Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian says regional council hopes to approve its 2025/26 budget by early May. (Rick Conrad photo)
Region of Queens councillors will begin their 2025/26 budget deliberations this week, almost a month after the fiscal year has expired.
Region of Queens councillors will begin their 2025/26 budget deliberations this week, almost a month after the fiscal year has expired.
Finance staff will present the draft budget to council at a meeting on Thursday (April 24) at 6 p.m. at council chambers on White Point Road.
Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR that councillors had an initial budget orientation session on Tuesday.
“We need to get to it for sure,” he said in an interview after council’s regular meeting on Tuesday evening.
“We’re looking at approving the budget early next month so we don’t have any issues with the tax bills.”
Councillors will have another meeting to go over the draft budget on Monday at 6 p.m., with another meeting scheduled on Tues., May 6 at 6 p.m., if required.
They’re hoping to vote on the final budget at their regular meeting on Tues., May 13 at 9 a.m.
All meetings are open to the public and livestreamed on the region’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
The region was also late setting its budget last year. Councillors began deliberations on the 2024/25 budget in early April and finished by the end of the month.
The 2025/26 budget has to be set in enough time to allow the region’s staff to send out property tax bills by the first of June.
You don’t need your voter information card from Elections Canada to vote in the April 28 federal election. (Elections Canada)
If you haven’t received your voter information card yet for the April 28 federal election, Elections Canada says not to worry.
You can still vote without it.
Elections Canada told QCCR there have been delays in getting the cards to some parts of the country.
The Liverpool post office hadn’t begun receiving the cards for its customers until the middle of this week.
The cards contain information on where and when you can vote, details about your polling station and your name and address.
Elections Canada spokeswoman Francoise Enguehard says you don’t need the voter information card to cast your ballot.
“What is important for people to know is that you do not need a voter information card to vote,” she said in an interview. “And you don’t need it either to verify where you have to vote.
“The voter information card can serve as one ID to vote. But it doesn’t really change the way people have to prove their identity and they have to prove their address. So if people have a driver’s licence or they have a municipal or provincial ID, as civil servants would, then they can use that. And it you don’t have it, you need two things both with your name and one that proves your address.”
To prove your civic address, you can also use a property tax bill, a statement from your house or tenant insurance or a utility bill that contains your physical address.
You can also have somebody else vouch for your identity at your polling station.
“It’s the honors system. You say you are who you are and where you live. But the person must be registered at the same polling station and and the person can only vouch for one individual.”
Enguehard said she doesn’t know the reason for the delay in Liverpool.
“We send 28 million cards to electors all across the country. Sometimes it can happen that there is a delay in getting a polling location. So until you have the polling location, you cannot print the voter information card. Sometimes out of the 28 million, a few of the cards, the information is incorrect and new voter information cards have to be issued. So all of that can cause delays.”
She said those who haven’t yet received a voter information card should be getting one in the next few days.
Regardless, you can use the “My voter information” section on the Elections Canada homepage at elections.ca or call 1-800-463-6868 to make sure you’re registered to vote.
The South Queens Chamber of Commerce is organizing a meet-and-greet in Liverpool with candidates in South Shore-St. Margarets. (Elections Canada)
Voters in Queens County will get a chance to meet some of the candidates vying to be the next MP for South Shore-St. Margarets.
The South Queens Chamber of Commerce and Main and Mersey Dining Room and Coffee Bar in Liverpool are teaming up for a candidate Q&A on Mon., April 21 from 4 to 6 p.m.
Ashley Christian is president of the chamber of commerce.
“The idea is a casual meet-and-greet forum,” Christian said. “What we’re going to be doing is casual networking and then allowing each of the candidates five to 10 minutes to introduce themselves to the group and then we intend to take questions from the floor. So we expect one hour of a more formal question-and-answer period and then another hour of just casual networking.”
Christian said she expects three of the five candidates to be at the event: Liberal Jessica Fancy-Landry, the Green Party’s Mark Embrett and Patrick Boyd of the People’s Party of Canada.
Conservative Rick Perkins, who is running for re-election, could not make it.
Christian did not know whether Independent candidate Hayden Henderson will be at the event. Henderson is the outreach director for the youth wing of the NDP. He was a last-minute addition to the ballot after the NDP’s Brendan Mosher dropped out and has since been endorsed by the NDP.
“We really wanted to give the citizens of Queens County an opportunity to meet everyone, hear their platforms, hear what’s important to them and ask them questions,” Christian said.
Rick Perkins, Jessica Fancy-Landry, Mark Embrett and Patrick Boyd are four of the candidates running in South Shore-St. Margarets. Not pictured is Hayden Henderson.
Four people will be trying to unseat Rick Perkins as the South Shore-St. Margarets representative in the April 28 federal election.
Perkins beat Liberal MP Bernadette Jordan in 2021, after running unsuccessfully against her in 2019.
Since the last election, the riding has been redrawn, with part of it being absorbed into Halifax West. Nominations closed on Monday.
Liberal Jessica Fancy-Landry will be trying to take the seat back from Perkins. The teacher at Forest Heights Community School in Chester Basin is originally from Caledonia and lives in Bridgewater.
Green Party candidate Mark Embrett is an implementation scientist with Nova Scotia Health and lives in Hubbards.
Patrick Boyd is running for the People’s Party of Canada. He runs a consulting firm.
The NDP don’t have a registered candidate in the riding. Their declared candidate Brendan Mosher dropped out at the last minute. According to a Facebook post on his candidate page on Tuesday, he said that he decided against running “after a long consideration and some last minute delays.”
He edited the post to say that Hayden Henderson would be running for the party in the riding.
Henderson is listed on the Elections Canada website as an Independent. According to the federal agency, “if an endorsement by a political party cannot be confirmed within 48 hours of the prospective candidate submitting their nomination paper, … the word ‘Independent’ (will) appear under their name on the ballot.”
Perkins won South Shore-St. Margarets in 2021 by about 2,000 votes, or 40 per cent. Jordan got 37 per cent, while the NDP’s Olivia Dorey captured 19 per cent.
QCCR plans to publish interviews with all candidates.
Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian says council will begin budget talks later this month. (Rick Conrad)
The Region of Queens still hasn’t begun its 2025/26 budget deliberations.
Mayor Scott Christian said this week the process will likely begin in the third week of April.
“Some time in the last two weeks of April and we will be notifying the public of that as soon as possible,” he told QCCR after Tuesday’s council meeting.
“Unexpected delays on the staff side preparing the numbers to get the starting point for the budget deliberation process in terms of understanding the lift (from increased property assessments) and our known operating and capital expenses.”
Budget deliberations were also delayed last year by the previous council. They began those talks in early April and finished by the end of the month.
This year, though, councillors will have even less time. Christian acknowledged that when the process does begin, it will be “expedited”.
“We’re right up against it. Tax bills need to come out in June, so it basically needs to be approved by the first council meeting in May to get our ducks in a row to have the tax bills (ready). That’s not ideal. It’s a point of frustration. We want to make it as engaging, transparent as possible. And we also want it to be a thoughtful, deliberate, intentional, patient approach. And unfortunately, we’re just not going to be in a position for the budget deliberations to be in that ideal state.”
He and Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton are away next week at a conference. He said that budget talks will begin the week after that.
Sherman Nunes of Liverpool watches on Saturday as his kids Luke and Lisa play in the new children’s area of the Thomas H. Raddall Library. (Rick Conrad)
The Thomas H. Raddall Library officially opened its doors on Saturday, as about 70 people helped usher in a new chapter for the Liverpool branch.
The library has been open for about six weeks in its new interim home at 54 Harley Umphrey Dr. People were impressed with the new digs, with some hoping the library stays where it is, with others wishing for a permanent location closer to downtown.
The event on Saturday featured local and provincial politicians, as well as many library staff.
The Region of Queens budgeted up to $1.26 million on renovations to the space in the municipally owned Liverpool Business Development Centre off White Point Road. The library had to leave the Rossignol Cultural Centre in downtown Liverpool by Dec. 31 because the building’s owner Sherman Hines was selling the building.
Tom Raddall and his family have allowed South Shore Public Libraries to continue to use the famed Nova Scotia author’s name on the Liverpool branch for another five years.
Raddall said he’s happy the library is in a better, newer space.
“Hopefully, it’s a step in the right direction,” he told QCCR. “Certainly it’s in a far better space than it was before. The location has been a controversial one over the years. But this library needed to be in a newer spot and this will suit the purpose until another one is built in the appropriate location.”
Many residents were concerned that the new location isn’t easy to walk to, with no sidewalks and limited lighting.
Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian said that he’s excited about the new space, with its expanded program rooms, commercial kitchen and children’s section.
“The plans are to make this space as great as we can make it. And we need to, as a community and as a council, figure out what makes sense in terms of either bringing a future library closer to town or bringing town closer to this library
Christian said it’s too early to say what the future holds for a more permanent location. But he said the region has to work out its priorities for the next few years, and address whether Liverpool needs a new, multipurpose community centre which could include meeting space, a gymnasium and the library.
“I think the focus right now, both for the folks at South Shore (Public) Libraries and also for the Region of Queens staff and the work that they’ve done to make the built environment really work, is to figure out how, for now, to make this the best space that we can make it.
“And the space is great in there, so it’s what do we need to do with the surrounding environment to remove barriers, … make sure that users who want to be accessing the space are provided that opportunity.”
Queens MLA Kim Masland said she would support a request for provincial funding for a new space for the library. But she said Saturday that she was impressed with its interim location.
“I think today we see as many people that are here, lots of smiling faces, lots of people really excited about this. This is also an interim facility here for now and so hopefully we’ll see a new library built in town, that would certainly be my wish someday. But we’re here for now and this is certainly a great interim facility.”
Lin Ireland of Liverpool was one of the many local library lovers taking it all in on Saturday.
“I think this is great,” she said. “It’s going to be used. And people complain about the location but I don’t think it’s all that far out. … I’m happy with it right where it is. A lot of money went into building this and why not leave it here?”
Susan McGibbon of Liverpool said her gardening club had their first meeting in the new branch a couple of weeks ago, and turnout was double their usual attendance. While she likes the new larger, brighter space, she hopes the region can build a new space in a more central location.
“I don’t think there was another option, and I think they’ve done a good job making it a good option,” McGibbon said.
“Do I think we need another location that’s part of a community hub? Yes, absolutely. And I think a new library committee getting struck is going to happen very soon, so that work can get going.”
Sherman Nunes of Liverpool was at the library on Saturday with his four-year-old Lisa and his two-year-old Luke, as they played in the new children’s area.
“It’s beautiful, it’s spacious, it has a lot of light. I’ve been to the previous library. This is a step up. It’s very nice.
“We like to take the kids out, and previously we did not have an indoor space around here in Liverpool, where we could take them out for a day or something, so we had to drive up to Bridgewater. But I think with this new addition, it would be nice to get them over here every weekend, especially so that they can run around, read some books, play with the toys. As you can see, they’re already occupied.”
The Thomas H. Raddall Library is open six days a week and closed on Mondays. Queens County Transit offers free rides to and from the library. That service runs every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. from the market shelter beside Hell Bay Brewing.
The Astor Theatre is the oldest performing arts space in Nova Scotia. (File photo by Ed Halverson)
UPDATED APRIL 3, 3:15 P.M.
The Astor Theatre in Liverpool has secured $500,000 in funding from the J&W Murphy Foundation.
The five-year commitment will give the Astor $100,000 each year to help beef up its programs and promotion.
Lynn Cochrane, vice-chair of the Astor Theatre Society, told QCCR that it’s a game changer for Nova Scotia’s oldest performing arts theatre.
“It is significant. It’s huge. This is the largest donation the theatre has ever received,” she said.
“We’re thrilled. It will be life-changing for the theatre.”
Cochrane said the board began discussions with the J&W Murphy Foundation about a year ago on a plan to make the Astor sustainable.
“So the Murphy foundation is giving us an opportunity to set ourselves up for future success.”
The J&W Murphy Foundation was established in 2008 by the late Janet and Dr. William Murphy, longtime Liverpool residents. Dr. Murphy co-founded the thriving Mersey Seafoods in 1964.
The foundation contributes to a wide variety of charitable causes, especially in Queens County.
Lisa Murphy, chair of the foundation, told QCCR that she views the donation as an investment in a cherished centrepiece of the community.
“The Astor has always meant a lot both to the town and to our family. Our mom was a huge supporter of the arts,” she said.
“If what we have done is perceived as a vote of confidence, then we’re also happy about that, because it’s intended to be. … We’re thrilled to be privileged enough to be able to extend this funding that can help settle some of the swirling concerns that an organization such as the Astor has struggled with over the years and to enable them to build on that to secure their future. I can’t think of Liverpool without the Astor. I cannot imagine the town without the Astor.”
Murphy says she hopes the foundation’s contribution will help the Astor secure funding from other donors, and to help the theatre cover operating expenses. But she says it’s up to the board to decide where it will do the most good.
“Our grant is specifically to say, free up your resources to think bigger.
“There’s no wishlist. We speak about a vote of confidence, we are saying that we’re trusting the leadership of this organization to make responsible decisions about what it wants to do with it. And they are in the best position to set the direction of the society. … That’s not for us to say.”
In the first year of the five-year commitment, Cochrane says the board will work on improving its fundraising, including creating a donor database. It will also create a cohesive marketing plan to help grow the Astor’s audience and its revenue.
That will include a new website. Cochrane says the board is in talks now with professionals in corporate fundraising and marketing and communications.
And they’ll work on getting the community more involved in their programming, asking people what kinds of shows they’d like to see.
The theatre’s board also plans to expand the Astor Academy in the second year of the funding, to bring in outside theatre professionals to give more training to youth and seniors.
“The Astor, like all arts centres, operates on one-third of its revenues from (government) grants, the other third is from revenues actually generated from concerts, events, and the other third is from donations,” Cochrane said.
“We really want to shore up the donation side. We come to the end of the year and we tend to be hand to mouth.”
Cochrane said people will likely start to see the results of the Murphy family’s investment in the fall.
“The board is thrilled. It’s a very generous donation at a time that the theatre is really going to have an opportunity to benefit from it, and hopefully make it live on for another 100 years.”
The Astor Theatre opened in 1902 and was originally known as the Liverpool Opera House. It hosted local and touring shows until silent films were introduced in 1917. Many Canadian and international artists have performed at the theatre over the years, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Rufus Wainwright, and even Mr. Dressup.
RCMP have charged a 60-year-old Mill Village man with attempted murder.
Queens District RCMP were called to a house on Hwy. 3 in Mill Village on March 28 at about 3:30 a.m.
Officers and ambulance personnel found an 84-year-old man with life-threatening injuries after being stabbed.
Another man had fled the scene before police arrived, according to an RCMP news release late Wednesday afternoon.
Both men knew each other, and no one else was in the home at the time of the assault.
Police arrested a suspect at a home in Voglers Cove at 7:45 p.m.
Derek Dominix, 60, has been charged with attempted murder and taken into custody. He’s scheduled to appear in Bridgewater provincial court on April 10 at 9:30 a.m.
Eric and Dawn Fry are hoping to build 16 apartments in the old Stedmans building on Main Street in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
A developer is hoping to turn an old storefront on Liverpool’s Main Street into apartments.
Eric and Dawn Fry of Fall River bought 194 Main St. in January and hope to turn it into 16 one-bedroom and two-bedroom rental units.
Eric Fry told QCCR that they applied a few weeks ago to the Region of Queens to allow for apartments on the ground floor. The region’s land use bylaws permit residential units on Main Street only in buildings with a commercial storefront.
“We would rather see it as 100 per cent residential because there’s more of a need in that area for residential than for additional commercial space because there’s a fair amount of vacant commercial space on Main Street.”
The property is known locally as the old Stedmans building. Before it was bought by the Frys, it sat vacant for a few years and was heavily damaged by extreme weather. And before that, it housed a dollar store and office space on the ground floor.
Fry said Tuesday that they’re also planning indoor parking, which would be accessed on the Water Street side at the back of the building.
“We’re hoping that there won’t be any or too much opposition to what we’re trying to do because we know that there’s a need for housing there and I think this would lend itself nicely. … So it could be a pretty desirable development when it’s completed.”
Tenants recently moved into the couple’s other development, The Falls in Milton, located on the Mersey River. That building is full and targeted to people 55 and over.
This new development would be marketed to a more mixed demographic. Fry says he hopes to attract health care or other professionals. And two or three units could qualify as affordable housing.
According to Viewpoint, the 30,000-square-foot building sold for $235,000 after almost a year on the market. Fry said it’s too early to estimate the budget for the project or what the rents will be.
“The two criteria that I typically use are location and potential. And I think that’s got both in spades. It’s very central and a lot of potential. It took a little creativity with our design team and our construction manager to work through a feasible plan, in order to make it all accessible. We’ll be adding windows and skylights for the upper units. We think it’s really going to begin to transform Main Street, so we’re excited about it.”
They’re working with a partner on the project and have named their company SDL Developments, as an homage to the building’s former life as a Stedmans department store.
While they wait to see how their application goes with the municipality, Fry said workers have been cleaning up debris inside the building.
He said he and his wife wanted to invest in the community after they bought a cottage in Port Mouton in 2015 and fell in love with the area.
“We’re not trying to disrupt anything or upset the apple cart. My wife and I have lots of great relationships in Liverpool and we’ve gotten to know a lot of folks in the municipality and we love it. What we’ve done with The Falls in Milton would be frankly representative of the type of approach we would take, very open and communicative with the public and a quality product that people can be proud to call home.”
Fry said that if their application with the municipality succeeds, they hope to begin construction by the end of June.
Justin Freeman launched Letterswitch Publishing on Saturday in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
In a town without a bookstore, starting a publishing business might seem like a leap of faith.
But Justin Freeman of Liverpool says he’s realizing a childhood dream by launching Letterswitch Publishing.
“I’m content to just put out beautiful books that entertain and educate and encourage new parents, and parents of young kids especially, but everybody in a family,” he told QCCR.
“I hope it goes off well. Publishing is not exactly the most robust industry to be jumping into feet first at the moment, but I’m hoping with kind of the niche aspect of it and keeping things small and focused that it’ll be a success.”
Freeman unveiled his micropublishing company on Saturday at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. The stay-at-home Dad moved to the area a few years ago with his young family.
“(We) moved to Liverpool in 2022 after my son was born. My wife got a job at the hospital … and this is home now. We’re putting down roots and are looking forward to a lot of years here.”
Freeman says he’ll be concentrating at first on publishing his own work through Letterswitch.
His first book was on display on Saturday. Called A Little Grieving, he partnered with a pediatric crisis counsellor on the parent’s guide to helping your child through the grieving process.
He also plans a kids’ picture book called One Veggie, a middle-grade chapter book called Molly Moss Runs for Office and a western novel called Crimson Shadow.
“It’ll be a slow rollout. I’m a stay-at-home dad and I’ll just try to get things rolling here in the next couple years. But once both kids are in school, I look to open up to other authors and just get a nice catalog of titles.”
Freeman grew up on a farm in Missouri. He had an eclectic career before moving to Nova Scotia with his wife, Dr. Alison Freeman, and their kids Molly and James.
“I was formerly a police officer in Missouri in the city of Springfield. I was also a minister for a few years, and sold shoes and grew up on a farm and just have a varied background that kind of informs and inflects different writing. Thus all the different type of books that are coming out.”
The name of the company comes from how he met his wife, when he was still on the farm in Missouri and she was at home in Nova Scotia.
“Essentially, back in 2000, I was on the family farm using ICQ, a messaging app, and this message pops up saying, ‘Do you want to catch up?’ It was obviously a misdirect, but I went to reject it and something told me to accept it, so I did. And it was somebody looking for somebody named Justin Freeman that they had met in Massachusetts. And instead of typing MA for Massachusetts, they typed MO.
“And we struck up more conversations, postcards from abroad, kept up over the years, and then 15 years later, wound up meeting finally, fell in love. I’m now married to Alison and we have two beautiful kids. And so the letter switch is an homage to that switched letter that started our entire story.”
For the launch event, Freeman teamed up with local artisans to feature some of their work, including local baker Gabby’s Bread Basket, who catered the event, and the Covey Candle Company, who created a couple of limited-edition scents.
“And there’s also a piece that I commissioned by local artist Katie Kripp called Bound for Novel Passages. And it’s a sailing ship with books for the sails and it just represents a new journey for me and some other creatives I look to work with. I find myself surrounded by creative people here in Liverpool and I wanted to work with a few of them for the launch.”
People at the Letterswitch launch, like Jaqueline Duck of Liverpool, said it was exciting to have a publisher in the area.
“I think that’s amazing because there are writers here and they have to go and find a publisher. If we have one in Liverpool, it makes everybody’s life that much easier. And it’s good business.”
Freeman says that while he’ll be busy for the next few months on his own work, he’d still like to hear from people interested in his new venture.
Members of the Greater Molega Lake Lot Owners Association want changes to a proposed private road levy bylaw. (Rick Conrad)
A property owners group in Queens County’s growing cottage country hopes regional council can pass a new bylaw by the fall that would make it easier to collect fees to maintain private roads.
Representatives from the Greater Molega Lake Lot Owners Association appealed to councillors at their regular meeting on Tuesday to make a few changes to the region’s proposed bylaw on private road maintenance charges.
The bylaw has been in the works since 2019.
More than 5,700 properties in Queens County are connected to roads that aren’t maintained by the municipality or the province. Most of these roads are in the areas of Molega, Ponhook and Annis lakes.
The association invoices property owners an annual fee for that maintenance, using manually generated lists. It charges property owners annual fees of $408.25 for developed land and $149.50 for vacant land. Those amounts include HST.
Under the new bylaw, the region would collect the fees on annual municipal tax bills, and then remit those to the association.
Dwayne Primeau is president of the Molega lot owners group.
“Optimistically, when this bylaw has passed and hopefully when we adopt it, what will happen is the region will issue a tax invoice that includes a road maintenance levy. And that would essentially be the same fee that is collected at one time and then remitted from the Region of Queens to the association to support us in delivering the service to the citizens. ”
The group represents 1,233 property owners, covering more than 1,200 hectares or 3,000 acres. It’s the largest recreational development in Atlantic Canada. Many people now live in the area full-time.
The association is responsible for maintaining 52 kilometres of roadway, including 10 km of provincially owned K class roads, 13 boat launches and three bridges.
But treasurer Bruce MacInnis told councillors that about 20 per cent of land owners don’t pay their fees.
“And it is quite an expensive process because we’re duplicating effectively what they do here (at the region),” he said in an interview after the meeting.
“There’s a lot of people we just have difficulty finding because we have to maintain mailing lists and the information’s not always easy to find. So that takes a lot of time as well. And we’re volunteers.”
As part of the proposed bylaw, the region would keep about five per cent of the fees they collect to pay for administrative costs. The association estimates that would cut about $15,000 from what it gets from the levy. It wants that lowered to two to three per cent.
The group said a lower percentage would allow it to hire a manager to oversee its work in maintaining the private roads.
The bylaw would also require agreements with lot owners associations to be renewed every year. The group wants that changed to every five years, with renewal based on meeting certain criteria.
Primeau said after the meeting that he’s cautiously optimistic the bylaw will be adopted before the group begins sending out invoices in November.
“The message we’re trying to relate today is that our members and our board are are in support of and in need of this assistance to continue to maintain and manage the infrastructure, supporting this growing part of the region.
“We would really love to see this be in place and ready for us to adopt prior to November of 2025, which is when we typically would follow our manual process to invoice for the coming year’s fees.”
Councillors had suspended first reading of the bylaw in January so that they could become more familiar with it. It’s unknown when council will bring it back.
Tara Druzina, representing the Queens County Food Bank, speaks to Region of Queens councillors at their regular meeting on Tuesday. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)
The Region of Queens will again be late setting its budget, though councillors hope to begin deliberations soon.
Mayor Scott Christian said this week that recent turnover in senior management has contributed to the delay.
“It has been a challenge,” he said in remarks during council’s regular meeting on Tuesday.
“The organization has gone through significant churn within the senior management levels and we’re seeking to improve the organization, the functions in the organization to ensure that we can govern in ways that are accountable and transparent and engaging for our residents.”
Councillors fired CAO Cody Joudry in December, and the region terminated the employment of municipal clerk Pam Lovelace at the beginning of March, three months after she was hired.
At their regular meeting this week, councillors approved interim spending limits until the 2025/26 budget is set.
Municipalities are expected to finalize their budgets by the end of March each year.
The region was also late last year with their budget talks, beginning the process in early April.
Christian told QCCR after the meeting that another reason for the delay is that the municipality is waiting for results of its water rate study, which will set charges for the region’s 1,400 water utility customers.
He said they’ll notify the public as soon as budget deliberations begin.
When they do, councillors are facing some challenges in a region with some of the highest poverty rates in Nova Scotia.
Officials with the Queens County Food Bank appealed to councillors this week to consider granting the group $15,500 in an annual rent subsidy for the next four years.
Before the food bank was forced out of a derelict municipal property in 2019 and began leasing space on Main Street, it paid no rent. But demand for their services has grown, as food costs have risen and donations have plummeted by about 50 per cent.
Just recently, the food bank was hit with a $10,000 repair bill on its two-year-old walk-in freezer. And it has committed to begin food pantries for elementary and high school students throughout the county, said Tara Druzina, the fundraising lead for the food bank.
“This highlights how the food bank constantly adapts for emergency community needs, not just providing food every Tuesday, but ensuring that vital support reaches the most vulnerable when and where needed,” she told councillors.
“These challenges illustrate why stable operational funding is critical. Without it, the food bank cannot effectively respond to growing community needs.”
Shelly Panczyk, chairperson of the food bank, said their client list has grown by about 30 per cent in the past few years, while the organization’s food costs have ballooned to $6,000 a month.
She says the rent subsidy is something the region provided in the past, by giving the food bank rent-free space in one of its buildings.
“Food is not all donated. So most of our food is bought, even though we get a truck from Feed Nova Scotia every Monday, but that’s mostly produce. But most everything else, all our canned goods and all our staples have to be bought.”
She says revenue from its thrift store has helped with those increased expenses.
“We’ve been lucky the last four years we’ve had the thrift store open, but that can change at any time and that’s where most of our money comes from.”
Mayor Scott Christian said he didn’t want to predict how budget deliberations will go, but he acknowledged the role of local governments is becoming more complex.
“There’s an incredible amount of need in our community that we have to look at and just on balance with the pressure that puts on the ratepayer. I think all municipalities (face) significant pressure and competing priorities to figure out what to do with the limited available resources.”
The Region of Queens won’t give the South Shore Flying Club a break this year on its lease fee at the South Shore Regional Airport in Greenfield. (South Shore Flying Club)
The South Shore Flying Club’s request for a break on its rent at the South Shore Regional Airport had a rough landing at regional council on Tuesday evening.
Region of Queens councillors voted down a motion from District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins to forgive the flying club its $4,000 lease fee for 2025/26.
Jenkins was the only councillor who supported the motion.
“The club is more than just a club. They’re stewards of the airport,” he told councillors. “Years in the past, this region used to pay somebody thousands of dollars a year to sit at the airport just in case there was a plane come in.”
The municipality owns the small airport in Greenfield, but two years ago, it planned to sell it.
Instead, the region signed 20-year leases in 2023 with the flying club and the Nova Scotia Drag Racers Association. The racing group pays $9,000 a year to lease the property for its events.
Under the flying club’s lease, it has access to the large hangar, but it also agreed to maintain the property for the region.
The club says now that it can no longer afford the annual fee. President Peter Gow wrote the newly elected council last October looking for the rent waiver.
He could not be reached Wednesday for an interview.
Jenkins said the club’s 34 members spend a lot of their own money maintaining the airport, terminal building, hangars and grounds. Three of the club’s members are also on call to respond to any problems at the airport, or to refuel a plane that’s landed.
“So we still have a viable airport. … But it’s also an asset that this region should be looking at seriously. And it’s also an asset that we pay very little to maintain. Everything else there is done by the club at their expense.”
According to the club’s financial statements, it recorded a loss in 2024 of $2,639.48. As of Dec. 31, it had a bank balance of $15,562.64.
Other councillors pointed to the club’s bank balance and its $25 annual membership fee, and said they could do more to raise revenue.
The club also spent $2,245 on clothing last year, as well as $1,241 on a new highway sign. Councillors said the club likely won’t have those expenses this year.
District 2 Coun. Maddie Charlton said she appreciates what the club does for the airport, but they also have a whole year to fundraise to help cover their costs.
And with budget talks coming up, she said she doesn’t want to commit to the rent waiver, especially with other groups in the region like the Queens County Food Bank asking for help.
“We are going into this budget process right now completely blind. We don’t know what our bottom line is. … I think it’s probably fair to say there will be some surprises there. We know we have huge infrastructure challenges. When I think about our strategic priorities, food insecurity is one of them, I think that would be an easy one (to assist) the food bank with the rent, but I don’t necessarily feel the same way with this ask at this time.”
After the meeting, Mayor Scott Christian said the club may be able to offset some of its operating costs through its application to the region’s Community Investment Fund.
The region usually announces the recipients of those grants later in the spring.
Lauren Murphy is the director of recruitment and volunteer services with Nova Scotia Health. (Nova Scotia Health photo)
Nova Scotia Health is looking for more Nova Scotians to fill hundreds of jobs around the province.
The department is holding its second annual provincial career fair on Thursday (March 27) from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 11 locations around Nova Scotia.
The closest one for Queens County residents will be in Bridgewater at the Michelin Social Club, 221 Logan Rd.
Lauren Murphy, the director of recruitment and volunteer services with Nova Scotia Health, says last year’s event attracted about 3,000 people and led to more than 220 people being hired.
“It’s really an opportunity to showcase our roles and jobs and talk to Nova Scotians about our opportunities we have at Nova Scotia Health,” she says.
“Because we’re hosting it from coast to coast in the province it’s also an opportunity for people in their own communities to find a job there so they don’t have to leave.”
Murphy says job seekers will be able to speak to hiring managers from all parts of Nova Scotia Health.
“That’s also the beauty of showcasing the amount of positions that we have. We had admin staff hired … but we also had diagnostic imaging technologists, we had folks who are going to be supporting our pharmacies, we had (emergency) nurses and specialty nurses. It really was amazing to see the amount of people who showed up and were able to connect with a hiring manager and find a job.
“If you think about what it takes to run a hospital, obviously doctors are critical but there are so many more moving parts and pieces to it. We’re a 30,000-people employer. We’re Atlantic Canada’s largest and we really do cover everything you can think of.”
Murphy says being able to talk to somebody in person can help demystify the application process.
“Walking in there and being able to talk to people about such a wide variety is so much different than scrolling online and trying to doing your own research. … To be able to talk to someone who is living and breathing that job day in and day out … I really think that’s what bridges that gap between virtual and in-person.”
Job applicants will also be able to upload their resume using a QR code at the job fair. Murphy said Nova Scotia Health officials will follow up with applicants the week after the event who applied using the QR code to give them an update on their application.
She said she hopes to beat last year’s numbers, both for turnout and for hires.
“Any person that we can hire is a win. There are such amazing opportunites for internal advancement. So even if you take one job tomorrow, there’s a million different pathways you can take so you can have a fulsome career at Nova Scotia Health, which I think in a lot of companies these days, that’s pretty rare.”
More doctors and other health professionals from the U.S. want to move to Nova Scotia, according to Nova Scotia Health. (Province of Nova Scotia)
The unstable political situation in the United States may be good news for the Nova Scotia health care system.
More doctors and other health professionals working in the U.S. are looking to move north. One of the places they’re calling is Nova Scotia. And some of them also want to move to Queens County.
Lauren Murphy, director of recruitment and volunteer services with Nova Scotia Health, says they’ve seen an increase in applications from people from the U.S.
“Honestly, we’re hearing some pretty amazing stories,” she told QCCR this week.
“We’re hearing people who maybe have family members who are trans who don’t feel safe anymore. We’re hearing about people who are Canadians but have been living in the U.S. for years and working in their health care system and not feeling safe anymore and wanting to come back to Canada. We’re hearing from people who are internationally educated but living in the U.S. and again not feeling safe. It’s a scary time in the States and I do think people are seeing Canada as that safe space.”
Murphy said that the health care professionals reaching out to Nova Scotia Health recruiters are extremely qualified and experienced. They include doctors, nurses and other professionals.
“And the beauty is that the hospital setting in the U.S. is very very similar to what we have in Canada in terms of the level of care. And so being able to hire someone from the U.S., they can pretty much hit the ground running. As horrible as it is, maybe there is some silver lining that people can find a new home here in Nova Scotia and build roots and bring family or create families, and that’s great for our economy and great for us as a province.”
Murphy did not say how many doctors or other health professionals are interested in making the move from the U.S. to Nova Scotia.
According to data obtained in January 2024 by the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union, more than 1,000 health-care positions were still waiting to be filled in Nova Scotia. That includes professionals other than doctors and nurses.
And in March, about 96,000 Nova Scotians were still without a primary care provider. That was down from February’s number of just over 104,000. About nine per cent of the population is still looking for a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
Murphy acknowledged that there’s a global shortage of health-care professionals. Jurisdictions like Nova Scotia have been looking in other countries to fill those spots.
The process can take some time, especially as candidates navigate immigration and licensing requirements. Nova Scotia Health has its own immigration team to help make it easier for clinicians or other professionals to move here.
Nova Scotia recently opened a new centre to help speed up the licensing process for internationally trained physicians. It takes about 12 weeks to complete and doctors agree to practise in the province for at least three years.
Murphy says American-based doctors also ask her recruitment team about the differences in culture and taxation.
“It’s a huge step to move to a different country,” she said. “A lot of the conversations start off very exploratory. If you’re thinking about the U.S., you’re also potentially talking to a candidate who is coming from a state that doesn’t pay tax.
“But … we really are seeing people who are like, ‘No, we have to do this, we’re taking the plunge.’ And we’re really seeing those numbers now.”
Some of those doctors and other professionals are interested in moving to Queens County.
Dr. Al Doucet is the chair of the Queens General Hospital Foundation, which works with Nova Scotia Health to bring doctors to the area.
He was out of the country and unavailable for an interview Friday. But he said in a text message that the foundation is getting inquiries from physicians and physician assistants about moving here.
Nova Scotia Health recently named Liverpool-based Dr. Alison Freeman the MD recruitment and retention lead for the South Shore.
To help with those recruitment efforts, Nova Scotia Health is holding a provincial career fair on March 27 at 11 locations around the province. Officials will be at the Michelin Social Club in Bridgewater from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Murphy says the job fair targets Nova Scotians who are interested in a first-time position with Nova Scotia Health or transferring to a different part of the province. More than 220 people were hired through last year’s job fair.
Students and staff at Liverpool Regional High School were under a hold and secure order for a short time on Wednesday morning. (Rick Conrad)
An incident at Liverpool Regional High School on Wednesday forced officials to secure the school and students.
Parents got an email at 10:50 a.m. telling them the school was in a “precautionary hold and secure”.
“Everyone is safe and this measure has been taken out of an abundance of caution, due to a potential safety concern in the community,” the email said.
“During the hold and secure classes will continue as normal, access to the building will be limited, and students will remain inside the school for breaks.”
The email told parents that the hold and secure would remain in place until “police confirm normal activities can resume”.
The hold and secure order was lifted around lunchtime, according to a spokeswoman with the South Shore Regional Centre for Education, who also provided QCCR with a copy of the email.
She told QCCR to contact the RCMP for further details.
RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Carlie McCann said police are still investigating and would likely provide an update in the next few days.
“I can’t provide any further information at this time,” she said Thursday.
Students heard on Wednesday that another student brought a pellet pistol to school.
“I think some guy flashed a pellet gun at someone,” Logan Sarty, a Grade 12 student at LRHS, said outside the school on Thursday. “That’s the main thing I’ve been hearing around.”
Sarty said everybody appeared OK afterward, but there was speculation in the halls about the alleged incident.
“A lot of people thought that it shouldn’t be hold and secure because there was a lot of talk of it being a rumour.”
Another, unrelated incident occurred at South Queens Middle School on Wednesday. A school board spokeswoman said that was “more common”, as staff dealt with a disruptive student.
Susie and Joan Stephenson of Port Joli visit the Bookmobile recently at its stop in Port Mouton. (Rick Conrad)
It’s the last one in Nova Scotia. And it’s still motoring along the South Shore.
Each week, the Bookmobile brings books, DVDs and other materials to about 15 communities in Lunenburg and Queens counties, from Chester to Caledonia.
A mobile library has been operating on the South Shore since the 1970s.
Other library systems around Nova Scotia have stopped the service. The Cape Breton Regional Library had the only other one and it retired its Bookmobile in November 2024.
So now, the South Shore has the only remaining Bookmobile in the province. And it shows no signs of slowing down.
Ashley Nunn-Smith is the CEO and chief librarian of South Shore Public Libraries.
“Our Bookmobile has been on the road for 50 years. But it’s much beloved, it’s very much a fabric of the community. For example, a few weeks ago, we had someone bring the books out to Caledonia in their van because the Bookmobile was having some mechanical issues and not only did people come out to pick up their items, but they had almost like a tailgate party. They just hung around the back of the van and chatted with their neighbours. There was nothing keeping them there other than that sense of community.
“It’s not just about the books, although that’s wonderful to drive books out to people. It’s really about a sense of community.”
Joan Stephenson of Port Joli was at a recent Bookmobile stop at Coastal Queens Place in Port Mouton. Stephenson and her daughter Susie are some of the regular patrons the Bookmobile serves every three weeks at this location. It visits certain communities on a weekly basis, while others are on a tri-weekly schedule.
“We remember when we had to fight to get a Bookmobile because the county didn’t want it,” Stephenson says. “And instead they put streetlights on our road and fought the Bookmobile, and we said it’s a different kind of enlightenment.”
In 2021, the library put a new custom-built Bookmobile on the road at a cost of about $500,000, with an accessibility lift, Wi-fi and seven electrical outlets where people can charge their devices.
Last year, the mobile service had an average of 1,100 monthly visitors who checked out 3,000 items, accounting for about 15 per cent of the library’s overall visits and circulation. Fuel and maintenance take up about two per cent of the library’s total $1.9-million operating budget.
Nunn-Smith says that because the South Shore has fewer physical library locations than other library systems around Nova Scotia, having the Bookmobile is essential.
“I think that by having the library on wheels we can bring it to more spaces than we would be able to reach with brick and mortar locations. We’re able to reach more communities that we wouldn’t be able to otherwise. We reach Port Mouton and Mill Village. Those places, it wouldn’t be feasible to operate a library branch, and so we’re able to bring the library to them.”
Susie Stephenson says she remembers the anticipation as a kid waiting for the Bookmobile to visit, a feeling she still has years later.
“When we lived in Broad River, we all went and we’d come home with clothes baskets full of books. The eight of us would just sit around and read. And you’d do it until you had to eat.
“It makes it accessible and it keeps me in reading material. And it keeps me interested and not depressed. I can sit and read a book and look at it. … I’ll take two or three bags lots of times.”
Her mother Joan says it’s something she looks forward to every three weeks.
“I can’t be away too long. My husband’s disabled. So it’s fun to come here. And the wonderful thing is the people who drive and work on the Bookmobile over all these years we’ve had it have always become our friends. They know what you’re looking for and we laugh. They want to know how your trip was or how your surgery was. They become friends.
“We love it. We love the Bookmobile. I’m an old lady and hopefully it will outlive me.”
The Bookmobile visits Caledonia every Saturday from 10 a.m to noon in the NSLC parking lot. It will be back in Mill Village at the fire hall on April 4 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. and in Port Mouton at Coastal Queens Place on April 4 from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
The South Shore Flying Club maintains the South Shore Regional Airport in Greenfield as part of a lease agreement with the Region of Queens. (South Shore Flying Club Facbook page)
The South Shore Flying Club is looking for a break on its rent at the South Shore Regional Airport.
Peter Gow, president of the non-profit, says his group’s 35 to 40 members maintain the runway, hangars and grounds at the small airport in Greenfield.
“Between the insurance and the annual fee that we pay to the region, it kind of makes it pretty tight to keep operating,” he said in an interview Monday. “We’re just kind of run pretty thin.”
The flying club has asked the Region of Queens, which owns the airport, to waive the annual $4,000 rental fee.
Last October, Gow wrote to the newly elected council to ask for a break on the rent. District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins brought up the issue at last week’s council meeting. He asked councillors to support his motion for the rent waiver.
“They also provide a substantial service because they do keep an eye on the aiport, they clean it, they maintain it so that it can be used,” Jenkins told council last Tuesday.
“The problem is their limited revenue stream. Unlike other users of the airport, they don’t have 500 or 1,000 people coming to watch an event that pay money. It’s a small club with limited revenues.”
In spring 2023, the flying club and the Nova Scotia Drag Racers Association agreed to 20-year leases with the region.
Under the flying club’s lease, it has access to the large hangar, but it also agreed to maintain the property for the region. The drag racers have use of the small hangar.
“It was either we more or less agree to that or we don’t have an airport,” Gow says. “So we begrudgingly agreed to the lease with that stipulation that we would run it.”
Gow says the club has a few fundraising events each year, but it can’t sustain itself if it has to pay the rent on top of its annual $6,500 insurance bill.
“We try to do what we can here and there but everything is so expensive as everybody knows. It’s just kind of a bit of struggle. It just seems a bit odd that we pay a fee to operate the region’s facility.”
Gow said the small airport could help attract new residents to Queens County.
“We feel it’s very important. You take what’s going on around the world now, south of the border. Some of our American neighbours may consider moving to the area and that might be one of the things they look for — is there a viable airport there for someone who might have a small plane. It could make the difference between somebody moving to the South Shore and not.”
Last week, councillors said they were supportive of Jenkins’s motion, but voted to defer it to their next meeting on March 25 so they could get a look at the club’s financial statements.
Jillian Young of Liverpool celebrates after winning the gold in her 200-metre snowshoe race at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Italy. (Special Olympics Canada)
Queens County athletes are once again at the top of the world podium.
Jillian Young and Rebecca Delaney of Liverpool captured gold this week at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Sestriere.
Young was the first to win gold on Thursday in the snowshoe 200-metre F15 final. And Delaney won gold on Friday as part of the 4 x 100-metre relay snowshoe team.
Susan Inglis, who is also Delaney’s mother, is one of the Team Canada snowshoe coaches in Italy for the games.
“It’s really amazing like the talent that is here and to see them compete on the world stage and do that well is just amazing.”
Young and Delaney are part of the 90-athlete-strong Team Canada at the games in Turin and Sestriere. And they contributed to Canada’s 76-medal haul.
Bridgewater’s Nick Skoreyko and Chloe Stoddart are the other athletes from Special Olympics Lunenburg/Queens competing in Italy. Skoreyko finished fifth in both of his snowshoe races. And Stoddart claimed bronze in 500-metre cross-country skiing.
Delaney also placed fourth and fifth in two other races, while Young finished sixth in her other race.
Delaney’s gold-medal-winning relay team has the fastest time in the world and Skoreyko was also in the fastest heat among male athletes.
“Pretty big deal to go and represent your country,” Inglis said.
“The medals are the icing on the cake, but the cake is still pretty good, pretty impressive. And they are here in Italy in these beautiful mountains with people from all over the world and they’re showcasing their talents here and they have done all so well that it’s almost hard to believe that they can be in the Top 10 in the world.
“This little town of Liverpool can put out some pretty cool, amazing athletes.”
Inglis said Delaney’s relay was run in the middle of a blizzard on the mountain.
“I had no idea what was happening on those relays until they got around to the 100-metre mark becuase you couldn’t see.”
Inglis said every athlete achieved a personal best in their sport.
“If you’re beating your personal best times, which they’ve all done, that’s amazing in itself too.
“For Rebecca and Nick, they’ve been training for a good nine months. And the minimum that they’ve had to train was three times a week, so they’re improved their performance by all that training.”
Another important aspect of the games is meeting other competitors from Canada and around the world. Inglis said the experience will only help set up the Lunenburg and Queens athletes for even more success.
“I think that they now see waht opprotunities are out there for them. And if they work really hard, train really hard that they can continue to go to national games and maybe get to go to another world games.”
As for herself, Inglis says she’s learned a lot from other coaches, lessons she’ll put into practice when she returns to Nova Scotia.
“It gives me that knowledge to bing back and share in nova scotia, not just within luen queens but with some of the other coaches in nova scotia that do snowshoeing as well.
“It’s fantastic. I’ve never met a Special Olympic athlete I haven’t fallen in love with. And this has just opened up a new world to me because in Lunenburg Queens we have a limited group of athletes and I’ve been working with them for quite a few years but now I know athletes from all over the country. It’s been wonderful.”
Saturday is the last day of competition at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Turin. And then it’s the closing ceremonies Saturday night.
After that, Inglis says she hopes to take a few weeks off before resuming training for the Nova Scotia Special Olympics provincial summer games in July.
“It just was an overall amazing experience. I’m exhausted and looking forward to getting back home to my own bed and animals and things, but it’s been overall an amazing experience.”
The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed Friday. (Communications Nova Scotia)
The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool is closed Friday.
Nova Scotia Health issued a notice Thursday night that the ER would be closed temporarily until Mon., March 17 at 8 a.m. It gave no reason for the closure.
On Feb. 27, the department announced new “expanded and consistent” hours for the Liverpool ER. It would be open 24 hours a day from Mondays at 8 a.m. until Fridays at 1:30 p.m. and closed on weekends.
Leslie Oliver, the executive director of community and rural health in the western zone for Nova Scotia Health, told QCCR at the time that the new hours would provide patients with reliability.
“We don’t have any plans of going back to an inconsistent coverage schedule.”
Virtual urgent care is still available at the hospital from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.
Nova Scotia Health is holding a drop-in clinic in Caledonia on March 20. (Province of Nova Scotia)
Nova Scotia Health is holding a mobile primary care clinic in Caledonia next Thursday (March 20) from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The drop-in clinic will be held at the North Queens Community Health Centre.
Only certain health issues can be seen at the drop-in clinic. Nova Scotia Health says it can address only non-urgent conditions such as prescription refills or renewals, minor respiratory or gastrointestinal problems, muscle pain, rashes or urinary tract infections.
People are being asked to have their health cards and a list of their medications with them.
Medical staff will screen patients to make sure they can treat the concern at the clinic.
The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool is also now open 24 hours a day from Mondays at 8 a.m. to Fridays at 1:30 p.m.
Nova Scotia Health is also organizing drop-in clinics in Bridgewater at the Medical Arts Building on Glen Allen Drive. Those are set for Sun., March 16 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wed., March 26 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Sun., March 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
An undated aerial photo of the former Bowater Mersey plant in Brooklyn. (Queens County Historical Society Photo Collection, housed at the Queens County Museum)
UPDATED March 11, 6:30 p.m.
Northern Pulp says it’s struggling to make a business case for a new mill in Liverpool.
The province has agreed to give the company a five-week extension as it tries to figure out whether a new kraft pulp mill is viable in the area.
In separate statements released Monday night, both the province and Northern Pulp parent company Paper Excellence said the company hasn’t yet been able to make a business case for a successful mill.
Nova Scotia’s Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton told QCCR on Tuesday that the province has worked with Paper Excellence for the past nine months on the study.
He said the province needs a processor for the forestry sector’s pulp wood.
“We know we need a home for the low-grade wood fibre but at the end of the day, this is going to be a business decision from their part,” Rushton said.
“We’re willing to work with them to meet the environmental standards of a new-era mill that would find a home for ecologically produced forest products. I don’t want to speculate what the next five weeks may bring, but we’re supportive of this extension.”
Paper Excellence, owned by forestry giant Domtar, estimates a new mill would cost $2.5 billion in government and private funding to design and build. And it would require a rate of return of 14 per cent, as outlined in the settlement agreement.
The company’s statement said that while the proposed new facility doesn’t meet that threshold, it plans to look for more financing in the next five weeks to get the project going.
“As of today, the proposed new facility’s (rate of return) does not meet the threshold (rate of return),” the company said in the statement.
“However, the company will use the extension period to continue working to identify and evaluate potential financing opportunities to benefit the project.”
Rushton said he’s hopeful the company can make it work.
“At the end of the day, we’ve taken all the measures we can to support their information and allow them to make an educated decision. So we’re certainly hopeful there could be a postiive outcome in this.
“There are different companies that are looking at using wood fibre for renewable biofuels, renewable aviation fuels, things that have to utilize bioproducts from ecological forestry practices. So we’re interested in having a conversation with anyone that wants to come and have a conversation about using our bioproducts from forestry activities.”
Ashley Christian, president of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce, said she wasn’t surprised by the delay.
“I think there’s so much uncertainty in the economy at the moment and certainly a bioproducts mill would be affected by any potential tariffs that could still exist by the time this mill would be operating,” she told QCCR on Tuesday. “I’m not surprised that Domtar wasn’t ready with a decision. And I anxiously await May and for them to publish that decision.”
Christian said local reaction to a new mill in Queens County remains mixed.
“I think that residents recognize the potential economic impact of a mill in our county, however on the flip side recognize the potential environmental and health concerns as well. So I echo the concerns of our residents and agree with them. … I think (the feasibility study is) just the first part of this. That’s when the real work begins as citizens and for the business community to advocate for Queens County and the health of our environment here.”
According to Northern Pulp, the feasibility study looked at a mill that would produce kraft pulp, as well as biogas and biochemicals used in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and adhesives. The study also considered green energy projects, including a plan for carbon capture and storage.
Last May, Premier Tim Houston announced a deal with Paper Excellence. That was to settle the company’s $450-million lawsuit against the province after Northern Pulp was forced to close its mill in Pictou County in 2020 because of environmental concerns.
The company has been under creditor protection since the shutdown.
A hearing is scheduled in British Columbia Supreme Court for Friday (March 14) under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act so that the company can ask for the five-week extension to find more funding for the project.
Bowater operated a pulp and paper mill in Brooklyn from 1929 to 2012, over the years employing thousands of people in Queens County.
North Queens firefighters in a training exercise. (North Queens Fire Association Facebook page)
The North Queens Fire Association in Caledonia will now be notified of more 911 calls in their community.
“As of right now, if you call 911 and you say you want the fire department to respond, there will be no question. The fire department will be paged out,” Chris Wolfe, chief of the North Queens department, told QCCR on Monday.
Last Monday, about 100 residents, firefighters and other first responders from as far away as Yarmouth met in Caledonia to air their concerns about Nova Scotia’s emergency communications system.
Rural fire departments like North Queens said they weren’t being paged about some medical emergencies in their community, even when residents specifically asked for their help.
Volunteer fire departments can sign up to be a medical first responder agency and respond to various medical emergencies, depending on their level of training. That is vital in rural areas like Caledonia where the nearest ambulance depot is about an hour away.
The 18 trained first responders in North Queens can attend almost any kind of call for help.
After a couple of high-profile incidents in the community left people waiting for an hour or more for medical help, Wolfe organized the public meeting with help from Queens MLA Kim Masland. She invited officials from Nova Scotia’s Department of Health and Wellness, Emergency Health Services and Emergency Medical Care, the company that operates the province’s ambulance and 911 services.
“Our local MLA Kim Masland’s helped greatly with it,” Wolfe said. “The public showed support that night. It’s just a bunch of various things that’s come together to make people more aware of what’s going on and there is an urgent need for something to change there. I couldn’t be more happy with the way it’s panned out.”
Wolfe is also meeting with EHS officials on Tuesday in Halifax to discuss a potential pilot project with the North Queens department that could be used across the province.
“We’re going to sit down and discuss some possibilities. There will probably be a new protocol put in place. It will start with our department and it will trickle down to different MFR agencies around the province.”
Wolfe said he believes hearing from the public pushed provincial officials to act.
“Oh definitely. I think they realize we’re not going to let it lay to rest and it’s something that needs to be addressed and fixed and they’re on board and they’re going to help us get there.”
Wolfe said he will likely post an update on the department’s Facebook page Tuesday evening after the meeting in Halifax.
Campaign contribution disclosure forms are missing from the Region of Queens website for some candidates in October’s municipal election. (Rick Conrad)
Mayor Scott Christian got the most campaign contributions of any candidate in October’s municipal election in Queens County.
He received just under $10,000 ($9976.44) from 49 declared donors, some of whom are local small business owners and landlords.
The biggest donation to Christian’s campaign was $1,000 from Chad Clothier, who co-owns Rumclo Developments. They’re behind the already approved housing development The Point on the Mersey. They plan to build up to 146 detached houses and townhouses, as well as 82 rental apartments just outside Liverpool.
Christian told QCCR he believes his campaign raised just over $10,000 in total, including small donations that don’t have to be declared.
“I’m really proud of the amount of money that my team was able to fundraise and it did come from a pretty diverse swath of people. There were a lot of dribs and drabs contributions as well. I think my biggest contribution was $1,000 and my smallest contribution I think was a toonie.”
Christian said Clothier is a friend. He said he and his team began fundraising early, seeking donations first from the people they know, including personal and business connections.
“It shouldn’t come as a suprise to anyone who knows me that a lot of my social network includes a lot of people who are members of the business community. … I didn’t shy away from the notion that I was a ‘grow Queens’ candidate.”
Former Queens MLA Kerry Morash and former Region of Queens mayor Chris Clarke also contributed to Christian’s run.
Clarke gave $250 to Christian and to his opponent Terry Doucette.
Doucette declared $2,550 in donations from seven donors. The largest were $1,000 each from J. M. Reynolds Pharmacy, the company that owns Reynolds Pharmasave in Liverpool, and Mitchell Nauss of construction and consulting company MC Nauss Holdings.
Under Nova Scotia’s Municipal Elections Act, candidates had 60 days after the Oct. 19 election to file their contribution disclosure statements, even if they accepted no donations.
Everybody who runs must declare any donations over $50, or check a box confirming that they received no contributions.
Failure to do that can result in a fine of up to $2,500 or six months in jail.
Also, if candidates don’t submit a disclosure form, they forfeit their $200 deposit.
Disclosure statements from only 11 of the 19 candidates are posted on the Region of Queens website. Christian and Doucette were among the candidates who filed their disclosures on time. All other councillors except Jack Fancy met the deadline.
When QCCR recently asked Fancy about it, his disclosure form was posted the next week. He had no contributions over $50 to declare.
The region says all forms that were submitted have been posted.
QCCR reached out to the candidates whose forms are missing. Those who could be contacted said they had no contributions to declare, but said they filed the necessary paperwork with returning officer Ian Kent.
Kent is an employee with Elections Nova Scotia, who was seconded to the municipality for the election. He could not be reached for comment.
Paul Deveau, who ran against Fancy in October’s election, said he filed the necessary paperwork and got his deposit back. But his disclosure form is not on the site.
“That’s kind of weird because I found it very professional and I found that Ian took his job quite seriously,” Deveau said.
“We had an exit meeting. And with the exit meeting, we had to return the voter list … and sign a declaration that we were going to remove all of our signs and we had to fill out that contribution sheet.”
Most candidates contacted said they were told they had to submit a campaign contribution disclosure form.
But some said they either couldn’t remember what forms they signed after the election or they didn’t submit a form because they had no donations to declare.
Candidate Gil Johnson said he got his deposit back, so he thought he did everything that was required.
“The reason I didn’t file was because I didn’t receive any contributions and didn’t know I needed to check the box.”
Coun. Stewart Jenkins, who was acclaimed in his district, said returning officer Kent had a checklist of the things he was required to submit.
“I was told to file a form, which I did, even though I didn’t have any contributions to claim,” Jenkins said.
A spokesman for the Department of Municipal Affairs said in an email that it’s up to the municipality to make sure candidates comply.
“It is the municipality’s responsibility to address situations where an elected municipal official is not in compliance with requirements surrounding disclosure statements, and the province expects candidates to comply.”
Under the Municipal Elections Act, the municipal clerk is supposed to keep track of all documents related to the election.
Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR he asked about the missing documentation and was told by now former municipal clerk Pam Lovelace that everything that was submitted to the region has been posted to their website.
He said he was unsure why not all forms are posted, though he added that the region’s deputy returning officer has been on leave for some time.
Here is a list of the candidates whose campaign contribution disclosure forms aren’t posted yet to the Region of Queens website:
Pam Lovelace, a former Halifax councillor and mayoral candidate, is no longer the Region of Queens municipal clerk. (Facebook)
The Region of Queens has dismissed another top staff member, just three months after she was hired.
Pam Lovelace got the job as the region’s municipal clerk in early December.
Interim CAO Dan McDougall would not comment on Lovelace’s firing because it’s a personnel matter. He said the municipality “will work towards filling the municipal clerk position”.
Mayor Scott Christian also wouldn’t comment on her departure.
“I wish Pam all the best and what comes next for her professionally. I thank her for her contributions that she made to the Region of Queens for the time that she spent with us, both as municipal clerk and acting cao. Beyond that, it’s personnel, it’s not really the realm of council.”
Lovelace is a former Halifax regional councillor, who placed third in the 2024 Halifax mayoral race.
Then-CAO Cody Joudry hired her, just two weeks before he was fired himself by regional council. Christian said at the time that Joudry wasn’t the right fit with the newly elected council.
After Joudry was fired in mid-December, council appointed Lovelace acting CAO. She did that job until the region hired Dan McDougall as interim CAO in mid-January.
In a news release announcing her appointment as acting CAO, the region said Lovelace “brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise … with more than 20 years experience in the public sector.”
“Council of the Region of Queens Municipality is confident that Ms. Lovelace is the right person to guide the municipality during this transition period.”
QCCR asked Christian if he was surprised by Lovelace’s dismissal.
“No. I have a close working relationship with the CAO and it was something that had evolved in terms of Pam’s role in the organization and the time that she spent here. No, I wasn’t surprised.”
At last Tuesday’s council meeting, Lovelace was still on the job. She presented a progress report on the region’s Dismantling Racism and Hate Plan.
Lovelace could not be reached for comment.
Before Lovelace was hired, the region had been without a full-time municipal clerk for more than a year. Christian said he and the rest of council are working with interim CAO McDougall to figure out how to structure that job, or whether to create a deputy CAO position.
But he said nothing’s been decided yet.
In the meantime, the search for a full-time CAO continues. Christian said the region has received more than 10 applications in the week since it was posted on various job sites.
“We’re not going to rush it, we’re going to be deliberate and intentional about it. If thorugh this first round, it doesn’t yield the right-fit candidate then we may explore using a recruitment agency or something like that. But so far so good. Pretty encouraged by the quantity and the quality of the applications the we’ve received on the job ad thus far.”
He said council decided to save time and money by not using a professional recruiting firm.
Christian, Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton and councillors Courtney Wentzell and Stewart Jenkins are on the CAO search committee, with McDougall providing advice.
Christian acknowledged there’s been some upheaval in the region’s ranks since the new council was elected in October.
“It’s tumultuous obviously, it invites uncertainty and it’s destabilizing when you have major shifts in the senior leadership. That’s why it’s really important to find the right person for this next role to provide some stability.”
