Premier urged to honour his promise

A hastily organized rally in Pictou Landing First Nation drew a crowd of supporters Thursday to remind Premier Stephen McNeil of his promise to close Boat Harbour on Jan. 31, 2020.

The rally was held in response to a large demonstration Thursday, organized by those in favour of an extension to the Boat Harbour Act, outside of the Nova Scotia legislature.

The message from Pictou Landing First Nation was clear: the closure date should be firm.

“You don't get to 42 days and decide that this is not the date,” said Pictou Landing First Nation Chief Andrea Paul.

In the community's school gymnasium Paul spoke alongside members of her council and a community elder to the crowd wearing red A'se'K shirts and waving signs saying, "Honor the Boat Harbour Closure," and "No Pipe," a reference to the effluent pipe Northern Pulp hopes to run into the Northumberland Strait.

Paul said she hasn't heard personally from McNeil recently. For her, that's a good sign.

“Because of the relationship we've had, I feel like if he had reached out to me before tomorrow, then it wouldn't be good news.”

Environment Minister Gordon Wilson made no mention of Boat Harbour Tuesday when

he announced more information is needed from Northern Pulp on its proposed effluent treatment facility, and no mention from anyone in the Nova Scotia government has been made since. McNeil has promised to address the issue Friday.

Without an extension Northern Pulp said that it will close, resulting in thousands of job losses in the forestry sector including more than 300 positions at the mill. The company reiterated that warning Thursday in a news release.

“It's a classic pulp mill gun to the head and Nova Scotians are sick of it,” Raymond Plourde of the Ecology Action Centre said in an interview at Pictou Landing.

For Wade Prest, ex-president of the Nova Scotia Woodlot Owners Association, the damage done to the forestry sector would not be fatal if the mill were to close.

“There would be short-term job losses, but it wouldn't be near as catastrophic as it has been projected by the industry,” said Prest, who was among those gathered at Pictou Landing.

“The province should have mitigation plans in place already for those job losses and for how we'll get through this,” he said. “And in the medium term we should be able to get out of this with a much healthier and more sustainable forestry sector than we have now.”

Speaking about the effect that

pollution in Boat Harbour has had on Pictou Landing, Paul in her speech invoked the memories of community's elders who knew the estuary as A'se'k.

“It was a place of well-being. It was the place that centred them emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. It fed them, it gave them medicine, it provided so much.”