CBC Saskatchewan - Judge orders village to add chlorine to water
Keeler has 8 people living in it right now. The judge fined their village $750. And then he delivered the death sentence. You thought that was done away with in Canada? Apparently a judge can kill a municipality now. The court ordered chlorination water system will surely bankrupt the village. I don’t have a solid estimate for the cost of a small system, but one number CBC batted around before for a chlorination system was $450,000.
$450,000 / 8 people = $56250 / person = Game Over = No more Village of Keeler. And you thought taking out a loan to get government approved water was decades away, I bet? How this ruling benefits the people of Saskatchewan, or Keeler’s residents, I’m not sure. They are obviously aware of the risk posed both by drinking chlorinated water, and water without the chemical in it. Why is SERM not allowing the village to choose? It could be because the law says a municipality may provide water to it’s residents, and it should meet provincial standards. Something in the system isn’t working right, when SERM can ruin a municipality on one issue none of the residents are otherwise concerned about.
I tried phoning Mayor Duncan Keeler late Tuesday evening, but there was no answer to the call. If I have time I’ll try to obtain an estimate as to the cost of the water system, and the direction the mayor will take his village will after this crushing ruling desired by Sask Environment and Resource Managment (SERM).
Wood Mountain faces a simliar court battle, and the matter is currently before the court. Some differences in evidence are present, so the Keeler ruling doesn’t tie the hands of the judge for the Wood Mountain water case. At least a reasonable person would expect that much.
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Brent | 21-Jun-06 at 6:06 am | Permalink
Is it just me or does it seem that our current regime in Regina appears to hold our rural areas and heritage in low regard and perhaps with a touch of malice.
These sorts of rulings make you wonder whether this is just another example of some petty bureaucrat exercising his power or using this ruling to please some political motive or master.
These actions regarding water safety coupled with the horrid state our roads and apparently no plan or intent to repair them seem to be calculated measures to drive people out of rural areas. If these are not calculated measures the only other conclusion would be gross negligence.
Saskboy | 21-Jun-06 at 11:57 am | Permalink
It’s a good point you raise. They pretend to care about water safety, after allowing North Battleford to happen, and if anyone ever needs to get to a hospital, they have an hour+ drive to contend with over crumbling roads. And although it’s a federal matter, I’m sure there are several reservations with water plants that aren’t up to code.
The code either needs to be changed, or applied more fairly to all Canadians. More importantly, don’t put a known poison into peoples’ water supplies if they specificly and with a very large or unanimous majority reject it for other safe alternatives.
Amanda | 22-Jun-06 at 11:45 am | Permalink
I know of farms with more than eight people living on them. They have their own well for drinking water. Does this mean family farms will need to install such a prohibitively expensive system? Gak.
Saskboy | 22-Jun-06 at 12:31 pm | Permalink
That’s the catch, and the absurdity in this instance. Since a farm isn’t a municipality, they aren’t subject to the Municipality Act, and in that act it says a village “may” provide water. One of Keeler’s options is to no longer operate their distribution system, whatever it is, and then when the residents are responsible for making their own wells, or hookups to the well, then they should be able to act like how farmers deal with their water.
Funny that SERM isn’t concerned enough to have farmers fined for not chlorinating…
Amanda | 29-Jun-06 at 6:49 pm | Permalink
http://insanitycase.livejournal.com/55298.html