Transition: Independent Candidacy to Formation of Atlantica Alliance

The new web site for the Atlantica Alliance is up and running. The old site for my independent candidacy in Central Nova has simply been given a new domain name.

For anyone who is interested in delving into the evolving secessionist partnerships of the Atlantica Alliance, I would suggest visiting The Middlebury Institute and The Second Vermont Republic. Further links to the North American secessionist movement can be accessed by visiting the latter two sites.

De-brief, March 10 Meeting (email sent to supporters)

Thank you for the interest you have shown in my effort to introduce the dual political notions of peak oil, and the bioregional and political labeling of Atlantica via the medium of my independent’s campaign in Central Nova. The challenge remains to tap unexplored political turf. It is a daunting undertaking.

The poor turn-out at my nomination meeting of March 10 left me not so much disappointed, as it did perplexed. The poor turn-out (result) must be seen within the context of “marketing” initiatives (action) undertaken over several months: reasonably good positioning in the local print media to familiarize my name and the peripherals of my position (most residents of rural Central Nova are not online); both up and running web and blog sites for those who are online; hard copy announcement of the meeting on bulletin boards a week in advance of the meeting; two shotgun email announcements (300 plus) of the meeting sent to the business communities of New Glasgow, Antigonish and Guysborough, with the request to further the announcement to the recipients’ email contact lists.

Standard and very conservative "marketing" numbers should have delivered an attendance of at least 50. This was sadly far from the case. Based on the result relative to the input, I am left pondering the following: the political culture of Central Nova (and other rural ridings in Nova Scotia) is so closed as to not allow for the consideration of political alternatives, let alone the limited adoption of such alternatives; political identification with standard parties is so unquestioningly and parochially accepted and locked in to as to not allow for alternative political interpretations; the pending economic and social “hurt” that will be accompanied by peak oil is the only reasonable and hard motivator that will at least nudge people’s minds to consider political alternatives.

It has been suggested to me that a bearer of bad news cannot expect to get very far politically. Such is the standard and true. From my perspective, however, what is being delivered is not so much bad news, but the option for beginning the political undertaking and creation to counter the bad news. I maintain that this is a noble and positive political undertaking. The challenge becomes somewhat paradoxical, yet do-able.

I welcome your input and thoughts. Thanks for your attention.

(See March 11 coverage by The New Glasgow News, "An Independent Approach")

Press Release, March 6, 2008, Ronin Nomination Meeting Open to Public

The first of several nomination meetings for Central Nova independent candidate, Sebastian Ronin, will be held on March 10, 2008, 7:00 P.M. at Summer Street Industries in New Glasgow. Further nomination meetings are planned for River John, Antigonish, Guysborough and Sheet Harbour.

“The nice thing about being an independent is that all voting age residents of Central Nova make up the riding association, so to speak,” explained Mr. Ronin. “I am not limited by party factions to seek the 100 signatories for the nomination papers. Actually doing grass roots democracy is much more challenging than merely mouthing it.”

Mr. Ronin will outline his platform for the pending federal election at the March 10 meeting and explain what he sees to be the role of an independent candidate in Central Nova. Time allowing, he will also show the DVD documentary “A Crude Awakening” which deals with the issue of peak oil. There will also be a question and answer session.

“The global supply of oil has hit peak,” claims Mr. Ronin. “This will spawn social crises of unforeseen proportions and no one, not from our political leaders to the individual on the street, is acknowledging it nor is prepared for it.”

One of Mr. Ronin’s major planks is the creation of a new regional federal political party recognizing the bioregion of Atlantica to address the social and eco-political shifts that will be brought about by the global depletion of oil.

“This will be a century of hurt and major transformation,” says Mr. Ronin. “It will not be a fatuous prance through a meadow of sunflowers. Peak oil obviously trumps global warming, without detracting from the seriousness of that issue. As for any potential role that I may play in Central Nova politics, that will only be as interesting and productive as the electorate wishes it and allows it to be.”

The NDP is the only official party which has welcomed Mr. Ronin’s entry into the Central Nova democratic process. John Guthro, President of the Pictou Centre NDP, informed Mr. Ronin by email that his candidacy “is an important addition to the race.”

“Although I welcome it, I have to wonder why the NDP would make an overture to an eco-Libertarian independent,” muses Mr. Ronin. “I’m such a small political gnat, yet it would seem to me that some wagons are being circled behind the scenes to deal with possible tactical fall-out. Should the electorate choose to turn me loose, Central Nova could well become the most interesting riding of the election.”


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Why the New Glasgow News did not cover my Press Release: An Hypothesis

(The following is extracted from an exchange in The News, February 15, 2008. To see the full exchange, please visit here.)

James, let me give you a current sample of some hypothetical media manipulation right here in our own little Dogpatch. I ask you to follow the bouncing ball. On February 12th I submitted a press release to The News announcing the platform for my pending Central Nova independent candidacy. Included was the date of March 10th for a nomination meeting at Summer Street Industries open to all (a nice benefit of not being locked into a riding association). It is now the 15th with no story and calls not being returned by the editor, yet we have had leading stories dealing with suspicious packages, flue fires and ticks.

The ball is bouncing. The community is dependent for its printed news on a monopoly. That monopoly in turn is a tiny division of a large corporation headquartered in Montreal, Transcontinental Media, to be exact. There is a politician whose riding is in Montreal and who happens to be the leader of the Federal Liberal Party. All politicians require money. Said politician has cut a backroom non-aggression deal with the leader of another political party, parachuting her into Central Nova. This latter politician, in turn, has a dedicated weekly column in The News (remember, the monopoly), at the exclusion of other candidates, declared and pending. She also has a Riding Association that has absolutely zero dollars in its accounts as of the last reporting period with Elections Canada, whereas the Liberal Riding Association that has been taken out of the electoral loop is topped up at over $10,000. Might there be some favours being called in, and if yes, then by whom?

Boiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

(Note: The above should be read within the context of pending inquiries to 1. the Canadian Newspaper Association, in particular re its Statement of Principles, wherein it is stated: The newspaper should strive to paint a representative picture of its diverse communities, to encourage the expression of disparate views and to be accessible and accountable to the readers it serves, whether rich or poor, weak or powerful, minority or majority; and to 2. Elections Canada.)

It’s all hypothetical of course. One works with and makes conjectures from the evidence at hand. Did you follow the bouncing ball? There is an old Irish saying: A hound is yet a pup until it has learned how to hunt. It has nothing to do with paranoia, but more to do with adhering to some basic Colombo principles, i.e. follow the money.

If you have read this post, then it has not been nuked. FYI, you are more than welcome to view my platform at http://roninnova.blogspot.com/.

(Should this post get deleted, please note that the string of posts up to this point has already been printed, suitable for faxing.)

Political Statement, Independent Candidacy, Central Nova

Global warming is a given. In spite of what is claimed by befuddled flat-earthers, the Canadian public is of one opinion that the environment is its number one concern. In short time, the public will also come to the realization that concern over the economy is not secondary to concern over the environment, but primary. The pending political slogan, “It’s the environment, stupid,” is tantamount.

The nation’s mainstream political parties have followed suit to the public’s concerns. Over the last several years, these parties have fallen over themselves to develop Green policies, ranging from the banal to the ludicrous. Wisdom, courage and leadership have been betrayed by electoral spin for political favour. The Kyoto Protocol was too late by at least 25 years.

What all parties, the Green Party of Canada inclusive, hold in common re their differing environmental policies is a common premise. It is the premise that an ecological catastrophe and related social hardships can be averted by endorsing their particular environmental platform. This is a blatant misperception and falsehood.

All political parties, except one, can be relatively forgiven for not being more forthright with the Canadian public and charting a courageous and realistic course to tackle the challenges and dimensions of true eco-politics for the coming century. The governing Conservatives can be forgiven for a philosophical and moral blindness bordering on the insane. The Liberals can be forgiven for attaching themselves onto anything that might possibly translate into power and privilege. The NDP can be forgiven for being historically irrelevant. The party that cannot be forgiven for its timid and narrow political stance is the Green Party.

Global warming is but one of three factors constituting the socio-political triad of industrial civilization’s collapse. The other two points of this triad are global overpopulation and peak oil. To deny this interrelated triad of global transition relegates mainstream politicians as pre-Copernican monks mumbling into their beards the empty platitudes of an earth-centered and false heliocentricity. It is a simple fact that global overpopulation and peak oil have never been brought into public discourse by our political parties. The one party that may have been in a position to do so, the Green Party, has betrayed and abandoned its historical principles and responsibility by pandering to short-sighted and opportunistic drool. In a severe and paradoxical twist, this leaves the nanny Green Party as the most irresponsible, least trustworthy and most deceptive of all for addressing the political challenges at hand.

Industrial civilization is not merely in decline, it has entered the end-game, with all the squalid and amoral machinations of a decayed empire that accompany such historical epochs. The social, economic and political consequences of this historic transition constitute a bullet that cannot be dodged. It is that simple. The end of industrial civilization is neither good nor bad; it merely is. It is not the first time, nor will it be the last (assuming the human race survives), that a civilization has outlived and outstripped its institutional purposes, and collapsed.

As such, and as an independent candidate acknowledging that bioregional survival trumps vacant political posturing and, seeking the endorsement of the Central Nova electorate, I put forth the following for the electorate’s consideration.

Ø Recognizing the eco-political primacy and necessity of decentralization and jurisdictional bioregions, I propose the creation of a new federal political party, tentatively called The Atlantica Alliance Party. Such a regional political entity would accomplish the following for Maritimers:


1. Transfer the recognition of a legitimate commercial and cultural designation to a historically necessary political designation.


2. Empower the Atlantica negotiating position at the federal table with a unified block of 34 ridings (all Maritime ridings plus two from The Gaspé). Atlantica would thus possess an equal electoral leverage as currently held by British Columbia (at 36) and Alberta (at 28). This is essential in order to: a./ secure necessary leverage and funding for ecological crises of a particular bioregional nature, and; b./ establish alliances with other non-central Canadian jurisdictions to prevent a fiscal run on the nation’s treasury to unduly bail out the industrial infrastructure of Ontario and Quebec.


3. Return integrity and a necessary pre-Confederation commonality-of-vision to The Maritimes. As long as Maritimers allow themselves to remain divided along Liberal/Conservative lines, they remain conquered.


Ø Via a Private Member’s Bill, introduce to the House of Commons a motion to conduct a feasibility study of the Confederation Bridge (which returns to Federal management in 2032) to determine if a tidal turbine fence can be incorporated into the structure. If not too late, such measure could salvage the TrentonWorks plant. Should such a tidal turbine project be feasible it would deliver hydro self-sufficiency for Atlantica and negate the senseless building of a proposed second nuclear reactor in New Brunswick.


Ø Via a Private Member’s Bill, introduce to the House of Commons a motion to call for a review of the Constitution Act with the aim of reflecting a post-industrial institutional mosaic and template for the nation as opposed to a dated industrial one.


Ø Via a Private Member’s Bill, introduce to the House of Commons a motion to introduce legislation for the creation of an Environmental Emergency Act so that at times of pending ecological and social crises the Government of the day is not called upon to introduce the draconian War Measure’s Act.


Ø Via a Private Member’s Bill, introduce to the House of Commons a motion, as a gesture of hope to all peoples during this critical century of transition and to truly establish Canada as a proactive peace keeper, to instruct our Ambassador to the United Nations to introduce a motion at that body to change the name of our planetary home to Gaia (pronounced guy-ah).


Ø Lastly, to send a concrete gesture to the citizens of Central Nova that, because in short time we will all have to learn to do with less, I will donate from the obscene MP’s base salary of $150,800, twenty-five percent of the net, i.e. approximately $22,000, to three Central Nova charities of my choosing.

All Central Nova electors are invited to attend an open nomination meeting for Mr. Ronin’s independent candidacy to be held at Summer Street Industries, March 10, 2008, 7:00 P.M. Further nomination meetings are slated for Antigonish, Guysborough and Sheet Harbour.

Eleventh Hour Proposal for TrentonWorks

(This article was published in the print version of The New Glasgow News, January 15, 2008.)

Last May I announced my intent to seek an independent candidacy in Central Nova for the pending federal election. The status of my candidacy has not changed; it is pending.

The following proposal was to be, and may yet be, a major plank in my platform. However, as the situation for the future of TrentonWorks has hit a crisis point, I have no alternative but to release this proposal now in the public interest without having myself attached to it as a political candidate.

I propose the following: that the Government of Canada undertake a feasibility study to determine if it is possible, from an engineering perspective, to retrofit the Confederation Bridge to house a hydro turbine tidal fence. The proviso for this proposal is crucial. Should a feasibility study prove to be positive from engineering and economic viability perspectives, then all fabrication work for bridge upgrades and eventual turbine manufacture, whole or in part, be contracted to TrentonWorks.

I would think that a guaranteed demand for product, with minimal shipping overhead, i.e. from Pictou Harbour to sight of assembly, and with the potential of tapping into a dynamic, global market, would catch the eye of any tentative buyer of TrentonWorks, if not the eye of Greenbrier itself.

I further propose that said feasibility study incorporate the engineering expertise of Blue Energy International (BEI) along with representation from Strait Crossing Development Inc. (the current owners of the bridge), appropriate federal ministries, and provincial representation from New Brunswick and PEI. Note that the Federal Government would occupy a crucial seat as the management and operations of the bridge resort back to the Government of Canada in 2032.

BEI is a Canadian company and a world leader of tidal turbine and tidal fence technologies. I strongly suggest a visit to the company’s web site at http://www.bluenergy.com/ to view the company’s Dalupiri tidal fence project in the Philippines and, in particular, the bridge retrofit project on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. (A note to skeptics: no, I do not hold a share position in BEI.) The total length of the Dalupiri project is roughly the length of the Confederation Bridge. On completion, utilizing 274 of BEI’s Davis turbines, the Dalupiri project will generate 2,200 mega watts of energy. I leave it to you, the reader, to connect the dots on what this implies for the energy self-sufficiency of the Maritimes and possible export of surplus.

I further propose that, within the economic context outlined herein, that a share of Atlantic Gateway monies be earmarked for the upgrade of Pictou Harbour.

A multi-billion dollar project of such magnitude as is being proposed would require careful navigation through a minefield of a myriad of political, corporate, financial, legal and bureaucratic self-interests. Some sort of 3P arrangement goes without saying. However, it all boils down to the results of a feasibility study and, based on the study’s results, the marshalling of political will.

Lastly, I propose that the Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia offer to jointly lease the TrentonWorks facility, with all current assets in place, for the length of the proposed feasibility study. In this manner, Greenbrier is not only given the option of freezing bids for the duration of the study, but it is also not out-of-pocket.

This proposal is offered to the community in good faith. As the federal political representative of the community, the onus falls on The Honourable Peter MacKay to move with it, to bring it to the attention of Cabinet, or not. As such, the proposal somewhat takes on the dynamic of a standard call option. Should Mr. MacKay not exercise the right on the option by its expiry date, i.e. the date when the writ for an election is dropped, then the option reverses back to me as my intellectual property and as a plank in my pending independent platform.

The long-range vision implied in this proposal is for hydro energy self-sufficiency for the Atlantica region. If such a simple thing as a feasibility study to kick-start the process collapses, on either Mr. MacKay’s end or on mine, then the citizens of Central Nova may be strongly urged to boldly rally behind the socialist, earth-shattering NDP vision for a $10/hour minimum wage. They will need it.

The Opportunity

(Lifted from www.roninnova.ca)

The Federal election of 2006 delivered the following results for the riding of Central Nova:

Peter G. MacKay CON 17134 40.66%

Alexis MacDonald NDP 13861 32.89%

Dan Walsh LIB 10349 24.56%

David Orton GRN 671 1.59%

Allan H. Bezanson ML 124 0.29%

The first thing to note is the poor performance of David Orton, the Green Party of Canada candidate, at 1.59% of the vote. Yet, based on this level of GPC support, Elizabeth May is predicting a Green victory as the result of the May-Dion pact. Should Peter MacKay's vote hold at 40.66 +/- and, should the gagged Liberal vote swing to Green, Ms. May would still have to take about 15% plus from Louise Lorefice, the NDP candidate. Should the combination of the latter two voting patterns hold is a long-shot, to say the least (see below, appeasement of the Federal NDP).

The 7% Solution

Now, let us throw an independent candidate into the electoral mix. Within this new electoral context, I would like to put forward the following premises about the Liberal voting block:

Judging from the outcry in the community over the May-Dion pact, a high percentage of Liberal voters may just stay home, that being their "protest vote." This assertion is made without the benefit of a telephone pollster disturbing peoples' evenings meals. It is a political sentiment that is percolating at the street level and that the voters of Central Nova are all aware of.

Just how exactly the Liberal vote vis-á-vis the other parties will break down is, of course, an unknown.

Contrary to Ms. May's forecasts, I would venture the guess that she takes no more than 15% of the Liberal vote, while the Conservative and NDP votes hold pat, bringing the GPC vote in at 5% of the total vote, give or take. That leaves roughly 20% of the total vote unaccounted for, i.e. the Liberal vote. I would like to propose that of the Liberal vote left in political limbo, one-third of it (7% of the riding's total vote) would support an independent candidacy that is targeting the May-Dion pact as political and electoral theft, leaving the balance of the Liberal vote to stay home, or vote Conservative or NDP.

Should an unknown independent running as an eco-libertarian garner more votes than Ms. May, then the writing would very likely be on the wall. I would imagine that only political junkies are tuning into this site, so you do the math. The very intent of the May-Dion pact, i.e. the gagging of the Liberal Central Nova constituency, could back-fire and be inverted by the electoral voice of a small portion of that very constituency to determine some serious political consequences. Karma is always just, if at times hard. Such is the responsibility and power that 30% of the Liberal constituency now tentatively holds in its hands by virtue of this independent candidacy. The "7% solution" is a political option that can only be put into play by an independent candidate. My independent candidacy is merely a medium for the constituency's sentiments...and the eventual electoral choice of that constituency. As I perceive it, 3,000 voters out of roughly 42,000 hold in their hands significant political leverage and sway. If this electoral potential is contrasted against a position of being totally disenfranchised (courtesy of May-Dion), then we have the makings of something very serious here. As the saying goes, the glass is either half empty or half full. My job is to bring into focus a perception for the electorate's benefit that leans towards "half full." The situation before one's eyes remains the same. However, an altered perception of the situation exposes entirely different possibilities.

The NDP candidate, Louise Lorefice, is on record as saying that the May-Dion pact is "a gift" for the NDP. When one looks at the electoral numbers, this could very well be the case. Actually, an NDP victory in Central Nova could be the intent behind the May-Dion pact, a gesture of appeasement to Jack Layton and the Federal NDP to pave the way for an attempt to unite the left. When reports first surfaced that the Greens and Liberals were hunkered down behind closed doors, the reported item on the table was how to unseat Peter MacKay, not necessarily how to elect Ms. May.

As for Peter MacKay and the Conservatives, well, in all likelihood Mr. MacKay holds the seat of Central Nova, if the Liberal vote does not swarm over to the NDP.

An independent candidacy in Central Nova offers the voters a principled and realistic electoral option. There is a term for this. It is called grass-roots democracy. This is the political opportunity as I see it. This is what the Liberal constituency can do to salvage its integrity and send a clear signal to both the national Greens and Liberals that, in spite of a gun held to its head, democracy is alive and well in Central Nova.

The Situation

(Lifted from www.roninnova.ca)

Political Platform I (Visible)

As an eco-libertarian and bio-regionalist, I maintain the following:

• The May-Dion pact, separate from Green and Liberal philosophies, is a political act. As such, it can be contested at the electoral level. For those Liberal voters who are opposed to having their freedom of political expression denied and who will not vote Green, Conservative or NDP, I am offering the electoral option for a more constructive protest vote than merely staying home on election night. Needless to say, the Green principle of grass-roots democracy is out the window.
• The Green Party of Canada (GPC) has betrayed and abandoned the core Green political principles of bioregionalism and political decentralization. With climate change a given, it is imperative for a political entity to own these principles as it is the nation’s regions that will be affected in different ways. Where the ecological problems will be is where the solutions will need to be crafted with the aid of the Federal government.
• The Federal government should seriously consider endorsing the commercial designation of Atlantica, with the proviso that Nova Scotia’s rolling stock be upgraded. Rail transport would displace the high volume of truck traffic, with its high levels of pollution, to transport incoming goods at the province’s ports. It’s not rocket science. The upgrading of the province’s rolling stock translates into a vast opportunity for TrentonWorks, a business whose business is steel and the manufacture of rail cars.

As a conscientious human being, I maintain the following:

• The voters of Central Nova have the democratic right to freedom of expression. Given a realistic political medium and opportunity, they have the right and the obligation to themselves to correct the blatant democratic wrong committed unto them by Elizabeth May and Stéphane Dion as leaders of their respective political parties.

Addendum:

I was a member of the first Green party founded in the Americas, the Green Party of British Columbia. At the time of my resignation from the GPBC in 1986, I sat on the Executive and was a candidate-elect for the upcoming 1986 BC provincial elections. I have never held a party membership with any federal party.

Political Platform II (Somewhat Visible)

• Politely, but firmly, send May-Dion packing from Central Nova

Political Platform III (Cloaked, though not hidden)

Kick-start a dialogue and philosophical exploration for the creation of a new Federal political party in the Maritimes, tentatively called The Atlantica Alliance Party, based on the following historical premises and context:

The GPC has abandoned the political principles of bioregions and decentralization. A political vacuum on the transitory cusp separating the Industrial Age from the Information/Ecological Age seems evident. Nature abhors a vacuum.

To the best of my knowledge, no one on the ecological political stage, e.g. Green parties, David Suzuki, Al Gore, etc., has yet to inform the Canadian public how the destiny of industrial civilization, i.e. global warming to name one factor, is locked into the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics, that the ecological "bullet" that is heading for our social institutions is one that cannot be dodged:

First Law: All matter and energy in the universe are constant; it cannot be created nor destroyed. Only its form can be changed, but never its essence.

Second Law (The Entropy Law): Matter and energy can only be changed in one direction, from usable to unusable, from available to unavailable, from ordered to disordered. Every time energy is transformed from one state to another, a penalty is exacted. That penalty is a loss in the amount of available energy to perform work of some kind in the future. The term for this "penalty" is entropy. The implication is that all social phenomena is moving in the direction of random chaos and waste, i.e. maximum entropy. (Work-in-progress for insertion here: 1. using the sample of compact fluorescent bulbs, show how, within a global context, the supposed energy savings are highly questionable; 2. outline how the notions of how recycling and sustainability are somewhat illusory; 3. question the political validity of claiming that they are otherwise.)

The Entropy Law is not an opinion. It is physical law, as true as the Law of Gravity. We are as blind to it and its consequences as were pre-Copernican monks to the rotation of the earth around the sun.

As such, The Kyoto Protocol is very likely too late by about 50 years. Industrial civilization is a runaway train on a downhill slope that will have to run its course. Hope and work for the best; prepare for the worst.

The 2007 Federal Budget has made evident how politically isolated and lacking in political leverage, i.e. divided and conquered, the Maritimes are. A regional electoral block of 32 ridings translates into a hard, political asset with which to negotiate future needs.

The Federal Conservative Government has delivered the historical precedent of “nation-within-a-nation” status for the region/province of Québec. The constitutional premise and template for a new Federalism to meet the ecological challenges confronting the nation are at hand.

Atlantica lies latent on the east coast, Cascadia on the west coast, Québec already established. What is the ROC to do?

To take part in the dialogue towards this possibility, please stay tuned for the launch of a dedicated site and/or blog, likely a kind of Online Steering Committee, based on visitor interest. If you are interested in taking part in this dialogue, please send an email to sebastian.ronin@ns.sympatico.ca and place in the subject field "Atlantica Alliance."

First Week Summary

All in all, I'll take it. The local media coverage of the announcement was friendly, even to the point of getting picked up by New Glasgow radio (my press release was limited to the paper media). I am told that The Halifax Daily News will be running a piece tomorrow (Sunday the 6th). For anyone who cares to check it out, the url is: www.hfxnews.ca

On the second day into its launch, the site was doing 100+ hits. Again, I'll take it. Much of the action was coming from bloggers, some friendly, some hostile, i.e. a limp attempt by a Liberal party hack in Ottawa to draw me into a pissing contest. Many names will no doubt be hurled at me and at this independent candidacy. "Idiot" will likely not be one of them.

I can't stress enough to please read the site before deciding where and how all this sits with you, if it "sits" at all. Page loads are only running about 20-30% above hits, so that tells me that most visitors aren't going beyond the first page. Which is fine, but to get dished on the basis of not having read the entire site is a tad unfair. Everything I can safely say at this time, I have written down. Seven percent of the Central Nova Liberal constiuency! In case anyone missed it, seven percent! Seven! Where it has not been written down, the space left "between the lines" is quite wide.

The high point of the week came during a telephone conversation with a reporter for a local community paper. It was when the light came on for him as to what is being attempted here and that it is actually do-able...and do-able only by an independent. Now all that needs to be done is multiply that "aha!" by several thousand. That's my job and I have the summer to do it.

My major concern at this point is that not much online interest is coming out of Central Nova. But that comes with the turf, i.e. degree of internet hook-up, unwillingness to take initiative, etc. What I already knew is merely reinforced: that much work over the next several months will need to be done by working the streets. If it doesn't get done within the tactical scope of the trenches, wrangling around in the mud, then it doesn't get done. The lofty hilltops of strategy can be left to the more socially and politically incumbent.

Press Release, An Independent for Central Nova, May 2, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sebastian Ronin
216 Stewart Road, Pugwash River, NS B0K 1L0
902.243.3645, sebastian.ronin@ns.sympatico.ca

DATELINE: Pugwash River, Nova Scotia, May 2, 2007

An Independent for Central Nova

Former River John resident, now living in Cumberland County, Sebastian Ronin, has announced his candidacy as an independent in the Federal riding of Central Nova.

On the May-Dion pact, Mr. Ronin states, “The May-Dion pact, separate from Green and Liberal philosophies, is a political act. As such, it can be contested at the electoral level. For those Liberal voters who are opposed to having their freedom of political expression denied and who will not vote Green, Conservative or NDP, I am offering the electoral option for a more constructive protest vote than merely staying home on election night. Needless to say, the Green principle of grass-roots democracy is out the window.”

On bioregionalism: “The Green Party of Canada (GPC) has betrayed and abandoned the core Green political principles of bioregionalism and political decentralization. With climate change a given, it is imperative for a political entity to own these principles. It is the nation’s regions that will be affected in different ways. Where the problems will be is where the solutions will need to be crafted with the aid of the Federal government.”

On the future of TrentonWorks: “The Federal government should seriously consider endorsing the commercial designation of Atlantica, with the proviso that Nova Scotia’s rolling stock be upgraded. Rail transport would displace the high volume of truck traffic, with its high levels of pollution, to transport incoming goods at the province’s ports. It’s not rocket science. The upgrading of the province’s rolling stock translates into a vast opportunity for a business whose business is steel and the manufacture of rail cars.”

Mr. Ronin is a member of the Green Party of Nova Scotia, but on political principle has never held membership with the Federal Greens. Asked if this may confuse voters, Mr. Ronin replied, “I resigned from the Green Party of BC and its Executive 20 years ago over this issue. The situation in Central Nova is an opportunity to explain to the Canadian public why being a Provincial Green trumps being a Federal Green. As for representing the nation’s regions, in its own best interests the GPC could take a strategic page from the Bloc and how it represents the interests of Québec within federalism.”

A dedicated campaign web site has been launched at http://www.roninnova.ca/. Mr. Ronin can be contacted via email at sebastian.ronin@ns.sympatico.ca.

Mr. Ronin is widely known in Pictou County as the owner of Abel’s Canes Company. He will again be at the Pictou Week-End Craft Market during the summer months and he encourages anyone who is interested in his campaign to drop by his booth for a chat.

He currently resides in Cumberland County as the result of a real estate transaction last year. “This is where I found the kind of property I was looking for,” said Mr. Ronin. “I may very well be back in Pictou County should this place sell once the renovation work is completed. I’m actually scouting a property in Eureka. I can’t help but get a smile on my face when I think of living in a community called Eureka.”

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Bio

My academic, work and professional background can be viewed in my CV. Please click here to view. I am of the opinion that what is of more importance for my independent candidacy to the voters of Central Nova, is why and how it came about that I lived in Pictou County for several years.

In July, 1999 my wife, Margaret Dyane Haggart-Ronin, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. We were living in Vancouver, she a teacher, me a middle-management hack. We were informed that she had several weeks to live. True to the diagnosis, Dyane passed away on September 27, 1999. She had been born in New Glasgow and wished for her cremated remains to be buried in the family plot at Little Harbour Presbyterian Church.

Prior to flying Dyane's ashes to Nova Scotia for burial, I had never been east of Montreal. During the week that I was in New Glasgow for the funeral, something "grabbed" me. Whatever that "something" was, I can only liken it to a combination of people and place. When I returned to Vancouver, I started searching properties online and ended up buying a cabin, sight unseen, in River John in March, 2000. Over the next year I sold off most earthly possessions, stitched together a solid exit strategy from my desk job, and made the move to Nova Scotia in September, 2001. The five cats got piled onto a plane and I followed with pick-up truck and trailer.

My little cabin in River John was to be a grand sanctuary for the next several years and the birthplace of Abel's Canes Company. In the evenings during the first year after Dyane's death I had started "toying" with the idea of making hand-crafted canes. It kept me somewhat sane and kept the walls at bay. In time, I arrived at the conclusion that I was onto a fairly solid business idea. As it would happen, five days after I arrived in Nova Scotia the world was desecrated with 9/11. The province's tourism industry has been in decline ever since, not exactly the best business environment for a hand-crafted product. During my first year in Nova Scotia, Abel's Canes Company generated $16 in revenue (a gas rebate) and three very lovely ribbons (a first, a second, and a third) at the Truro Agricultural Fair.

A blind faith in the product and in its market, coupled with the necessary perseverance, has delivered today a solid recognition for the company not only in Pictou County, but with craft retailers across the Maritimes. (As an eco-libertarian, you should know that even considering applying for any type of government grant is out of the question.) A recent business venture is the launch of Arrowhead Wood Putters. As should be evident, I am not a rich man. I am a simple cane maker.

After several years of living in Pictou County, establishing a business here, and making friends and business acquaintances, the real estate market made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. In the summer of 2006 I sold my cabin in River John. After viewing several properties in Pictou County, the type of property I was looking for I found in Pugwash River, Cumberland County. This is where I now live.

With a couple of years of sweat capital to renovate, I will likely be in a position to sell and move on again, quite possibly back to Pictou County. With the Nova Scotia tourism industry on the ropes (my business is dependent on an "off shore" currency), it has been necessary to develop a business fall-back position. Home renovation for the retirement market is my choice for that contingency. I create my livelihood on a daily basis. No government is responsible for my survival.

Have I been a life-long resident of Pictou County? No, but certainly longer than a 20-minute photo op.

In general, I value my privacy and anonymity. The interpersonal dynamic of suck-holing for political favour nauseates me to no end but, fortunately, I know it's not about me; it's about principles and a few ideas. This thing that has been done in Central Nova by May-Dion is such an outrage that something needs to be done to thwart it. My independent candidacy is one effort of possibly several underway to accomplish such.

My in-laws live in Pictou County. I have nurtured a business here. I have friends and business associates here. My wife's remains are buried in the soil of Pictou County. At some level known only to myself that makes my relationship to the County sacred. As such, I have the right to challenge what I consider to be a political profanity.