It’s been a month since the completion of the series about Dina, the leatherback sea turtle who died trying to navigate out of the Gulf of St. Lawrence but was blocked by the Canso Causeway. Since then, we have heard from those who say they want to see something change.

The Causeway would never get built today. If environmental reviews had been a thing back in the 1950s, officials would have learned that the Strait of Canso was critical habitat for many marine species. For millions of years, that narrow body of water was an important migration route for marine life of all sizes, from lobster larvae to whales. That came to an end in 1954 when it was closed by the 10 million tons of rock that formed the causeway.

It was supposed to be a bridge, but a bridge that could withstand the ice and strong currents would have cost a lot more than dumping a bunch of rock into the water.

At the time, residents hoped this link to the mainland would lead to economic prosperity. While eventually some industry moved in, much has since gone. And for many of us, the causeway is how we left Cape Breton, only to return for a week or two every summer.

Scientists have known since the 1970s that a fish passage was needed, but Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) never acted on that advice because it would be too difficult.

It’s only been since the end of January that the rest of us realized the harm the causeway causes when Dina’s story first came to light. Many of us have stood in Auld’s Cove, marvelling at the thresher sharks and humpback whales that come to feed on fish in November. What we didn’t realize was that the leatherback turtle we also saw may not have navigated safely around Cape Breton.

We have no idea how many endangered leatherback turtles the Causeway kills every year, and DFO management has no interest in finding out. They know the Canso Causeway violates the Fisheries Act, but because it was built before the Act existed, DFO says it gets a pass.

And yet, causeways in PEI and New Brunswick have been ripped out because of the harm they were causing.

DFO won’t act unless pressured to. Kathleen Martin, executive director of the Canadian Sea Turtle Network, was told by a political advisor that the causeway would only get fixed if enough people got mad.

Darren Porter, the fisherman who secured the ATIP (Access to Information and Privacy) on Dina, is mad, and he said he has beaten DFO in court before and would do it again over the Causeway if he had the money.

Naysayers may argue, “What about the currents?” That’s why we need the best science and engineering to determine how to do this properly. And should we not look to see if we could safely harness the current for renewable energy?

What about Port Hawkesbury and Mulgrave’s ice-free harbour? A turtle or a whale doesn’t need much room to get through.

“It would be too expensive!” Yes, it would be expensive, but if Premier Tim Houston insists on approving gold mines, then those companies will need to spend money offsetting their environmental damage by fixing something else.

Fred Tilley, Minister of Public Works, says the province doesn’t plan to make changes to the Causeway because “there are alternate routes” for wildlife.

The beauty of living in a democracy is the people have the right to speak out on such issues. Write to your MLA, MP, and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. Tell them you don’t want Dina’s death to be in vain. You could even tell Premier Houston in person by respectfully and peacefully showing up at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on August 12th when he comes to speak to the Chamber of Commerce.

Yes, it’s a big, hard problem to solve. But as Martin said, doing hard things gives our lives meaning, and in a world where everything seems to be falling apart, maybe this is one thing we can fix.

Doesn’t Dina at least deserve to have the conversation take place instead of sweeping the issue back under the rug?

For those of us who lived here in the 80s and recall the General John Cabot Trail talking to Jim Nunn on CBC’s First Edition on the merits of Cape Breton separating from the mainland, we didn’t realize just how right he was when he signed off with his catchphrase - down with the Causeway!

By Beverley Phillips (editorial originally published in the Inverness Oran August 5, 2026)