Essence #nlpoli

The Telegram has been running a series this week on the number of communities in the province where people can’t drink the water supplied by their local municipality.

Regular readers will know the issue as it first came up here in 2009, in 2011, and in 2013. 

A couple of years ago, CBC was highlighting the problem.  Your humble e-scribbler reminded the universe that giving people water fit to drink was one of those fundamental commitments the Conservatives made to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2003.

And it was one of those fundamental commitments that they failed utterly and completely to honour.

There is no greater fraud than a promise not kept, their leader used to say.

He was absolutely right.

Clean drinking water is a sign of progress

You know it is a good thing when two departments can join forces to issue a single news release praising a decade of clean drinking water training courses for municipal employees.

For those who have been hearing clean drinking water in the news lately, just recall a post on significant digits your humble e-scribbler wrote in December 2009.  Not much has changed in the past year and a bit.

Bravo for the workshop people.

Good on them for working hard to make things better.

But someone needs to hold feet to some fire to get action in a “have” province where something like 30% of communities operate routinely under boil water orders.

- srbp -