Ecovillage North An environmentally friendly alternative to today’s housing By Nicole Larson Picture this: A economically, ecologically, and _ socially sustainable community. A community in which every- one knows everyone else and everyone has a Say in all of the decisions made; a place with no leader, where everyone is an equal. A human community that does not attempt to dominate and obliterate the natural envi- ronment around it and attempts to live harmoniously among the natural land- scape. A place that will be successful into the indefinite future. Now, stop laughing, because in the very near future this Utopia-could be a reality. The Prince George Ecovillage Group is right now in the process of creating an Ecovillage in this area, called Ecovillage North. What is an Ecovillage? An Ecovillage is a co-hous- ing development which attempts to live with the least amount of interference with the natural environment around it. This reduction in ecological interference involves new ideas in energy use and production, specifi- cally looking at the harness- ing of more natural energy sources such as the sun and wind. Waste reduction through local recycling and wide spread composting pro- jects are a major portion of the Ecovillage agenda as well as new ideas in sewage management and disposal. Water conservation is also an important part of the Ecovillage structure. use of alternative forms of transportation and car pool- ing are supported for travel outside: of the community and inside there is little to no use of automobiles. The co-housing portion of the Ecovillage involves con- sensus decision making and common buildings. The common buildings. could be used for community dinners, children’s play areas and meeting halls as well as housing libraries and work- shops. Co-housing commu- nities are very close knit, cohesive groups with a strong sense of community The. and pride. Right now in British Columbia there are two co-housing communities: | Cardiff Place in Victoria and Windsong Co-housing in Langley. Co-housing has necerriend in quite popular in Europe since its creation in Denmark in 1972, but the Ecovillage con- cept is still in it's infancy. In fact the oldest Ecovillage, sit- uated in Scotland, has only been around for about 10 years. There are two other Ecovillages being planned Canada, one at False Creek in Vancouver and one-at The Forks in Winnipeg. What makes the Ecovillage North project here in Prince George stand out is its lati- tude and severe winters. This poses unique problems for the Ecovillagé planners here. There will be a need for extensive research in the areas of local food produc- tion and energy conservation and production. There will be new obstacles, separate from those experienced by the other older Ecovillages, for Ecovillage North to over- come. What does. Ecovillage North have to do with UNBC? Right now there is little interaction between the members of The Prince George Ecovillage Group. Two of the co-founders of The Prince George Ecovillage Group, John and Gail Curry are both employed by UNBC and a few of the other families have members who are students at UNBC but on the whole the project has not been involved with the University. This hopefully will change in the future. The Ecovilage would be a perfect location for students and faculty to research, teach and imple- ment concepts of ecologic, social and economic sustain ability which have a Northern focus. There would be opportunities for graduate studies and for undergradu- ate theses. “What we would love to be able to do,” said John Curry, Environmental Studies, “Is Professor of. : Over The Edge - Page 3 start tying in some of the research to students, to graduate students, get fund- ing for them to work on differ- ent aspects of putting an Ecovillage together.” On December ist the Prince George Ecovillage group will be going to city council with a concept plan. They hope to get approval to begin production on a piece of city owned land on Tyner Blvd. Books to look at for more information on Co-housing and Ecovillages: The Cohousing Handbook Building a Place for Community. By Chris Hanson Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves. By Kathryn McCamant and _ Charles Durrett. Rebuilding Community in America: Housing _ for Ecological Living, Personal Empowerment and the New Extended Family. By Ken Norwood and Kathleen Smith. Canadian government could face lawsuit over MAI BY JEREMY NELSON WINNIPEG (CUP) — If a Canadian activist group has its way, members of the Liberal Party of Canada may soon find themselves in court charged with violating the very: constitution they have sworn to uphold. The Defense of Canadian Liberty Committee, a Vancouver-based group, is presently preparing to wage a lawsuit accusing the feder- al government -of violating Canadian law by negotiating the proposed Multilateral Agreement: on Investment (MAI). The MAI is a far-reaching economic treaty presently being negotiated behind closed doors by Canada and 28 other nations. As drafted, it will remove many of the. powers of. government: to regulate the activities of both foreign and domestic corpo- rations. The agreement will also ban governments from creating any new environmental or labour legislation that could be deemed harmful to the business of a domestic or foreign corporation. According to Tim Madden, a legal and economic historian, the case against the MAI is clear cut, with many legal precedents to back it up. The Canadian constitution, he says, stipulates very clearly that governments cannot give away or transfer any of their powers, even if all levels of government agree to do so. “The federal government has-a responsibility under Section 91 of the Constitution Act to make laws respecting commerce and trade,” Madden, who will be one of the chief researchers for the case, said. “The MAI is essentially the government abdicating its responsibility to react to wrongs with respect to trade and commerce, which is‘ exactly what the Supreme Court of Canada has repeat- edly said that you cannot do.” The legal foundation for the case comes from several court rulings, the most impor- tant of which ,was issued in 1951, when the Supreme Court ruled against a joint proposal made by Nova Scotia and the federal gov- ernment to swap several constitutional responsibili- ties. “The Constitution of Canada does not belong either to Parliament or to the Legislatures,” the unanimous ruling stated. “It belongs to the country and it is there that the citizens of the coun-