Flood action appreciated

Scott Hagell

- September 28, 2012 at 14:42:56

Charles, the whole point of this editorial was to praise the NDP and thank them for their action. My point is that the time for action is not after a major flood but before a major flood happens. In other words, three and a half years ago when our NDP government and NDP MLA came to power, they should have made this a priority because you are right...this was a problem long before I came along. Unfortunately though, our government didn't have any vision for the province then and they don't seem to now. Our MLA didn't have a vision for Truro Bible Hill in 2009 and she doesn't now. And it's not just the NDP. We have never had an elected official from any party who truly championed this cause. Studies have been done but nothing has ever been done with them. Our governments have spent millions of dollars on shovel ready projects to stimulate the economy, purchased fighter jets, built civic centres, gazebos, lawn bowling facilities, and a several thousand dollar sign to tell people where Victoria park is. But what have they done to work on this problem? Do you really think that the gravel being dumped to make this berm will do anything? I assure you it won't. We don't need short term bandaid solutions and this is what is wrong with putting the berm back where it was. I am in no way shape or form suggesting that the people who have worked on this in the past are idiots. I'm only suggesting that they haven't used their powers and our money to do something meaningful about it. You're right. We don't know what the weather will be 20 years from now but I would imagine that the tides will be higher and that's why we need to start planning now because we can be sure that what we currently have is not enough. If Holland and Denmark can be protected then a solution exists. The question is, who has the political will to make something happen? More importantly, who has the political will to even try? I would like to think that Lenore and Darrell will champion this cause but I have a hard time believing their promises when so many have been broken. Perhaps they will prove me wrong. I hope they do.

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Charles

- September 27, 2012 at 18:52:29

Really Mr Hagell?? no seriously Mr Hagell, REALLY?? Get off you soap box. If you want to beat your election drum ask the daily news they may even let you ramble for as long as you like in an artice. You want to make it sound like everyone else who has had as part in this problem over the decades have been complete idiots to this point in time This issue has been here much longer than you have. There has to be a short term fix. and that is exactly what is taking place, they are repairing the berm to it's level of holding that was in place a few weeks ago to show some compassion for those who were affected. I can imagine anyone not appreciating this effort who was under 4 feet of water. What's so wrong with putting it back to where it was, then looking at what went wrong moving forward? If they do nothing then just about every time it rains people will be wondering what is going to happen. Let them fix it and perhaps people can use the rains of sept 2012 as a standard to measure their concern level. There is no permanent fix for this problem just a bar that is now set on Sept 2012 rains. and I hope that they do a good job in rebuilding the berms back up to that bar. Weather patterns are changing Mr Hagell and THATS the problem. Would you care to offer a 100% accurate prediction on what the weather patterns will be like in 20 years? So the elected officials of today can start preparing for them while they have all the equipment at the berms now? I hardly think so. But if you get elected perhaps in 20 years if we have another major flood. Perhaps a young inexperienced person running for a council seat will go easier on the then elected official who cannot predict the weather 20 years into the future.

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Scott Hagell

- September 27, 2012 at 05:48:39

I can't help but disagree with the premise of this article. To suggest that the government is taking action to address this problem would imply that they are in control and that this is a planned and deliberate action. We know, however, that this is simply not the case. If our municipal, provincial, and federal elected representatives had acted on this issue when they should have, the problem would have been much less significant and I probably wouldn't be typing this comment right now. This has been a problem for decades and, despite paying high taxes, and despite being represented by politicians at all levels, nothing has ever been done. In fact, this problem is rarely even mentioned by our elected representatives until half of our town is under water. I was shocked to hear Lenore Zann say to the CTV news a couple days ago that "perhaps" it's time to fix the flooding in Truro and Colchester. This, ladies and gentlemen, is not action, it's reaction and this is a bad way to set public policy. Action is synonymous with leadership and reaction is synonymous with procrastination. We need leaders and statesmen, not political tinkerers. The reality is that there is no one single solution to the problem because there is no one single cause. It is a complicated problem that requires a complicated solution. I, personally, am not ready to throw a parade to thank our government for dumping a bunch of gravel in a river to try and "fix" the flooding when I know that it won't work because it has not been properly thought out. To me, this is not leadership, it's reacting to a problem so that the residents will feel satisfied that their government is doing something and it certainly seems that the Editor of this paper has fallen for the trick. Governments should not be in the business of putting out fires after they happen; they should be in the business of preventing the fires in the first place. This isn't always easy, but doing the right thing is rarely easy.

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