ATLANTIC CANADA 48 HOUR FILM PROJECT

International Filmmaking Competition is open to all in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador & New Brunswick! www.48hourfilm.com/AtlanticCanada. On the 6th of September, 2024 in Mi’kma’ki, Nova Scotia, conducting our activities on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq, which is covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship. We are all Treaty People.

From Dream to Screen, to Filmapalooza and Cannes!

157 filmmakers hit the streets in one wild and sleepless weekend, 23-25 August, in PEI, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick, to make 19 short films, totaling 95 films in the last 9 editions of Atlantic Canada 48 Hour Film Project.

All 19 short films will Premiere on 22 September, Sunday,1:30 pm at ASTOR Theatre, Liverpool, Nova Scotia and ONLINE. The BEST film will receive $1,000 prize from Tidekite and will compete internationally at Filmapalooza with a chance for the prestigious Cannes. The Audience will also vote for their favorite film for the Audience Award.

The 19 films and teams Premiering and competing:

• Clipped Wings by 6 Lock Productions (Daniel McKenzie) NS
• Pictures of a Bird by B Reals (Jack Hunter) PEI
• Departing R.E.M. by Cinematic Cookhouse (Evan  Cook) NB
• Timbit by DD2 Entertainment (Dan Mendoza Kariya) NS
• Equal and Opposite Reaction by Dartmouth Productions (Patrick  Kidston) NS
• Inside Feather Cake by Death Horse (Lee-Anne Milne &  Mark Sawatzky) NS
• What A Time To Be Alive by G.A.M.E. Productions (Phillip R  Gannon) NS
• The Journey of a Lifetime by House of Daisies (Joseph Raymond Ciarrocco) NS
• The Feather by I Heart Beeno (Romi Robinson) NF&L
• Family by Once Upon a Midnight Dreary (Danielle Marie MacQuarrie) NS
• Colours of You by PEI P.O.V. Productions (Kirstin Lund) PEI
• This Hour has Five Minutes by Principals Productions (Bridget A. Ricketts) NF&L
• Dancing on a thread by Riff Raff (Oshean Juneja) NS
• Scott, Relax by Shwing Entertainment (Connor Locke) NS
• Ticket to Love by Stenvar Creative (David Jakub Moravcik) NS
• Going Under by Studio E (Liz  Neubauer) NS
• Dudes With Guns by The Boys (Ben Ruffett) NS
• Redemption by Tromboncino Productions (Daniel  Luques) NS
• Freehold by Boshat FILMS (Ryan  Cyr) NS

Join the filmmakers for the After Party, 4PM at Hell Bay Brewery, Liverpool, NS. Thanks for the collaboration and support: Tidekite, Astor Theatre, FILM PEI, QCCR 99.3 FM Queens County Community Radio and Queens Crown Newspaper, Hell Bay Brewery.

Get your tickets for Astor Theatre and Online Screening on the Official website: www.48hourfilm.com/AtlanticCanada

EMAILS: halifax@48hourfilm.com | ac48hfp@gmail.com

Scott Christian is a candidate for mayor of the Region of Queens in October’s municipal election. (Photo via Scott Christian)

Scott Christian, a business and government consultant, is one of two candidates running to be the next mayor of the Region of Queens.

Terry Doucette, a former teacher and school administrator, is the other candidate.

The election will be held on Oct. 19.

QCCR interviewed Christian on Aug. 30. His campaign website is scott4mayor24.ca, or you can follow his Facebook page.

You can listen to the interview with Scott Christian below.

Terry Doucette is a candidate for mayor of the Region of Queens in October’s municipal election. (Rick Conrad)

Terry Doucette, a former teacher and school administrator, is one of two candidates for mayor in the Region of Queens in October’s municipal election.

He’ll be up against Scott Christian, a government and business consultant in Liverpool.

The election will be held on Oct. 19.

QCCR interviewed Doucette on Aug. 30. You can also check out his candidate profile page on Facebook.

Listen to the interview with Terry Doucette below.

An asbestos abatement crew cleans up the site at 89 Main St. in Liverpool on Wednesday. (Rick Conrad)

An abandoned property in downtown Liverpool destroyed by fire in the spring is finally being cleaned up.

The historic and unoccupied Hendry house at 89 Main St. was leveled in the May 13 blaze. 

The Liverpool Fire Department referred it to the RCMP for investigation. The RCMP declared it suspicious and asked the public to come forward with any information. 

An RCMP spokesman told QCCR in July that officers have closed the file for now, because there was insufficient evidence to keep the investigation open.

Fire services from around Queens County and RCMP officers responded to the fire at 4:40 a.m. on May 13. Nobody was injured.

On June 11, the Region of Queens declared the property dangerous and unsightly and ordered owner Rosemarie Jacob to clean it up, or the region would do it at her expense. Jacob didn’t appeal the order, so the region began the process to clean up the site.

Mayor Darlene Norman said Wednesday that initial testing found that there was asbestos in the siding of the house. 

The region hired Asbestos Abatement Limited in Dartmouth to do the work. Norman said the company expects to have everything cleaned up by the end of the week.

“They say they’ll be finished by Friday,” Norman said. “The material is being deposited at another facility in Nova Scotia that accepts this material.

“The company indicated that they would have both the asbestos-containing materials removed, other debris on the property removed and the building foundation removed. … It is being done so that’s the important thing.”

Norman said the company has assured municipal officials there is no danger to nearby residents from the asbestos on site.

The cost of the cleanup isn’t known yet. But the mayor said it would be added as a lien to the owner’s taxes this year. 

“(It) would be payable in 2025. And if at that time, the taxes are not paid in full, including the lien, then you would go to our policy regarding uncollected taxes. I believe one year of unpaid taxes and then the tax sale process would start.”

The property had been unoccupied for some time before the fire. And the owner had been difficult to reach, but Norman said the municipality was finally able to find her.

Norman said she’s happy to see the cleanup underway. And while she won’t be running for re-election, she said a future council may decide to try to do something with the property once it’s cleaned up.

“I know many people have been wanting that corner widened. There are some people who want it left historically the way it is. But there’s lots of vocies from people who work at Queens General (Hospital), from people trying to get 18-wheelers around that corner, there’s going to be a huge amount of housing development that’s going to require vehicles going that way, but that will be future decisions by a future council. But at this time, our main goal is to have that corner cleaned up so people can be free of the black tarps and the fencing and the things that are there at this point in time.”

Norman added that because the cleanup cost will be applied to the property owner’s taxes, the region likely won’t release the figure because of privacy concerns.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Michelle Thompson, Nova Scotia’s health and wellness minister, is warning of a potential strike by more than 9,000 health-care workers. (Communications Nova Scotia)

Nova Scotia’s health minister is warning the province’s health authorities to prepare for a possible strike by more than 9,000 health-care workers.

Michelle Thompson wrote a letter to the CEOs of the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the IWK Health Centre. She said the province is committed to reaching a settlement. 

Thompson said talks have been difficult but are continuing with the help of a conciliator.

“Each negotiated settlement and wage and benefit investment we have made has resulted in higher wages,” she wrote in the letter, released Tuesday by her department. 

“Once again significant wage increases are on the table. At the same time, we have to be mindful of the taxpayer and make sure that we only commit to what is affordable to taxpayers, now and into the future.”

The employees are represented by three different unions – the NSGEU, CUPE and Unifor. The unions are negotiating as one body under a council of health-care unions.

Members represent more than 170 occupations in the health-care system – including those working in diagnostic imaging and laboratory, mental health and addictions, cancer therapy, paramedics, and community health.

The unions say many employees are now the lowest paid in Atlantic Canada and are struggling with severe staffing shortages.

Thompson said in the letter that the government is focused on “tough but fair” bargaining. She said they want an agreement without a strike, but that the province’s finances are stretched. 

“The reality is that with a staggering provincial deficit, there is just no more to offer. We simply can’t sweeten the offer because the taxpayer is already stretched to their limit.”

In late July, Nova Scotia’s Finance Minister Allan MacMaster reported the province recorded a $143-million surplus on surging revenues. He said Nova Scotia brought in $1 billion more than expected last year.

This round of contract negotiations does not include doctors or nurses.

A house on Wolfe Street in Liverpool was gutted by fire on Tuesday afternoon. No one was injured in the blaze. (Rick Conrad)

Emergency crews were busy in Queens County on Tuesday as a house fire in Liverpool left a family homeless, and a motor vehicle collision snarled traffic in the Brooklyn area.

The Liverpool Fire Department was called to 61 Wolfe St. shortly after 2 p.m. When firefighters arrived on the scene, the house was fully engulfed, according to Liverpool Fire Chief Trevor Munroe.

“We encountered heavy fire conditions on arrival. No one was injured. We did check the homeowner but he seemed fine.”

Munroe said the home’s residents and their pets were outside when firefighters arrived. 

Fire crews clean up after a house fire in Liverpool on Tuesday afternoon. (Rick Conrad)

Six fire departments from Liverpool, Port Medway, Mill Village, Greenfield, North Queens and Italy Cross were at the scene.

Munroe didn’t have many more details on Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ll do a preliminary investigation and then turn the home back over the homeowner and they’ll bring in their insurance company.”

Also on Tuesday afternoon, traffic was being diverted in Brooklyn after a motor vehicle collision in the Sandy Cove area.

Few other details were available late Tuesday afternoon. RCMP could not be reached for comment. 

QCCR will publish more details as they are available.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Crews are working on the $3-million Liverpool Community Sports Field at Liverpool Regional High School. (Rick Conrad)

There may be a little short-term pain this fall for some big long-term gain for Liverpool’s high school soccer teams as they wait for a new multimillion-dollar field and track to be completed.

Crews are working now on building the $3-million-plus Liverpool Community Sports Field at Liverpool Regional High School. It will feature the South Shore’s only all-weather, year-round track and a new artificial turf soccer field.

Kristopher Snarby, president of the Queens County Track Society which is leading the effort, said the field likely won’t be finished until November. And depending on the weather, the new rubberized track probably won’t be ready until early spring.

“They’re working hard, they have a camper on site and the crew’s actually living in the camper and working pretty long days,” Snarby said Tuesday.

“We’re hoping that the field will be done late October, early November and the track itself, it depends on weather in terms of when they can lay the track. So the track will either be done in November as well or it will have to wait till spring when things are little warmer. So things are coming together fairly well. We kind of had a pipe dream that the soccer field would be ready for this fall, but that’s not going to happen unfortunately.”

In the meantime, he said the high school’s boys and girls soccer teams are working with the middle school in Liverpool to use that field for practices. He said they’ll likely have to find another field outside Liverpool for their games. 

Despite having to wait a little longer than they’d hoped, Snarby says it’s gratifying to see the project coming together.

“There have been so many people pushing for this for so long, it’s nice to finally see the end result coming together. The contractors that are doing the work are doing a great job there. They’re working really hard to move along as fast as possible.

“It’s just really exciting to know that the community is going to have this facility in a few months. And it’ll be great to see people start to use it. I’ve had inquiries already from other areas who are interested in renting the field to have some higher level soccer taking place there. So that’s really positive. It’s just really exciting for sure.”

The track and field project got a $1.8-million funding commitment from the federal government, $1.2 million from the province and $250,000 from the Region of Queens municipality. 

Snarby said his group will be launching a private fundraising campaign in the next couple of weeks to cover other costs, such as a shot put and discus throwing area.

He said doing those separately from the main project is cheaper.

“The costs to do it as a whole project were extremely expensive. So we had to pull them out of the project and we’re still going to get them done, but they’re going to be quite a lot more cost-effective.”

Snarby said that as long as construction continues to go as planned, everything should be ready for use by March or April next year. 

“We’re looking forward to the end result.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Deborah Raddall and Jean Robinson are part of the team organizing this year’s Liverpool International Theatre Festival. (Rick Conrad)

It happens every two years, it’s less than two months away and the organizers of the Liverpool International Theatre Festival want you to be part of it.

The festival is looking for local residents to open their homes and help welcome the almost 90 people coming to Liverpool from 10 different countries for the four-day event.

The volunteer-driven festival is celebrating its 16th edition from Oct. 17 to 20 at the Astor Theatre.

This year, amateur theatre troupes from Morocco, Egypt, the country of Georgia, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, Wales and the U.S. will be putting on one-act plays in an event that celebrates theatre and international friendship. Winds of Change from Liverpool will also be putting on a play at the festival.

“For those that haven’t been to the festival in the past,” says festival chairwoman Jean Robinson, “they are one-act plays and they have to be between 25 minutes long and 50 or 55 minutes long. And so, it’s a great introduction to theatre and different types of theatre.”

Deborah Raddall is in charge of LITF’s marketing and promotions. 

“LITF is a celebration of culture and theatre and community. And it’s a chance for us, meaning Liverpool, to experience the world.”

The festival relies on 40 to 60 volunteers from the community to make it happen.

Members of the theatre troupes are billeted at homes around Queens County. This year, organizers are putting an urgent call out for people to open their homes to the actors and crews coming to Liverpool.

LITF asks hosts to provide a bed and some breakfast for festival participants. The festival looks after everything else, including other meals and transportation. Hosts also get two free tickets to the play involving their guests.

Raddall and her husband Blair have hosted troupes in their home for many previous festivals.

“It’s a wonderful experience, my experience has been really great with that. We’ve been hosting almost every year and we’ve made wonderful friendships and connections. It’s quite unique for a theatre festival.”

“All you need to do is have a bed. It’s a bed and breakfast situation. What we ask of our hosts at a minimum is to provide a bed, provide a breakfast for them in the mornings and to pick them up when they arrive, if it’s a reasonable time. … At a minimum interaction, make them welcome in your home, give them something to eat in the mornings and our festival is designed to pick up all the rest of the stuff. … We’re really looking for a welcoming space and a little bit of breakfast.”

Robinson said hosts and guests have made lasting connections.

“Hosts can be as engaged in the festival as they want to be. We know that these have become lifelong friendships and also new experiences. People have gotten to go skating for the first time with their host, even being taken to the ocean to see a beach for the first time, going out on a lobster boat or things like that that have really cemented those relationships.”

Raddall says they’re still looking for space for about 40 troupe members. Troupes and potential hosts fill out questionnaires so that organizers can help make sure the experience is as positive as possible for everybody.

“It’s a process that’s not just we’re just going to chuck somebody on your doorstep without having a conversation about what works best for you and what works best for them.”

If you’re interested in becoming a host for the Liverpool International Theatre Festival, you can contact info@litf.ca , check out their website at litf.ca or message them at their Facebook page.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below

Shelley Walker is Queens County’s senior safety co-ordinator. (Rick Conrad)

Queens County could be getting a full-time seniors’ advocate by the end of the year.

At a recent regional council meeting, councillors voted to ask for a staff report on making the senior safety co-ordinator a full-time position with the Region of Queens.

Right now, that job is overseen by the non-profit Queens Care Society.

It is funded with a $25,000 grant from the Nova Scotia government, which is enough for three days a week. The society also receives $5,000 from the Region of Queens. The Queens District RCMP gives in-kind supports such as a cell phone and office space.

The society says it doesn’t have enough money to turn it into a full-time position. Shelley Walker is the current senior safety co-ordinator. There has been a part-time co-ordinator in the region since it was created more than 15 years ago.

The co-ordinator helps promote senior health, safety and independence, working with older residents to help them stay in their own homes. The co-ordinator helps with medical referrals, transportation, food insecurity and other concerns of seniors living on their own.

Representatives from the Queens Care Society appealed to councillors last week to make it a full-time position with the region.

Grant Webber, chairman of the society, told councillors that there’s great demand for the free service. But the current part-time position can help only about 7.5 per cent, or 250, of the 3,300 Queens County residents over 65.

He said other senior safety co-ordinators around the province are full time, supported by the province, municipalities or non-profit groups.

Webber asked that the region hire the co-ordinator on a full-time basis, covering benefits and expenses and providing office space.

“A part-time position is not enough to address the assistance and does not enable the co-ordinator to be proactive with education and check-in calls. All other co-ordinators in Nova Scotia are full time and either employed by the municipality or through foundations.

“We are hoping that the Region of Queens can also become the employer and provide the senior safety co-ordinator with the stability required to support seniors here in Queens County.”

Al Doucet, a member of the Queens Care Society, said Walker does a commendable job now for seniors in the region. He said she could do so much more as a full-time employee of the region.

“I’ve watched what Shelley does for this community,” he told councillors. “There’s all kinds of people that would do this, but I can tell you that Shelley does beyond what is needed.” 

Councillors seemed receptive to the idea of bringing the position under the municipality’s umbrella.

Mayor Darlene Norman said the part-time position is funded until the end of the year, but that there is some uncertainty around whether it would continue after that.

Norman said the details would have to be worked out.

“I believe it is necessary that there be more investigation to determine who such a staffer would report to, is there a requirement to do a job posting, … salary range, things such as cars, all those things we would have to know to responsibly vote on those things.”

District 3 Coun. Maddie Charlton said she wanted to make sure that councillors got a staff report in time to make a decision about the position before the end of the year.

“I want to make sure that that position is protected and it’s not a bunch of frantic, going around trying to figure out last-minute, so I think we need some clear timing.”

Norman made a motion for staff to report by council’s first meeting in October on the municipality taking over responsibility for the senior safety program.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Queens District RCMP plan to step up patrols in North Queens after complaints of underage off-highway vehicle use. (RCMP NS Facebook page)

RCMP in Queens County are cracking down on underage ATV operators in North Queens.

Queens District RCMP officers will be stepping up patrols in the area after getting numerous reports from residents over the past several weeks of minors illegally operating off-highway vehicles at high speeds and often late at night.

RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Carlie McCann says it’s all about safety.

“Members are making sure that there are police officers who are out there in order to enforce these laws, but also to ensure that people are being safe,” McCann said in an interview Monday.

“The big reason that laws like this exist is to make sure that people are safe when they’re out operating their off-highway vehicles and using the trails in our communities. So the biggest reason is to make sure that we aren’t seeing peple doing things that are unsafe on their OHVs.”

McCann did not know how many calls the RCMP received or in which specific areas of North Queens this is happening.

“Any type of report like this is too many when it’s unsafe behaviour, like driving too fast and at night. The number of calls that have been received have been enough to promote some concern.”

RCMP say that Queens County has no designated roads or highways yet listed under the Nova Scotia Off-Highway Vehicles Act. And operators must have a valid driver’s licence and wear helmets. Children between the ages of 6 and 15 must be supervised by a parent or guardian.

“I think the biggest thing to remember is that you have to be thinking about safety all the time on things like this,” McCann said.

“It’s really important to use common sense, so making sure that all riders have helmets, making sure that people are using (the vehicles) safely and know how to use them properly, making sure that your vehicles are well maintained and making sure that you are having common sense when you’re picking areas you’re riding in and picking who’s going to be driving the vehicles.”

Under the Off-Highway Vehicles Act, offenders can be fined up to $2,000 and have their vehicle seized by RCMP. 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen below for the Aug. 19 news update