Chief Andrea Paul of Pictou Landing First Nation posted a response to the Unifor proposal on her Facebook page. “Today, they are caught in a battle that THEY had years and years to resolve. They had many years of opportunity to do better. They chose not to. Even with the Boat Harbour ACT they still believed they were above that and didn’t begin consultation with the Band until 2017 after we requested it.”
Unifor, with its deep roots in the community, could be a force for a solution of the Northern Pulp conundrum. But will remain ineffective if it aligns itself unconditionally with Paper Excellence, the owners of Northern Pulp.
A little something about that legislated deadline to the Boat Harbour closure and how politicians and unions better not mess with it.
Pictou MD John Krawczyk on the presence of methyl mercury near Pictou Landing First Nation and what that means for the Northern Pulp plans to dump treated effluent in the Strait. “The effluent will not be toxin free no matter how it is treated and will bio-accumulate in bi-valves (mussels, scallops, oysters) and lobsters. Seafood will be contaminated. The archaic expression dilution is the solution to pollution is no longer acceptable. Humans are at risk!”
John Collins is thinking about solutions to the Northern Pulp conundrum that will respect the residents of Pictou Landng First Nation, protect the Strait, and keep the jobs in Pictou.,Whatever you may think of his proposal, at least he’s putting it out there, which is more most politicians can say.
John Collins raises more questions on Northern Pulp’s plan to pipe effluents out to the Northumberland Strait. “There came a point in time, when the environment outweighed the economy, it has passed.”
The time is now for you to provide feedback on the Northern Pulp Effluent Proposal. Matt Dort offers a potential framework to help you organize your responses.
John Collins on Premier Stephen MacNeil’s response to a letter from the three Pictou MLAs: “I actually commend you for the courage and determination to stand up for what’s right and sticking to the legislated closure as implemented by your government in the ‘Boat Harbour Act’. For the mill to even promote a continuance of this level of environmental racism by asking for an extension is an insult to Pictou Landing First Nations, and First Nations Peoples in general.”
In 1965, prior to the construction of the Boat Harbour treatment facility, the Nova Scotia Water Authority, representing the provincial government, assured upset members of the Pictou Landing First Nation that the lagoon would remain suitable for boating, and even that fresh-water fish could be introduced. The only time there would be a bit of a smell would be in spring as the ice in the lagoon was breaking up, community members were told.
This article by historian Lachlan MacKinnon was originally published on September 18, 2014 on the excellent ActiveHistory.ca site. We re-publish this now three-year old article because the gap between mill workers and Pictou County environmentalists the author identifies if anything has widened in the last three years. “Environmentalists must confront the fact that structural power is also wielded against other marginalized groups, such as industrial workers facing the threat of deindustrialization. In this recognition, we can hope to transcend narrow categories such as worker and environmentalist and achieve a broader-based support for systemic change.”