Talking to Politicians: The NDP

So it looks like the NDP wins for fastest response. All the more impressive in light of it being bounced around a little. While providing little actual info I have to give them props for their record (they created the SHF which directly funded my own work so it's hard to find fault).

Here's what Heath Smith had to say:

Sent: Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:22:13
From: "Heath Smith" hsmith@ndpcaucus.sk.ca
Subject: Re: FW: RE: policies regarding archaeology in Saskatchewan?

Dear Ms. CP,

Thank you for your email!

The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party does not have policies specific to cultural resource management, but more generally to the preservation and expansion of Saskatchewan arts and culture. New Democrats have traditionally been the political proponents of arts and culture in Canada. The Saskatchewan NDP, for example, was responsible for establishing the Saskatchewan Arts Board and ensuring that it received funding adequate to contribute to our communities. The Saskatchewan Party, by contrast, has recently diverted funding away from the Saskatchewan Arts Board.

On the topic of cultural resource management specifically, while still the government of Saskatchewan, the NDP established the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation. The SHF's mandate was "to provide financial support to heritage projects at the provincial and community level that seek to conserve, research, interpret, develop and promote Saskatchewan's diverse heritage resources."

For more information on the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation, please follow the link here:
http://www.saskculture.sk.ca/funding/SHF.htm

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you, once again, for your email. I hope that I've been some help.

Heath Smith
Communications Coordinator
NDP Caucus Office
(306) 787-6546

For the sake of curiosity here is the history of the message (most recent first):

Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 1:31 PM
To: caucus@ndpcaucus.sk.ca
Subject: re: RE: policies regarding archaeology in Saskatchewan?

Hello Jane,
I am curious as to why you need my mailing address to answer my questions? I assume you wish to mail some materials regarding the NDP's policies? If that is the reason I would much prefer the more environmentally friendly alternative of an individual email response or perhaps you could direct me to specific online versions of the resources you are planning to send? Thank you for your very prompt response.
-CP

NDP Caucus Office wrote:

Sent: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:55:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: caucus@ndpcaucus.sk.ca
Subject: RE: policies regarding archaeology in Saskatchewan?

Dear CP:

Could you please provide a mailing address so that we may respond to your email?

Thank you,
Jane Baniulis
NDP Caucus Office

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 4:52 PM
To: caucus@ndpcaucus.sk.ca
Subject: policies regarding archaeology in Saskatchewan?

Hello,
I am an archaeologist in Saskatchewan. I'm currently attending the University of Saskatchewan Masters in Archaeology program but I have been living and working as an archaeologist doing cultural resource management in Saskatchewan for 4 years now. I was curious as to your stance on cultural resource management in Saskatchewan. Are there any plans for more resources or positive reform of the heritage branch in future? Perhaps more incentive for companies to follow protocol, harsher punishments for companies who willingly violate regulations or a better inclusion of historic sites within the legislation to protect our heritage? I know this is less of a hot button issue than environmental protection but I see the archaeology in the province being destroyed day by day and while this is somewhat inevitable in light of industry, there are ways to protect these resources through awareness, avoidance and archaeological recovery before they are lost forever. Does the NDP have an interest in these concerns and a plan to address them? Thank you very much for your time and any information you may have! Your reply will be very helpful in determining my vote.
-CP

p.s. Don't forget to check out the English language debates tonight (although the vice-prez candidate debates do have their own car crash-esque appeal). If you miss it the video of the debate will be posted on the CBC website tomorrow.

Talking to Politicians: The Green Party

I sent the following email to Amber Jones of the Green Party of Saskatchewan:

On Sun, Sep 14, 2008 at 12:33 PM, [CP] wrote:
Hello Ms.Jones,
I am an archaeologist in Saskatchewan. I'm currently attending the University of Saskatchewan Masters in Archaeology program but I have been living and working as an archaeologist doing cultural resource management in Saskatchewan for 4 years now. I was curious as to your stance on cultural resource management in Saskatchewan. I know the Green Party is concerned with environmental and native issues, but are there any plans for reform of the heritage branch? Perhaps more incentive for companies to follow protocol, harsher punishments for companies who willingly violate regulations or a better inclusion of historic sites within the legislation to protect our heritage? I know this is less of a hot button issue than environmental protection but I see the archaeology in the province being destroyed day by day and while this is somewhat inevitable in light of industry, there are ways to protect these resources through awareness, avoidance and archaeological recovery before they are lost forever. Does the Green Party have an interest in these concerns and a plan to address them? Thank you very much for your time and any information you may have! I look forward to voting Green.

Today, I got my response from the Green Party (see below) and then I decided to send the same email, with a few modifications (the party names changed; the "I know the Green Party is concerned with environmental and native issues, but are there any plans for reform of the heritage branch?" changed to "Are there any plans for increasing resources or positive reform of the heritage branch"; and the "I look forward to voting Green" replaced with "your response will help determine my vote"), to all the major political parties to see what they say. So this is the first part of a multi-part series that I will post as the answers trickle in. Fun times.

This is what Amber Jones had to say:

Hi [CP],

Thanks for your interest. The Green Party wants to ensure that we have adequate funding to protect both natural areas and our heritage resources. We will ensure further protection of existing parks and heritage sites, and increase the number of protected areas. This will be done both by expanding our national park system and by working with provinces, territories, and aboriginal peoples, including working with the heritage branch. We will purchase private land where necessary and adequately fund Parks Canada. We will also provide more interpretation so as to educate people on the importance of natural and historical sites.

As far as reforming Saskatchewan's heritage branch, the GPS does not have any specific policies, just a commitment to protecting our natural and historic resources. However, we will be having policy forums in the coming months as we prepare for the next provincial election and I would love to speak to you (as my role as leader of the Green Party of Saskatchewan) on what the best way to protect Saskatchewan's resources are.

Amber Jones

If you would like to contact Ms.Jones her email is ajones@greenparty.ca and the Green Party's provincial website is here. FYI the Greens were the only ones with an actual person as the "contact us", the other parties had general email addresses.

p.s. The reason I went provincial instead of federal is because my issue with cultural resource management is by and large a provincially designated issue except for certain federal jurisdictions like national parks.