Response to the article appearing in the Guysborough Journal on August 20, 2025

I read with interest the recent article on water distribution and how different municipalities within Guysborough Country were facilitating the program. While I can agree that each area is handling the situation differently, I am a bit disappointed in the unspoken conclusion that St. Mary’s was being too rigid or inflexible in the distribution of this aid.

It was, and is, a provincial requirement that all distributed water must be tracked and accounted for. This is true in both methods of distribution either by voucher or in person.

However, in the time period between the interview made by media staff and the publication of the newspaper, meetings were held between both municipalities and provincial EMO to clarify on what constitutes evidence of need and methods of accounting for distribution. The initial guidelines provided by EMO staff could have been interpreted as overbearing in some cases, but since then the standards have been adjusted. No one needs to lift a well lid or take photos as first suggested. However, due to tracking standards set by EMO, we do need to keep count of how much water is distributed and to whom. Your word that the well is dry is enough.

This is a new and evolving program and as with any new process, when details need to be worked out on the fly there can be some confusion. Were mistakes made? Maybe. Are we trying hard to adjust and make this resource available? Absolutely. Were these changes made as a result of news media reporting? Absolutely not. In fact, yesterday a pallet and a half of water was distributed with no complications, a day before news publication.

St. Mary’s remains committed to the health and safety of all our residents and will continue to do so in the future.

James Fuller, Warden
Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s