Weekend Video: It’s too big – The Biomass Plant at Port Hastings

KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – This weekend’s featured video is It’s Too Big – The Biomass  Plant at Port Hastings, NS.

In a mere 10 minutes this documentary makes the case that to feed the boiler, to satisfy the voracious appetite of the Point Tupper biomass plant, the Department of Natural Resources is stressing forests in eastern Nova Scotia and jeopardizing the future of much of the forest industry.

https://vimeo.com/157751923

The documentary is the result of a three week social justice workshop with local volunteers and Antigonish filmmaker Peter Murphy.

It was produced by the always excellent Antigonish County Adult Learning Association (ACALA).

Way back in 2013 I talked with ACALA’s Philip Girvan about the making of another documentary.

“ACALA TV’s mandate is to provide job training to people who, for whatever reason, have been out of the workforce. It meets that mandate by having students work closely with professionals on videos and programming for the local Eastlink channel,” Girvan told me.

“At ACALA TV we do pretty specific videography, editing, lots of writing, you constantly have to adhere to deadlines, be able to communicate and work in a team, and all those skills are transferable, regardless of what you are interested in,” said Girvan.

“We have some learners who are quite interested in video and go on, […] and for others it’s good general experience, and they are able to put it on a resume, it’s work experience.”

Please consider signing a petition appealing to the McNeil Government to stop this practice.