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He remembers: \u201cGrowing up you knew about the \u2018Irving papers\u2019 and what that meant. It wasn\u2019t until I worked at one of them that I realised the extent of implicit censorship<\/a> taking place culturally in these institutions. It was all unspoken, but you knew not to criticise the bosses.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2018, residents in East Saint John had to be evacuated after a butane leak<\/a> at the Irving Oil Refinery \u2013 the largest in Canada. For 17 hours, the explosive, toxic chemical poured into the air. In the wake of the incident, Irving Oil was fined just 200,000 Canadian dollars (\u00a3110,540). The company purchased 20 homes<\/a> near the site and tore them down to establish a protected area between the refinery and the community. <\/p>\n By that time Donovan had left the Telegraph-Journal<\/em>, but remembers how a second incident, an explosion at the refinery on Thanksgiving Day in 2018 that left dozens of workers injured, was reported at the time. \u201cThe newspaper ran a headline<\/a> on the front page that read: \u2018Thanksgiving Miracle,\u2019 celebrating that nobody was killed,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was one of the times that the veil really came down for the community as well, in terms of an obvious control of the narrative.\u201d <\/p>\n For Donovan, The Cloud Factory <\/em>is both an act of protest and a refusal to comply with the culture of silence that afflicts Saint John\u2019s media. \u201cIt is because I love this place that I need to bring attention to the harm being caused to it environmentally and socially by industrial giants who prioritise profit over human health,\u201d he says. \u201cI understand what happens to monopolised economies in the long-term. It never ends well. Perhaps it is too late to issue a warning on that front, but I feel I must try.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cloud Factory by Chris Donovan is published by GOST Books<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Miss Rosen is a freelance arts and photography writer, follow her on X<\/a>. Buy your copy of Huck 81 here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Enjoyed this article? Follow Huck on Instagram<\/a> and sign up to our newsletter<\/a> for more from the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture.<\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n Support stories like this by becoming a member of Club Huck<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/em>
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