Volunteer firemen deserve more support

When it comes to volunteer firemen, I agree they need a say in decision making - be it day-to-day or long term.

I worked at Nova Communications for some 15 years and have met and dealt with most, if not all, of them many times over the years. They bought our products, worth millions of dollars, for which we were grateful.

Unfortunately, Nova Communications closed in December of 2017, after 35 years in business.

Sometime within the next two months, Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) will have no technician should something go wrong. Unless changes are made, this means they will have to wait five hours for a technician to come from Halifax so the dispatch center had better keep their fingers crossed that nothing major happens.

In our last efforts we reached out for a meeting with key CBRM officials but, like the volunteer fire departments have discovered, it was to no avail. So, with no maintenance agreement and no support from our number one customer we had to close. Sad.

Let me say Buy Cape Breton first, in my opinion, does not exist at CBRM. The need to support our volunteers, who raise most of their own money with little support from CBRM is a must so I think they have a right to be in on the decision making. After all, they put their lives on the line at each and every call as do the career firemen. The latter are paid but they are both in the same business to save lives. Therefore, they both should have equal say in what decisions are made that affect the whole of the fire service.

There are some 35 volunteer fire departments in CBRM. Now is the time for everyone, the volunteers, career firemen and CBRM, to get on the same page for once .

Good luck to Scotchtown Volunteer Fire Service Chief Ray Eksal and to all the other volunteer fire chiefs. Don M. Dickson Sydney

With the proposed development of a container terminal in Sydney, would it not be appropriate to first have a secure railway infrastructure? In fact, it is a requirement.

Rail is the most cost efficient per ton for transporting goods and material. I understand that the initial money for construction will be a costly venture, but, in my opinion, it would be money well spent, not wasted. It is investing in the future.

Cape Breton cannot succeed in the 21st century without a solid rail transport infrastructure. The politicians on all sides should get together and think about it and discuss the viability.

Remember the old adage: “Build it and they will come.” Joe Osborne Glace Bay