VOICE OF THE PEOPLE AFRICVILLE SURVIVED BLAST

Re: The Dec. 14 Letter of the Week by Barry Cahill.

The caption beneath the accompanying photo was completely inaccurate and misleading. The women were walking through devastated Richmond; Africville was spared by the natural geography of the land. Houses in Africville remained standing while everything in Richmond was absolutely destroyed.

At the time of the Halifax Explosion in 1917, Africville had a population of roughly 400 people. Four residents of Africville died in the Explosion and these souls were in Richmond when they died. The death toll from this community would have been substantially higher than four if Africville had been devastated.

Marilyn Elliott, Halifax

VALUABLE INSIGHTS ON MILL

I very much appreciated St. Francis Xavier University professor Jim Williams’ Dec. 7 opinion piece on the handling of the Northern Pulp waste.

As an individual with a science and engineering background, it provided me with an entirely new and important perspective on biological research undertaken in Boat Harbour and areas of the Norththumberland Strait. I believe it presents a valuable addition to the ongoing discussion related to the Northern Pulp waste problem. William J. Phillips, P. Eng., Halifax

LAX ON TREE-TRIMMING

Re: the recent service disruptions at Nova Scotia Power, the province’s only provider of electricity to the public. It seems “provider” may be the wrong word to use, given the numerous outages this province has been experiencing.

Most interruptions relate to wind damage — downed trees, branches over power lines, etc. It’s a common complaint from the public, but NSP hasn’t done much to address it.

Tunnel vision is a wonderful thing and perhaps NSP executives have their fair share of it. Anyone who drives down country roads, and through towns and villages, has seen those trees and branches and the risk they pose. If they didn’t come down in this storm, the potential is there for the next time.

Due diligence is a wonderful thing, if practised! So it seems it’s time for NSP to start practising.

Drew Preston, Greenwich

UNDERGROUND IS WAY TO GO

I note once again the comments about downed power lines causing inconvenience and in some cases distress to consumers. There is, at least for major urban centres, a simple solution. It’s costly, but considering the constant expenditure involved in repairing downed utility lines in windy Nova Scotia, it seems to me the most obvious solution. That is: bury such lines. I believe the capital cost of burying the lines would be paid for in short order because no further downed utility lines, or many fewer, would have to be repaired.

I noticed during hurricane Dorian that one area of Halifax retained its electrical and utility services, and that was the central downtown area. Guess what? All the services there are buried under the sidewalks for the most part. I have written previously to NSP, twice, to the provincial government and to HRM. No action yet, and unless more people start pushing for such a solution, not much will happen.

The inconvenience of being cold for days at a time in the winter, and the inconvenience to those who rely on machines to keep them alive would not be a concern anymore. I have also suggested that when new sidewalks are planned, conduits should be placed under them. One could place underground utility lines in them at a later date, thus avoiding sidewalk replacement costs.

Not to mention the fact that narrow streets such as Gottingen would no longer have utility lines hanging dangerously close to buildings.

John Bassett, Halifax

GENERATOR A REQUIREMENT

Re: “Want better service” (Dec. 14 letter). Ken Burrows Sr. of Wellington is quite right. Every home in Nova Scotia needs a generator. I immediately saw this when I came from away 10 years ago.

Dermot Monaghan, Kingston

ECOFRIENDLY AGRICULTURE

Ralph Surette’s Dec. 14 column is a timely reminder of the devastating impacts of climate change on agriculture and food security. So, too, is the recent National Farmers Union’s discussion paper on the urgent need to transition Canadian agriculture from the current high-input (chemical fertilizers and pesticides) industrial model to a sustainable ecofriendly approach.

Meanwhile, our provincial and municipal governments act as if nothing has changed. Witness the recently completed review of the Kings County municipal planning strategy, which includes a land-use bylaw which is to be valid until 2050, yet seems to ignore the all-too-evident implications of climate change. At least the government of Quebec has grasped the nettle with its recently announced inquiry into the impact of agricultural pesticides on human health and ecosystems. It is time for our provincial and municipal authorities to get real about our climate emergency!

Scott Burbidge, Port Williams

CLIMATE FOOT-DRAGGING

Re: “Halifax climate change plan updated” (Dec. 10 story). While Halifax regional councillor Richard Zurawski, to his credit, encourages his peers to approve HRM staff’s climate change report, the province continues to promote drilling for oil and gas on the Scotian Shelf and Slope.

Is this not a double standard? Does our left hand not know what our right hand is doing? Despite the obvious risk to our fishery and tourism — industries whose revenues far exceed that from fossil fuels — despite the obvious threat to our coasts and our quality of life, still HRM refuses to join the 12 Nova Scotia municipalities that are calling for an inquiry into the industry-captive process by which we supposedly regulate drilling on our offshore.

Instead, HRM council ducks and dives, claiming the call is beyond its jurisdiction. Poppycock! Just as it has declared a climate emergency, just as it has dedicated staff hours to a climate change plan, so it has every right on Earth to support its sister municipalities’ call for an inquiry into how we protect our coasts.

Geoff Le Boutillier, Offshore Alliance, Glen Haven

PALTRY COMPENSATION

Re: “Compensation awards to MacLean, Delaney woefully inadequate” (Dec. 14 opinion piece).

The compensation offered to those forced to live in Nova Scotia institutions is a sham. These citizens are, and were, entitled to more than the paltry sum offered. It does not come close to fair, and makes a mockery of the term “compensation.” They endured years of cruel incarceration, with nothing close to humane treatment.

The paltry sum offered just revictimizes those individuals.

Karen Jones, Dartmouth