magazine / oct11
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October 2011 issue |
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Reverberations
Rail revisited
I have lived adjacent to major railways in
two provinces for about 15 years, and I
have a cousin who worked for CN out of
the Melville, Sask., hub described in the
article “Glances from a train” (July/Aug 2011). The story seemed to glorify the
technological advances in rolling stock
and management systems without bringing
up the safety records of our major
national railways. There were three
derailments on the CP line between
Calgary and Edmonton last summer
alone and another right behind our
house a few years before that. There
was a sudden flurry of rail and switch
replacements on the line — was this
maintenance or damage control? I’ve seen
the tracks and switches decline over the
past several years and have not been surprised
at the accidents. The railways also
operate under union agreements, some of
which have foundations that are almost
as old as the rails themselves. The story
suggests that Canadian railways are experiencing
a “golden age,” but there still
seems to be a lot of room left for
improvement.
Dave Vinish
Didsbury, Alta.
I love trains, and I liked your story
about a rail renaissance, but it could
have acknowledged the places where
we won’t see that revival. You left
Newfoundland off the map, and for
once, we can’t complain, because our
track is long gone, traded — in a shortsighted
deal — for roads we can’t afford
to maintain. You used to be able to
take the train to Cape Breton and the
Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia too,
but no more. I used to catch a ride
home on Friday afternoons, the
Halifax-to-Montréal train letting me
off in Shubenacadie, N.S. Many other
places have also been ill-served by
decisions of the past, places that will
not benefit by this rail revival.
Edgar Blades
St. John’s
It was a tragedy that so many tracks
were removed from so many communities.
It should never have happened.
Instead, superhighways have been built
to handle the massive increase in people
and goods. With trucking behemoths
pounding the highways along with everincreasing
automobile traffic, it’s no
wonder there’s such a high incidence
of traffic fatalities. There wasn’t much
foresight by the people in power who
destroyed the local rail systems. If those
who made that dumb-donkey decision
are still around, I hope they have to follow
a half-dozen transport trucks in a row
for a couple of hundred miles every day.
Mel Lyons
Kincardine, Ont.
The railway article shines a positive
light on the economy and efficiency
of rail travel, and I hope it leads our
politicians to support it with an eye to the
long term. Expanding the existing VIA
network to return passenger service to the
Ottawa Valley (Montréal to Sudbury) and
the southern prairies (Winnipeg-Regina-
Calgary-Kamloops) would be well
received. Passenger links from Calgary to
Edmonton and Regina to Saskatoon are
also needed. Encouraging the two major
railways to twin some of the transcontinental
lines would increase efficiency and
provide needed employment. I also agree that combining rail and bus terminals
is viable: co-operation rather than com -
petition would benefit everyone.
Gary Soucey
Medicine Hat, Alta.
Writer Monte Paulsen seems to
have had a fine journey travelling
by rail across Canada, but I’m puzzled:
He says that there are many railway
photos of days gone by at the Prestige
Rocky Mountain Resort in Cranbrook,
B.C., where he stayed, but that the hotel
is nowhere near the tracks. The hotel
actually sits between Highway 3 (the
Crowsnest Highway) and the tracks.
In fact, there’s a refurbished sleeper car
on a track at the hotel’s rear door that
can be booked for a stay.
Frances Allen
Cranbrook, B.C.
Return to the river
Congratulations to our colleague,
supervisor, mentor and inspiration
Monique Dubé for winning the
Environmental Scientist of the Year Award (“Rocking the boat,” June 2011). Dubé
is a visionary; she has immeasurable drive
and determination and has succeeded
where many others have not. The tone in
this article, however, distracted from the
merit of the award, did not do justice to
her accomplishments, and provided a
biased account of Dubé’s Yukon River
trip. The article also leaves one with the
impression that the trials Dubé has faced
are unique to her; this is not the case —
the role of women in science and their
challenges are issues that are indeed alive
and the reality of many.
Writer Allan Casey has provided an
incomplete view and overlooked facts of
which he was well aware. The Yukon
journey tested THREATs (The Healthy
River Ecosystem AssessmenT System) in
a “time of travel” study. River networks
are complex. Capturing that complexity
was necessary to understand how what
we do on the landscape affects the river.
This approach was part of Dubé’s internationally
peer-reviewed science program,
and the focus of a nationally funded program through the Canadian
Water Network. The results of her work
are influencing how we manage our
waters; in the oil sands, for example, a
framework for redesigned monitoring
was built with her collaboration.
In spite of the Yukon expedition
being portrayed overall as a failure, two
large publications have emanated from
the work and partnerships established
with First Nations groups continue.
Exploration of the traditional knowledge
avenue of cumulative effects assessment
is ongoing and the students who accompanied
as the land crew are now
employed. These students learned that
science is not about following a recipe,
that adaptability is critical, that science is
about people and communities, and that
yes, experimental designs can go wrong.
Lastly, we wish to address the topic
of Dubé’s working environment at the
University of Saskatchewan. Casey cryptically plants the notion that Dubé is
“dogged by conflict with her colleagues.”
The facts are misrepresented here as Dubé
works with many staff, faculty and students
on a daily basis with no conflict
whatsoever. She has not switched positions;
she has switched departments.
Challenges to equality and to thinking
outside of the box are alive, and Dubé’s
decision to move from one department
to another was a result of the untenable
climate that such challenges can create.
In conclusion, we celebrate “science
for service” in the protection of our vulnerable
water supplies and celebrate Dr.
Monique Dubé for raising our awareness
in her award-winning manner.
Todd Pugsley, Julie Wilson, Gila
Somers, Melissa Driessnack,
Josh
Gibbs, Balew Admas Mekonnen,
Karonhiakta’tie Bryan Maracle
Saskatoon
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* Letters may be edited for length, accuracy and liability.
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