February 16, 1999, Cape Breton Post
JAG surprised its originators

To the editor:

Scientists and some fishermen had been stating for years there would be a fisheries collapse. And then our federal fisheries minister of the day, Brian Tobin, arrested a foreign ship for fishing in our waters. He was hailed a protector of the people’s interests, and maybe he was.

Around the same time, a lot of people were talking about our coal mines and steel plant, and the tar ponds. Some of the talk centred on the tar ponds and some around the funding cuts to the coal and steel companies, but nothing was definite. Other topics, aired on our Talkback show with two popular radio hosts and in national and international media, were how to protect what we had left, how pollution had affected our way of life, how to create jobs without damage, the encroachment of big business and drilling companies on and around our Bras d’Or Lakes, and provincial and federal parks and the threat companies posed to our natural areas.

The Joint Action Group for environmental cleanup was discussed and developed. We were asked by then federal ministers David Dingwall and Sergio Marchi to get involved in this group to clean up the tar ponds, coke ovens and harbour. This has become a process that the world may take example from.

At the same time, Talkback was cancelled and two long-time hosts were abruptly let go.

We thought government had put us on the same level as federal, provincial and municipal leaders and funding agencies, and we got in with both feet. I don’t know if they gave us this program to keep us quiet or to help, but did they ever get a shock!

We worked together day after day, meeting after meeting, never tiring as long as things had a chance of being done honestly and openly to move toward a clean and healthy environment. And unless you are in the trenches, it is hard to judge what we do. Never in government’s wildest dreams did it know how dedicated we would be to keep this process going, honest, and on track.

Talkback was cut to stop the flow of information by some outspoken people in our area and to suppress the people who watch and listen to what is happening to our island. First cut the voice of the people, then cut the funding, then drill for oil and gas in the offshore where people can’t watch what is being done about pollution in the fishing areas.

Maybe the government is serious about JAG and is getting ready to put large sums into it and train the workforce — maybe, so we better be ready.

Yes, quiet the masses and give politicians who speak for the people, like Brian Tobin, positions where they can’t do that. Then reap the resources of this island’s waters one last time.

Mark Ferris,
Edwardsville

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