We discuss litterbugs, speaking out and more
RANT: For litterbugs. Cape Breton is a beautiful place. Too bad there are those amongst us who make it somewhat less so. This month alone the Post has featured two stories about littering that would make your skin crawl. The first involved a diaper dump on the Morrison Road, off the Louisbourg Highway. Can you say disgusting? And it wasn’t a one-off. There have been many other such dumps found in the past. Then comes a story about an illegal dumpsite in Reserve Mines, decades in the making, which comes complete with a decaying trailer, oil tanks, stoves, refrigerators, electronics and much, much more. Who does this? What sort of individual fills up the back or trunk of their vehicle with garbage, drives to a secluded spot and turfs it? Year after year, no doubt, in some cases. A new CBRM solid waste management bylaw that came into effect in February almost tripled the fine for illegal dumping to $697.50 if convicted. We say that’s not nearly enough.
RAVE: For speaking out. Kudos to the hundreds of people who turned out in support of a rally organized by Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness (NSEF) on Wednesday. As most readers probably know, the NSEF believes that Cape Breton is being denied its fair share of the $1.8-billion federal equalization transfer payment that Nova Scotia receives each year. Municipal Affairs Minister Derek Mombourquette argues that is not the case but, if letters, phone calls and columns are any measuring stick, many voters aren’t buying what he’s selling. Increasingly, too, the NSEF movement is becoming a hot political issue. Local NDP MLA Tammy Martin has been championing the cause for at least two months and yesterday local Progressive Conservative MLAs Eddie Orrell, Alfie MacLeod and Keith Bain publicly called on the Liberal government to immediately support an audit of the Municipal Equalization payment model for Nova Scotia. Sure looks like this is one grassroots movement that isn’t going away anytime soon.
RANT: For excessive coal truck traffic. Remember when the Donkin Mine was in the development stage and all the talk about how the coal was going to get to market? The plan at the time, at least according to then Transportation Minister Geoff MacLellan, was to build a coal transportation road along the former rail bed behind Glace Bay and through No. 11 coming out behind the Sydney Airport. MacLellan said that mine owners Kameron Collieries would be responsible for the preparation, the tender and the investment of the actual coal road itself and was hopeful construction would start that spring or summer. Fast forward 15 months and there is still no sign of a coal transportation road being built. Meanwhile, residents in Port Morien and elsewhere are grumbling about the trucks hauling coal from Donkin Mine and ruining the roads. Reportedly there are plans to widen and strengthen Long Beach Road and Highway 255 for continuous trucking, but what about the coal road? The one Kameron Collieries was supposed to pay for? Maybe some answers will be forthcoming when a community meeting is held in Port Morien on May 30.
RAVE: For on-ice success. Mitchell Balmas’ major junior hockey career has been a nomadic one with three stops — Charlottetown, Gatineau and Acadie-Bathurst — in four seasons. But the Sydney native wouldn’t trade it for the world now that the Titan have qualified for the Memorial Cup, which started last night in Regina. Balmas and his Acadie-Bathurst teammates see action today against Swift Current before taking on the host team Sunday and Hamilton on Tuesday. It’s a tremendous accomplishment to get that far and we wish him well.