East Advocate -
With the arrival of the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, residents of Advocate are encouraged that money will begin to flow to fix a breach in the seawall surrounding their community before it becomes submerged under water.
Gail Shea toured Advocate last Saturday to inspect the breach in the seawall in West Advocate and to listen to the concerns of 60 citizens who gathered at the Advocate Fire Hall.
Shea was joined by Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley Conservative byelection candidate Scott Armstrong and Cumberland South MLA Murray Scott.
What she quickly learned from residents is that help can't come soon enough.
One girl in the crowd said that a catastrophic flood could hit Advocate tomorrow and that it's imperative the breach is fixed right away.
"I can do my very best," said Shea, who admitted a wall cannot be built by tomorrow. "I will work with Scott to make sure that if we can fix this before the winter, we will."
George Reid, a retired civil engineer frustrated with the pace of action on the seawall, was very encouraged by Shea's presence.
"We are really desperate," said Reid. "We cried wolf in February, March and April and we were leaving it to the bureaucrats to carry the ball but the ball was passed between different ministers and nothing got done.
"We've done the right things, we've been polite, we've worked with the system, we've worked with the government," added Reid. "But we didn't go over top of their heads."
Reid credits Scott for getting the ball rolling in the right direction.
"Bringing Gail here is a real shot in the arm," said Reid. "Murray has worked hard. He's going to get something done."
If nothing is done after this meeting and there is a flood, Reid said the government will look like it dropped the ball again.
"Jim Prentice is responsible for federal emergency measures and if there is a catastrophic flooding situation that occurs this winter and nothing has been done, I would say somebody's going to be embarrassed."
Engineering hurdles need to be cleared before a seawall is built but Reid sees political hurdles as well.
"There is a problem with coastline erosion all around the Atlantic area, so any federal or provincial departments are apprehensive about going into fix it because then they are told they have to fix others. It could set a precedent."
Shea said she would attack the issue first thing Monday morning.
"There have been meetings with different levels of government on this issue but nobody has taken responsibility," said Shea. "I don't buy that. I will do my utmost to make sure this gets done ASAP."
With a byelection only weeks away, some people could be forgiven for believing that this is a political ploy.
Armstrong doesn't see it that way.
"I don't think this is a party issue. This is about the very future of this community and I think every candidate in this election feels the same as I do. We have to do something as soon as possible," said Armstrong. "We're not playing politics with stimulus money. This might not even come out of the stimulus package.
"This isn't a rink or a road or a water treatment facility, this is something that has to be done regardless of whether or not there was an economic action plan. It's a matter of life and death of the community, that's for sure."
Reid agrees.
"Spending money on a sea wall is critical. This is something that needs to be done immediately," said Reid. "The future of our community depends on it."
Shea said a half-kilometer long seawall could cost between $1 million and $1.5 million to build.
