Creative
Activism

Major wins from the last decade, that stopped inappropriate developments, used legal action. These court cases were against oil and gas drilling and fracking, and the Cabot Golf course condo development.

In the spring of 1989, Neal Livingston developed the idea that a delegation would fly to Sweden to attend Stora Kopparberg’s multi-million dollar 700th birthday party.

Livingston and Peters’ efforts on the Forest Advisory Committee were successful in changing attitudes and policies to become somewhat more ecosystem-based and ecologically sensitive.

Neal Livingston created films like The Battle At Our Shores, Rudy Haase, and 100 Short Stories as a form of creative activism to focus on the environment.

Many of Neal’s efforts with the MEA from 2010-2019 have been directed towards environmental issues around golf course developments in his community.

Nova Scotia Power, a private Emera-owned company, has a monopoly to provide power in Nova Scotia. This company is one of the worst polluters in Canada.

Livingston interweaves tales of predatory capitalism, eco-activism, and contemporary life in Atlantic Canada, engaging in an offbeat and often humorous exploration of environmentalism.

Rudy Haase, is a one hour documentary that Neal Livingston completed in 2007 when Rudy was 87 years old. Rudy lived in Nova Scotia and he successfully campaigned to preserve wilderness internationally and locally.

Part of the MEA’s campaign to stop clearcutting involved Livingston producing a short film, The Cape Breton Endangered Spaces which included aerial footage and narration.

This 1984 film documents an important Canadian court case, which climaxed a campaign to stop the spraying of Agent Orange, a carcinogenic mixture of 24-D and 245-T, on the Crown lands of Cape Breton.