Media Clipping — November 26, 2001, The Cape Breton Post

Premier defends record on volunteers

Premier puts the record straight in luncheon address on his government's commitment for volunteers

By Steve Macinnis

Premier John Hamm used an address to a volunteer campaign luncheon Friday in Sydney to assert his government's commitment to strengthening the volunteer spirit in Nova Scotia.

"Our democratic system cannot function without volunteers," said Hamm, noting he wouldn't even be premier if it weren't for the hoards of volunteers who manned his political campaigns. Nova Scotia is counted as the leader in Canada when it comes to volunteerism in contributing 43 per cent more than the national average in volunteer work.

Nearly 300,000 provincial residents jointly produce 140 million volunteer hours each year which is equal to about 83,000 jobs and comes tagged with an economic value of $2 billion.

In an address to the Leaders of the Way luncheon - a campaign sponsored by the non-profit United Way of Cape Breton - Hamm said he wanted to set the record straight about the suggestion his Tory government wasn't doing enough to support volunteers.

That suggestion came during an address last week in Sydney by Ron Colman, director of Genuine Progress Index [Atlantic], in speaking to delegates attending a volunteer conference.

Colman told his audience that in recent years Nova Scotia has lost about $60 million worth of volunteer work because fewer residents are donating their time.

"The surprising thing is, that's not an issue in our legislature or our House of Commons. There is no debate on the decline of volunteer work in Canada," said Colman. Hamm defended his government's record on the subject.

Copyright © 2001, The Cape Breton Post