Green Party candidate calls for

             Marine Protected Areas and a Ban on Seismic Testing



                Press Release

                December 16, 2005, Saltsprings, Pictou County

                David Orton, Green Party candidate for Central Nova, says that "to make
            peace with nature, we must adapt to and not fundamentally change the marine
            ecosystem.  The oceans off Canada's East Coast have been commercially
            exploited since the late fifteenth century, without paying attention to the
            rhythms and tolerances of the oceanic ecosystem."

                Many rural Canadians have come to learn first-hand that there is no
            permanent unspoilt space for one's family which cannot be fundamentally
            disrupted by capitalist economic activity. In his campaign, Orton will try
            to reflect the views of this human constituency and oppose all seismic
            testing in inshore waters. He said "We can expect to see drilling rigs as
            part of a new landscape for coastal residents, if the oil and gas boosters
            get their way, plus all the toxic releases which can be expected from leaks,
            pipeline breakages, well blow-outs, release of drilling muds, human errors,
            etc."

                Orton strongly opposes the activities of  the oil and gas industry in the
            region, in its offshore and onshore gas pipeline phases, because: "when we
            know the destructive role of increasing climate change gases, promoting
            rising fossil fuel consumption should rightly be regarded as a major
            criminal activity."

                Many groups and individuals, including fishers, aboriginals,
            environmentalists, tourism operators and area residents, have banded
            together in the organization Save Our Seas and Shores Coalition to oppose
            seismic testing in the inshore waters around Nova Scotia. The firing of air
            guns along the floor of the ocean bottom, in search of oil and gas is
            deafening for marine life. As one Dalhousie University scientist has
            written, "seismic blasts from exploration can be heard half-way across
            the Atlantic."

                Orton recently pointed out that "The Canada-Nova Scotia Off-Shore Board,
            which hands out exploration licenses to oil and gas companies, supposedly
            oversees seismic testing. Yet there is no real public consultation. The way this
            board operates is a perfect example of what environmentalists have come to
            call 'regulatory capture.' That is, a body which is supposed to regulate and
            oversee the oil and gas industry, becomes another promotional and public
            relations arm for the industry."

                As a supporter of the deep ecology environmental philosophy, Orton will also
            try to represent the non-human marine constituency in this discussion, by
            being a voice for ALL marine species who will be directly impacted by oil
            and gas activity including seals, seabirds, whales, cormorants and bluefin
            tuna. Orton calls for extensive "no-take" marine protected areas in these
            inshore waters, closed to all commercial fishing and extractive activities.
            Many commercially targeted fish species, whether  groundfish or pelagics
            like herring, mackerel and capelin, have an observed weight-at-age which is
            decreasing  because of intense fishing pressures and this is reflected
            throughout  the ocean food web. He said "The overall intensity of the
            commercial fishery has to be drastically scaled back.Sea birds, marine
             mammals and other species must have their own 'allocations' of food
            sufficient for their needs. Humans must share the ocean bounty and not
            try to appropriate all of it."

                Orton concluded, "We cannot continue treating the oceans as a 'sea of
            slaughter' as Farley Mowat has documented. Gone forever are the Sea Mink,
            the Great Auk and the  Labrador Duck. The Atlantic populations of the Walrus
            and the Grey Whale have been wiped out. We humans have to learn before it is
            too late, to extend our circle of concern to the oceans and the Earth. All
            life is ultimately one."

                                                             -30-


            Authorized by the Official Agent for David Orton

            Contacts:
            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 (925) 925 2514
            Email David Orton: dorton@greenparty.ca



            "Make Peace With Nature, Vote Green"



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                Last updated: January 29, 2006