Star Donovan, manager of special events for Mersey Seafoods, stands in front of the company’s Scallop Shack, which opened Monday at their location on Bristol Avenue. (Rick Conrad)
Residents and visitors to Liverpool can now buy Mersey Seafoods’ world-famous scallops right from the factory on Bristol Avenue.
The company opened the Scallop Shack in a tiny guardhouse in its parking lot on Monday morning.
Star Donovan is Mersey Seafoods’ manager of special events. She said Monday that response so far is good.
“It’s been busy since we put the sign out considering no one even knew we were going to do this. We just put the sign out by the road this morning, and it’s been flat out busy.”
Since the company opened its new building in 2019, many residents were hoping they would also open a retail facility.
Donovan said that until now, they couldn’t do that.
“Since Covid, we have had our doors locked. Prior to that, we used to sell five pounds of scallops to the community when they wanted them. The president of our company has chatted about being able to offer scallops again to the community so we decided we’d go with the Scallop Shack.”
The Scallop Shack will be open year-round, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will be selling two different sizes of scallops – 10 to 20 scallops per pound or 20 to 30 scallops per pound.
You can buy them in a one-kilogram or a five-pound bag. Prices range from $37.40 for a kilogram of smaller scallops to $90 for five pounds of larger scallops.
Donovan said that with tourist season underway, it’s a good time for the new venture, especially since it’s difficult to find local seafood in Liverpool.
“I think it’s great, but I kind of figured it would be. We have calls every week from people, ‘Can we buy them, can we buy them?’ I know the community are happy about this and excited, and so am I.”
Mersey Seafoods is also celebrating its 60th year in business this year. And to help celebrate, the company will be putting a float in the Privateer Days parade for the first time, Donovan said.
“The girls in production decided they were going to put a float in the parade this year and so we’re all excited about that, having the Scallop Shack open. You never know what’s to come. We’ll see.”
Scallops sold by Mersey Seafoods are sustainably harvested from the Atlantic Ocean and freshly frozen at sea.
The company also sells coldwater shrimp and redfish or ocean perch. But Donovan says they will be selling only scallops at the Scallop Shack.
Road crews were working on the Mount Pleasant Road repaving on Thursday in Brooklyn. (Rick Conrad)
It’s that time of year again. The sounds of trucks and heavy machinery along with the smells of freshly laid asphalt will be popping up around Queens County as road work season gets underway.
Public Works Minister and Queens MLA Kim Masland said Thursday that more than $20 million is being spent this summer and fall on sprucing up roads and bridges around the county.
It’s part of the $583 million the government is setting aside for road and bridge work around the province this year.
“We have been very successful in advocating for some roads. But also, we have some very poor quality roads here,” Masland said.
“We are certainly getting our fair share (of work) this year. It seems like there’s never enough money to do all of the road work. But I certainly feel as MLA and certainly as minister that we’re playing catchup on some of these roads.”
Masland said that many roads in Queens County appeared to have been neglected when the Tim Houston government took over in 2021.
“I’m really happy with the work we’ve been able to do since becoming government.”
Some of that work has already begun. The 1.6-kilometre stretch of Mount Pleasant Road in Brooklyn is being repaved. That counts for about $1 million.
“That’s needed some work for a while. That’s one of the roads I really advocated for,” Masland says.
Queens MLA Kim Masland. (Rick Conrad photo)
About $8 million will be spent on ongoing work to replace the Pleasant River Bridge in North Queens.
And the long-rumoured repaving project for the Brooklyn Shore Road is slated to begin this summer, Masland says. That’s 5.5 kilometres at a cost of about $3 million from Brooklyn Wharf Road to Eastern Shore Road.
Known locally as the “shore road”, it’s the scenic route to the popular Beach Meadows Beach.
“That will be done this summer. Very, very bad road. When you drive that, you’re literally having to go over on the opposite side of the road.
“With the Brooklyn Shore Road, it has deteriorated very badly and it’s a safety issue now, so that’s why they have brought that forward as a candidate to be repaved.”
Masland says officials from her department are always driving and inspecting roads and bridges in their areas. She says that as MLA and as minister, she also nominates projects after hearing from constituents.
“The public are the ones that really drive concerns. I actually go drive many of these roads myself. If somebody calls me with a complaint about a road, I go and drive that road myself.”
Masland said the gravel road work budget this year is about $55 million, more than double what it was in 2021. And the province has also increased the bridge rehabilitation budget to $60 million. And her department is devoting $22 million toward the rural impact mitigation fund, which handles things like pavement patching and brush cutting.
“So it shows you the costs of doing these projects. They are not cheap. So to try to manage people’s expectations is certainly very difficult. Everybody’s road that they travel on is the most important. And that’s what makes it very difficult. … If I could pave everyone’s road, I would certainly pave everyone’s road because i understand that the road you travel on is the one that’s important to you.
“But there’s just not enough money to pave every road.”
She said she’s also happy to see the ongoing Highway 103 twinning project, which now reaches from Halifax to Hubbards.
“Many people from Queens certainly travel the 103 to Halifax for medical appointments, school. It just blows my mind the amount of close collisions that almost happen every day. Twinning does save lives. It is costly but you can’t put a price on a life. “
Masland says that although maintaining roads and bridges is expensive, she’s proud of the work her department is doing.
“I’m just really glad where we are now. The team’s doing great work. Our maintenance supervisor is out there talking to people, thinking outside the box on how to resolve issues and to try to get work elevated, and Queens County should be very proud of that.”
List of road and bridge projects in Queens County this summer and fall:
Brooklyn Shore Road, from Brooklyn Wharf Road to Eastern Shore Road
Mount Pleasant Road, from Trunk 3 to Brooklyn Shore Road
Reinstating two segments of retaining wall along Shore Road
Old Port Mouton Road: from Highway 103 Exit 20A to end of service
Old Westfield Road: from Trunk 8 easterly
Carters Beach Road and parking lot upgrades
East Port L’Hebert road repaving
Albany New Road, rebuilding gravel road
Trunk 3: from Broad River Road easterly to White Point Road
Shelley Walker is Queens County’s senior safety co-ordinator. (Rick Conrad)
Almost 200 people turned out on Thursday at the Best Western Plus in Liverpool for the 2024 Senior Safety Spring Expo and Fair.
It featured almost 40 exhibitors with information about things such as housing, health care and senior safety as well as products and services available for older adults.
QCCR spoke to organizer Shelley Walker, the senior safety co-ordinator for Queens, and to one of the exhibitors, Janet Carver, the manager of community programs in palliative care for western Nova Scotia.
The Privateer Farmers and Artisans Market in Liverpool is participating in the $10 farmers markets voucher program announced Tuesday by the Nova Scotia government. (Privateer Farmers and Artisans Market Facebook page)
The Nova Scotia government will be helping local farmers markets attract new customers this summer.
The province announced Tuesday that it will be giving students from grades Primary to 12 a voucher that they can spend at farmers markets this summer.
The $10 coupon can be redeemed toward any locally grown, harvested or crafted product at participating farmers markets around the province.
“Farmers’ markets are community hubs that can provide wonderful learning opportunities for students,” Susan Corkum-Greek, minister of economic development, said in a release.
“These markets showcase the diversity of products produced here and emphasize the benefits of buying and supporting local, including reductions in greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation and improved food security.”
It’s a partnership between the government’s Nova Scotia Loyal program and Farmers Markets of Nova Scotia. It’s aimed at broadening markets’ customer base.
Nova Scotia has the most farmers markets per capita in Canada.
The $10 voucher will be distributed this month in public schools.
Justin Cantafio, executive director of Farmers Markets of Nova Scotia, says the initiative will help educate younger consumers on the importance of food sovereignty and the local economy.
“As we know, that dollar spent locally recirculates locally,” he said in an interview.
“And every single dollar renewed through this program is going directly to small-scale owner-operated producers throughout Nova Scotia. And we also know that it’s good for helping to rebuild food soevereignty in a time when less than 15 per cent of the food that Nova Scotians consume is from Nova Scotia. It’s very exciting to work towards rebuilding that. It’s also an opportunity to help build the next generation of buy-local consumers.”
During a 2023 pilot project, about 13,000 vouchers were distributed in four school districts. Cantafio said that about 30 per cent of the vouchers in that pilot were redeemed, which he said was quite high for a program like this. He said that pilot was launched later in the year, with limited promotion.
This year, about 131,000 students across the province will receive vouchers under the program. Cantafio points out that’s potentially a $1.3-million injection into local economies.
“If you haven’t been to a farmers market yet, or you haven’t been for a long while, it’s an incredible excuse to get out there and just celebrate what it means to live in the province that has the most farmers markets per capita in the country. We have an embarrassment of riches here and incredible producers. There are over 1,500 vendors that sell at our markets.
“We’re looking forward to a focus on local and getting connected, especially at a time when it’s never been more important to support our local producers.”
The government says Nova Scotia Loyal is meant to support local products and businesses. Officials say they will release more information on the program this summer.
There are two regular farmers markets in Queens County, in Liverpool and Caledonia. Only the Privateer Farmers and Artisans Market in Liverpool is affiliated with Farmers Markets of Nova Scotia.
Mike Murphy of Mersey Seafoods announces the company’s sponsorship of the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials, beginning Dec. 30 at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
As one of the people bringing the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials to Liverpool in December, you’d expect Greg Thorbourne to love the sport.
“I used to hate mixed doubles,” he told a crowd on Monday at the Liverpool Curling Club.
“I thought, ‘Who the hell would ever play that game?’”
But after working at the last two national mixed doubles curling events, the longtime booster of curling in Queens County was quickly converted.
“Watching the calibre of curling, the shots made, the number of rocks in play, I don’t think there’s a better game in this world than mixed doubles.”
Thorbourne, chairman of the Liverpool Championship Host Society, was speaking at an event at the curling club Monday to kick off the volunteer recruitment effort for the mixed doubles curling trials planned for Dec. 30 to Jan. 4 at Queens Place Emera Centre.
The host society has been working on securing the trials since last June.
It’s the first of three major qualifying events in Nova Scotia for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Wolfville is hosting the full-team Canadian pre-trials in October 2025, and Halifax will host the Canadian curling trials in November 2025.
Sixteen teams will compete in Liverpool for the chance to represent Canada in mixed doubles curling in Italy.
Queens MLA Kim Masland speaks at an event at the Liverpool Curling Club on Monday to kick off volunteer recruitment for the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials in December in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
About 50 people turned out for the event in Liverpool on Monday, including Queens MLA and Public Works Minister Kim Masland, Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman and Liverpool native Jill Brothers, who skipped Canada to a silver medal at the 2004 world junior championships.
Thorbourne said he’d like to have about 150 volunteers for the event. Liverpool hosted the 2021 pre-trial curling trials, where the volunteer numbers were lower because of Covid.
“Normally, we have between 135 and 150. With Covid the last time, we were down around 85 so this time we’re looking at getting back up so that people don’t have to spend as many hours on site as they did the last time.”
He said they’re already getting calls from across Canada from people who want to volunteer.
“Last week, I got two calls from B.C., three from Ontario, a couple from up North, a few from Alberta, the Prairies. This is the first of three Olympic trial events in Nova Scotia. So a lot of these people will come here and get trained, work here and move forward.”
Mike Murphy, chief financial and chief operating officer of Mersey Seafoods, also announced the Liverpool company’s sponsorship of the $255,000 event.
“We want to be part of the community and we want to give back to the community when we can,” he said in an interview. “And we think events like this are really good to showcase Liverpool, the South Shore, Queens County. It puts us on the world stage. People show up from all over Nova Scotia, Canada, all over the world and we think it’s great to showcase our community.”
The value of the sponsorship was not disclosed, but Thorbourne said later that it is “substantial”. The Region of Queens has also committed $19,140 to the event. Thorbourne said they are working on other sponsorships too.
Many people at Monday’s kickoff were signing up to volunteer. Valerie Lantz of Liverpool was one of them.
This will be her third curling event in Liverpool. She volunteered at the 2021 pre-trials and the 2019 World Junior Curling Championships.
“I was a curler, … so that’s what brings me to this. Now that I’m retired i can spend the time doing this sort of thing and i thoroughly enjoy it.”
She said the event will bring much-needed business to the community at a slow time of year.
“This will put people in rooms in hotels and in restaurants. And mixed curling, it’s such a high-energy fast sport, I think it will create new patrons to the event.”
Lantz said that volunteering at the curling trials in December will be worth your time.
“You’ll meet people not only from Liverpool volunteering but people from probably around the province. It’s just so much fun. And you get to see some great curling.”
The public will soon have a chance to give their feedback on the design of the temporary library location in Liverpool.
Region of Queens councillors voted in February to move the Thomas H. Raddall 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 at the end of December.
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 for the library.
Councillors set aside $1,050,000 for renovations to the 9,200 square-foot space, though staff said it could cost as much as $1.26 million.
Elise Johnston, accessibility and inclusion co-ordinator, told councillors this week that she proposes full public input on the design for the temporary space.
‘We’re not talking about all the options. We’re not talking about the location, we’re talking about balancing the programmatic needs and the sizes of the room.
“Does the public want to see two bigger program rooms together that can join as one making sure one has a kitchen, or do we want to see more of a teen space or more of a theatre space?”
Johnston is recommending at least one morning and one evening in-person “working design” session, where options can be discussed and manipulated in real time using 3D modelling. She also suggested livestreaming the sessions on Facebook.
The meetings would be held at the current library’s location at 145 Old Bridge St., in Liverpool, so that people can get a sense of the space at the new place, Johnston said.
“We’re reusing a lot of the shelving and I think that’s a good way for people to visualize,” Johnston said.
Staff would continue to gather feedback for two weeks, she said, with a final layout being confirmed by mid-July.
Mayor Darlene Norman emphasized that everybody is welcome to attend the sessions and give their input.
District 6 Coun. David Brown said he liked the approach that Johnston proposed.
“I think having it interactive in the library space, it gives people a better chance of scale so they know what they’re getting.”
Councillors will vote on the motion at their June 11 meeting. The region would schedule the sessions as soon as they’re approved by council, promoting them with printed flyers and on social media, by email and announcements on QCCR.
The group bringing the Canadian mixed doubles curling trials to Liverpool is getting a little over $19,000 in funding from the Region of Queens.
Councillors unanimously approved the $19,140 in funding this week for the Liverpool Championship Host Society. District 2 Coun. Ralph Gidney declared a conflict of interest because he is a director of the society. He abstained from voting.
The funding comes from the municipality’s community investment fund. There was about $22,418 left over in the fund before councillors granted the society’s request.
The host society originally asked for $25,000. Councillors agreed to the lower amount because staff said the society’s cash assets and budget surplus were above the threshold that would have allowed for full funding.
Total projected expenses for the event are just over $255,200.
Mayor Darlene Norman reminded councillors that with this funding, the $175,000 community investment fund is essentially depleted for this year, with about $3,000 remaining. But it does have about a $200,000 accumulated surplus.
The Canadian mixed doubles curling trials are one of three major qualifying events in Nova Scotia for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Wolfville is hosting the Canadian pre-trials in October 2025, Halifax will host the Canadian curling trials in November 2025, and Liverpool will host the mixed doubles curling trials at Queens Place Emera Centre this Dec. 30 to Jan. 4.
Nova Scotia’s Public Works Minister and Queens MLA Kim Masland. (Rick Conrad photo)
Like many longtime Queens County residents, MLA Kim Masland lived through the closure of the Bowater mill in Liverpool in 2012.
“When we lost Bowater, it was a huge blow, to not only Liverpool but to Queens County and to the western end of the province,” Masland said Wednesday.
The Nova Scotia government announced last Thursday that Paper Excellence Canada, the company that operated the former Northern Pulp mill in Pictou County, is looking at the possibility of opening a new mill in Queens County.
The company plans to conduct a feasibility study that could take nine months. It’s part of an agreement between the province and Paper Excellence to settle the company’s $450-million lawsuit it filed after the mill shut down in 2020.
Premier Tim Houston and Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton said last week that a new mill would fulfill a need identified in a 2018 report on forestry practices by Prof. William Lahey. It found that demand for forestry products in the western end of the province was seriously affected by the closure of Bowater and Northern Pulp.
Houston said that a new mill would represent a $1.4-billion investment.
Masland, who is also Nova Scotia’s public works minister, has heard from a lot of constituents about the possibility of Liverpool becoming a mill town once again.
“When we look at the reputation of Northern Pulp in Pictou, it wasn’t great,” she says.
“Environmental standards have certainly changed, environmental reporting has certainly changed. I am a rural country girl who grew up and was supported through our industries aof forestry, farming and fishing. I believe in all of them. I believe that in our province and in Queens County we can still continue that. But everything that we do does need to be done with the highest, and I mean the highest, of standards, environmentally. And that will be government’s job to make sure that if this does go ahead that all of those standards are being met.”
Masland told QCCR on Wednesday that opinions seem to be evenly split between concern about the environment and the potential for employment that a new kraft pulp mill would bring to Queens County.
“I do believe that we as a forestry sector do have the ability to supply a mill. This is tremendous economic benefit to our community, but I also understand that economic benefit and the health of a community, one can’t outweigh the other.”
She said that while people are concerned about the smell and about Northern Pulp’s environmental record, it’s also clear that residents, woodlot owners and the forestry sector in general would benefit greatly from a mill.
“Let’s think about this. In Liverpool right now, Queens County has one of the highest poverty levels in Nova Scotia. We have no industry. We have a small industry in a sawmill. We have no industry, we have tourism, fabulous, we have two wonderful resorts that offer great employment, but we really do not have any industry for people in our community. People are struggling and people deserve to have an opportunity that others have had.”
Masland said that she won’t commit to supporting a Northern Pulp mill in Queens County until she sees the results of the feasibility study.
“I would want to see the feasibility study before I would support anything. I’m not going to say I’m going to support something unless I have all the information. I’ve never done that.”
Ashley Christian is president of the South Queens Chamber of Commerce. (Rick Conrad)
The Nova Scotia government announced this week that as part of a settlement agreement, Northern Pulp will study the feasibility of opening a paper mill in the Liverpool area.
We asked some people at the South Queens Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting on Thursday for their reaction.
Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman says new public housing announced for Liverpool is ‘desperately needed’. (Rick Conrad / File)
Liverpool is getting new public housing in the next 12 months, the Nova Scotia government announced Wednesday.
An eightplex is planned for land next to 183 and 185 Old Port Mouton Rd. The building will be modular housing, divided into eight separate residences.
John Lohr, Nova Scotia’s minister of municipal affairs and housing, said in a news release Wednesday that it’s part of 26 new modular housing units being built in the next 12 months in Shelburne, Digby, Wedgeport and Liverpool.
Lohr said it will provide affordable housing for up to 82 people. He said the province is going with modular housing to get the units built as quickly as possible.
The new housing is a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with 14 ground-floor units that will be barrier-free.
The units will be affordable, with rents tied to income.
Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman said in an interview Wednesday that she’s happy to see the province is building more public housing in Liverpool.
“I think it’s excellent. It is desperately needed throughout the entire province, so, pleased to see that the province is now looking at (the) western (end of the province) and that we will be getting one eightplex.”
Norman said provincial officials told her on Tuesday that 77 people are currently waiting for public housing in the Liverpool area.
“It will move quickly and (be) a much needed relief,” she said. “I know people have been impatient as the government has been announcing units in other areas, bu they’ve been going zone by zone and now we’re in the western zone.
“So they’re basically already designed. They’re very nice. They’re four units on the bottom, and the four bottom units will be totally accessible and there are four units on the top.”
The province is investing $11.8 million to build the 26 units in the four communities. That’s in addition to the 247 units previously announced, bringing the total to 273.
The Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency will issue a tender for a design and construction team to deliver the homes.
The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed at various times over this week. (Communications Nova Scotia)
Here is when the emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed over the next week:
from 1:30 p.m. Wed., May 22, to Thurs., May 23 at 8 a.m.
from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fri., May 24
from 5 a.m. Sat., May 25 to Sun., May 26 at 8 a.m.
from 1:30 p.m. Tues., May 28 to Wed., May 29 at 8 a.m.
Nova Scotia Health advises people with urgent medical needs to call 911. Patients of Queens Family Health can access the same-day clinic from Monday to Friday by calling 902-354-3322. Clinic hours are based on staff availability.
The ER at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open.
District 3 Coun. Maddie Charlton asked for a way on Tuesday to boost funding for the South Shore Transition House Association. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)
Thirty-four community groups in Queens County will be getting almost $150,000 in funding from the municipality, but one councillor worried on Tuesday that one organization wasn’t getting enough.
The Region of Queens approves funding requests each year from non-profit groups for operational, capital or event funding through its community investment fund.
Groups have to meet various criteria to be approved for funding. Eighteen groups applied for funding of more than $1,000. Another 16 applied for help under $1,000. Council must approve all requests over $1,000. Staff alone can assess and approve those requests under $1,000.
The South Shore Transition House Association asked for $5,000 so that the Bridgewater-based Harbour House can help clients in Queens County from a more secure location in Liverpool.
Stephanie Sereda, the region’s community development co-ordinator, explained the association’s request to councillors.
“They currently have been in the Liverpool area serving clients for two years from a location that is just not secure. They have requested that they can find a safe and secure space, this would cover rent, transportation to and from for their clients.
“This would be for Queens County residents who are experiencing domestic violence to go and receive counselling and support and they’re brought in from all corners of Queens to the Liverpool area to this particular location. … But the space is very public and it’s a very private matter. They’re just hoping to continue to support in a better location.”
But because the organization’s cash assets made up more than half of their operating budget, they were eligible for only $1,250 under the community investment fund. The amount that can be awarded to an organization is reduced if its bank balance or assets are above a certain threshold.
Some other organizations were also not awarded all the funding they requested.
District 3 Coun. Maddie Charlton asked if there was any way to make an exception to the policy to ensure the transition house association got its full funding request.
“I want to see this request considered to be supported in the full amount because I think it’s important that women in Queens County have access to a resource like this in Queens County and they don’t have to go elsewhere.”
Charlton wanted to see the motion amended.
Other councillors, however, said that while they support more funding for the organization, they couldn’t support going against the policy.
District 6 Coun. David Brown said he would support a standalone request, but he wouldn’t support changing the policy in this case.
“This is a very worthwhile cause but we have to have some consistency in how we deal with things. We can’t decide that one area or group is not as deserving as another area or group. I think that’s a slippery slope we go down.
“But if we decide we want to give more to this organization, it’s a very good organization, we have that option at a later time and in my mind, that’s the best way to go today.”
Mayor Darlene Norman said that she couldn’t amend the motion, because it would be a substantive change and it would be out of order. Norman suggested that Charlton make a motion at a future meeting that council fund the remaining $3,750 requested.
“This council does highly support South Shore Transition House and the outreach they provide for the women in Queens but this council wishes to keep in check with the policy that we’ve developed.”
In the end, councillors voted to support the recommendation to give the South Shore Transition House Association $1,250.
Councillors approved all funding requests recommended by staff, for a total of $147,858.64.
Here are the organizations awarded more than $1,000 in funding through the Region of Queens community investment fund.
Operating investment funds (for eligible operating expenses up to the amount stated)
CJQC Radio Society (QCCR) – $5,000
Queens County Museum – $10,000
South Queens Chamber of Commerce – $5,000
Queens County Fair Association – $10,000
North Queens Heritage Society – $1,125
South Shore Transition House Association – $1,250
Mersey Point Community Association – $10,000
The Friends of Carroll Baker Society – $4,847.50
Coastal Queens Place – $5,000
Queens County Blades – $5,000
Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute – $5,900
Friends of Hank Snow Society – $10,000
North Queens Board of Trade – $10,000
Capital investment funds
Seaside Recreation and Community Centre Association – $33,723.64
Min Smale is the chairwoman of the Privateer Days organizing committee. This year’s event is scheduled for June 28 and 29 in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
The organizers of this year’s Privateer Days festival in Liverpool are promising a bigger and better celebration even as they cope with less funding and fewer volunteers.
Entering its 39th year, Privateer Days has become the biggest event of the year in Liverpool, drawing thousands to the downtown.
Min Smale, who chairs the Privateer Days committee, says that because of the funding challenges, organizers decided this year to turn the traditionally three-day event into a two-day affair on June 28 and 29.
“I think this year is actually going to be even better than last year and we’re working with a third of the money,” she said in an interview.
“We’d rather condense the days down and go big than spread it over three and not be able to do as much, so it’s go big or go home. … Just trying to make it still historical, but family oriented and community supported.”
Privateer Days is a mix of the modern and historical, as it marks Liverpool’s history of privateering dating back to 1775. Privateers were private citizens sanctioned by the Crown to attack enemy ships and confiscate their property. The spoils were shared between the conquering crews and the Crown. Privateers were not pirates, and they were highly respected in the community.
Privateer Days features a parade through town, entertainment, craft vendors and food trucks on the waterfront, an historic encampment re-enactment in Fort Point Lighthouse Park, and a traditional colonial wedding.
Privateer Days features historical re-enactments, live entertainment, carnival rides and much more. (Chris LaRocque Photography via Privateer Days)
This year will also have carnival rides for kids and carnival games, inflatable entertainment from Yarmouth Big Bounce Rentals and a street dance on Friday night on Henry Hensey Drive near the waterfront, sponsored by Mersey Seafoods.
This is Smale’s third year on the organizing committee. She says it’s been a struggle since Covid to find people to help with the event.
And board turnover has also affected their ability to look for funding. But she says the new board members are excited for this year’s event and committed to working on Privateer Days into the future.
“Over these last years, the turnout has increased. We’re looking forward to having the encampment back and doing the colonial wedding again and just trying to see with fresh faces, fresh minds, fresh ideas what new things we can bring to the table to make this year different and stand apart.”
She says that Privateer Days isn’t alone in struggling to find volunteers.
“In talking with other not-for-profit and charitable organization in south Queens, it’s not just Privateer Days that’s having issues with finding volunteers. It’s everybody. You kind of find the same people showing up in multiple boards. And we’re all just trying to do what we can.”
Smale said they’re also trying to engage more local businesses and encourage the thousands who attend Privateer Days to visit more businesses on Liverpool’s Main Street.
“Making sure that we’re adequately supporting those businesses and making sure that once the traffic in the park has died down for the day that we’re diverting them into the community so that we’re working hand in hand in supporting Liverpool thrive.”
The organizing committee is teaming up with Rafflebox and with local businesses for various fundraisers leading up to Privateer Days. Hell Bay Brewing is holding one on Saturday night featuring local musicians. They’ll be holding a 50/50 draw and donating $1 from each beer toward Privateer Days.
Smale says she’s learned a lot over the past three years about how important Privateer Days is to the community.
“In terms of South Shore events, people look forward to the Big Ex, people look forward to Privateer Days. It’s the end of the summer, it’s the end of the school year, it’s that kind of pivotal point of the start of summer in Liverpool.”
Debris from the fish farm near Coffin Island on Beach Meadows Beach in 2021. (Rick Conrad photo)
It’s been a little over a month since Nova Scotia’s aquaculture review board indefinitely adjourned hearings into a fish farm application in Liverpool Bay.
And there’s still no indication if the hearings will ever begin.
Jamie Simpson with Juniper Law represents one of the intervenors in the hearing, a group of lobster fishermen. He said Thursday he hasn’t heard a word.
“The parties haven’t been informed of any updates, any new dates, or any attempts to schedule anything,” Simpson said in an interview.
“It’s just kind of radio silence at the moment. And I guess we’re just kind of sitting tight waiting to see what might happen.”
Kelly Cove Salmon, owned by Cooke Aquaculture, applied in 2019 to expand its salmon farming operation off Coffin Island near Liverpool, and to add two new farms off Brooklyn and Mersey Point. If successful, that would increase Cooke’s operation to 60 pens from 14, and include trout as well as salmon. It could mean up to 1.8 million farmed salmon in the bay, compared to about 400,000 now.
More than 150 residents, businesses and community groups filed written submissions with the board. Five groups were granted intervenor status at the hearings: Protect Liverpool Bay, the Region of Queens, the Brooklyn Marina, 22 Lobster Fishermen of Liverpool Bay, and Kwilmu’kw Maw-Klusuaqn, which is representing the Acadia First Nation.
The hearings had been scheduled to begin in Liverpool on March 4. At a business luncheon in Liverpool on Feb. 7, Premier Tim Houston said he was personally opposed to the expansion, but that he respects the independence of the review board.
On Feb. 20, groups involved in the hearing got a “high priority” email from the board, telling them those hearings were cancelled. Lawyers were told that April hearing dates were still a go.
Then on March 6, the board posted a notice on its website that “all sessions of the hearing have been adjourned until further notice.”
The board did not give a reason. And it’s still just as tight-lipped today as it was then.
In an email on Thursday, board clerk Stacy Bruce repeated what he told QCCR in March, that there is no new information about the hearing. And he said when new information is available, it will be posted to the website.
Bruce also turned down a request from QCCR to interview board chairman Tim Cranston. He said board members are not available for public comment on their work.
The delays occurred when lawyers involved in the hearing were told in mid-February that then-chairwoman Jean McKenna was no longer on the board.
They were surprised because McKenna had been involved in preparing for the hearings, even though her one-year term was set to expire anyway on Feb. 15. That is confirmed in a ministerial order signed by then-Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Steve Craig on Feb. 17, 2023.
Part of the ministerial order from Feb. 17, 2023, reappointing Jean McKenna as chairwoman of the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board for one year.
A spokesman for Cooke Aquaculture declined comment Thursday on the delays.
And Kent Smith, Nova Scotia’s fisheries and aquaculture minister, also would not comment Thursday. A spokeswoman said it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment while the matter is still before the board.
Lawyer Jamie Simpson said that regulatory boards generally try to address issues in a timely manner.
“I would presume that the most affected is Cooke, Kelly Cove Salmon,” Simpson said. “They are the ones that brought the application forward and they are the ones that are interested in getting this moving. In terms of the lobster fishers of Liverpool Bay, they would rather not see the aquaculture site go in of course because of the potential impacts on lobster stocks and impact to fishing in that area.”
Simpson said that his clients will wait and see what happens with the hearings. He said it would be nice to have the issue resolved, but that it’s up to the board to make that happen.
Velta Vikmanis’s art exhibit, Chaos to Calm, is on now at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
As many others did during the pandemic, Velta Vikmanis and her husband were looking to move from the crush of the city to the calm of the country.
“With the pandemic I think everybody kind of did an inventory and reprioritizing of life,” the Liverpool resident says. “And so we were very fortunate that we came to Nova Scotia. Neither one of us had ever been here or visited. We drove around for two and a half months and came across the South Shore and fell in love with it.”
That examination of where you’ve been and where you end up is a central theme of Vikmanis’s art exhibit, now on at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool.
Chaos to Calm has its official opening with a reception on Friday at 6:30 p.m. It runs for the month of May.
“Coming from Ontario, from a large metropolitan city of 4.2 million people and constant traffic and people on top of each other to this slower, calmer pace. … The show itself is an opportunity for me to do a kind of retrospective.”
Vikmanis and her husband Peter arrived in Liverpool in November 2021, part of the influx of people who moved to Queens County in the midst and the aftermath of the pandemic.
Before that, they lived in Toronto for 16 years, where Vikmanis worked full time. She pursued her bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture and installation at OCAD University as a part-time student.
“The show is really a reflection of things I did in the past, things that I did in school and an opportunity for me to get back into a daily practice and reflection of my art,” she says.
“I’ve never been what I consider an artist who makes work for a living. I’ve always done it for myself and if it happens to inspire or spark joy in someone else and they appreciate it and want to purchase it, great. That just buys me more art supplies.”
While Liverpool has served as a respite from the bustle of a bigger city, it also allowed her to rediscover her passion for art. After going to school, working full time and living through a pandemic, Vikmanis says she was burnt out after years of what she calls “forced creativity”.
“It was signing up to do this show that actually forced me to do an assessment, an inventory, catalogue, and actually create new works. Because prior to that, I went through a period of no creativity and just putting it on the shelf.”
When artist Velta Vikmanis moved to Liverpool, she was inspired by Queens County’s beaches. (Rick Conrad)
Vikmanis’s show features an eclectic mix of styles, media and topics. From photography in the Azores or on the beaches of Queens County to painting to sculpture, she says it represents 20 years of work.
The centrepiece of the show is Vestige Echo, her thesis project at OCAD. It is a paper-based sculpture that consists of literal pieces and mementoes of Vikmanis’s life, quilted together and hung in the window. A metronome ticks on the windowsill behind it.
Her parents had been packing up her childhood home in Minneapolis. They started to send her boxes of her old report cards and other keepsakes they collected over the years.
At the beginning of the pandemic, her father died. And that spurred Vikmanis to go through all of the memorabilia from her parents and from her own collection.
“It was this whole very strange experience of having to mourn and grieve from afar. So that’s when I started gathering and looking through all the things I had collected.”
She tore everything into smaller pieces, ordered them into boxes by the weight of the paper and stitched them together according to how she picked them up out of each box.
It took her 24 weeks to complete the original eight-by-10-foot installation piece. What’s on exhibit at the Astor is a much smaller, but no less compelling, version.
“It was liberating. Certain things, you put them away and you don’t really ever really pull them back out, do you? So the fact that I was deliberate in looking at every single item, reminiscing about it, but the fact that I could have that moment and that time with that person, with that event, with that lived experience but then pass it along. For the Vestige Echo, hopefully (people) find something in it that triggers something in them.”
“It’s fun to experience it with somebody who has no idea who I am and who these people are and someone who’s present to have that shared memory. It triggers something really fun.”
Vikmanis says she loves finding beauty in the mundane.
“At the end of the day, I’m still drawn to the ordinary. I”m not somebody who’s very gifted in realism. I can’t paint in a realistic manner. I’ve never been interested in that.”
Vikmanis jokes that since she moved to Liverpool, she’s worked almost everywhere. She now works at Main and Mersey on Main Street, and she volunteers with QCCR on its board of directors. She is also the host of two shows on the station.
She says she’s looking forward to the opening reception on Friday, to hearing what people think of her work and to meeting other artists from Queens County.
“This is my last stop. I’m not going anywhere. Liverpool is my home now. I love all the people here and getting to know everybody. It’s a great opportunity to meet people and engage with the artist community and to meet folks that I haven’t come across yet. For me, it was that, OK I’ve transitioned, I’ve moved, I’m settled in, I’m truly calm now, so now I need to get back into that practice, and this was that kickstart to get back into that practice of thinking about,, OK what am I going to create next?”
The front entrance of the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, home of the Astor Theatre, will be closed for the next two weeks. (Rick Conrad)
The front entrance of the Town Hall Arts and Cultural Centre, home of the Astor Theatre, on Main Street in Liverpool will be closed for the next two weeks.
The Region of Queens is doing some work on the front facade of the building.
The accessible entrance at the rear of the building will be open.
Emergency crews clean up the scene of a two-vehicle collision near Tim Hortons in Liverpool on Friday morning. (Rick Conrad)
Emergency crews responded to two separate collisions in Liverpool on Friday.
The first occurred near the Tim Hortons shortly after 10 a.m. A Subaru Forrester and Hyundai Elantra collided as one was exiting onto Bristol Avenue and the other car was turning at the intersection.
An RCMP spokesman said nobody was injured, but both cars were towed.
The second one happened at about 11:45 a.m. at Henry Hensey Drive and Bristol Avenue. RCMP, EHS and Liverpool fire crews were on scene. Three vehicles were involved in that incident. Nobody was injured, RCMP said.
A spokeswoman said it appeared one car ran into another car, which then bumped another vehicle.
It snarled traffic for about an hour.
Traffic was snarled around lunch time on Friday on Bristol Avenue after three cars were involved in a collision at Henry Hensey Drive. (Rick Conrad)
John Simmonds, chairman of the Astor Theatre Society, addresses a members’ meeting on Thursday at the Liverpool theatre. (Rick Conrad)
The board of the Astor Theatre Society on Thursday clarified who can vote and who can be nominated to its board at its upcoming general meeting.
Some members who signed up in the past two months were concerned that the Astor would not allow them to vote.
About 50 people turned out for the members meeting on Thursday evening at the theatre. Board chairman John Simmonds explained that all members in good standing will be able to vote at its upcoming annual general meeting.
“There’s been controversy over conflicting bylaws and conflicting interpretations and we’ve tried to remain as quiet as we could on those issues. But it was necessary to do a lot of research to make sure we were on good ground in what we were proposing. Every member who is in good standing who is over 18 years of age and a resident of Nova Scotia can vote at the AGM.”
The meeting was held in response to a request from the ad hoc group Queens County Community Theatre Advocates. That group was formed after the resignation of associate artistic director Ashley-Rose Goodwin in March.
The group said it was concerned about recent decisions made by executive director Jerri Southcott and the Astor Board. The group said that as Astor members they wanted to hold the board accountable.
In an April 25 update to the group’s members, one of the founding members of the group Kevin Colwell wrote that the Astor appeared to be taking a “restrictive” approach to voting at the upcoming AGM. He said that in discussions with the Astor, it appeared they were planning to prevent anyone who became a member after Dec. 31, 2023 from voting.
He called on group members to attend the May 2 members meeting and the May 9 AGM.
About 50 people were at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool on Thursday evening for a meeting on voting at the upcoming annual general meeting. (Rick Conrad)
The issue over voting arose because of confusion about which set of bylaws was valid.
Simmonds said Thursday that until the board did a “deep dive” into their archives, even they were unsure of the proper voting procedures. So they hired Marjorie Hickey, a lawyer with McInnes Cooper in Halifax, to look into it and give an opinion.
“It outlines in great detail exactly what all the steps were, how the three sets of bylaws compare and contrast, where we stand legally now. And she has confirmed through case law and others that we are in good position now using the 2017 bylaws.”
As a result of that legal advice, the Astor has also changed the date of the May 9 AGM to June 24.
According to its most recent bylaws, the Astor will appoint people to replace three directors who resigned in the past couple of months.
There will be four open spots on the board of directors at the June AGM. Any member can be nominated to sit on the board.
“So hopefully this will set the record straight on where we stand and where we propose going with all of this,” Simmonds said. “It will be a true democratic process at the AGM in terms of nominations. We look forward to having many of you putting your name forward.”
Some members of the Queens County Community Theatre Advocates were at the meeting. But they didn’t want to comment until they could read the lawyer’s report to the Astor.
Simmonds said after the meeting that he believes it addressed many concerns from community members. He said the board believes it’s on solid legal ground.
“We’re very comfortable that we’re in good shape now with our current bylaws. And that allows us to move forward and alleviates a lot of the issues and controversy brought to us by the community,” he said in an interview.
“It clarified things that we didn’t know ourselves. So it was new to us. So once we digested it all ourselves and came up with a final conclusion verified by the lawyer, … all the rest of what went on in the past is not really relevant now.”
Simmonds said the Astor will announce the new appointed members of the board in the next week. He said it will also send notice about the June 24 annual general meeting to all members and advertise it in local newspapers and online.
Spending is up about $4 million from last year, to $29,848,303. The region’s water utility reported a $442,122 deficit.
Mayor Darlene Norman said in an interview that it was important to councillors not to increase the tax rate.
“We live in a great county and the budget reflects the fact that we are moving ahead,” she said.
“Many things in the budget remain the same. We’ve increased funding for fire departments for their truck purchases. The cost of those trucks is astronomical and we know how as volunteers how hard they work.
“It’s a good budget, it recognizes some requests from all parts of our county.”
It also raised the household income threshold for the low-income tax exemption by $5,000. Property owners with a total income of $35,000 or less can qualify for up to $400 off their tax bill. The tiered structure gives the highest break for the lowest income.
“We understand that people financially struggle,” Norman said, “which is why … we increased the amount of money that people can make in order to claim a reduction on their taxes, … which is very generous, I believe, for a municipality of our size.”
The region reported a $644,000 surplus from last year, largely from rising property assessments, higher deed transfer tax revenue and unintended savings from unfilled staff positions.
The region’s capital plan is packed.
CAO Cody Joudry said in an interview that it addresses a lot of concerns around the municipality.
“In terms of capital budget, it’s expansion of water, wastewater, there’s a lot of safety improvements and upgrades and a lot of investment in infrastructure and community assets, so I think that’s pretty significant.”
A little more than $7.8 million of the $21.5-million capital budget for 24/25 is provincial funding. Almost $2.5 million is from federal sources. About $3.8 million is from long-term borrowing, while $3.53 million is from a combination of municipal reserves and municipal surplus.
In addition to the new pool and the water and sewer extension, some other capital projects include:
more work at Beach Meadows Beach to expand the parking lot, install sheltered picnic areas and improve environmental protections;
much-needed repairs and upgrades at the Old Burial Ground in Liverpool;
“There are things on there that are very important,” Norman said. “Of course, they will not all get done (this year), but by putting them on here, it shows that these are priorities and start them, do the best that you can do with them.”
Nova Scotia Public Works Minister and Queens MLA Kim Masland with Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman at a funding announcement at the region’s offices on April 15. (Rick Conrad)
Queens MLA Kim Masland will be at Queens Place Emera Centre on Friday at 1 p.m. to announce money for community recreation infrastructure.
Masland, who is also Nova Scotia’s public works minister, is making the announcement on behalf of Allan MacMaster, the minister of communities, culture, tourism and heritage.
No other details were provided in a news release on Thursday afternoon. Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman will also be at the event.
This will be the second significant funding announcement for Queens County in the past two weeks.
Last Monday, Masland announced $10.7 million in funding for water and sewer upgrades for the region. The municipality is pitching in $10.8 million. The $21.5-million project will extend water and wastewater services to the Mount Pleasant area of Liverpool. That money will also help improve existing water and sewer services to more than 1,200 homes and businesses in the area, and help enhance the amount of water available for firefighting efforts.
That project paved the way for two new private housing developments on more than 60 acres of land. About 325 new housing units will be built for up to 1,200 people.
Region of Queens councillors plan to ask RCMP to step up enforcement efforts at the three-way stop at Main and Market streets in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
Queens County councillors grappled with traffic safety in downtown Liverpool at their meeting on Tuesday evening.
The intersection at Main and Market streets has been the scene of some close calls between motorists and pedestrians. And in January, a 79-year-old woman was hit in the crosswalk and taken to hospital in Bridgewater. A driver was charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk.
The incident reignited concern in the community about that intersection and others in town. Councillors heard from their constituents that they needed to address safety in that area.
Some residents want the municipality to install pedestrian-controlled crosswalk lights.
At their Jan. 23 meeting, councillors asked staff to review previous reports and studies about that intersection and come back with recommendations. They also asked staff to investigate adding fluorescent orange flags at that intersection for pedestrians to use while they cross.
On Tuesday evening, some councillors were in favour of trying the flags, while others were opposed. It would cost $1,050 to put the flags at each of the three corners of the intersection. The idea has been used in the Halifax region at many crosswalks, but not at those controlled by stop signs.
Adam Grant, the region’s director of engineering and public works, said he spoke with the community group in Halifax behind those flags.
The citizens’ group Crosswalk Safety Society of Nova Scotia began putting the orange flags at intersections in 2008 after a teenager was killed in a Dartmouth crosswalk. According to the group’s website, it got approval from the province in 2011 to allow crosswalk flags on provincial roads. They are now found in Hubbards, Hantsport, Aylesford, Berwick, New Ross, Bridgewater, Chester and Windsor.
Grant said the reception to them in the Halifax region is mixed. And he told councillors there is no evidence that installing the flags at Main and Market would improve pedestrian safety.
“I don’t feel comfortable consenting to the installation, quite frankly, as the traffic authority.
“Any time we introduce anything to a situation which doesn’t have a clear and direct guideline with substantiated evidence determined by professionals, we’re introducing liability. For me to suggest putting these in place will improve safety when I don’t know they will would be contradictory to my intent.”
Councillors decided to defer the flag discussion to a later date.
Grant said that pedestrian-controlled lights at the intersection could interrupt traffic flow and create more problems. He said it’s unusual to install the lights at a three-way stop.
A 2015 study by Insight Traffic Engineering did not recommend installing lights at the intersection. Instead, it suggested changing some signage, remove any trees or greenery obstructing visibility and moving the stop sign and crosswalk from the western approach on Main Street.
The study found that existing traffic control wasn’t an issue, though it did recommend council at the time ask Queens District RCMP to step up enforcement.
Grant told councillors Tuesday that conditions at the intersection haven’t changed since that 2015 report, and that there was no increase in the rate of collisions over the past 10 years, according to the RCMP.
Mayor Darlene Norman suggested leaving the issue for the next council to tackle after municipal elections in October.
District 6 Coun. David Brown said he’d like the region’s police advisory board to discuss increased enforcement with the RCMP at their next meeting, likely in late May.
“It sounds more like a compliance issue,” Brown said.
“Once you make an example of a few peole and word gets out that there are potential fines for jaywalking or entering the intersection illegally when you’re driving, word will get around and pepole will take the extra time and look at what they’re doing.”
Norman said she believes that’s a good idea, and that police need to keep up the enforcement efforts for many days, and at all times of the day.
“And fines. Not warnings, but fines for rolling stops, for all of those things, because it might be the pedestrian once in a while who darts out, but it’s often the vehicle driver.”
Jerri Southcott with a small-scale model of the set for Seussical, the first production from the Astor Theatre’s Astor Academy. (Rick Conrad)
The Astor Theatre in Liverpool is launching a new theatre education program for youth with a production set to open in June.
The Astor Academy is designed to give youth aged 8 to 18 access to high-quality performing arts training. Its first production is Seussical, a musical comedy based on the works of Dr. Seuss.
Jerri Southcott is the Astor’s executive director. She said the Astor Academy was the “brainchild” of former interim executive director Jean Robinson-Dexter and some members of the Astor board.
The idea is to give kids and youth some training in the arts at little or no cost.
“The draw really is access to arts education, a creative and safe space to work with theatre professionals, musical theatre, and summer camps, dance and vocals and music at no cost,” Southcott said in an interview Tuesday.
“Too often, families are left in a position where they can’t afford to have private music lessons or private dance classes. We are trying to make it as a accessible as possible to allow everyone in rural Nova Scotia no matter what their economic situation is to this great opportunity.”
Preparation for Seussical is well underway, with up to 18 young cast members from Queens County and other areas of the South Shore. It’s being helmed by a production team of adults experienced in community and professional theatre.
Southcott’s brother Shane is the director, Malcolm Freeman is the assistant director, Kim Umphrey is vocal director, Kristopher Snarby and Michelle Riley are vocal coaches, Kerenza Verburg is choreographer and Cynthia Walker is stage manager.
It will open on June 20 and run until June 23, with two evening shows and two matinees.
“It’s about friendship, it’s about relationships, it’s about community and about treating people with love and respect.”
Southcott says they’re still looking for anybody who might be interested in joining the show. The cast is basically set, but they’re looking to fill some spots in the production crew, including costumes and set building.
“I have experienced and seen the benefits of what this kind of involvement in productions and the camaraderies and teamwork and everything can have on a person. Too often, it’s not just economics, it’s feeling excluded, feeling isolated, not feeling popular enough, not knowing the talent they have inside and creating an environment where they feel welcome and they feel accepted. … We have people who have never been on stage, and we’ve seen some hidden talents.”
Southcott says the Astor will soon announce summer theatre camps offered through the Astor Academy. She said there will be a small fee to help pay the instructors. The Astor has scholarships available for those camps.
The productions through the academy are mostly free with a $20 fee for registration and show T-shirt, though that fee can be waived.
“I do think it’s important for the Astor to offer this opportunity for youth in the area,” Southcott says. “I would love to see more kids come out. We are wide open to anybody who would like to come and see what it’s all about.”
Malcolm Freeman is the assistant director of Seussical and Easton Goodwin plays Cat in the Hat in the musical. It opens at the Astor Theatre on June 20. (Rick Conrad)
Easton Goodwin is playing Cat in the Hat in Seussical. He is a Grade 11 student at Liverpool Regional Regional High School. He’s been involved in other productions at the Astor, including the recent musical Follies, as well as Into the Woods and Peter Pan Jr., all directed by former associate artistic director Ashley-Rose Goodwin.
“Seussical is such a fun musical and it’s so entertaining, especially for younger ones too. I’ve always wanted to play a crazy fun character that moves around a lot. I just love musical theatre so much.”
Malcolm Freeman of Liverpool is the assistant director of Seussical. He has appeared in numerous Astor productions, including Follies. This is his first time behind the scenes.
“It’s fun being on this side of things and getting to learn the ropes on that (side of) the spectrum. I wanted to get involved with this because I’ve never worked with youth and I’ve never actually been a part of making the decisions and bringing a stage production to life. It broadens your horizon on your own skills and your own acting and singing abilities.
“It’s coming together so well. We have a fantastic cast, the kids and the youth are great and we really couldn’t have asked for a better group of people.”
Five new adjudicators were named to the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission on Monday. (Photo by Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
A Queens County lawyer is one of five new adjudicators for the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.
Ryan Clements of Liverpool, who joined the Nova Scotia bar in January, will be part of a roster of 10 people who will chair independent human rights boards of inquiry.
Clements has practised in Toronto, British Columbia, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
He is the son of Ford Clements, a former lawyer in Liverpool and a retired Ontario court judge. His grandfather Lester Clements was a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge.
Adjudicators hear cases when a claim of discrimination can’t be settled through a dispute resolution process.
On his website, Clements says he has experience in criminal and administrative law and professional discipline cases.
He says he has “defended and prosecuted criminal and professional discipline cases for over a decade”, and that he has served as an adjudicator on administrative tribunals.
The other new adjudicators announced Monday are Simeon Atunbi, Nancy Elliott and Kelly McMillan, all of Halifax, and Tuma Young of Eskasoni.
Perry Borden, chief judge of the provincial and family courts, chaired a six-member selection committee to go over the candidate after a call for applications in November.
Five other adjudicators were reappointed. They are Lynn Connors of Kentville, Dennis James of Truro, Donald Murray of Dartmouth, and Benjamin Perryman and Eric Slone of Halifax.
