Re the letter “Of strawberries and fixed links” in the Oct. 16 edition of The Telegram.
I never cease to be amazed. We haven’t figured out exactly what we are going to pay for power or how we are going to mitigate paying for the Muskrat Falls debacle.
None, not one of the leaders running in the federal election has clearly committed to any contribution towards mitigation whatsoever.
But then to espouse the construction of a fixed link from the Island to Labrador.
Really?!
What is the cost and risk going to be? How much is going to be included for errors and omissions? When is it supposed to start and is there penalties for not completing the project on time?
And then … and then, what will the impacts be?
Not only the development and the economic growth forecast, but how about the difference in time to get from Port aux Basques to Montreal by way of the existing ferry system compared to driving up the Northern Peninsula and down the shore to Montreal?
What about driving through Labrador between December and March with more fierce storms and more frequency being predicted?
What about the wide open road with nothing along the way, in some areas not even cellphone capability?
The road to Bay D’espoir is bad enough for isolation, especially in the winter, let alone the long, lonely isolated road through Labrador.
What impact will a fixed link have on the ferry system? Will we have to give up the ferry system for the fixed link like we gave up the rails for roads?
Once upon a time there was a ferry running from Shearwater, N.S. ,to Portland, Me.
The subsidy was cut, and then cut again, and then again until the cost was so prohibitive that there wasn’t enough people using it to pay for it and it was discontinued.
So, before we get too excited, let’s keep in mind our lessons learned from Churchill Falls, Muskrat Falls, our rails for roads. (By the way, has the TCH been upgraded to four lanes yet from Port aux Basques to Stephenville yet? It wasn’t the last time I came off the ferry in February with 18-wheelers passing on the double lines and throwing the slush and rocks hard enough to put the windshield out of the car.)
So, we have a lot of things to take care of already, not to mention our waste-water problems.
Oh well, I am happy the tooth fairy will be by tonight.
I have to put my false teeth under the pillow to mitigate my power increase.
I wonder how many times the fairy will come back?
I bet every night. Can I have your vote?
R. A. Mease,
C.B.S.
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