 However, that does not mean that our vision of conservation \u2013 or the need for the kind of conservation infrastructure we were trying to build \u2013 has to be dismantled along with TLC.\u00a0 So, continuing to work together with Bill Turner and other key people from TLC, we are beginning to create a new organization, the National Trust for Land and Culture, which will in time pick up from where TLC left off, and create a proactive, democratic and broad-based conservation movement focused on the protection of special places not just in BC, but across the country.<\/p>\n
To help support ourselves and provide a base for our charitable work, we have also established our own consultancy \u2013 Change Canada Consultants Ltd. \u2013 that provides a range of services to non-profits, businesses and governments, designed to bring about positive change in our communities.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s it for now.\u00a0 And on to tomorrow\u2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 My Own Story (or, parts thereof\u2026) Ever since I can remember, I have been a passionate advocate for nature, for wildlife and for the natural world.\u00a0 As early as about age 6 or 7, I can recall having a rummage sale where I sold off a bunch of \u2026<\/p>\n