Halifax

What is at Stake? The Public Interest and Nova Scotia's "new" Economy

CCPA-NS Roundtable Discussion

4:00pm
- 6:00pm
Monday June 9 2014

The CCPA-NS Annual General Meeting will follow the roundtable

Since the early 1960’s there have been numerous major reports, commissions, and strategies both private and public aimed at steering the Nova Scotia economy. The Report of the Nova Scotia Commission on Building Our New Economy released in February 2014, often referred to as the Ivany Report, is another in this long list. It charts a path for Nova Scotians and strongly suggests that choosing another is not an option.  There are, however, many economists, labour and business leaders, academics, elected officials, and others who have expressed reservations about the report; all believe that exploring a wide range of alternatives is in fact crucial if Nova Scotians are to realize a more prosperous, just and healthy future.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social, economic and environmental justice. In this role, CCPA-NS strongly believes  the Ivany report requires a more thorough review than it has been given. With this as a goal, we have assembled an esteemed panel of experts to discuss the report.

What is the economy of which we speak? What is working and what isn’t, for whom and why? Assumptions, principles, and values frame what are identified as problems that face our province and the solutions that are required to tackle them. These, and the specifics of the economic approach, all need to be clearly articulated and explicit. This roundtable discussion will consider the implications of our economic approach (and that in the Ivany report) for the health of our democracy, society and environment.

Roundtable Participants:

1. Eric Newstadt, Research Associate, CCPA-NS
2. Gregory Heming, Councillor, Annapolis County
3. Karen Foster, Banting PostDoctoral Fellow in Management, Saint Mary's University
4. Monika Dutt, Medical Officer of Health, Cape Breton District Health Authority
5. Tony Charles, Professor, Sobey School of Business and School of the Environment, Saint Mary’s University

Moderator: Christine Saulnier, CCPA-NS Director

Biographies:

1. Eric Newstadt has spent many years working in and around the students' movement, both in Ontario and across Canada. He recently completed his PhD in Political economy at York University, and will assume a position in the politics department at Acadia University this fall. Until then Eric is working as an organizer with the Public Service Alliance of Canada. Eric has also been working as a contract researcher and is a Research Associate of the CCPA-NS.  Eric's research and writing has focused on higher education, the globalization of finance, and the restructuring of the welfare state in the West. Follow him on twitter: @ENewstadt
2. Gregory Heming is currently a municipal councillor in Annapolis County. In that role he chairs the Annapolis County Economic Development Committee and is a member of the county’s Municipal Climate Change Action Plan. Gregory holds a PhD in ‘Ecology and Northern Studies.’ Over the last 30 years he has been a constant voice for preserving rural places and a strong advocate for a steady-state economy that adheres to the principles of ecological economics.
3. Karen Foster is currently the Banting PostDoctoral Fellow in Management at Saint Mary's University. As of July 1st she will be an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Dalhousie University. Her areas of study are economic development, productivity, people's relationships to work, and youth employment. Find her on Twitter @nearestForK and blog.
4. Monika Dutt is a public health specialist and family physician. She is the Medical Officer of Health for the Cape Breton District Health Authority in Nova Scotia. She is also the Chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare and Adjunct Faculty with Cape Breton University. On twitter follow: @Monika_Dutt
5. Tony Charles is a professor in the School of Business and the School of the Environment, at Saint Mary’s University. He specializes in interdisciplinary research on governance, management and socioeconomics of natural resources and the environment. Tony is known for his work on participatory, community-based management, as well as sustainability, well-being and human dimensions of environmental and resource issues. He leads the global Community Conservation Research Network, a multi-year research initiative on local conservation and sustainable livelihoods and has led reports of GPIAtlantic.

- See more at: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/offices/nova-scotia/events/what-stake-public-interest-and-nova-scotias-new-economy#sthash.xSHdPnQx.dpuf

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