VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

EXPENSIVE LUXURIES

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose …”

With COVID costing billions to our governments, this does not seem the time to be building a $130-million art gallery on the Halifax waterfront, nor to fund a $25-million “Cadillac” ferry operation for the sparsely populated Tancook Island.

It would be lovely to have a new art gallery, but not now. It is time to pull in, be stringent, think about priorities. We citizens are being asked to do that; the government should do the same.

Is there not a less costly car ferry for Tancook? When I was young, we often took the Lahave ferry, which consisted of a large raft strapped to a Cape Island fishing boat. When you needed to cross, there was a horn to blow, and over it came.

I’m not suggesting we go back to those ways, but there must be something in between that would function well.

Where is all the money going to come from?

Taiya Barss, Halifax

MICMAC COUNTERATTACK

Re: “‘Very colonial and outdated,’ Halifax councillor says about streets, facilities named Micmac” (Nov. 27 story). Apparently, HRM council, in their wisdom, voted unanimously in favour of a motion to purge the name Micmac everywhere in HRM. This is another example of telling First Nations people what they should find offensive.

As a general rule, I don’t get too excited by the motions originating from the “Bureau of Silly Ideas.” However, I have a personal interest in the name because I was once a crew member of HMCS Micmac, the first (of four) Tribal Class destroyers that were built in Halifax.

I have pictures and newspaper items showing native leaders of the day, cheering as HMCS Micmac was launched in 1943. Other items feature Mi’kmaw chiefs and elders proudly participating in various ceremonies that included the commissioning, and years later, the “paying-off” of the warship named in honour of the Mi’kmaw people.

If HRM council tries to erase that name, I intend to sue them. I believe that my service on the Tribal Class destroyer HMCS Micmac gives me standing in any legal challenges to this misguided name change. Legal scholars have advised me that it may be the first

“Tribal Class” action suit “launched” in Canada. If I can get present-day Mi’kmaw elders to “come aboard” it will then be called a “Tribal” classaction suit.

Tom Estabrooks, Dartmouth

HOW DEADLY IS COVID?

Readers of this newspaper have seen numerous stories about how deadly and contagious COVID-19 is. Politicians and public health officials continue to remind us how important it is to flatten the curve and to prevent overloading our hospitals.

No doubt, it is imperative to protect the most vulnerable in our communities. This paper has reported on almost every aspect of this virus — with the exception of the mortality rate. Does it not make sense to let your readers know how deadly this virus is? Perhaps your reporters could interview local experts at Dalhousie University.

To be clear, the mortality rate is the number of Canadians that have died from COVID-19 (let’s call this A) divided by the number of Canadians who have and who have had (and cleared) this disease. Let’s call this B. A/B = the mortality rate.

Understandably, it may be difficult to accurately determine B because many people who have had COVID-19 didn’t know they had it in the first place. A very large proportion of COVID-19 carriers are asymptomatic. The only way to arrive at B is to test a large, representative sample of the population for COVID-19 antibodies. If a person has those, they’ve had the virus. I am confident that at least a few local contagious disease specialists could provide this newspaper with some accurate numbers or educated guesses as to the mortality rate of COVID-19 in Canada.

Other sources from supposed experts in the U.S. tell us that the mortality rate there is between 0.3 per cent and 0.6 per cent — meaning that, out of every thousand people known to have contracted this virus, between three and six people have died. But these days, who knows what to believe when the source is the internet?

People tend to trust and believe local experts, which is why I believe your readers would appreciate knowing the mortality rate as reported from the local infectious disease experts and epidemiologists. To be clear, I am not trying to downplay the seriousness of this virus, as it has proven to be deadly to some of our seniors and immune-compromised citizens. I have the utmost respect for our local public health officials and front-line medical professionals. But I question why your newspaper is not reporting the mortality rate of COVID-19.

Scott Smith, Bedford

BLESSED WITH GOOD LEADERS

I read with dismay Max Carroll’s Dec. 2 letter suggesting Premier Stephen Mcneil not be paid because of his unwillingness to recall the legislature until a new leader is in place.

I am neither a politician nor a member of the Liberal party, but I feel moved to defend Mr. Mcneil from comments like this at a time when we are in the midst of a very serious threat to our future. Our premier has provided remarkable leadership in this province during this pandemic. If anyone doubts that, all we need is to look at other provinces and see their situation, due to premiers putting political concerns ahead of the welfare of their people.

Both Premier Mcneil and Dr. Robert Strang should be awarded the Order of Nova Scotia for their caring concern and quick action in preventing this virus from spreading any more than it has.

The legislature will sit soon enough, life will go on, and Nova Scotians will not suffer any harm because the opposition could not question the government. I have never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Mcneil, but I commend him for his care and concern in these difficult times, and for the co-operation he has shown with Dr. Strang, a man we are blessed to have in this position at this time.

These gentlemen need our support and praise, not criticism. I wonder how many other Nova Scotians would like to trade places with them, and what kind of a job would they do?

Irene Lefort, Antigonish

Editor's note: Our apologies. This letter was accidentally cut off midsentence in the Dec. 5 print edition, so we are running it again.