Pictou County needs long-term vision

To the editor,

Over the last few years, the talk has been about the mill in Abercrombie, across from Pictou Harbour, and the concern of losing 250 jobs (this changes talking with different people). Here is my research on Granville Island, Vancouver, that I want to introduce Pictou County citizens to.

From Day 1, 1970, Granville Island was transformed from a run-down industrial area into a vibrant hub. The charm of Granville Island lies in its unexpected mix of uses. The famous Public Market is home to more than 50 independent food purveyors and 300 businesses employing more than 3,000 people. Granville Island is committed to economic, social, cultural and environmental sustainability

Right now what I see in Pictou County is keeping the status quo and if we do that nothing changes. Here is my vision that could create jobs for our 3,000 residents or more.

1. Put in a seawall that local people and lots of tourists can walk, run, bicycle, cross country (if and when it snows) from the causeway to the Northumberland Straits and put the forest back on this property so small wildlife can flourish.

2. Have Nova Scotia Agriculture College set up greenhouses (solar panels) that grow local vegetables and perhaps diversify with imported items like avocado, oranges, etc. Let’s grow our own crop. Have you seen the price on a tomato?

3. Have the fishing community of N.S., N.B., P.E.I. and N.L. set up the largest worldwide nursery of various fish (cod, Atlantic salmon, smelts, herring) and crustaceans (lobsters, crab), etc., but not fish farms. Whales could become extinct if humans consume their food.

4. Have tourist boats with glass bottoms to take locals and tourists out into the harbour so all can watch the release of the younglings.

5. Set up our own market place with independent food purveyors.

6. Have mini-ferries to take people to and from Pictou and New Glasgow, who will explore all our communities in Pictou County and add to its economy. Create several docking stations along the seawall for small boats, canoes, water paddlers.

7. Build senior homes and complexes in the vicinity. Build single unit homes to keep our young adults in Pictou County.

This is a long-term vision. This vision creates jobs, gives Pictou County a healthy environment and a future for many generations to come. I want the mill workers to have jobs but not in the way they envision. Think outside the box, as we are all capable of doing so. Read Joan Baxter’s book “The Mill” for another perspective on the mill and what our governments (past and present) have been doing with our taxes.

In Dr. Seuss’s fable: “Unless we struggle very hard to reverse the trend of governance by and for those with money and power, with all the negative environmental, health, political and economic effects that brings — then things will not get better; they won’t.”

Cecile Vigneault Pictou