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Talk about what is essential

One of the things that raises my ire as a reporter is when someone says something is essential, when really it is not. Take for example, the newly built aquatic centre.

One of the things that raises my ire as a reporter is when someone says something is essential, when really it is not.

Take for example, the newly built aquatic centre. In many of the meetings, debates, forums, etcetera leading up to the building of the aquatic centre its proponents, including some members of town council, called it essential. Some people, again mostly on town council, have added the general category of recreation as an essential service.

I’m sorry, but a pool or a hockey rink is not an essential service.

If you want proof, just take a look around you.

Barrhead is still here. Area residents were without a pool for some time, yet there wasn’t a mass exodus and government agencies didn’t come in with teams of buses in order to make sure people could go swimming.

Essential services, for me, are ones that a person or community truly can’t live without. Things like water, sewer, and electricity, perhaps the loss of the hospital or a school. Lose these, any one of these things, then government agencies do step in and or a mass exodus takes place.

That being said, the majority of people who say these items are essential, readily admit the above items are more important than a pool or recreation, and that there is a sliding scale of essential. But for me essential is just essential.

Councillors in neighbouring Woodlands County, have put a high importance, although they haven’t actually used the word essential yet, in cellular coverage and high-speed Internet service.

Once again, I would not characterize having a cellphone as an essential service, at least not on the face of it. It was only about eight years ago when I finally joined the land of cell phone users and I managed just fine before that.

Now that I have one, and considering my job, would or could I go back to not having one? I doubt it. Still does that mean it should be considered an essential service? I’m not sure. And even if it is I’m not sure it is logistically possible to provide everyone everywhere with cellular coverage — not without massive amounts of capital.

However, a story I heard at a Woodlands County meeting where emergency crews had difficulties communicating with their dispatch centre when out on a medical call with a seriously ill patient, reiterated how essential a communication system is. In this case, luckily for all those involved, firefighters and EMS crews managed, with some effort, to communicate with the command centre.

While I am not entirely sold that cellular service is an essential service, having access to reliable communication is. But the question is who should provide it and what form it should take?


Barry Kerton

About the Author: Barry Kerton

Barry Kerton is the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, joining the paper in 2014. He covers news, municipal politics and sports.
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