Voice of the People

HAVEN FOR TROUBLED SOUL

I'd like to thank the people of Halifax for the kindness you extended to my brother, Jonathan Ludlum, as he lived among you for the past 30 years. Jonathan disappeared 30 years ago and only contacted us by phone in the last 15 years. He kept his location a secret due to his mental illness. On Aug. 26, 2019, he committed suicide and the authorities found me in September to notify me of his death.

I travelled to Halifax from Connecticut this October to bring his ashes home and to hear about his life. Everyone I talked to shared how they treated him with kindness and care. You, here in Halifax, gave him a safe, loving place to stay and I will be ever grateful for this wonderful and beautiful haven you provided for him.

Mary Ludlum Tracy, Goshen, Conn., U.S.A.

ENACT WINTER-TIRE LAW

Here's a recipe for a winter treat. Take a storm that was supposed to deliver rain and turn it into wet snow. Add five to 10 centimetres of that white stuff to our roads. Then add a car with no winter tires. Put that car on a small hill and watch a few hundred vehicles lined up for miles try to get past it. It is a perennial problem in Nova Scotia every winter.

Our government needs to enact a winter-tire law, as in other Canadian provinces, where vehicles must have winter tires on by Nov. 1, or motorists get fined. What a way to pollute — idling your car for over an hour in traffic. Now that is a tiresome situation.

Alex Leonard, Beaver Bank

SHOW REGAN MORE RESPECT

Gerald Regan governed with a true sense of liberal values. Why does the press first report the allegations of sexual assault against him?

He leaves behind a wife, six children and 13 grandchildren who are grieving at this time. Please have more respect for Regan, who once was a great premier for Nova Scotia.

Linda Gillis, Cole Harbour

BUILDING CODE STIFLING

My wife and I are in the final planning stages for a retirement home build in Nova Scotia. We discovered recently that new Nova Scotia building code regulations (9 / 1 / 2019) require that our plans must provide for 36-inch doors in most cases, to facilitate handicapped occupancy.

Main entry/pathway doors in our plans are 36 inches anyway (heck, my Dad is in a wheelchair), but 32 inches in many other cases, e.g. closets, pantry, bedroom, etc. For esthetic and practical reasons, we don't want giant doors everywhere. The local municipal building inspector said that, under the regulations, we will need 36-inch doors to receive a building permit. The most incredible example was second-floor bedroom doors, which must be 36 inches, even though there is no elevator or chair lift to enable handicapped access to the second floor! The explanation was that, at some point in the future, our home might be handicapped-occupied, or used as a nursing home, and we must plan now (and pay) for that eventuality.

I suggested to the building inspector that we might be better off building in a less-regulated jurisdiction, e.g. P.E.I. or New Brunswick. He suggested that the requirements would be the same. Friends in New Brunswick just received their building permit for a retirement home outside Moncton, with 36-inch doors where it makes sense, 32-inch doors everywhere else, no questions asked.

I have travelled in Europe and stayed in hotel rooms with 3'x3' bathrooms (I am not exaggerating). Canada is a nanny state; regulators are always looking for the next thing to regulate, and nowhere is that more evident than in Nova Scotia. Common sense is no longer an option.

The regulatory bureaucracy in Nova Scotia has gone too far — to the point that it discourages investment in the province.

Steven Stewart, Dartmouth

FERRY'S IMPACT HUGE

I am extremely annoyed over the Nov. 23 column Bill Black penned about the Yarmouth ferry service. But to keep it short, his comparison is anything but scientific, although he tries to make us believe it is. He refers to a drop in plane traffic: "Through August, the drop is 20 per cent — 13,500 visitors so far this year. These are typically longer-stay travellers and bigger spenders." He does not have any numbers to support their impact, why they come, what they do; it is all vague supposition. And to say they stay longer than people who pack a car? Well, that is the exact opposite! Flying is most used by short-stay clients!

Additionally, he diminishes the economic value of ferry traffic to, at most, 40 low-paying seasonal jobs in accommodations, restaurants and attractions. Studies have been done that supply actual figures on the economic impact, some of which have been published in this paper. Many people had goodpaying jobs with benefits on the ferry route and many companies help supply the fuel, food and various other needs on a regular basis. Business owners of accommodations, boat tours, kayaking tours and rentals, campgrounds, water resorts as well as national parks, land and home or cottage sales and increased American immigration have all suffered from the ridiculous decision to discontinue to the ferry route made by the NDP when they were in power. No, it was not just 40 lowpaying seasonal jobs.

Nova Scotia is a province that is primarily rural in nature. We do not need to continue to feed all assets into the HRM. Enough already!

Sherri Coldwell, Central Chebogue, Yarmouth County

SUBSIDIZE FLIGHTS INSTEAD

In his Nov. 23 column, Bill Black has again contrasted the large and everincreasing costs of subsidies to the Yarmouth ferry with the small gains in tourism revenue.

If politicians feel they must subsidize tourism in western Nova Scotia, I suggest paying a portion of air fares to Yarmouth. This offers the advantages of travel from different locations, easier change to seasons, increased car rentals in Yarmouth, and avoiding maintaining large infrastructures such as a ferry and two ferry terminals.

Because so much money has been poured down the ferry rat hole, there will be reluctance to stop. Therefore, for next year, let us subsidize airfares to and from Yarmouth by $100 each. Then, after the tourist season, let's compare costs and benefits of air travel and ferry travel.

Robt. Miller, Halifax

ROAD TO RUIN

Late last month, with the benefit of hindsight, we took the wrong road: the Kemptown Road from Kemptown to Earltown in Colchester County. This unpaved “dirt” road gets my vote for the worst excuse for a road, ever. The number of potholes per square metre were unbelievable. Residents must use this road on a regular basis and probably incur excessive maintenance costs. Perhaps the quarry on this road could be a source of materials to improve this terrible excuse for Nova Scotia infrastructure.

Rod Desborough, Halifax