Elliot Page’s $25,000 donation for a Shelburne, N.S., community well remains tied up in delays as officials debate funding, operations and location.
A community well in Shelburne, N.S., backed by a $25,000 donation from actor Elliot Page is still not running seven years after the pledge, leaving a project meant to help residents worried about local water quality mired in delay.
Page, who is from Nova Scotia, donated the money after the 2019 release of his documentary There’s Something in the Water , which examined environmental racism in Black and Indigenous communities in the province, including the African Nova Scotian community near Shelburne’s former garbage dump. Residents have long feared the dump contaminated drinking water and contributed to higher cancer rates.
“Continued frustration and anger and sadness,” Page told CBC News, describing his reaction to the stalled well. “I don’t quite understand that we’re just talking about getting clean water into a community that has faced tremendous obstacles and barriers.”
The project has involved the province, the Town of Shelburne, the Municipality of the District of Shelburne, the Nova Scotia Community College and the South End Environmental Injustice Society, known as SEED. CBC reported that those groups declined interviews and instead provided statements.
The original plan was to drill a well at a recreation centre in the Black community. The proposed site later shifted to an existing well on an NSCC campus outside town limits. According to CBC, two-thirds of Page’s donation was spent testing that well in 2023. Emails obtained by CBC show the location discussion later moved to a Roseway site before returning to the NSCC campus.
The province has approved $170,000 for the project, but activist Louise Delisle told CBC the funding requires completion by November 2027. Delisle founded SEED but later left the group after disagreeing with how Page’s donation was used.
The operating arrangement remains unresolved. Warren MacLeod, chief administrative officer for the Municipality of the District of Shelburne, said in a statement that the municipality has offered to cover building maintenance, heating, snow clearing and related upkeep, but wants the town to provide a certified water operator.
Days after CBC began investigating the delays, Shelburne councillors voted May 4 to be “supportive and continue to work with partners to explore the community well project.” Mayor Stan Jacklin, who is also president of SEED, was absent from the meeting after declaring a conflict of interest, according to CBC. Councillor Elizabeth Acker said no decisions had been made on funding or operations.
The water issue has become more urgent as the region faces repeated dry conditions. CBC reported the area has had abnormally dry to extreme drought conditions in nine of the past 10 years, and wells have run dry.
For now, the project has public funding, a deadline and renewed attention, but no confirmed start date. Page told CBC he does not regret donating the money and said a second documentary about the delays has been discussed.
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