Sydney environmentalist gets Canada-Chile
assignment
By BEVERLEY WARE/Cape Breton Bureau, Halifax Herald, December 3, 1998
Sydney - The head of a Sydney environmental group has been appointed to a
Canada-Chile environmental committee.
"It's a tremendous honour to be considered for this," said Asta Antoft, who recently
returned from the committee's inaugural meeting in Santiago.
Ms. Antoft, a teacher in Glace Bay, is volunteer president of the Cape Breton branch
of the Atlantic Coastal Action Program, which has proposed an 11-point plan for
cleaning up environmental hotspots in industrial C.B.
Now she is also on the joint public advisory committee of the Canada-Chile
Commission for Environmental Co-operation - a side agreement to the free-trade
pact between the two nations.
The committee makes recommendations to ensure there is no environmental
degradation as a result of the trade deal.
Ms. Antoft said economic activity often impacts the environment and she wants to
ensure neither side cuts corners in a bid to grab a bigger piece of trade pie.
Her appointment is for three years; the committee will meet at least once a year and
work with a council and a submissions body that will deal with any claims.
Ms. Antoft has received several awards for her environmental work, including the
Governor General's Commemorative Medal and Nova Scotia's Global Education
Award.
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