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[alwaysfishn]

I personally think this is a bad idea.......    What are your thoughts?

Happy New Year all!

I have changed the name of this list from "fishermanlist" in case you don't recognize this email.

I am writing to ask for your feedback. On January 5th I was contacted by the federal NDP and asked to consider running for Member of Parliament of the North Vancouver Island riding.

I am considering running because it is my observation that wild salmon and BC’s rural communities are both suffering of the same politics. Much of government is operating at a level that does not appear to consider those of us on the ground in small communities. It looks like negotiations are taking place over our heads in the jet stream of international finance and that this is less and less good for our communities, the bears, whales and salmon.

I do need to consider carefully whether I have better ability to serve the place I love and call home as an MP, or as an outspoken biologist. I will be thinking hard for the next few days.

There is now a facebook page on this where you can comment: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Alexandra-Morton-MP-for-Vancouver-Island-North/190215600992255

I also have a nonpartisan website you can join for considerations beyond the immediate decision: www.wildsalmonpeople.ca

I am extremely reluctant to enter politics, but I am facing the harsh reality that nothing we have done has changed anything in the water where it counts and I just want to get to the bottom of this and fix it. Too much is at risk to allow Ottawa and foreign shareholders drive us into the ground.

More of my reasoning is at: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
If any of you have pros or cons on this I will read them.

Thank you,Alexandra Morton

[chris gadsden]

I personally think this is a bad idea.......    What are your thoughts?

Happy New Year all!

I have changed the name of this list from "fishermanlist" in case you don't recognize this email.

I am writing to ask for your feedback. On January 5th I was contacted by the federal NDP and asked to consider running for Member of Parliament of the North Vancouver Island riding.

I am considering running because it is my observation that wild salmon and BC’s rural communities are both suffering of the same politics. Much of government is operating at a level that does not appear to consider those of us on the ground in small communities. It looks like negotiations are taking place over our heads in the jet stream of international finance and that this is less and less good for our communities, the bears, whales and salmon.

I do need to consider carefully whether I have better ability to serve the place I love and call home as an MP, or as an outspoken biologist. I will be thinking hard for the next few days.

There is now a facebook page on this where you can comment: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Alexandra-Morton-MP-for-Vancouver-Island-North/190215600992255

I also have a nonpartisan website you can join for considerations beyond the immediate decision: www.wildsalmonpeople.ca

I am extremely reluctant to enter politics, but I am facing the harsh reality that nothing we have done has changed anything in the water where it counts and I just want to get to the bottom of this and fix it. Too much is at risk to allow Ottawa and foreign shareholders drive us into the ground.

More of my reasoning is at: http://alexandramorton.typepad.com/
If any of you have pros or cons on this I will read them.

Thank you,Alexandra Morton

Why is it a bad idea?

[Bassonator]

I think its a bad idea too. If I was a constituent my first question would be how much of your time will be spent on salmon issues and how much time on vancouver island north issues. Id never vote for a single issue candidate.

[troutbreath]

Good for her. I would imagine that salmon would be an issue for people on the north island as many used to make a living off the fishing industry. So it probably is the most important issue.... after cutting down trees. One thing for sure, she's got more integrity than most of those smarmy mouthed BC Liberals. The person who is the MP now would make a good trivia question : who is the MP for the North Vancouver Island. No hints. No curb side call outs.

[aquapaloosa]

I think that being an activist and a scientist at the same time isn't really working out so well.  Best not throw politics in the mix.

Her issues would likely be hand picked...like her seines.

[alwaysfishn]

Why is it a bad idea?

I think as a "outspoken biologist" she carries a significant amount of credibility...... I can't say the same for a politician, NDP or any other. 

If she wants to do the politics fine, but then she should drop the biology....  unfortunately I'm not aware of anyone else out there that could fill her shoes.

[alwaysfishn]

I think that being an activist and a scientist at the same time isn't really working out so well.  Best not throw politics in the mix.

Her issues would likely be hand picked...like her seines.

I disagree...   The industry needs exactly what she is providing.

I agree that tainting it with politics wouldn't help her efforts!

[Schenley]

I think that the polarization she will being to the North Island race  will likely get Duncan in again. I appreciate her fish farm work, but I dont think she can beat Duncan

[Fish Assassin]

She's better off running as an Independent. Once elected as a MP under a political party he/she is committed to following the party's agenda whatever that may be. Remember Jim Ciummins running for the Conservatives ? How much impact did he have with regards to the Tories' policy on fishing ?

[alwaysfishn]

She's better off running as an Independent. Once elected as a MP under a political party he/she is committed to following the party's agenda whatever that may be. Remember Jim Ciummins running for the Conservatives ? How much impact did he have with regards to the Tories' policy on fishing ?

Good point. If she wants to be in both politics and protecting salmon that would make the most sense.

[StillAqua]

It is never a bad idea for any citizen to step up and run for public office to serve their community, whether they are salmon biologists or even corporate executives, small business owners or trade unionists. The public will decide at the polls if their ideas have merit.

[jon5hill]

I think that being an activist and a scientist at the same time isn't really working out so well.  Best not throw politics in the mix.

Her issues would likely be hand picked...like her seines.

What you are suggesting is that the sampling protocol used by Alexandra is biased in some fashion to select for parasitized juveniles over non-parasitized juveniles. I have personally done sampling and lice counting for Alexandra's data set in the Broughton. The fish are beach seined blindly or by sighting a school, the seine net is then pursed (volume reduced) to a size that is manageable for dip-netting fish. A large dip-net withdraws anywhere from 400-500 fish at a time, and these fish are put into 4-5 large pails of sea-water. A smaller dip net is then slowly swirled around the bottom of the pails to bring all of the fish in the buckets to the top. The fish are all active, moving constantly in circles around the top of the water in the buckets. The smaller dip net is then lifted up from the bottom, taking a random pink or chum juvenile. In the event that more than one fish is dip netted, to avoid bias, all fish are returned to the recovery pail (a pail with only sea-water), and the procedure repeated until a single random sample has been isolated for lice enumeration and morphometrics.

If there is any subjectivity to the selection of a juvenile for lice enumeration, it is extremely miniscule and negligible. The above procedure is a way to make sure the fish remain alive after the lice enumeration, rather than using DFO protocol which kills all juveniles sampled.

[aquapaloosa]

Jon,

  How can someone be an activist and a scientist at the same time???

[jon5hill]

Jon,

  How can someone be an activist and a scientist at the same time???

Charles J. Krebs wrote this passage in my textbook in introductory ecology:

Science is thought by many people to be value free, but this is certainly not the case. Values are woven all through the tapestry of science. All applied science is done because of value judgments. Medical research is a good example of basic research applied to human health that virtually everyone supports. Weapons research is carried out because countries wish to defend themselves against military aggression.

In ecology the strongest discussions about values have involved conservation biology. Should conservation biologists be objective scientists studying in biodiversity, or should they be public advocates for preserving biodiversity? The preservation of biodiversity is a value that often conflicts with other values - for example, clear-cut logging that produces jobs and wood products. Ecological journals are peppered with this discussion about advocacy.

Scientists have a dual role. First, they carry out objective science that both obtains data and tests hypotheses about ecological systems. They can also be advocates for particular policies that attempt to change society, such as the use of electric cars to reduce air pollution. But it is crucial to separate these two kinds of activities.
Science is a way of knowing, a method for determining the principles by which systems like ecological systems operate. The key scientific virtues are honesty and objectivity in the search for truth. Scientists assume that once we know these scientific principles we can devise effective policies to achieve social goals. All members of society collectively decide on what social goals we will pursue, and civic responsibility is part of the job of everyone, scientists included. There we always be a healthy tension between scientific knowledge and public policy in environmental matters because there are always several ways of reaching a particular policy goal. The debates over public policy in research funding and environmental matters will continue.

     
As concerned people who want only the best for us and the salmon, we want to see what is best for both us and them. The system is complex, and so to understand it we use the scientific method. Using science as a tool to seek the truth gives us the ability to advocate for certain policies with confidence.

[BwiBwi]

I just hope she won't end up like many other good people.  Who got lost in the game of power hunger when they are voted into office.