VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

GOT IT WRONG

I noticed a letter (“Only forest industry profits seem sustainable,” Aug. 19)

by J. Bridgland from Ingonish Beach lamenting the loss of sustainability in forestry. He wrote, “I cannot source a door frame that is not laminated from four-inch pieces. Where's the sustainability?.”

My family's company, Lewis Mouldings, has produced trim made from pine for decades. The reference to edged glued jambs as being a sign of unsustainable forestry practices is off the mark. The truth is, glued or laminated products are actually a sign of just the opposite.

We use laminating, like what is being referenced, to generate as much value as possible from as little fibre as possible. Making use of the whole tree instead of simply cherry picking the premium pieces.

The forest industry is full of examples of innovative ways companies have developed to make as much value and use as possible from every bit of fibre harvested, so that ultimately, we can harvest less. Whether it's edged glued jambs, oriented strand board (osb) or products made of pressed sawdust like MDF.

These aren't examples of unsustainable practices, they are examples of an industry committed to making the best use of the least amount of fibre as possible.

Jamie Lewis, Lewis Mouldings, Weymouth

NOT SAFE

I feel very lucky that my kids are grown and not in school. I'd be terrified of sending children back with the no-mask rule starting in midseptember.

There are both teachers/staff who are not vaccinated and parents who are not vaccinated. I truly believe this is a threat to children under 12 years of age who are vulnerable. The data is there to prove that the Delta variant is much more contagious and severe.

Why are we allowing teachers and staff to go back to work without vaccinations? It should be mandatory in order to go back to work.

And to the parents who are still holding out on getting the vaccination — you are selfish and you need to get educated on how this vaccination may not only save your life but the lives of your children, parents, etc. Elizabeth Smith, Halifax

DENIAL A SYMPTOM

Reading Gavin Giles letter (“Countering deniers,” Aug. 27), he is right about the need for attention to the common good. However, I also think that something else is going on.

Social and personal control is a big part of our lives, probably more than it was 50 years ago. We learn to use respectful language about differences, we learn to control our mental states. We are expected more and more to manage our emotional states and minds, to manage worry and low mood, and to practice the mindfulness that helps us tolerate stress. I always understood that this was for my benefit and for the good of the whole community. “Healthier people make a healthier, happier and more prosperous community,” and that's progress, right?

Now, it seems people are suspecting that all this self control is not for our benefit, that someone else is benefitting, big corporations maybe, or the “one per cent,” or elites, or somebody. People seem to fear that self control is a Trojan horse of oppression, and that we are being fooled.

This suspicion leads to disaffection and comes out politically in freeflowing anger and plain nastiness, it comes out in protests on the American Capitol, and even on Highway 104. It emerges all across the activist spectrum; in Occupy, and in protests on behalf of the homeless and in survivalist clubs. Mostly, it is heard in resentment aimed at “political correctness.”

This spiritual corrosion is felt across the social spectrum from right to left, and across socio-economic classes from top to bottom. It is coming to be recognised as a reservoir of political power. Perhaps it is founded on a laudable desire to empower individuals and small groups, to assert oneself, yet its distinguishing mark is aggression. The wild ride with climate may pale in comparison with the social and political storms that are coming. We have, de facto, a spirituality of aggression.

Dermot Monaghan, Kingston

HELLISH PROBLEM

Pandemonium, with its roots as the capital of Hell in Milton's Paradise Lost, is an apt way of describing much of the current vitriol spewing from those who believe that public health is actually a conspiracy aimed at taking away our freedoms.

From all angles, it appears we have arrived in hell. It's a place in which people are at liberty to contradict science. It is a place where people parade around mask-less, despite our knowledge of how the virus does in fact spread.

What a muddle, and what pandemonium has developed the longer we endure the ideological effects of the pandemic. It is as if our poor brains have been put in discrete boxes with no conversation or communication between those boxes.

Alas, hell is not a place for conversation or dialogue. History and reason have no place in hell and so pandemonium wins the day. It remains to be seen whether or not we will be able to survive all this and hopefully arrive at a place outside hell where conversation is once again possible. Tony Kelly, Little River (Digby Co.)

CAN’T BE TRUSTED

I tried to read Robin Wilber's letter (“Northern Pulp needed for healthy Nova Scotia forest sector,” Aug. 30) with an open mind. I agree that the forestry industry is important and needs to be well managed.

However, looking from the other side, where residents and, particularly, Pictou Landing First Nations sit, Northern Pulp cannot be trusted to put people and the environment before their own interests. This is a company that would have continued to dump effluent and pollute if not for people fighting for many years to have it stop. This is a company trying to sound like they really care about the environment and people, when they have clearly stated that the cost to build a new pulp mill would be so great as to make it unsustainable.

Mr. Wilber does not live in Pictou County and will not be personally affected. Mr. Wilber does not acknowledge the other industries which may be changed by having effluent run through the waters of Pictou Harbour.

This whole disagreement saddens me, to see citizens pitted against each other for their own self interest. We should all bind together to find a solution that is good for everyone and I don't believe that Northern Pulp will be any part of that.

Mary Anne Earle, Dartmouth (formerly of Pictou)

JUST REALITY

When will it be acknowledged that there will never be anything that can be considered as affordable housing? In HRM, a small apartment in a reasonably nice area will cost a minimum of $1,500 per month. That is just reality. My estimate may actually be low.

Simply put, the only way to address the current need is for governments or charities to subsidize housing. Or legislate an annual income, working or not, equivalent to at least a minimum wage of $20/hour.

G. Boyce, Dartmouth