Nationalization (2018)

Painting by Daniel H. Dugas, 1997.

In this New Brunswick election campaign period, we are bombarded with all kinds of promises from the leaders of the new-world-to-be, but I have not heard the following. What would happen if New Brunswick would nationalize its natural resources? Nationalization of natural resources has successfully taken place in the recent past; Norway nationalized its oil, and Québec nationalized its electricity. As Irving is involved in so many sectors of New Brunswick life, it might be more efficient to assume control or ownership of the Empire itself.

The Irving entity is the third richest in the country. It is perhaps ironic that it is based in New Brunswick, a province recognized as holding one of the lowest gross domestic product ratings in Canada. It is perplexing how one of the poorest provinces in the country has produced one of the richest entities and it brings the question of whether the wealth of the former is related to the difficulties of the latter.

In any case, the Irving Empire is vast and might be considered to be a form of cancer. We all know someone who had it; died from it or survived it, and we all know someone who works in one of Irving’s invasive ventures. We fill our cars with Irving gas, we live in their prefab homes, read their newspapers, use their tissue products and sometimes, we go out to enjoy the parks that they have created to protect “environmentally significant areas.” [1]  And as if this were not enough, we are also footing the bill to spray glyphosate on crown lands [2] to create monocultural forests to make Irving’s tree harvest easier and more profitable. Profits aside, the regular spraying of this chemical alone is reason for concern.

This mighty empire is comprised of the following: Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd., Irving Paper Ltd., Irving Tissue Co. Ltd., Lake Utopia Paper, Irving Sawmill Division, Irving Woodlands Division, New Brunswick Railway Co. Ltd., New Brunswick Southern Railway Co. Ltd., Eastern Maine Railway Co. Ltd., Maine Northern Railway Co. Ltd., Midland Transport, Midland Courier, RST Industries, Sunbury Transport, Atlantic Towing, Kent Line, JDI Logistics, Universal Truck & Trailer, Harbour Development, Saint John Shipbuilding, Halifax Shipyard, East Isle Shipyard, Shelburne Ship Repair, Woodside Industries, Fleetway Services Chandler, Kent Building Supplies, Shamrock Truss, Irving Tissue (Royale, Majesta, Scotties, private labels), Irving Personal Care (diapers, training pants), Cavendish Produce (fresh vegetables), Cavendish Farms (frozen potato processing), Indian River Farms, Riverdale Foods, Atlantic Wallboard, Irving Wallboard, Gulf Operators, Irving Equipment (crane rental, heavy lifting, specialized transportation, pile driving and project management services), Kent Homes, Plasticraft, Personnel Services, Protrans Personnel Services Inc., Industrial Security Inc., Moncton Wildcats, Telegraph-Journal (Saint John NB), Times & Transcript (Moncton NB), The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton NB), The Tribune (Campbellton NB), La Voix du Restigouche (Campbellton NB), The Bugle-Observer (Woodstock NB), Le Journal Madawaska (Edmundston NB), L’Étoile (various editions), Édition provincial, Édition La Cataracte (Grand Falls NB), Édition Chaleur (Bathurst NB), Édition Dieppe (Dieppe NB), Édition Kent (Bouctouche NB), Édition Péninsule (Shippagan NB), Édition République (Edmundston NB), Édition Restigouche (Campbellton NB), Édition Shédiac (Shediac NB), Kings County Record (Sussex NB), Miramichi Leader (Miramichi NB), The Northern Light (Bathurst NB), Here (Saint John NB, Moncton NB, Fredericton NB).

What would happen if all of this would be nationalized? The answer is that it wouldn’t be quite the same.

[1] Our Nature Parks and Nature Education Programs
https://www.jdirving.com/jd-irving-sustainability-nature-parks.aspx

[2] Stop Spraying NB:
http://www.stopsprayingnb.ca/

For more info:

Provincial and territorial natural resource indicators, 2009 to 2016:
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/13-604-m/13-604-m2018088-fra.htm

List of Canadians by net worth :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadians_by_net_worth

Nationalization: Advantages and Disadvantages of Nationalization:
https://www.importantindia.com/15749/nationalization/

Oil together now: Lessons on nationalisation from Norway:
https://mg.co.za/article/2011-09-08-oil-together-now-nationalisation-lessons-from-norway/

The Power of Outrage – ‘Anger is an Energy’ (2017)

I was invited through the Regroupement des éditeurs canadiens-français (RECF) to take part in two events in this year’s Burlington Book Festival. The first event Text(e)/Image was a performance with Herménégilde Chiasson at the Contois auditorium. The second event was called The Power of Outrage, a panel discussion with Shenaaz Nanji, Mary Dingee Fillmore, Leda Schubert, Melissa Febos and myself. It was moderated by Cora Siré. The discussion was centered around the question of ‘What fuels writers to take on burning issues? How do they handle the political? Does writing give them refuge from despair?’

I think that writing is a way to make sense of the world that exists around us. That is probably the main reason why I write and because the world is always moving, always transforming, the situation is always new and the need to understand it never-ending. My practice is multidisciplinary but economy and the political economy of our world is something that I continue to visit and to revisit. I believe that this is the foundation of societies; an uneven field. During the panel, I spoke about the vast empire created by Irving and our dependencies as citizens in New Brunswick, Canada. I spoke about glyphosate, ‘an herbicide sprayed throughout New Brunswick’s forests to kill hardwood growth’ [1] and the surrealistic battle forcing citizens of Moncton to demand that the spraying by J.D. Irving near Greater Moncton’s drinking water supply be halted. [2] The chemical itself is actually paid by the Province of New Brunswick, a practice that maximizes the profit margin of Irving. To me, this is a proof of whom is in charge. Obviously, the taxpayers are not, because we are forced to demand for the discontinuation of a practice that is polluting our forests, our groundwater and our very drinking water itself.

On my way back home, driving through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, I had time to think more about the panel. There are a few things that I wanted to say but they did not surface. In the last few years, our feelings as a society towards outrage have changed. Even Facebook now recognizes the importance of anger as normal, or at least a possible reaction.

If, for Facebook, anger is data to tailor a more personalize experience for its users, it can be form of energy to others.[3]

Anger Is An Energy, like the lyrics of Johnny Rotten’s song states. It can force someone to take a stand, to make a point in the hope of making something better. But anger can be a difficult road and sometimes, it can only take you so far. To be angry is to give out sparks, to shed light where it is often needed. The outrage must be voiced but it demands an enormous amount of energy. It can suck the light out of the room, the sanity out of an individual. To be distressed and in pain all the time cannot be healthy for anyone. This is why it has to be dealt with extreme care.

Driving through the Green Mountains of Vermont, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and into the forests of Maine gave me enough time to ponder about anger, its potential and its drawbacks. Yes, anger is an energy with dangerous currents, but it can also be a form of resistance that can protect individuals from getting electrocuted by the aberrations of the world.

[1] California places popular N.B. herbicide on list of cancer-causing chemicals http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/gylphosate-herbice-new-brunswick-california-1.4182805

[2] Moncton mayor calls for halt to glyphosate spraying inside city’s watershed https://globalnews.ca/news/3694180/moncton-mayor-calls-for-halt-to-glyphosate-spraying-inside-citys-watershed/

[3] Facebook’s Five New Reaction Buttons: Data, Data, Data and Data http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2016/02/24/facebook_s_5_new_reactions_
buttons_are_all_about_data_data_data.html