Elizabeth McSheffrey
Global News
Doctors, coastline and rural education: 4 Lunenburg voters share their N.S. election priorities
August 6, 2021
Jill Smith, a gifted stone carver, is a born and raised Lunenburger.
She doesn’t vote for the same party in every election, but this time around, said the issues near and dear to her heart have made the decision clear. She’s passionate about health care, climate action and conservation — issues that will impact her grandchildren and their children.
“I think a lot of people are looking at the fact that parts of our country are burning and things like fish stocks are down,” she told Global News. “People can’t deny that our oceans are being fished out, that our weather has changed, that we’re more vulnerable to flooding and fires.”
Smith said she’s deeply concerned by the growth of open-net salmon farming in Nova Scotia, and the Liberal government’s delisting of Owls Head Provincial Park as a potential site for protection. The decision was taken, she added, “sneakily and quietly” to make way for a sale to a company that wants to build a golf course there.
“I’m looking at issues that I think are really important for the future of our province, not just sort of short-term gain for corporations in this province,” she explained.