January 21, 2026
Dear Editor,
First and foremost let me be very clear.
I am 100 per cent behind what Mr Beaton is doing and I wish him the best as I am very sure he has a lot of work ahead of him.
After reading his column in the Cape Breton Post, I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Beaton feels the root cause of the problem has originated in Alberta. He mentioned the oil boom and although there was a lot of work in different parts of Alberta, my experience has been that the majority of Cape Bretoners who came out west came to Fort McMurray, Alberta, because that is where the bulk of the work was and still is.
For those of you who may not have seen this column, I just took a small portion of it and attached it to this message.
“It has a lot to do with the people going out west. During the oil boom in Alberta, they brought home a lot of bad habits with them. And that’s when the cocaine use and the hard drugs started to creep in and take a hold of the community. And as of now, it is at or past epidemic proportions in this community.”
I believe it is unfair to blame this epidemic on Alberta. I grew up in Southwest Margaree and although I left there many years ago I still have strong connections to not only Cape Breton, but to the Margarees as well. I still have many friends that still live there.
To say that people have got their bad habits from coming out to Alberta to work, I believe is wrong. Growing up in Cape Breton in the mid-’60s, it was common knowledge that if you wanted to get any forms of illegal drugs, there were places to go so this is nothing new.
Let me be very clear, this drug problem is not only in Inverness and surrounding areas. It is all across Canada, Alberta included, so to blame one province or the other for a problem in your community is wrong.
I have certainly crossed paths with many of the Cape Bretoners that have made their way to Fort McMurray and they have taken advantage of the opportunity to set themselves up, so taking drugs, whether it be in Alberta or in Cape Breton, is a personal choice and you make that choice based on what you want for yourself and yes, the more money you have, the more money you can spend on it. You have to make the right choices.
In the early to mid-’70s, many of us left Cape Breton to go to work in Sudbury, Ontario. The financial gain for us going there was very good, but I’m sure some people wasted their money as well. You can’t blame Sudbury, Ontario, and the hard rock mines for an epidemic such as what we see today so that’s the point I’m trying to make.
We also have to recognize that this epidemic is a sickness, and it starts very innocently, and unfortunately, it leads to the situation we have today.
They do need the help and support that Mr. Beaton is offering and that in itself is a wonderful thing.
I am sure that many of these people that have this problem may have never ever come out west to work as well.
In closing once again, I want to applaud you Mr. Beaton and personally thank you for the work you are undertaking and I wish you all the best but just remember, Alberta should not be labelled as the root cause to this problem.
Best regards,
Bernie Gillis
Fort McMurray
formerly from Southwest Margaree
