Hello:
This is the seventh and last press release of our election campaign 
here in Central Nova. It was written prior to the meeting at the 
university in Antigonish, held on Tuesday evening (January 17, 2006), 
which was totally packed. One of the student organizers told me there 
were well over 400 people present. There had been a similar 
all-candidates packed meeting with hundreds of people in attendance 
at Stellarton the previous evening. The press release below reflects 
my own briefing notes, written up prior to the evening meeting, but 
one is only allowed a five minute opening statement. So what was said 
by me in this statement is a bit different from the release below. We 
gave out our "Make Peace With Nature, Vote Green" leaflet to over 300 
people at the Antigonish meeting. We also distributed this leaflet at 
the Stellarton meeting. Our own leaflet called for "Free 
Earth-centered, socially aware education from kindergarden to 
university." The press release can be published elsewhere should 
anyone wish to do this.

Best and for the Earth
David
********

Press Release

January 17, 2006, Saltsprings, Pictou County


    Green Party Candidate Calls for Green Education to Protect the 
Natural World


David Orton, Green Party candidate for Central Nova, calls for green
education to protect the natural world. At a recent all-candidates meeting
organized by university students in Antigonish, he talked about what a green
education should be about, and the role of a university.

Orton pointed out, "A university education does not necessarily train you as
a Nature defender."

He said, "Any major environmental issue -- whether it be the Sable Gas
Project and the pipeline across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick; the annual
herbicide spraying program which is part of industrial forestry, or the
insecticide spraying which comes up from time to time with this type of
forestry; or the seismic testing by the oil and gas industry in the inshore
waters around Nova Scotia -- will have highly 'educated' people speaking on
behalf of the proponents of such activities (the Earth-destroyers), saying
that what they are doing is perfectly acceptable. The opponents (people like
myself) are sometimes described as emotional (which we usually are), but
also ill-informed. Unfortunately, the Earth becomes further degraded, helped
along by university-trained apologists."

Orton asked, "So, what is the problem with education? Who 'will educate the
educators' as Marx noted so long ago?"

Orton discussed how Aldo Leopold, one of the most important environmental
philosophers for the U.S. environmental movement, had written in his book _A
Sand County Almanac_: "Education, I fear, is learning to see one thing by
going blind to another." Orton pointed out that Leopold was talking how, in
his days, humans were blind to the abundant natural life to be found in
marshes, which were sooner or later filled in and paved over in the name of
so-called 'progress'.

Orton proposed that one way of becoming more in harmony with Earth concerns,
is to have 'Councils of All Beings' to try and break away from the
human-centeredness, where nature is just seen as 'resources' for human
consumption.  He said, "Environmentalists who are influenced by deep
ecology, like myself, believe that the Council is a powerful teaching forum.
It has been described as an attempt to 'hear within ourselves the sounds of
the Earth crying.' This is done by adopting a non human persona such as that
of an animal, a plant, a rock, a river, a mountain, etc. and speaking to the
negative impact of humans upon the persona chosen. Sometimes people speak
through masks. People participating in the Council become more aware of the
impact of humans on nature. The Council is an empowering mechanism to turn
despair into action."

As Orton pointed out, "Education is where society passes on its values
through a socialization process, what the U.S. sociologist Peter Berger
called the 'of course' statements. All those statements, which we are so
familiar with, about 'of course this is the way it is.' Education is a
conservative human-centered force overall. This is not to say that there are
not good teachers at all levels who try to oppose this trend and try to
bring a critical perspectives to their students."

Orton gave an example of an "of course" statement that we hear in the
Maritimes, namely that there are "too many seals", yet we never hear that
there are too many fishers, or that there is something wrong with our
human-centered perspective, which sees the seals as consuming "our fish."

"Some 'of course' assumptions in our post industrial society", Orton said,
"are that we should let the 'market' decide, that globalization is good, and
that 'bigger is better'. The Green Party disagrees. For the market, all of
Nature is a "resource" awaiting conversion into saleable commodities. Yet
the market cannot answer ecological, social, ethical and philosophical
questions."

Orton said that "A green education has to critically analyse these questions
from an Earth-centered perspective, and see whether 'Small is beautiful' is
not a better motto for society."

Orton ended his talk by saying, "From my perspective, nature education,
where we see ourselves as a humble part of the natural world, and not
masters of it, is needed throughout the education system. This is what deep
ecology is all about. It is not enough to be socially progressive, if we
turn our backs to the ongoing Earth-destruction which surrounds us
everywhere. We have to defend what is left of the natural world, by putting
our minds, our hearts and our bodies on the line in its defence. This is
what education should help us achieve."


                                                       -30-


Authorized by the Official Agent for David Orton

Mark A. Brennan
Campaign Manager for The Green Party Candidate for Central Nova, David Orton
GREEN PARTY OF CANADA www.greenparty.ca
Phone Central Nova Campaign Manager (902) 396 4397
Green Party Candidate, David Orton (902) 925 2514
Email David Orton; [log in to unmask]
"Make Peace With Nature, Vote Green"

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