An important letter to the editor today that all should read. Yvonne Kennedy is nailing the facts about Nova Scotia Power. Awesome letter Yvonne. ROGUE TRUCKERS, POWER OUTAGE, HIGH SALARY PRODUCE CRANKINESS Cape Breton Post 11 Feb 2022 I usually pride myself as being a fairly optimistic person but lately I find myself getting a bit cranky. It just might be COVID-19 crankiness. We all know that we need to abide by the public health restrictions to see our way out of the pandemic, but we are getting weary. Watching the news reports on the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ in Ottawa is getting on my last nerve. The protesters are supposedly fighting for their personal freedoms while disrupting the personal freedoms of the residents living near their “occupation” of two large cities in Canada. They want to overthrow the government as one of their outrageous demands. Do they not realize that the only way to achieve that end is at election time? That’s what it means to live in a democracy. Watching this sense of lawlessness reminds me of radical scenes that we would condemn in other countries. We are better than this. Or at least I hope we are. Add to this, the high cost of security to control these displays of lawlessness. Who’s paying that bill? I don’t think these rogue truckers and others will cough up the money to pay the bill. To add to my feelings of crankiness, I’m writing this letter after just emerging from a long power outage. Now I have nothing but respect and admiration for the workers who have been working day and night to restore the power all over Nova Scotia. But the respect stops there. Last week, media sources reported that Scott Balfour, the chief executive officer who runs Nova Scotia Power’s parent country, received a 16 per cent raise to his salary last year. That’s $1 million. Balfour’s present salary is $7.78 million a year. What does he do to make him a multi-millionaire every year? He did not discover a cure for cancer nor did he bring about world peace. Did he find a solution for the Nova Scotians who are struggling with mental illness? Did he build affordable housing for the homeless? No. He didn’t do any of these things that would earn him praise and adoration. Instead, Balfour is sitting in his cozy office making decisions on the power grid. Just do the math to figure out how much this man makes every day he walks through the door of his office. Recently, Nova Scotia announced that they would be demanding more money from the people who invested their dollars into solar energy. Aren’t we supposed to be encouraging alternate forms of energy? The company quickly backed down from this ‘brilliant’ idea due to a public backlash and criticism from Premier Tim Houston. I would like to have someone explain to me how his salary grew to this astronomical amount. To put it into perspective, the premier of Nova Scotia makes a salary of $89,234.90 a year plus $112,791 in indemnity and allowances. This is his paycheque for running the whole province. Between rogue truckers and Balfour’s salary, it’s no wonder that I’m a bit cranky these days. But I’m so happy that the linesmen at Nova Scotia Power restored my power so I could write this letter. Kudos for their hard work under very adverse conditions. Yvonne Kennedy Homeville