Cubicles at Global Empire Corporation’s call centre in Liverpool. File photo: Ed Halverson

Sixty-nine people who used to work for Global Empire Corporation at its Liverpool call centre still haven’t been paid severance after being laid off last March.

That’s despite an order from Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Division that Global Empire must pay the laid-off workers a total of $193,115.04. 

After a 14-month investigation, the province ruled in May that the company failed to give proper notice of the layoff under Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Code and that the non-unionized workers were entitled to just over five weeks of severance.

• Read the Labour Standards decision here

It closed its operation in Liverpool shortly after the May 1 ruling. 

Debra Lalonde was one of those who lost her job. An official with the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration told her recently that they were unable to collect the severance because Global Empire has no funds or assets in Nova Scotia.

“Come on. Really?” Lalonde says. “How about start protecting employee rights in Nova Scotia so that people living paycheque to paycheque feel protected by the government whose duty is to protect the non-unionized workers that are at risk for abuse from a predatory employer?”

The company says its head office is in Edmonton, so the department asked the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia to register the ruling as a judgment of the court.

They then sent that judgement to officials in Alberta to enforce the order on Nova Scotia’s behalf.

Company owner Moe Nashman, however, claims that the company’s assets are in Phoenix, Arizona. So Labour officials say that there are no funds or assets in Nova Scotia or Alberta to collect on.

“No government wants to take accountability when they can’t honour their own legislation, and that’s unfortunate,” Lalonde said.

Lalonde says she and other former employees feel abandoned by the province and the Region of Queens.

Liverpool was the company’s only Canadian location, employing as many as 120 people. It signed a five-year lease with the Region of Queens in December 2021 to move into the municipally owned Business Development Centre. 

A Facebook post from the Region of Queens celebrating its lease with Global Empire Corporation.

The region agreed to renegotiate the lease in February 2024, two weeks before the company issued layoff notices. The lease has never been made public.

In late May of this year, a few weeks after the labour board ruling, the municipality hired Global Empire’s former human resources manager.

After Lalonde told two NDP MLAs about the issue at this year’s Labour Day event in Liverpool, Labour critic Paul Wozney raised it in the Nova Scotia legislature with Labour, Skills and Immigration Minister Nolan Young.

“Recent labour board cases involving workers at Global Empire Corporation … show that our Labour Standards Code is outdated and makes it hard for workers to collect wages they’ve rightfully earned,” he said. “If this government is acting quickly to help businesses, why is it ignoring workers unprotected from predatory employers?”

Young responded: “Well, I can’t speak about specifics here on the floor for any specific case, we are working hard. We are. Look, we are working hard for workers. 
We are out there. We are doing things. Um, yeah, leave it there.”

Wozney replied: “I guess governmenting is hard. 
The fact is, our current legislation means workers are getting robbed. Despite the labour board ruling in their favour, dozens of people are out thousands of dollars in wages, due to legislation that’s been unchanged for five years under this government’s watch. … Workers need protection from wage theft, and their calls have gone ignored. 
When will this government update one of the weakest Labour Standards Code in the country to ensure workers actually get paid for the work that they’ve done?”

Lalonde says she’s disappointed that Queens MLA Kim Masland didn’t advocate harder for the employees.

“I have reached out to Minister Masland asking what are our next steps? You know, the government failed in protecting our rights. I haven’t heard back from Minister Masland if there are any any further steps to be taken for the 69 of us to be compensated.”

Masland told QCCR recently that she is “certainly concerned for those employees.”

“Those were earnings and they should be paid. My understanding is that this numbered company which is in a foreign land has gone bankrupt. So I’m not really sure how that is going to be retrieved, but do they deserve to be paid? Absolutely. And the company should have stepped up and paid those employees. But they left in the middle of the night.”

She said the government’s hands are tied.

“You can’t expect the province to pay out every business that goes bankrupt and doesn’t pay its employees. That was a private business, it’s not a government entity, there were no government funds that went into that project, so the business has to step up and find the ability to pay.

“My heart breaks for those folks. … We encourage growth, we encourage business to come to our communities. Sadly a government can’t tell a private business how to run their business.”

Lalonde said Masland’s comments are “typical and disappointing.”

“Actually that’s the first I have heard from her. … I think it’s right on par with the government’s lack of accountability for workers’ rights protection.”

She says that former employees are resigned to never being paid. Most workers were making little more than minimum wage, so they can’t afford to hire a lawyer.

Lalonde says she’s owed about $2,800. She’s contacted Nova Scotia’s ombudsman’s office to see if they can help. But she says the workers have little recourse.

“My next job is just to make sure that I don’t let this go without it being noted that our government did not protect our workers’ rights and unfortunately do not want to take any accountability.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Inside Global Empire Corporation’s call centre in Liverpool. (File photo by Ed Halverson)

A company that operates a call centre in Liverpool has been ordered to pay almost $200,000 to 69 former employees it laid off last March.

In a May 1 order by Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Division, Global Empire Corporation must pay the laid-off workers a total of $193,115.04.

That’s because the company failed to give proper notice, as outlined under Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Code.

In a mass layoff of 10 to 99 employees, a company must give at least eight weeks’ notice, or pay instead of notice. 

The decision amounts to pay of five weeks and one day for most laid-off workers. Two are entitled to five weeks and two days’ pay.

• Read the Labour Standards decision here

According to the reasons accompanying the order, Global Empire terminated 74 people on March 15, 2024, three weeks after it issued layoff notices on Feb. 26, and before the original termination date of April 19.

Debra Lalonde-MacDonald, who moved to the area a few years ago from Ontario, was one of those people who lost her job. She filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia Labour Standards Division shortly after the layoff. She provided QCCR with a copy of the decision.

Lalonde-MacDonald told QCCR this week that management assured employees that their jobs were secure, despite the February layoff notice.

“There was just an abundance of reassurance from our management that it was precautionary and that our jobs were very secure,” she said.

“For many, it was tragic, especially (those) who had moved from out of province to come here and work. For my personal situation, after three years of a local job search with valid skills and exhausting so many employers in the community, it was challenging. … Very disappointing news at that point in my life thinking of re-entering the job market that had closed its door repeatedly for three years.”

According to the decision by Labour Standards officer Kyle Barrie, the Liverpool call centre lost a contract with Lifeline Systems Company on March 1, 2024, which led to the job cuts. 

Lifeline, which provides medical alert services, claimed that Global Empire wasn’t fulfilling its obligations under the contract it signed in November 2021. 

Lifeline said the call centre failed in “providing guaranteed minimum number of agents per month, the minimum number of service hours, and meeting average speed of answer obligations.”

But according to Global Empire’s February layoff notice that was quoted in the Labour Standards ruling, it needed 130 employees to cover the Lifeline work and that it was never able to hire that many people.

“Unfortunately after many promises and failed attempts to provide our client the needed 130 employees, they no longer have faith in our hiring abilities and as such will be terminating their contract with us. We are a service provider for them, and we have not been able to provide them with the service.”

It also blamed minimum wage increases, a lack of affordable housing in Liverpool, and the provincial government for not following through on promised payroll rebates.

In the ruling, Labour Standards said Global Empire didn’t do enough to avoid the layoff.

”While (Global Empire) did take some steps to meet its obligations, such as posting ads online, going door to door, and hiring foreign workers already situated in Canada, I find it has not demonstrated on a balance of probabilities that it exercised sufficient due diligence to foresee and avoid the cause of the layoff,” Barrie wrote in his decision.

“(Global Empire) could have done more due diligence prior to entering into the service agreement of November 2021, to confirm whether it would be able to meet its staffing obligations.

“There was nothing sudden about the problems the (company) says prevented it from reaching the required staffing levels from the beginning of the service agreement with Lifeline Systems in 2021.

“In reviewing the evidence, I find the reason for the layoff was within the (company’s) control. Simply put, the (company) entered into an agreement it could not fulfill. Its failure to fulfill its responsibilities under the service agreement in 2024 cannot excuse its inability to fulfil its responsibilities from the end of 2021, through the beginning of 2022, and forward. I find the employees’ terminations were within the (company’s) control.”

For her part, Lalonde-MacDonald says she’s not celebrating yet. The company has 10 days to appeal the order to the province’s labour board. If it does, that would further delay a payout to laid-off employees.

“I’m hesitant to be elated about it,” she said.

“With the appeal process pending, only time will tell. Should they be able to collect that, it would be fantastic. That would be a relief for us all. It was hard news for us to receive for so many reasons. … I’d be happy to see that we have policy makers’ support to make sure that that money’s collected.”

Lalonde-MacDonald said it’s difficult to find a well-paying job in the area. And being properly compensated for the layoff would be a help. 

“Fourteen months later, … it’s just good to know that there’s protection but questionable on whether or not they’re going to be able to collect it.

“All we can do is hope that that order to pay is strong enough, so that the 69 of us that have been deemed entitled to our five weeks of pay in lieu of notice that we actually receive it.”

She said she’s upset that municipal and provincial governments didn’t provide more support to the former employees of Global Empire in Liverpool.

The Region of Queens signed a long-term lease with the company in December 2021 to move into the municipally owned Business Development Centre building. At the time, it was the company’s only Canadian location.

Before the layoffs, about 120 people worked at the call centre.

In early February 2024, the company wanted to renegotiate its lease with the region, saying it was using half the space it originally needed.

The region signed a new lease with the company on Feb. 1. It was approved by council in a closed-door session on Feb. 13.

The lease has never been made public.

Mayor Scott Christian said he’s not familiar with the terms of the lease, since it was signed before he was elected.

He said it’s “problematic” when employers in the community are found to have violated labour rules, but he said it doesn’t mean the region should impose its own values on one of its tenants.

“I think it’s too bad that that operation hasn’t been successful and that there have been layoffs and that they never really were able to stand up the labour force to be able to make that a vibrant and successful operation. I think that that is regrettable.”

The Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration would not comment on the ruling or say whether the company has appealed or honoured the order to pay back wages.

Neither the company nor its lawyer responded to requests for comment.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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The library in Liverpool will be reopening in the new year in the Liverpool Business Development Centre off White Point Road. (Rick Conrad photo)

As the Liverpool library gets ready to move to its new location by the end of the year, the Region of Queens is beginning work to restart a library committee.

It will be chaired by Mayor Scott Christian and include District 3 Coun. Courtney Wentzell.

Establishing council’s various committees will be overseen by the region’s new municipal clerk. Pam Lovelace was hired a week ago to do that job.

Christian said she will be coming up with terms of reference for various committees, including the library committee.

“I think the initial work of that will be determining what the current need and purpose and mandate of a public committee associated with the library would look like and then constructing a terms of reference and populating a committee from there.”

Once that happens, the region would likely ask for members of the public to sit on the committee.

Regional councillors voted in February to move the Thomas H. Raddall Library to the Liverpool Business Development Centre off the White Point Road. Commonly known as the call centre building, it wasn’t the first choice for a new library site.

The previous council voted twice against the library steering committee’s recommendation to build a new library near Queens Place Emera Centre.

Many residents told councillors at a meeting last December that they did not want the library at the call centre site, which is outside of town in an area with no sidewalks and very little lighting.

The library’s lease at its current location downtown is up at the end of this year. So with time running out, councillors decided to move the library to the call centre building.

It’s supposed to be a short-term home while the newly elected council works on a longer-term solution. 

The region is spending up to $1.26 million on renovations for the new library space. They had set aside $3 million in 2022 for a new library.

Library staff will close the current location on Dec. 15, and begin packing up their collections for the move.

No date has been set yet for the library’s reopening. But it’s on track to be early in the new year.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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David Trueman, branch supervisor of Thomas H. Raddall Library in Liverpool, speaks to a group this week at a public consultation session on the design of the temporary location of the library. Elise Johnston, accessibility and inclusion co-ordinator with the Region of Queens, is leading the sessions. (Rick Conrad)

It may not be the location that many Liverpool library users want, but they say they’re going to make the best of it.

The Region of Queens has been holding public consultations this week on the design of the temporary location for the Thomas H. Raddall Library.

Region of Queens councillors voted in February to move the library to the Liverpool Business Development Centre on White Point Road by the end of the year. 

The current lease at the Rossignol Centre in downtown Liverpool expires Dec. 31. Sherman Hines, who owns the building, also has it up for sale.

The municipality owns the business development centre. It currently houses the Global Empire call centre and Belliveau Veinotte accountants.

It’s supposed to be a temporary location, while the municipality works on a long-term plan. 

Councillors set aside $1,050,000 for renovations to the 6,500 square-foot space, though staff said it could cost as much as $1.26 million.

Municipalities look after buildings and furniture for libraries, while the provincial government provides about 70 per cent of overall funding.

Finding a new home for the library has been fraught with delays and controversy since 2022, when the region allocated $3 million from an unexpected budget surplus to its construction. 

The library steering committee twice recommended a site near Queens Place Emera Centre, with councillors ultimately nixing that plan both times.

Many residents at a December meeting told councillors they did not want the library at the call centre site, which is outside of town in an area with no sidewalks and very little lighting.

But with a deadline to vacate the current space looming, the region decided the call centre was the best option for now.

This week, about 40 people have attended public consultations so far. The last one is on Saturday at the library at 12:30.

The proposed design includes two large program rooms that can be combined into one, a teen room with soundproofing for a miniature recording studio. That room could also be used as a smaller meeting area. The new space also features an open area for kids, as well as a large kitchen and expanded washroom facilities.

That’s in addition to the large area set aside for the library’s current collection of books and other materials.

Elise Johnston, the region’s accessibility and inclusion co-ordinator, is leading the consultations with David Trueman, the library’s branch supervisor.

Cathie Pearl-Wentzell was at one of the sessions on Thursday. The Brooklyn resident says her family have been library users since she moved to the area in 1977.

“I think it was very informative, I learned a lot, it’s good to have the opportunity to have input,” she said. 

She said she’s disappointed in the location, but there are benefits to the new space.

“I’ve come to accept that, vehemently opposed (to the location), let my councillor know, let the mayor know. My question is can they tear this building down and build the library on this site? I don’t know.

“I think it’s going to have a lot of opportunities. Parking being one, it’s going to be much more accessible, much more comfortable climate-control-wise. And everybody has the best interest at heart, so you can’t go wrong with somebody with their hearts in the right places.”

Melissa Swatsenbarg of Liverpool uses the library at least once a twice a week. She said she likes being able to give her input on the design.

“It kind of culminates all the things I’ve been listening to over the past year and a half because I’ve been talking to a lot of people over the past year and a half about it.

“I like the final idea of having a fairly large kitchen and a designated teen space. I like the plans to have a more open children’s section.”

She said she likes the more modern amenities of the new space, even though the location isn’t ideal.

“None of us are really thrilled we have to go all the way through town to get back out of town to go to it,” Swatsenbarg said.

“It’s kind of out of the way. And there are no sidewalks. My kids will bike into the library here. (Out there), it’s a very busy road and it’s not a very safe road trying to get up and around there. So in that aspect, it’s going to change how many kids I allow to take themselves to the library.”

Even though councillors decided to move the library to the call centre space, they also acknowledged that a newly elected council in October could tackle the issue of a new library. But that could still take at least three to five years to happen.

In the meantime, some at the consultations suggested keeping up the pressure on council candidates for a new library in a more central location.

The last public consultation session is at the library on Old Bridge Street on Saturday from 12:30 to 1:30. People can also email accessibility@regionofqueens.com with their suggestions.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Queens regional councillors will vote Tuesday on whether the Liverpool library will move to the Liverpool Business Development Centre until a new one can be built. (Rick Conrad photo)

The library in Liverpool may be moving temporarily to the Liverpool Business Development Centre on White Point Road.

Region of Queens councillors are set to vote on a recommendation Tuesday from CAO Cody Joudry to move the library to the same building that houses the Global Empire call centre and Belliveau Veinotte accountants. It would be there until a new site can be chosen, designed, financed and built. 

The council meeting is set for 6 p.m. in council chambers on White Point Road.

The Thomas H. Raddall Library is currently in the Rossignol Centre on Old Bridge Street close to downtown Liverpool. The lease expires this December. Last year, the region spent $51,680 on rent.

The building owner Sherman Hines has been trying to sell it since at least November 2022. Joudry claims in his staff report that “staff are of the opinion the property is likely to be sold before the lease expires”.

Joudry is recommending that staff immediately begin renovations of the vacant space at the call centre building so that the library can move in by December. He estimates the renovations would cost from $1.05 to $1.26 million. 

He is also suggesting that staff work with the library board to create a public consultation plan on a new library.

Councillors decided at a December meeting not to move the library to the call centre building permanently. Residents flooded them with emails and public comments about that plan. Most were against it.

Finding a new home for the library has been fraught with delays and controversy since the spring of 2022, when the region allocated $3 million from an unexpected budget surplus to its construction. Joudry says a new library would likely cost much more than that.

“Consulting the public about (the) library matter, selecting a site (and acquiring land if needed), creating design options, costing the project out, acquiring funding, tendering then constructing and moving the library will, realistically, take several years,” he says in his report.

“If council takes the recommendation to move the library as recommended, input and feedback would be beneficial to inform decisions on designs, renovations, and furnishing of the new space. As such the CAO and library CEO would work collaboratively to ensure the community and users are consulted on these matters.”

The library steering committee twice recommended an area by Queens Place Emera Centre for the relocation. Council declined the first time but decided to accept the committee’s recommendation a second time.

But council scuttled the plan once more when it learned that connecting the site to existing road and infrastructure would cost close to a million dollars.

At the December council meeting, many residents spoke against the plan to move the library to White Point Road permanently. Some also were worried that if the library moved there temporarily, council would stop looking for a new location.

Susan DeChamp was one of three community members appointed to the region’s library steering committee in April 2022. She spoke at the council meeting in December when staff were recommending the call centre building as the permanent site for the library.

“The main issue everyone had was the location itself,” she told councillors. “The first time we recommended the sledding hill location (near Queens Place), we had councillors object that you can’t move it that far from where it currently is and it would be unreasonable to expect library users to  walk across the bridge. Now you’re asking library users to walk to the fringes of town where the street lamps are fairly far apart, it’s not brightly lit and there are no sidewalks.”

Jessica Joudrey and Tom Raddall resigned before the December meeting. Raddall told councillors that they were “frustrated and disillusioned”.

In response to public comments at the December meeting, District 6 Coun. David Brown summed up the general mood on council when he said that using the call centre only as a temporary space would give the region time to do more thorough public consultation. 

“So I think we have to do a better job of getting more engagement from the public so that we can build what the public wants and needs,” he said.

“If we can make this a temporary, it gives us a chance to take a deep breath, look at it, analyze it and do that job right in the long run. And I think the public will be much better served if we get it done right rather than if we get it done quick.”

Joudry’s other recommendations include: a high-level public engagement process begin on what people want from a new library and a new advisory committee be formed with clear direction and support from council. 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Global Empire call centre cubicles. Photo Ed Halverson

By Rick Conrad

The Global Empire call centre wants a break on its lease in the Liverpool Business Development Centre on White Point Road.

Mayor Darlene Norman says it’s because the company is using 18,000 of the 25,000 square feet it originally signed up for.

“So they wanted the lease amended to indicate that they’ll only be renting the space they are using. And that frees that space up for the Region of Queens to do with as it wishes.”

Council approved the amendments in principle. Norman said that when the new agreement is signed, it will be available to the public.

Thomas H. Raddall Library. Photo credit Ed Halverson

Municipal staff have suggested building the new library close to the Region of Queens administrative office.

In a release issued, Thursday Nov 16, staff say the Liverpool Business Development Center, on Harley Umphrey Drive, “offers an ideal space, including ample parking, access to green spaces, and more room for programming.”

Another benefit of the proposed relocation is that the Liverpool Business Development Center is owned by the Region of Queens.

The library’s lease in their current location at the Rossignol Centre in Liverpool is set to expire at the end of 2024.

Municipalities are responsible for providing space to locate regional libraries in Nova Scotia. Finding a new site to relocate the library has proved contentious for Region of Queens Council.

In the 2022/23 budget, Council voted to use part of a $3 million surplus from the federal and provincial governments to build a new library. A committee was struck shortly after to recommend a site. Their unanimous choice was that it should be located at Queens Place.

Council initially rejected that option in June of 2022 and asked the committee to come back with another recommendation.  Councillors raised concerns at the time that the location would be too remote for people coming from the Liverpool area.

In January 2023, the committee again determined the Queens Place site was best and this time Council approved their recommendation and agreed to build the new library on the Queens Place location.

However, in March, Council rescinded that approval in a recorded 5-3 vote after learning the estimated cost of extending the driveway to the proposed site would be $950,000.

If Council agrees to move the library to the Liverpool Business Development Center, it will join existing tenants Belliveau Veinotte Accountants and Global Empire Call Centre.

In July of this year, Council awarded a $2,031,273 tender to Sea Coast HVAC for the installation of a new HVAC system at the Liverpool Business Development Center.

A draft design concept for the new library will be presented to Council for its consideration. If they agree to move the library to the Liverpool Business Development Center more design work will be required before renovations begin.

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E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com

Inside Global Empire Call Centre. Photo Ed Halverson

An aging heating and ventilation system has the Region of Queens looking at selling the Liverpool Development Business Centre.

The centre is home to chartered accountants Belliveau Veinotte Inc. and Global Empire Call Centre.

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman says the HVAC system was installed as part of the original 2003 construction and has reached the end of its usefulness.

“It serves the entire building. It’s been band-aided, it’s been fixed. What on Earth are we going to do with it?” asked Norman.

HVAC technicians have examined the building and presented council with two options: replace the existing unit with one large unit to again service the entire building or split the building into zones and install four units.

Norman says both options are pricy.

Installation and renovation costs are projected to range between a million and two million dollars.

Council discussed how long it will take to pay that off based on the rental guarantees in place with the existing tenants.

Norman says before deciding on which way to go council have asked staff to bring back other options.

“Rather than make a decision, staff have been asked to approach one of the tenants who has expressed public interest in purchasing that building.”

Norman says staff will report back at the next council meeting whether the building should be put up for sale.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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Nova Scotia Vice President Trevor LaPlante, Queens Mayor Darlene Norman and Owner Moe Nashman officially open the Liverpool call centre, April 4, 2022. Photo Ed Halverson

One of the largest private sector employers in Queens County is asking where his employees will find a place to live.

President and owner of Global Empire Corporation Moe Nashman made the comments at an event celebrating the grand opening of their call centre on White Point Road in Liverpool, Monday.

The call centre employs 120 people and Nashman says he would love to double that number.

“There’s a lot of people that want to work and for me to bring them from out of town into town, I can offer them employment and I know Sobeys and all the other grocery stores can offer them food, we just need to know where they live,” said Nashman. “If I could offer them housing, I could fill this place in five minutes.”

Global Empire already has call centres in Orlando, Florida and Boise, Idaho.

Liverpool is the company’s first call centre in Canada.

As he provided a tour of the refurbished facility, Nashman pointed to the rows of cubicles that filled half a large, open workspace.

Global Empire call centre cubicles. Photo Ed Halverson

He says the company has already ordered the furniture and equipment to fill the rest of the space.

“I would like to start hiring by the end of the year for the second half, but I do need to figure out the accommodation/housing for employees,” said Nashman.

Most of the call centre employees live within the Region of Queens but roughly 20 commute from outside the municipality with some travelling as much as an hour and a half each way.

Nashman is hoping to speak with provincial officials to learn what can be done to make housing more available.

“In five minutes, I could load an airplane full of people that want to come to Nova Scotia. Where they [are] going to live, I have no idea and that’s the biggest problem,” said Nashman.

He says an influx of a couple of hundred people to the area would benefit the region and the province as a whole.

As the tour concluded, Nashman added the company is still looking to hire another 10 people this round and is accepting applications.

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