It was with great sadness that we read the details of last week’s inquest into the carbon monoxide deaths of the Rusk family and Donald McNamee. We can’t help but think of the many ways our community has failed them.
The landlord, our government, the tradespeople, the health care system: we all failed this family by not ensuring that this industry is properly regulated.
Even our electrical utility and its regulator failed this family by not prioritizing its energy delivery.
So how do we move forward? How do we prevent this tragedy from happening again?
If the house had had an electric furnace the Rusk family and Mr. McNamee would still be alive today. Electric heat is safe, and it is simple.
Yukoners are all shareholders in Yukon Energy. It is our collective duty to ensure that we have clean renewable energy supplies for the health of our families and community. It is Yukon Energy’s duty to supply its shareholders their dividend before supplying the short-term, boom-and-bust mines.
As Yukon Energy shareholders, we plan to replace our oil furnace with an electric boiler to collect on our dividend. We urge other shareholders to do the same. If you want to learn more about what kind of electric furnaces are best to suited for our northern grid, talk to the Energy Solution Centre.
Sally Wright and J.P. Pinard
Whitehorse