The Boat Harbour Act, which passed in 2015, laid out a January 31, 2020 deadline for Northern Pulp to close its Boat Harbour facility. Since then, the mill has asked for a one-year extension, but it has never been granted.
Now, as the deadline approaches there are concerns the government could extend that deadline. On Friday, hundreds marched in Pictou Landing First Nation as a reminder to the government that the Boat Harbour Act needs to be honoured.
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Chief Andrea Paul says the community has been waiting for this date not just for five years, but over five decades.
As a symbolic gesture before the march, community members unveiled a concrete slab that reads ‘Honour the act’ and “A’SE’K 31 January 2020.”
“We’re nearing that date, and it’s a celebration for us, we’re getting excited,” said Paul.
Crystal Denny was among those at the march and says she’s hoping one day Boat Harbour can transform back to how her elders remember it, as a place where people could swim, fish, and play.
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“I grew up here, I was raised here and I remember as a kid walking around and I would smell the pollution,” she said. “It’s sad.”
As the march carried on in Pictou Landing First Nation, in Halifax at Province House Gary Burrill called for an emergency debate to discuss Boat Harbour saying the “Liberals have sown deep uncertainty and division among those who are affected by the Boat Harbour effluent plant and the Northern Pulp Mill in Pictou County and beyond.”
The call for debate was ignored but the Premier reiterated his intention to honour the act.
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“The legislation is there, there’s nothing before the house to change it,” he said.
“I’ve made a commitment to clean up Boat Harbour and we’ll clean up boat Harbour.”
Earlier this week Northern Pulp submitted a focus report which was requested shortly after they submitted their proposal for a replacement facility back in February.
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The focus report notes that the new effluent plant will take 21 months to build – well past the January 31 deadline. The company has previously said if Boat Harbour closes before the new plant is in place they will have to close down the mill, affecting 300 jobs.
But for members of the Pictou Landing First Nation, the threat of losing jobs is not worth keeping Boat Harbour open any longer.
“They can move, they can look for a job elsewhere,” said Denny.
“We live here, we’re stuck here. Well we may not be stuck here, but this is our home.”