Local Prosperity 2016 Miramichi - A Regional Conference on New Economics for Rural Canada. 

Scroll through the talks and breakout sessions below to find active links to speakers presentations.

The full Conference Proceedings in a downloadable PDF file are available here.

Thursday, November 3

7:00 pm - Conference Welcome and Opening Keynote Address: David Orr - Dangerous Years: Climate Change & the Long Emergency and the Way Forward

Dr. Orr targeted concrete solutions to the crisis of climate disruption as well as laying out a realistic blueprint for local community resilience including local food and energy production, local investment, and a reshaped participatory government structure. He imagines sustainability as a quest and a transition built upon robust and durable democratic and economic institutions, as well as changes in heart and mindset. The transition is beginning from the bottom up in communities and neighborhoods. He lays out specific principles and priorities to guide us toward enduring harmony between human and natural systems.

Friday, November 4

8:30 – 8:45 am -Opening Honour Song: George Paul, Metepenagiag First Nation, NB

8:45 – 9:30 am - Keynote Address: Michael Shuman - Four Rules for Local Prosperity

Michael laid out new guidelines for building strong community economies, including: 1) maximize the percentage of jobs in your local economy that exist in businesses that are locally owned; 2) maximize the diversity of your businesses in your community, so that your economy is as self-reliant and resilient as possible; 3) prioritize spreading and replicating local business models with outstanding labour and environmental practices – triple bottom line and 4) create a diversity of local pollinators, so that there’s a healthy economic-development capacity in place.

9:30 – 10:15 am - Plenary Panel: Creating a Climate for Change - The role of local government and business in facing the global threat of climate disruption.

Climatologists are nearly unanimous in stating that global warming poses a clear and present danger to civilization. David Orr maintains that our response to climate change will “transform our lives, culture, and prospects.” Michael Shuman cites example after example of opportunities for small, local business to help in and benefit from reducing our carbon footprint. Gregory Heming has outlined in great detail why and how local governments must respond to a rapidly changing climate.

       Panelists: David Orr, Michael Shuman and Gregory Heming

11:00 - 12:30 pm - Working Sessions Period ONE (4 concurrent breakout sessions)

#1  Scaling Our Local Food Supply - A Resiliency Cornerstone

#2  Building Social Capital Pools, Social Financing & Impact in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

#3  Energy - The Sources, Ownership and Distribution

#4  Rebuilding the Value Chain from our Forests

1:30 - 3:00 pm - Working Sessions Period TWO (4 concurrent breakout sessions)

#1  Scaling Our Local Food Supply - A Resiliency Cornerstone

#2  Building Social Capital Pools, Social Financing & Impact in Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

#3  Energy - The Sources, Ownership and Distribution

#4  Rebuilding the Value Chain from our Forests

4:00 – 5:00 pm - Special Announcements, Plus

A series of 8-10 minute presentations on valuable information for Atlantic Canada communities

Wendy Keates - CCEDNet

Adam Lordon - Do It Here

Saturday, November 5

8:45 – 9:30 am - Plenary Speakers & Discussion: Robert Cervelli - New Ground Rules for Utilizing and Restoring our Natural Resources and Gordon Slade -

Whether it be forestry, fisheries, mineral or energy resources, small communities are unfortunately too familiar with the direct or indirect privatization of their local resources into the hands of a few at the expense of the common good. These resources then tend to be extracted with inappropriately-scaled technology with the sole purpose of reducing costs. What are the ways forward to recapturing the control, restoration, wise use and common benefit of resources that will become dramatically more valuable in the decades ahead?

10:30 - 12:00 pm - Working Sessions Period THREE (4 concurrent breakout sessions)

#5  Moving to Value-Added & Ethical Restoration of our Fisheries - Synopsis (see presentations in session titles below)

#6  Government Power and Policy in the New Economy

#7  Community-Based Entreprises - Synopsis (see presentations in session titles below)

#8  Arts, Culture and Tourism in the New Economy - Synopsis (see presentations in session titles below)

1:00 - 2:30 pm - Working Sessions Period FOUR (4 concurrent breakout sessions)

#5  Moving to Value-Added & Ethical Restoration of our Fisheries

#6  Government Power and Policy in the New Economy

#7  Community-Based Entreprises

#8  Arts, Culture and Tourism in the New Economy

3:30 – 4:15 pm - Plenary Speaker: Gregory Heming - Propriety as Public Policy: A Way Forward for Rural Canada

For the most part our current economy is one without context. In order to give it scale and context so that it more accurately reflects both our civic and our environmental needs we must first strive to re-municipalize government. Seen in this light, local governments can begin to form public policies on economic development that are grounded in what is proper and purposeful rather than what is simply prosperous.

4:15 – 4:45 pm - Plenary Speaker: Dr. Karen Foster - Progress Report on the Atlantic Regional Import Replacement Study

The Centre for Local Prosperity is conducting an Atlantic Canada regional project on the economics benefits of import replacement as an economic development strategy for communities within the region.  Import replacement is an economic tool designed to complement exporting, to provide a more balanced and integrated approach to local economic development and sustainability. A community (or region) focused on import replacement would seek to produce goods and services that are currently imported in order to keep money circulating in the region. By developing local production, it would increase its capacity to meet the economic, social, and cultural needs of the people of the region from within the region in a spirit of self-determination.

Sunday, November 6

9:00 am - An Atlantic Region Conversation: exploring the commonalities of issues and solutions for local economies in our region.  A panel with representatives from each province will field questions and be part of a lively audience-participation discussion.

Moderator - Andy Horsnell, Chair, Centre for Local Prosperity
New Brunswick - Susan Machum, St Thomas University
Nova Scotia - Karen Foster, Dalhousie University
Prince Edward Island - Phil Ferraro, PEI ADAPT Council
Newfoundland - Gordon Slade, Shorefast Foundation

11:15 – 11:30 pm - Closing remarks and farewell

Closing Honour Song: George Paul, Metepenagiag First Nation, NB