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I’ve been contributing to this opinion column for quite a while now, and I really value the experience, but I sometimes wonder how relevant opinion columns are.
You see, this newspaper primarily exists as a source of community and regional news. It does a fine job of that, whether its sports, municipal affairs, law and order, community activities, etc.
However, writing news items, versus opinion pieces, differs in one important respect. News items are strictly fact-based. News, as published, is generally based on accurate reporting of what is seen and heard, and activities involving community members and leaders. In Cumberland County there is limited opportunity for “fake news.”
On the other hand, opinions are personal creations and usually come from the acquired knowledge and lived experiences of individuals. Memories can be distorted over time, and “points of view” can emerge in our youth and be changed or reinforced as one’s life develops; and may be influenced by the significant ups and downs in life that leave their mark on the psyche.
It’s natural these different points of view show up in the opinion pieces in the daily or weekly opinion columns in the popular press, not to mention during democratic election processes where political parties vie for electors’ support of their party platforms; notably platforms that reflect their own partisan “point of view” - left, centre or right-wing politics.
It’s therefore not surprising that carefully calculated opinion pieces, not facts, are designed to win elections; which is why opinion leaders, and opinion polls where they exist, will be such critical factors in municipal elections in this province later this year.
Already we see robust opinions emerging in our pages on very controversial topics, such as the Northern Pulp situation, arguing the pros and cons of closure of the facility, even after government decisions seem to have been made.
Last year, “hydraulic fracturing” or “fracking” was in our local news with competing, contradictory facts presented as to the harms of the process, feeding strong opposing opinions. The topic is still moot politically but will likely be decided, if at all, at the provincial level primarily by readings of prevailing opinions.
Another critical topic of importance to our specific region is the notion of immigration being essential to our economic growth. If there’s anything certain in our backyard it is that we desperately need more warm, smart, younger bodies with enthusiasm our economic growth. For the most part, our local politicians are silent on the immigration issue, it being a controversial topic, rife with misapprehensions, and as yet with no detectable majority community opinion.
It doesn’t help that there is a poor appreciation of the difference between immigrants and refugees. Some think immigration is a good thing, because immigrants can fill jobs locals don’t want, confusing immigrants with seasonal workers. They are also unaware of the generally higher levels of education and work experience that approved immigrants have compared to the average Canadian citizen.
This is why Canada admits more than 300,000 vetted immigrants a year, in addition to 25,000 or so refugees. It’s not to show how nice we Canadians are - we have honest but selfish motives; and other Canadian communities are benefitting from increased growth. Reflect on the faces of the tragic Canadian victims of the Ukrainian aircraft downing who were mostly professional immigrants, students, some with their children also on board. All beautiful examples of what our future should and will eventually hold.
It's also worth noting when it comes to communicating opinions, our main “public square” – the weekly Amherst News – is now delivered free of charge to about 15,000 homes county-wide, compared to the previous paid version of less than 3,000 copies.
The Amherst News accepts letters to the editor but it is very rarely used by readers to express their views on key topics of the day. Heaven knows, candidates for the new mayoral seat of Cumberland County will need all the help they can get to assess their constituents’ opinions across a widely distributed population, and an active “Letters to the Editor’’ section would surely help all municipalities.
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Alan Walter is a retired professional engineer living in Oxford. He was born in Wales and worked in Halifax. He spends much of his time in Oxford, where he operates a small farm. He can be reached at [email protected].
