Dan Roscoe is the CEO of Roswall Development, which owns Renewall Energy, the company behind Mersey River Wind. (Renewall Energy)
Work may start soon on the Mersey River Wind project in Milton.
Dan Roscoe is the CEO of Roswall Development, the company that plans to build a 33-wind turbine farm on 80 hectares of Crown land west of the Mersey River, under its Renewall Energy subsidiary.
He told QCCR this week that the company is still on track to erect its first batch of windmills by late 2026.
“We still hope to start in the next few months and take advantage of the summer season,” Roscoe said in an interview.
“Turbines are still scheduled to arrive likely next June, but generally the middle of next year. It’s still our plan to do 20 turbines in ’26 and 13 turbines in ‘27.”
Roscoe said most of the site-clearing work has been done. And he expects crews to begin working on the roads this spring and summer.
“We would’ve all loved to have a shovel in the ground by now, but we’re still on schedule for ’26.”
There’s a lot of excitement locally about the project, which promises to sell electricity directly to consumers, bypassing Nova Scotia Power. And Renewall says their rates will be lower and more stable than the privately owned utility.
When about 24 windmill blades showed up in Port Mersey Commercial Park in Brooklyn recently, people thought they were for the Mersey River project.
Roscoe says that equipment doesn’t belong to them. Those are for a wind farm in Benjamins Mill near Falmouth.
“Those are going to a project in Hants County. But that is the same route that we’re planning to use for all of our components, not just the blades.”
Roswall has about 30 commercial, industrial and institutional customers signed up for Mersey River Wind so far, including the Region of Queens and other municipal governments in Halifax, Shelburne and Bridgewater.
And he said hundreds of individuals have added their names to a list of early residential customers. Those who live near the wind farm, essentially anybody in Queens County, will get priority access.
“With many of our customers, there’s this push for stability, especially in the public sector where you’re trying to operate under a fixed budget. If your electricity cost goes up, your cost of water treatment goes up, but if you can stabilize your cost of energy well that major input into your water treatment cost is now is now stabilized and predictable. I suggest that climate and so forth, bring us together, but it’s really the commercial terms that they could save money and have predictability going forward which really is what gets people the most excited.”
Roscoe says the company’s community liaison committee will keep people updated as construction begins.
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.
Queens County Transit says the success of a recent fundraiser will help them keep their vans running. (Rick Conrad)
A recent fundraiser for Queens County Transit roared past all the group’s expectations.
The rural transit charity based in Liverpool held its first major fundraiser last Saturday. They teamed up with the Yuk Yuk’s standup comedy tour for a show at the Astor Theatre.
Gil Johnson, chairman of the Queens County Transit board, said it was a “huge success.”
“We had a good turnout and everybody seemed to enjoy the show and now the end result was is that we made a little over $13,000.”
Organizers were hoping to raise $10,000 from the show and a 50/50 draw. Johnson thanked the sponsors and community for their support. And he credited fellow board member Tara Smith with making it all happen.
“Tara Smith has been the driving force behind this fundraiser and if it wouldn’t have been for her, it wouldn’t have happened. She put a team together of volunteers and made this the success that it is, so the rest of us were just along for the ride.”
The service began seven years ago with one used accessible van and a team of volunteers. Its fleet has grown to eight vans, five of which are accessible. It also employs 11 people. Nine of those are drivers.
It’s one of 23 rural transit services in Nova Scotia.
Johnson says the success of the fundraiser shows people appreciate the services that Queens County Transit provides.
“It is now part of the infrastructure of Queens County. That service of moving people, keeping people connected one ride at a time. And people are starting to understand that we are there to serve.”
Johnson says the money raised will go toward their vehicle replacement fund.
“Right now, we have an immediate need to replace one of our older vehicles that’s costing us as much in the garage as it does to get it down the road.”
If you need a ride on Queens County Transit, they ask that you contact them at least 24 hours in advance by contacting them at 902-356-2670, by email at info@queenscountytransit.ca or message them on Facebook.
Members of the South Queens Middle School Grade 7/8 band perform at the Queens County Music Festival in late April. (Rick Conrad)
It looks like the band program at South Queens Middle School in Liverpool will live to play another day, though it’s unclear in what form.
Parents and others vented their frustrations online a couple of weeks ago when they heard the school planned to cut the program for next year.
It came on the eve of the 80th annual Queens County Music Festival at the Astor Theatre. The festival features young musicians and vocalists from school and private music programs being scored on their performances by trained adjudicators.
The middle school’s Grade 7 and 8 band competed at the festival.
Principal Stacy Thorburn told QCCR on Wednesday that she hopes to have good news for students and parents by the end of the week.
“It’s in the works. I’m in conversations to find out how it will look next year.”
The program includes about 40 students.
In a message to students and their families on Friday, the school said they’re looking at ways to continue offering it next year.
“School administration is having ongoing conversations with nearby schools to explore potential collaboration opportunities and are looking at creative staffing solutions, all with the intention to continue offering the band program,” the note read.
“Additionally, discussions regarding the band program are planned with the school advisory council.”
Thorburn didn’t want to comment on what led to the worries about the program’s survival.
“I would rather not because there are lots of things that go into play. And I’ve had conversations with our (school advisory council) and members of our community who have asked so I’d rather keep it at that for now, until we know for sure what’s happening.
Regional councillors are back to budget talks on Tuesday evening. (Rick Conrad)
The Region of Queens is about to announce who its new top staffer will be.
Councillors will publicly appoint the region’s new chief administrative officer at a special meeting on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
In a staff report, acting municipal clerk Heather Cook says more than 40 applications for the job were received from across Canada.
Shortlisted candidates went through two interviews with the region’s CAO selection committee. That committee included Mayor Scott Christian, and councillors Maddie Charlton, Stewart Jenkins and Courtney Wentzell.
Dan McDougall has filled in as interim CAO since Joudry was fired.
The region’s new CAO is set to start the job in mid-June.
Queens councillors are also back to budget discussions on Tuesday evening.
This will be the third public meeting about the 2025/26 budget.
Councillors began their budget deliberations on April 24 by looking at capital and infrastructure spending. Last week, they tackled the operating budget.
On Tuesday evening, they’ll address issues that came up in the first two meetings, as well as any other changes or requests from councillors.
Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR last week that the region has about a $1-million surplus from 2024/25. But he said the specific surplus won’t be known until finance staff go through the final numbers and release the audited figures later this year.
Residents or the media were not provided with draft budget documents as they were last year. So far, only the region’s staff and councillors have a complete picture of the actual numbers from 2024/25 and the forecasted totals for this year.
The special meeting will be held at council chambers on White Point Road and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
Donna Croft and Gil Johnson of Queens County Transit in Liverpool are gearing up the group’s Yuk Yuk’s fundraiser at the Astor Theatre on Saturday. (Rick Conrad)
Queens County Transit got on the road seven years ago with one used wheelchair-accessible van catering mostly to seniors in Liverpool.
“When we started out, we had one old used wheelchair-accessible van that we got from over in Clare. And I think it was in the garage more than it was on the road,” says chairman Gil Johnson.
Now, the community organization based in Liverpool provides affordable transportation around Queens County and beyond.
It’s one of 23 rural transit services around Nova Scotia.
The Queens County Transit fleet has grown to eight vans, five of which are accessible. And it employs 11 people, nine of whom are drivers.
Ridership is up too, by almost 30 per cent over the past two years. In 2023/24, the service completed 8,218 trips. About three-quarters of those were for seniors. Ridership so far this year is up by more than 1,000, with only half of overall passengers seniors.
But with increased popularity come increased costs.
“Without community support we would be dead in the water, we wouldn’t be operating,” Johnson says.
“Seven years ago, Queens County was one of four counties in the province that did not have a transit system. Today, we’re one of the leaders and we’re proud of that and we want to be able to keep going but we can’t do it without funding partners, fundraisers. ”
That’s why Queens County Transit has organized its first major fundraiser at the Astor Theatre for this Saturday, May 3. They’ve teamed up with the Yuk Yuk’s standup comedy tour for a show at the historic theatre at 7:30.
Comedians Francois Weber, Andrew Evans and Ian Black are set to hit the Astor stage.
“That’s going to be a good event,” Johnson says. “It’s going to be something new. Yuk Yuk’s haven’t been to Liverpool in quite some time.”
They’re also planning a silent auction at the event.
Queens County Transit gets about 35 per cent of its operational funding from the province and some other funding from the Region of Queens.
That funding and community support are vital so that the service can continue to offer rides to residents at reasonable rates.
A round trip within Liverpool, Brooklyn or Milton costs $10. That goes up to about $15 for longer rides to other areas of the county.
But the service also offers much-needed subsidized rides for medical trips to Queens General Hospital in Liverpool or to Halifax.
Manager Donna Croft says that through funding from the Queens General Hospital Foundation, it can offer a round-trip to an appointment in Halifax for as little as $100. The full cost is usually $160.
“It’s not only the seniors we’re catering to,” Croft says. “We’re catering to all ages. Say a mom with an infant has to go to the city to the IWK and she has no means of getting there or she has to wait for an ambulance to take them through. We have the monies through (the hospital foundation) that we can do that drive for them to get her to the IWK.”
“That’s a huge piece of the mandate of community transit, is to be able to get people to those appointments in an affordable fashion because it goes back to our funding partners,” Johnson says. “They’re the ones who help us subsidize those rides. But if you wanted to rent Queens County Transit to go shopping just on your own or to go for a drive, that’s available as well. It wouldn’t be subsidized. It would be fully funded out of pocket.”
Tickets are still available for the Yuk Yuk’s comedy fundraiser through the Astor Theatre box office or Ticketpro.ca.
And if you need a ride on Queens County Transit, they ask that you contact them at least 24 hours in advance by contacting them at 902-356-2670, by email at info@queenscountytransit.ca or message them on Facebook.
Shelly Panczyk is the chairwoman of the Queens County Food Bank in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)
The Queens County Food Bank won’t have to worry about its rent for the next four years as Region of Queens councillors voted this week to give the group a rent subsidy.
As part of its budget talks, councillors agreed to the food bank’s request for an annual grant of $15,500 to cover the rent at its Main Street location in Liverpool.
Shelly Panczyk, chair of the Queens County Food Bank, told QCCR on Thursday that “it’s a wonderful thing.”
“That helps us out because it will give us more working capital to purchase food,” she said.
“We’ve been back and forth with the last council. This is probably our fourth time trying to get something and this council has done it. And I’ve got to give them a good clap around, because they’ve done a good thing. And I think people will step up and be aware that this council is a workable council.”
Before the food bank was forced out of a derelict municipal property in 2019 and began leasing space on Main Street, it paid no rent. Demand for their services has grown, as food costs have risen and donations have plummeted by about 50 per cent.
About 240 families a month use the Liverpool group’s services.
Food bank representatives appealed to councillors at their March 25 meeting for rent relief after the organization was hit with a $10,000 bill to fix its freezer. It’s also committed to begin food pantries for elementary and high school students throughout Queens County.
Mayor Scott Christian said councillors are trying to make more room in the region’s budget to help residents on low or fixed incomes. Council is also considering expanding the region’s low-income property tax exemption program.
“It’s really hard when you’re an organization like Queens County Food Bank when you don’t have certainty of available resources, like you’re constantly competing for available grants,” he said.
“ Their board members did a good job of articulating the financial need that that group has and those are the type of investments I think this council likes to make, so I’m pleased to see if we spend $20 to $25,000 on the low-income tax exemptions and another $15,500 on the food bank, again, it’s challenging, and we need to make sure that the province pays their fair share as it relates to community wellness, but from my perspective, that’s money well spent from the municipality.”
Council has another budget meeting scheduled for Tues., May 6 at 6 p.m.
Region of Queens Mayor Scott Christian, right, wraps up the municipality’s second budget meeting on Monday night. Also pictured is interim CAO Dan McDougall. (Region of Queens YouTube channel)
Region of Queens councillors began their 2025/26 budget discussions with some money in the bank from 2024/25, as they look to make life a little easier for people on low or fixed incomes.
Mayor Scott Christian said the region has a surplus in the million-dollar range. But he said it’s difficult to know for sure until finance staff crunch the final numbers.
Last year, council began budget deliberations with a $650,000 surplus from 2023/24. Nova Scotia municipalities are not allowed to run an operating budget deficit.
Councillors are following a different process this year. While the meetings are public, residents don’t have access to draft budget documents as they did in last year’s discussions.
“I think in past years, there was a lot of emphasis on starting with a tax rate and then working down or whittling away at that or as you add things, the tax rate implications,” Christian told QCCR.
“I think that this year we wanted to focus on funding the right things, identifying what are going to be appropriate things to include in the capital investment plan, and then get that operating budget right. So I think it was a conscious decision but that was staff-driven that they thought that let’s try to get it right, try to set the appropriate budget given what the needs of the community are, and then look at it on balance with revenue and see what the implications are for the ratepayer.”
In their second public budget meeting earlier this week, councillors discussed boosting the low-income property tax exemption and helping the Queens County Food Bank with its rent.
They also found out that the region has about $325,000 left over from the renovations to the new Thomas H. Raddall Library space. Councillors had approved up to $1.26 million for that work.
And revenue at Queens Place Emera Centre is forecasted to be down this year because of less advertising and sponsorship and no major full-facility rentals planned to March 31, 2026.
Heading into 2025/26, the region expects to get $20.5 million in property tax revenue, an increase of $900,000, based on the current base tax rate of $1.04 per $100 of assessment.
That increase is mostly due to higher property assessments, which rose by $86.9 million.
Director of corporate services Joanne Veinotte took councillors through the region’s preliminary operating budget.
It was a chance for councillors to request changes, more information or additional funding.
Councillors like District 4 representative Vicki Amirault want the low-income property tax exemption increased to give more relief potentially to more people.
“I would like to up the income level,” she told councillors. “ I think we should up it $5,000 on each stage there, and up the rebate as well. I think it would be very helpful to our residents.”
Last year, the region increased the maximum income threshold to $35,000. Those in the lowest income range, up to $25,000, can get a $400 break on their taxes. Those in the top group can apply for up to $300 in relief.
Veinotte said she would report back to councillors on what relief the region could offer depending on how much more money councillors devote to the program.
District 3 Coun. Courtney Wentzell said he wants council to have a serious look at the Mount Pleasant water and wastewater extension. The region has budgeted $10.8 million toward the $21-million project. The Nova Scotia government is covering the rest.
The project would extend municipal water and sewer access to two new private housing developments in Liverpool. It would also improve existing infrastructure.
“The extension to Mount Pleasant boggles my mind when we have so much infrastructure need, including sidewalks … but not just that, with the upgrades needed in water on the west side of town, up till Union Street, I’m really having some reservations about the extension at all,” Wentzell said.
“And I’m speaking from the heart. I’m sorry if that upsets some people.”
Christian said after the meeting that councillors want to understand what exactly is involved in that project and potentially look for ways to lower the municipality’s share of the cost.
“This council’s not OK with incurring a huge amount of debt that could potentially be paid for by the general ratepayer and/or utilizing reserves that have been accumulated from the general ratepayer to pay for that service extension. And we currently don’t have any federal monies that are committed to that project. I think that that’s problematic. What is the plan with service extension? What impacts does that have on preparing us for future growth but also what impacts does it have, attending to known and foreseeable issues associated with the existing infrastructure for our utilities?”
Councillors will resume budget talks on Tues., May 6 at 6 p.m. at council chambers on White Point Road.
An undated aerial photo of the former Bowater Mersey plant in Brooklyn. (Queens County Historical Society Photo Collection, housed at the Queens County Museum)
Northern Pulp has asked for another extension in protection from its creditors as it continues to look for financing to build a new kraft pulp mill in Liverpool.
The company, owned by Domtar-controlled Paper Excellence, has been under creditor protection since June 2020 after it closed its pulp mill in Abercrombie Point, Pictou County.
On March 10, the company and the Nova Scotia government announced that Northern Pulp would get a five-week extension while it tried to make a profitable business case for a new kraft pulp mill in Liverpool.
That was after the company said that its nine-month feasibility study found that a new mill in Liverpool didn’t make business sense. It said it would spend the five-week extension looking for private and public financing.
The multinational corporation estimated a new mill would cost $2.5 billion in government and private funding to design and build. And it would require an annual rate of return of at least 14 per cent, as outlined in a settlement agreement signed with the Nova Scotia government and approved by a B.C. court in May 2024.
Bowater operated a pulp and paper mill in Brooklyn, near Liverpool, from 1929 to 2012, over the years employing thousands of people in Queens County.
In a news release Tuesday evening, Northern Pulp said it filed documents earlier in the day requesting the extension under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act until July 18.
“The company will use this time to further advance preparations for a potential sale of its assets, should a new mill not be feasible,” the release said. “Additionally, Northern Pulp will continue discussions with various stakeholders and rights holders regarding the feasibility of establishing a new bioproducts hub in Liverpool, Nova Scotia.”
Premier Tim Houston sent a letter on March 20 to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asking them both to support the company’s application for federal financing through the Canada Infrastructure Bank.
Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton told QCCR in March that the province has been working with the company to make a new mill work.
“We know we need a home for the low-grade wood fibre but at the end of the day, this is going to be a business decision from their part,” Rushton said.
“We’re willing to work with them to meet the environmental standards of a new-era mill that would find a home for ecologically produced forest products.”
Paper Excellence has said a new mill would also potentially produce biogas and biochemicals used in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and adhesives.
Last May, Houston announced a deal with Paper Excellence to settle the company’s $450-million lawsuit against the province after Northern Pulp was forced to close its mill because of environmental concerns.
The hearing on the company’s latest request is set for Fri., May 2.
