[The Lunenburg Barnacle] Lunenburg Company Produced Parts Used By Israel in Gaza Genocide
Published September 11, 2025 in The Lunenburg Barnacle Stelia Aerospace North America has confirmed that airplane parts produced at the company’s Lunenburg facility were part of the fighter jets used by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in the ongoing genocide of civilians in Gaza. A representative for the company called the Government of Canada pause…
[The Lunenburg Barnacle] MLA Barkhouse Swept into Office on Wave of Campaign Donations
Chester-St. Margaret’s MLA Danielle Barkhouse won her seat riding a massive wave of campaign donations that were used to flood the riding with advertising. This phenomenon of the donation rush in Nova Scotia elections calls into question the impact of money in our democracy. The 42 Nova Scotia General Election was held on November 26,…
[The Lunenburg Barnacle] South Shore Opts for Centrism in Tight Federal Election as the Left Collapses and Trump Sinks the Right
The original version of this story incorrectly implied that the COVID-19 Pandemic ended, when the actual intention of the statement was to highlight the end of public health measures surrounding the COVID-19 Pandemic that were in place during the last federal election. The federal riding of South Shore—St. Margarets, in line with a global wave…
[The Lunenburg Barnacle] MODL Struggles to Implement Series of Planning Reforms Amid Landowner Backlash
Jump to section: The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg (MODL) has recently undertaken a number of planning reforms that have sparked backlash from some land and business owners. MODL’s planning reforms include amendments to the Secondary Development plans for Osprey Village, a policy governing cluster developments, a neighbourhood nuisance bylaw, a Municipal Planning Strategy…
[The Lunenburg Barnacle] South Shore Federal Candidates Respond to the Barnacle’s Policy Questions
Table of Contents Canada’s 45th General Election began on March 23, 2025 with voting day happening on April 28. Lunenburg County is located in the recently-redrawn riding of South Shore—St. Margarets. The Lunenburg Barnacle reached out to all federal candidates and parties that are officially running in the election. Rick Perkins, the Conservative Party candidate,…
[The Lunenburg Barnacle] MP Rick Perkins Holds America First Investment Portfolio Amid Approaching Trade War Election
Public opinion in Canada seems to be turning away from the Conservatives just weeks away from a federal election. While the federal Conservative Party attempts to pivot its messaging towards more nationalist rhetoric, local MP Rick Perkins may remain invested in many American companies; some closely connected to the Trump Regime. U.S. President Donald Trump,…
[The Lunenburg Barnacle] MODL to Keep Climate Change as a Budget Priority After Heated Council Debate
IThis story contains several sections. Click the links below to skip ahead: Table of Contents It is no surprise, with an increasing number and intensity of extreme weather events in recent years, that climate change is a hot topic for the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg (MODL) Council. Lunenburg County was largely spared from…
[The Lunenburg Barnacle] Mayor McLean-Wile Raised Substantial Sum Through Donations in 2024 Election, Mostly From Business Interests
This story originally incorrectly identified a donor to Alison Strachan’s campaign as a teacher, It has also been updated to note that Jo-Ann Ramsey is the previous owner of Jo-Ann’s Deli Market & Bake Shop. Under the Municipal Elections Act election candidates are required to report the campaign contributions that they receive. The Barnacle reached…
[The Lunenburg Barnacle] Pinstripes With Panels: How Wall Street Is Getting in on Local Solar
A Toronto-based multinational solar development corporation called SolarBank is seeking a letter of support from MODL to develop a community solar garden with the support of Nova Scotia’s new community solar program. The company is registered in the province as 4650576 Nova Scotia Limited and traded on the Canadian branch of the Chicago Board Options…
[The Lunenburg Barnacle] Five Topics That Defined Lunenburg County Politics in 2024
Lunenburg County had a busy year in 2024 in terms of politics. An attempt to capture proceedings for the last twelve months is a truly overwhelming task that cannot fully convey all the stories of local residents working to better our community. We went through two elections at the same time as we watched climate…
[The Lunenburg Barnacle] Opposition Parties Call for Electoral Reform in Nova Scotia to Improve Voter Turnout
Voter turn-out for provincial elections in Nova Scotia has been on a steady decline over the past two decades, especially among younger generations. Elections Nova Scotia data shows a drop in voter turnout from 68% in 1999, 57% in 2006, and 53% in 2017. Opposition parties are calling for electoral reform hoping that it will…
[Lunenburg Barnacle] Transparency on Municipal Candidates Helps Keep Private Interests Out of Public Policy
Members of municipal council are required to refrain from voting on motions where they have a conflict-of-interest. However, commercial interests, proprietary interests and professional relationships can influence any politician’s general approach to government in ways they may not be conscious about. The remedy for the potential encroachment of private interest into public policy is transparency…
[Lunenburg Barnacle] Candidates Express Contrasting Approaches to Municipal Tax Reform
MODL candidates in the upcoming MODL election are in general agreement that the municipality needs to reform the way it collects taxes to pay for local government. They disagree, however, about how tax reform should proceed. Calls for municipal tax reform have arisen out of MODL’s reliance on property taxes to pay for municipal government,…
[Lunenburg Barnacle] We Need to Break Up Monopolies to Bring Down Food Prices
The cost of food has been a near universal concern on the minds of people in Lunenburg County. It has even provoked a nationwide boycott of Loblaws-owned stores with limited effect. While the impact of the boycott has been modest, their actions have resulted in a public discussion about why prices are so high and…
[Ph.D Thesis] The Long Grab: Dispossession in Southeastern Kitchi Sipi Valley, from Colonization to Financialization
by Christy Kelly-Bisson (defended May 2024) Abstract: This thesis examines changes in the distribution of farmland in the southeast of the Kitchi Sipi (Ottawa) Valley between 2000 and 2017. It originally hypothesized that financialization would be the leading cause of a recent wave of farmland grabs in the area based on the findings of existing…
[Lunenburg Barnacle] “Keep Politics out of Municipal Affairs” – MODL Council Rejects Gaza Ceasefire Motion
The Municipality of the District of Lunenburg (MODL) Council defeated a motion on April 9 calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, with Councillors saying it was not an appropriate matter for the municipality to consider. Council also rejected a request for a $10,000 donation from the Council Contingency Fund to the Red Cross humanitarian effort…
Minister Bibeau Rejects Industry Push for GMO Deregulation
On September 19th La Presse and Radio Canada reported concerns from farmer and environmental groups that an official document about the regulation of gene edited crop varieties were being drafted by lobbyists for agrochemical corporations. The documents outlined how crop developers would not be required to provide information to the public about whether a crop variety was developed through…
[SeedChange] Heritage and Heirloom Grains Regulations Fact Sheet
“Over the past decade, there has been a great deal of interest within the Canadian agricultural and culinary sectors regarding heritage and heirloom grains. As a result, farmers and gardeners are increasingly working to bring many of these varieties back into circulation and grow them for personal consumption, as well as community and commercial distribution.…
[SeedChange] Participatory Plant Breeding for Potatoes in Canada: Pathways for Direct Distribution, and Variety Listing and Registration
“Since 2013, farmers across Canada have been taking part in a participatory plant breeding (PPB) program on potatoes with the University of Manitoba (U of M), Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC), and The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security (the Bauta Initiative). The goal ofthe PPB program is to support farmers in developing new…
[SeedChange] Participatory Plant Breeding for Wheat and Oats in Canada: Pathways for Direct Distribution and Variety Registration
“Since 2011, farmers across Canada have been taking part in a participatory plant breeding (PPB) program on wheat and oats with the University of Manitoba (U of M), Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC), and The Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security (BFICSS). The goal of thePPB program is to support farmers in developing new…
[Unpublished Ottawa] Moving The Ottawa Urban Boundary Will Cause Significant Farmland Losses: Preliminary Doctoral Research Finds
The upcoming vote on the Ottawa Official Plan has significant implications for the preservation of farmland, rural ecology, local food system, and viability of agriculture in Ottawa. I am a fifth year PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa currently preparing a dissertation on my research into the distribution of farmland ownership in eastern Ontario.…
[Review of International Political Economy] Teaching students to think ecologically about the global political economy, and vice versa
Published April 13, 2020 in Review of International Political Economy Katz-Rosene, Kelly-Bisson, C., & Paterson, M. (2021). Teaching students to think ecologically about the global political economy, and vice versa. Review of International Political Economy : RIPE, 28(4), 1083–1098. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2020.1748092 Global warming, biodiversity decline, and other global-scale environmental changes associated with the Anthropocene are profoundly reshaping and being…
[Agriculture and Human Values] What’s wrong with permaculture design courses? Brazilian lessons for agroecological movement-building in Canada
Published June 28, 2018 in Agriculture and Human Values Massicotte, MJ., Kelly-Bisson, C. What’s wrong with permaculture design courses? Brazilian lessons for agroecological movement-building in Canada. Agric Hum Values 36, 581–594 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-018-9870-8 This paper focuses on the centrality of permaculture design courses (PDCs) as the principal sociopolitical strategy of the permaculture community in Canada to transform…
[Sustain Ontario] Farmland Loss and Preservation in Ontario
Farming and Farmland NetworkResearch (2017)Policy Area 1 – Farmland PreservationBy Christopher Kelly-Bisson (cbiss045@uottawa.ca) Goal:Survey evidence and policy options to inform advocacy to keep Ontario farmland in agricultural production. Evidence of Farmland Loss Problem:Ontario has been facing a steady decline in its agricultural land base since the early 1970s. The total amount of land on farms…
[The Hill Times] Changes south of the border offer both challenges and opportunities for sustainable agriculture in Canada
This article was published in the Hill Times on February 20, 2017 By Ryan M. Katz-Rosene, Marie-Josée Massicotte, and Christopher Kelly-Bisson A number of obstacles presently stand in the way of efforts to make Canada’s agricultural system more sustainable. A heavy reliance on chemical inputs, industrial processing, and long distances between farm and plate have…
[The Rhizome] Using Silage Tarps in Organic Farming
I haven’t written about the practices on my personal farm yet in this blog, this post will be the first. Now, my business partner Jordan and I are relatively new farmers, so I am not all that confident to share agroecology advice. We frankly have so much to learn. However, this season our use of…
[Ricochet Media] Why food sovereignty should be part of the debate on the TPP
This article was published in Ricochet on May 30, 2016 You wouldn’t know it by following the story on Twitter, but the National Academies report offers a rather mixed perspective on GE technology. Basically, it says that GE crops pose no greater risk and offer no added nutritional benefits than those bred through conventional means.…
2016 Eastern Ontario Hops Survey
The following is the most recent results from the survey as presented at the Two Rivers Food Hub Hops Growing Workshop – March 21, 2015 2016 Eastern Ontario Hops Survey Green’s Creek Farm Christopher Kelly-Bisson & Jordan Bouchard Executive Summary: Est. Regional Value: $1,279,200Est. Regional Quant.: 88,221 lbsAvg. Value/Brewery*: $12,175Avg. Quant/Brewery*: 2,705 lbsDesired Format: Pelletized…
[The Leveller] Harper Government Trades Canada’s Dairy Industry For Magical Beans: Dairy farmers protest to mitigate foreign trade concessions
By Christopher Kelly-Bisson In an interesting cross between an agricultural fair and a political protest, an estimated 70 tractors lined Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill on Sept. 29. There was one common message that seemed to emanate right from the drone of engines; the Canadian supply management system works and no concessions should…
[The Leveller] Canadian Supply Management: A legacy of organized farmer action
by Christopher Kelly-Bisson Images of cows and tractors on Parliament Hill may make a lot of people question how milk has suddenly become such a hot election issue. Supply management seems to have popped out of nowhere but it is an issue that has lingered quietly beneath the surface of the Canadian political dialogue for…
[The Leveller] We Need to Get Food on The Menu This Election: Five key election issues that impact Canadian food sovereignty
by Christopher Kelly-Bisson Leaders of the major Canadian political parties have focused largely on issues of economic growth and government accountability this election campaign. Yet, there still remains a national concern that has fallen by the wayside: food. Regulating the production, transportation, and quality of food is not an election issue that has gained any…
[The Leveller] St. Patrick’s Day Should be Platform for Migrant Rights: And descendents of the Irish diaspora should champion its cause
This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol.7, No.6 (Spring 2015). Hardly anyone talks about the green elephant in the room — the one shadowing long-standing historical celebrations such as the Ottawa and Montréal St. Patrick’s Day parades. That is, no one talks about the horrors of how settlers treated Irish migrants to North America. This conversation…
Horticulture Workshops
Presenter – Christopher Kelly-Bisson Christopher is a Ph.D. candidate in political science in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. His concentrations are in Canadian Politics and Political Theory, and research is focused on the field of political agroecology in Canada. His research examine’s the extent of land grabbing in the Eastern Ontario…
[The Leveller] Ottawa Food Advocates Calling on Regulators to Support Local Chicken Farmers
Food policy advocates in Ottawa are calling on Ontario’s regulatory bodies to amend their quota system to reflect consumer demand for local production. The Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) and other Ontario chicken industry stakeholders are re-assessing and increasing the province’s chicken production quotas. At the centre of this process is the question of how…
[The Leveller] BillC-18 Threatens Seed Commons
Common Seed Rights Being Put Through the Grinding Mill: Agriculture Growth Act Bill C-18 before standing committee Christopher Kelly-Bisson (cross-posted from The Leveller, Oct 2014) Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz’s omnibus Agricultural Growth Act (Bill C-18) is currently before the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. If passed, this bill will threaten the ability of…
[Permaculture Activist] Political Ecology & Public Permaculture
Political Ecology & Public Permaculture, Permaculture Activist, Volume: Autumn 2014 (2014-9-1) Link to original article
Seeds: A Documentary Play Contemplates Whether Life Can Be Patented
by Christopher Kelly-Bisson There is a invisible string of four amino acids that unites all life deep within our cells. Watson and Crick made this discovery in the 1950s, which confirmed an idea that people around the world had held spiritually since time immemorial; that we are all part of one common heritage of life.…
Kitigànensag GSA Community Garden
Sad Conclusion & New Beginning for Carleton University Permaculture Garden by Christopher Kelly-Bisson Students at Carleton University concluded the 2013 growing season satisfied with their first successful harvest and excitement to get started again in the spring of 2014. Excitement was cut short, however when the gardeners learned that a new residence complex is to…
[The Rhizome] Solutions to Contaminated Urban Spaces
by Christopher Kelly-Bisson In every city in Canada there are spaces that have become abandoned and unused. These spaces are shadows of bygone industrial history, where warehouses, factories, and stockyards once stood. Today, such places are known by the rather grey and yellow grasses, mullein, and golden rod that poke up through hard-packed dirt or…
[The Rhizome] Seedy Saturday an Ottawa Tradition
Community Seed Swap Celebrates 21 Years, and Record Attendance by Christopher Kelly-Bisson On March 1st growers from all over the Ottawa Area converged upon the Ron Kolbus-Lakeside Centre to buy or swap organic and heirloom seeds. Despite the cold weather and snowy conditions, Organizers say that this has been one of its largest turnouts in…
[The Leveller] White Poppies For What Was Forgotten
by Chris Bisson “White poppies? That is so disrespectful of the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for our ‘freedom.’” Anyone who has worn a white poppy in November will likely have encountered this accusation. It is amazing the sort of animosity that you experience when you wear a white flower on Remembrance…
[M.A. Thesis] Forests For The People: Resisting Neoliberalism Through Permaculture Design
Bisson. (2013). Forests for the people : resisting neoliberalism through permaculture design. Thesis (M.A.) – Carleton University, 2013. Permaculture Ottawa (PO) is a local community group in the process of designing a Community Urban Food Forest (CUFF) in the Ottawa Greenbelt. This research engaged directly with PO to explore the experience of community groups resisting neoliberal…
[uOttawa International Development Week Conference] Labrador and Neocolonialism: The Political Ecology of The Lower Churchill Hydro Project
Forward: This post is a throwback from a paper I did in 2012. This is being republished in the context of current struggles over resource development: the ongoing Muskrat Falls project in Labrador, Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota, the Site C dam in British Columbia, among many others. It is clear that the same…
[Canadian Youth Climate Coalition] The International Carbon Casino: Putting the Biosphere Up As Collateral
Halfway through COP17 and one critical point of contention has yet to be resolved: the role of market mechanisms in financing and facilitating climate solutions. This factor is absolutely essential in determining the future of the Earth’s biosphere. What I am arguing is that possibly a worse outcome than the entire UNFCCC process collapsing, would…
[Canadian Youth Climate Coalition] The Economic Shortsightedness of Pulling Out of the Kyoto Protocol
Last night Environment Minister Peter Kent reported that Canada would be pulling out of the Kyoto Protocol. This disappointing announcement came under the guise of a Canadian economic crisis. The statement that Canada needs fiscal austerity instead of the most basic and already existing climate policy is absurd considering that it is one of the…
[B.A. Hon Thesis] Cultivating a Social Ecology: Voices From Community Gardens On Social Nature and Environmental Justice,
Bisson, Chris. (2010). Cultivating a Social Ecology: Voices From Community Gardens On Social Nature and Environmental Justice. B.A Hon. Thesis – Carleton University. Community Gardens are spaces where certain ideas of society and nature come together in ways that challenge conventional narratives of one another. Social ecology, a school of thought focused on blurring the…
