Once a bustling point of departure, Cape Tormentine is now a quiet cottage and campground spot. Confederation Bridge made it redundant.

by ARCHIE NADON

Should the Canadian Government have replaced the Cape Tormentine ferry service with some other, viable business when it built Confederation Bridge? I think the bridge was a good idea, faster, cheaper, safer, more reliable than a ferry. It was good for Prince Edward Island and good for New Brunswick. My problem is what it did to Cape Tormentine.

I get anxious when communities get abandoned. It’s bad enough when the economy thumps an industry and mills go under, but when there is a conscious decision to eliminate a community’s sole support it seems there should be some compensation. The tourist stop at Cape Jourimain doesn’t qualify as adequate compensation because it can only support a few students and mainly in the summer.

So what can replace a money maker like the ferry? If government knew the answer to this no community would ever hit hard times. However, too many times artificially supported businesses collapses once the support is withdrawn. Industries, it seems, do best when they’re in a community for organic reasons, like where natural resources are abundant or it’s strategically placed, like Moncton is now. That was once the case with Cape Tormentine.

For a little over a century Cape Tormentine was ideally placed to connect PEI with the mainland. The cape stuck out far enough into the Northumberland Strait to make it a quick ferry ride over. Cape Tormentine thrived because those going over to the island had to stop and wait, sometimes for a couple of hours, depending on the season. With the bridge there is no wait, it’s just part of the highway, there is no need to stop and hang out for a couple of hours and spend money.

Things change, I guess. It seems a lame conclusion, but it’s all I’ve got. The new Trans-Canada did similar things to many communities in the province. Many communities that were in the center of things before are in the backwaters now. Motels closed, restaurants are boarded up. I love the new highway, but I always feel a little guilty using it. The next generation won’t feel that, but I always will. Still, I would like to see something new in Cape Tormentine.

More about Cape Tormentine and yet more…Terminal Tormentine

Elaine on the boardwalk at Cape Tormentine. Cape Tormentine is where the ferry to PEI used to leave from. Now it doesn't leave from anywhere. There is a huge bridge.

We have had a cottage in the area since 2001. Our first trip here was to the Bouctouche Bay Inn. It was a cold fall but the trip was wonderful and romantic enough for us to look for a cottage to rent for the following summer. We found one in Caissie Cape and then from our Caissie Cape base we started to look for a cottage of our own. Months later we came upon a deal in Breau Village we couldn’t pass up and we’ve been here ever since.

Our first journalistic tour took us to Indiantown, FL, to visit Mayan refugees from Guatemala. We made that trip in a tiny red Toyota Tercel Elaine’s father left her. It was Elaine, me and my son, Christopher and we had a lot of fun talking to people, taking photos and recording voices.

We’re getting back to that with our exploration of Acadie. We’ve done a rough sketch starting at Baie Verte where New Brunswick meets Nova Scotia and, so far, we’ve gotten as far as Miscou with our picture taking. Our work these last few months have been as much about exploring “us” as it has been about exploring Acadie. We’re away from each other during the week these days and we need to reconnect. Somehow, the two are inextricably intertwined. This isn’t just fun. We need to do this.