Myrna Gillis, CEO of Aqualitas. The cannabis producer, based in Brooklyn, has been sold to a British firm. (Aqualitas photo)

Queens County cannabis producer Aqualitas has been sold to a British company.

The Brooklyn-based firm has been bought by the London-based Cannaray Limited. Aqualitas will become part of Cannaray’s medical cannabis division, Therismos, which operates in Germany and the UK.

Co-founder and CEO Myrna Gillis said Thursday the deal started being hashed out three years ago. She said jobs are safe at the plant in Brooklyn.

“It’s a great thing for the plant here in Brooklyn,” she said in an interview.

“We have expansion plans that had been on the books for a while, because we effectively had more demand than we had supply or capacity to meet. And we have funds that are earmarked now under this agreement for expansion, so we’re going to have expansion in the Liverpool facility. It enhances our position in relation to jobs and we don’t have any expectation of any layoffs. We expect to be in a position of expansion and growth because of it.”

Gillis would not disclose the value of the deal. But she said the two companies combined for sales last year of $75 million.

Gillis was a lawyer in Bedford when she co-founded Aqualitas in 2014. The company set up its grow-op shop in the Port Mersey Commercial Park, at the site of the former Bowater Mersey pulp and paper mill in Brooklyn in 2017. It employs between 75 and 85 people.

It quickly became recognized around the world for its environmentally friendly aquaponic growing system that uses the nutrient-dense waste of more than 3,000 koi carp fish as fertilizer.

Its products can be found around the world, in the U.S., Australia, Israel, Germany, Portugal and Poland.

The privately held company is certified organic and has won numerous awards and certifications since it was founded. It has also been on the forefront of research into PTSD, insomnia and pain.

“When I look back at that and I think of everything that we’ve accomplished, it’s an incredible story,” Gillis says. “So I’m really proud of what we’ve done, I’m really proud of what I was able to contribute to the team.”

Gillis said the time was right for the marijuana merger. Prices domestically have been going down, while export markets are still paying top dollar for their product. And Germany is set to legalize marijuana on April 1, opening up the international market even more.

“When we got into this industry we were licence No. 87. Now there are more than 950 licences with Health Canada. We had too many companies, too much supply in the domestic market, too many people doing the exact same thing.

“I always had the vision that I wanted to do an exit with a global company because you need to be globally competitive to guarantee your growth and access to markets.”

Gillis will continue as chairwoman of Aqualitas and she will be a member of Cannaray’s board.

Chief operating officer Josh Adler will take over the daily operation of Aqualitas and the current management team will stay in place, Gillis says.

“I think this is good for the community, it’s good for Aqualitas and it’s good for the industry.”

As for Gillis herself, she says she will still be busy with the company she founded with friends almost 10 years ago.

“I have a third act, I’m sure. But right now, there’s a lot happening here during my tenure. But there’s a third act for sure.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Queens General Hospital. Photo Ed Halverson

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed for the rest of Thursday and will reopen at midnight and be open on Friday.

It will close again for the weekend at 5 a.m. Saturday and reopen on Tuesday at 8 a.m.

Nova Scotia Health is setting up a mobile primary care clinic at the hospital on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It will be at the Queen’s Family Health location.

It is a drop-in clinic, so you don’t have to call ahead.

The emergency department at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open. Patients of Queens Family Health with new or emerging problems can access the same-day clinic through the week at 902-354-3322.

Rosalee Smith is one of the Queens County residents participating in the YourHealthNS app pilot project. (Rick Conrad)

It’s been about six weeks since the Nova Scotia government launched a pilot project to allow some Nova Scotians to check their medical records through the YourHealthNS app.

Some 12,000 patients at four clinics around the province were given early access to their lab and X-ray results, list of medications, and visits to the ER and their primary care provider.

Nova Scotia Health says it’s part of giving people more involvement and control over their care, and to help them make more informed decisions.

About 3,700 patients at Queens Family Health in Liverpool are eligible to participate. The other project sites are in New Waterford, Westville and Greenwood.

For some, it’s been a frustrating experience.

Rosalee Smith of Eagle Head said she was eager to sign on to the app when she heard about the pilot project.

“I found it frustrating, because I guess my original understanding (was) perhaps there was going to be a little more information available than maybe what there is.”

Smith says she seems to get different information every time she checks the app. 

“I’m not sure how valuable that piece will be until I understand what the information’s supposed to provide. I’ve gone on to the app several times. And sometimes there’s records there and sometimes there isn’t. I’ve never seen any records of my primary care visits, never seen any records of my blood work results.”

A week after initially speaking to QCCR, Smith said she could see a partial list of her medications, her lab results, ER visits, but no bloodwork results and no primary care visits.

Her mother, who has a different primary care provider, was able to see all of her health visits, but her medications and lab results were incomplete.

She says friends of hers had the same experience — sometimes their records were there and sometimes they were incomplete. She said other people told her their records were complete.

Smith filled out three feedback surveys through the app. When she didn’t get a response, she contacted Nova Scotia Health directly and sent a two-page form to correct her medical record. 

She even left a comment on a sponsored Facebook post on the weekend from Nova Scotia Health about the app.

No one had responded to any of her concerns, until Wednesday afternoon, when she got a reply in response to her Facebook comment. She was told her complaint was forwarded to the department’s technology department and that someone would contact her directly.

“I think it’s a good app,” Smith says.

“I think the features and the types of things that we’re trying to put out here for information, it’s good. But let’s do it right. And if we’re in the pilot project, listen to us when we make the comments.”

Andrew Danylewich of Liverpool checked the app when the pilot project launched. He said he was able to see only a list of his hospital and health visits. And that hasn’t changed since.

“But I haven’t been able to see my labs and medications. I did check to see if my prescriptions were up and they weren’t there yet. It’s not terribly useful yet, but I can see potential in the future once they get it rolling properly.”

Officials with Nova Scotia Health said this week that patients are giving them some good feedback on the app, and that people seem eager to use it.

Scott McKenna, chief information officer with Nova Scotia Health, said in an interview on Monday that if people send their questions or concerns via the survey, someone is supposed to follow up.

“We need to ensure that we’re getting back to every citizen,” he said.

“Our teams are doing a really good job at that. Obviously, there are some individuals who we need to get back to on that. The intention of our staff is to look into every issue. … Because we have to make sure it works as it’s intended to work.”

Dr. Tara Sampalli is Nova Scotia Health’s senior director of implementation science and evaluation and global health systems planning. 

She said department staff review the feedback every week so they can address concerns as they come up. 

“Everybody is reviewing everything. Nothing is going unnoticed. We improve in real time. And that’s part of this. We want to hear. You’re providing us some really good information from the community and what people are seeing or not seeing.”

McKenna says that overall, response to the app has been positive. And that it seems to working for the majority of participants. But he urges people to keep sending feedback on the app, even though they may be frustrated.

He said staff are trying to consolidate records from disparate parts of the health care system, and that they’d rather give an incomplete record than an incorrect one.

The pilot project runs to the end of March. Those who have access to their records now won’t lose it when the pilot is over. 

Sampalli says the department is working on a broader information update for Nova Scotians. 

Rosalee Smith says she looks forward to that. 

“I don’t want it to be political. This is about our health. So I think it’s good progress. I’m not here to bash. My point is if it’s not going to work right or if it’s got issues, then let’s figure out how to fix the issues.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below

Joel Westin, president of Bridgewater Ready Mix, says he’s teaming up with South Shore Ready Mix to reopen Liverpool Ready Mix. (Rick Conrad photo)

A new concrete supplier could be open in Brooklyn by August.

Joel Westin, owner and president of Bridgewater Ready Mix, said his company and South Shore Ready Mix are teaming up to reopen Liverpool Ready Mix.

“South Shore Ready Mix operated a plant in Brooklyn for many years and was forced to close that due to dwindling market,” he said Tuesday.

“We’re hoping the two of us will have enough business in this area to support us reopening this plant. It’s a significant investment and it will create better service for businesses in Queens County and also some employment.”

He said the time is right with a large wind farm development being planned for Milton.

Westin said Tuesday the business could eventually employ up to three people. But it will begin with one.

They hope to have trial batches going through the plant in July, Westin said. The plan is to open by August.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Earl Mielke, a coach with Special Olympics Lunenburg/Queens, and his stepdaughter Rebecca Delaney recently returned from the national winter games in Calgary, where Delaney won a gold and a bronze medal. (Rick Conrad photo)

It may have been so cold that the first day had to be rescheduled, but for Liverpool athlete Rebecca Delaney, competing in her first national winter games was an experience she won’t forget.

Delaney, 27, won gold in the 100-metre snowshoe event at the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Calgary. She also won bronze in the 4 x 100 snowshoe relay. 

“It was very cold but I still did it,” she said in a recent interview. 

“It was amazing. Let’s just say when I got to the end, I cried.”

Delaney was one of four Queens County athletes competing at the games, which were held Feb. 27 to March 2. Jillian Young was on Delaney’s relay team that snagged the bronze. Young also won silver in the 100-metre event. Michael Moreau won silver in the 4 x 100 men’s relay, and Ben Theriau captured silver as a member of the curling team.

The athletes from Special Olympics Lunenburg/Queens were part of Team Nova Scotia’s 45-athlete contingent which won 30 medals overall in Calgary.

Delaney has racked up medals in national summer games and provincial competitions before. But it was her first time kicking up the snow at a national event.

Her time was so good in the 100-metre event that she was bumped up to another division in the 200-metre race, where she competed with the fastest snowshoers in Canada. She finished fifth in that race.

“That was fast. I went like a rock star.”

Team Nova Scotia was supposed to go for a visit to Banff National Park after the events were over. But the weather grounded their bus. So, instead, they took in an AHL game.

While Delaney is proud of how she did on the snowshoe track, she says the game and the closing dance were highlights. She says going to Calgary was about more than winning. 

“I met new friends and I had fun and that’s all that matters.”

Delaney’s mother Susan Inglis is the snowshoe team’s assistant coach and Inglis’s partner Earl Mielke is the head coach.

Betty Ann Daury is the other snowshoe coach, who put the Queens athletes through their paces as much as three days a week leading up the games.

Mielke says they held practices at Queens Place Emera Centre and Privateer Park on the Liverpool waterfront.

“There were days when it was colder in the park than it was at nationals. And the wind coming across down the Mersey River, I wanted to get in the truck, I wanted to go hide. But they kept going and Betty Ann pushed them. And that really got them ready for Games.”

Delaney is already looking forward to her next competition. That will be the provincial games in Wolfville this summer, where she’ll be running in the 100-, 200- and 400-metre races, and competing in the standing long jump and the shot put.

Mielke says they’ll start training in April.

“We have a number of other athletes who won’t go to provincials but enjoy the social part and the athletic part. … And they’re already asking now, when can we start. Probably April we’ll get back out and start training for the (summer) events.”

In the meantime, Delaney is doing her part as an ambassador for Special Olympics to get more people involved.

“We need more athletes. We just need more athletes, so please bring more athletes out to Special Olympics.”

And Mielke says they also need coaches. If you’re interested in joining Special Olympics Lunenburg/Queens, you can reach out to them through their Facebook page. 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to an audio version of the story below

Celeste Johnston from Hunts Point recently received her Order of Canada medal from Gov. Gen. Mary Simon at a ceremony in Ottawa. (Rick Conrad photo)

When the governor general’s office called Celeste Johnston to tell her she would be  inducted into the Order of Canada, she almost didn’t pick up.

The medical researcher, professor and nurse had been getting a lot of spam calls from the Ottawa area code, so she hesitated. But she did answer and it was a representative from Gov. Gen. Mary Simon’s office telling her she would be named an officer of the Order of Canada.

“I said, ‘Is this real? Are you serious? Is this spam?’ And she laughed and said no, it’s real, and that I’m not the first person who had asked that question.”

That was back in December 2021. Johnston, a longtime professor at McGill University who retired to Hunts Point with her husband in 2010, received her medal at a ceremony at Rideau Hall in February.

“I was a little incredulous,” she said in an interview. “And still to this day, I’m still incredulous. I just don’t think of myself as someone who would get the Order or Canada. And I thought I really don’t think I should be getting this. Look at all these other people who have gotten it. But then I started thinking about people from the McGill community who had gotten it. And I thought, ‘OK if they can get it, then I can get it too.’”

Johnston was recognized for her 35 years of work researching pain in premature babies. An internationally renowned expert and advocate for recognizing and treating infant pain, she was also the first nurse and woman to lead the Canadian Pain Society.

Celeste Johnston with her children Rob, Andrew and Elise after receiving her medal for being named an Officer of the Order of Canada. (Celeste Johnston photo)

Johnston’s groundbreaking work began when she was working at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Nurses in the neonatal unit approached her and asked if she could measure pain in babies. They said doctors didn’t believe the babies experienced pain in the same way. But the nurses said they saw otherwise.

“At the time I started doing that work, babies were having painful procedures done all the time in the neonatal intensive care unit. And nothing was being done for it. And they said, ‘It’s just a short procedure and it’s going to be OK.’ But it isn’t OK. Not only for ethical reasons, but there are long-term consequences … above and beyond whatever medical conditions they might have as part of being pre-term.”

She and her team of researchers began by developing a way to measure pain in pre-term infants, a standard that soon became accepted by the American Hospital Association and the Canadian Pediatric Society. 

Next, they wanted to figure out how to treat the pain without drugs. 

“Because you can’t give them heavy duty analgesics every time they’re having a painful procedure because that has long-term effects too and they won’t develop as well as they should,” she says.

She began by studying the effects of giving babies a small drop of diluted sugar water, known as sweet taste treatment. That was effective in managing the pain, but Johnston was concerned about the long-term developmental effects of that kind of treatment.

She teamed up with a neuro-developmental scientist who was studying pain response in the brain of young rats who were still with their mothers. They studied how rat pups who experienced pain but were groomed by their mothers afterward seemed to do better than the baby rats who experienced no pain and didn’t receive the extra attention from their mothers.

At the same time, Johnston says, she heard about mothers in South America who acted almost like incubators for their premature babies, because of a shortage of the devices.

“And the mothers carried the babies skin to skin on their chest as the incubator. And they did it 24 hours a day. And they found that those babies that might have otherwise died survived because they were kept warm and (with) demand feeding. So I thought why don’t we try kangaroo care for pain.”

She did seven studies on kangaroo care over 12 to 15 years, in which the baby is placed against the mother’s chest skin to skin and they’re both wrapped in a blanket.

“All this worked. It was profound, the effect.”

They tried the experiment with fathers and with other women like paternal grandmothers. But nothing was as effective as a mother’s love, Johnston says. 

Eventually, Marsha Campbell-Yeo, one of Johnston’s PhD students and a professor at Dalhousie University, furthered the research and founded Mom-Linc Lab, which studies the effects of maternal presence. 

“And so I think between the kangaroo care and the work she is doing now, mothers are able to spend more and more time in the neonatal intensive care unit and not have that separation. It’s stressful on the mothers and I think it’s stressful on the babies too.” 

Johnston’s research days are behind her, but she hasn’t slowed down. She is heavily involved in various groups in Queens County, including the region’s pool committee and the community cafe at the Trinity Church parish hall. And she’s teaching a course called Pain Explained for the Seniors College Association of Nova Scotia.

Johnston said being in Ottawa for the Order of Canada ceremony was an amazing experience. And it was even more special because her three adult children, Elise, Rob and Andrew, were there with her.

“The people I was meeting around me were just amazing. They were from all walks of life. There were writers, there were musicians, businesspeople, basic scientists, a lot of health scientists. So it was very exciting to be there.”

But the visit to Rideau Hall was rivalled later in the weekend.

“I went from Ottawa to Montreal to visit with Andrew and his two young daughters, who are 3 and 5, and so I must say that competed with being the highlight of the weekend.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Athletes Sarah Mitton, Michael Moreau, Rebecca Delaney, Abigail Smith and Jillian Young were honoured with a homecoming meet and greet at Queens Place Emera Centre on Thursday. Earl Mielke (right) is the head coach of the snowshoe team for Special Olympics Lunenburg/Queens. (Rick Conrad)

Queens County celebrated some of its most successful athletes on Thursday as national and international medallists were honoured at Queens Place Emera Centre.

Four athletes from Special Olympics Lunenburg/Queens were joined by judo athlete Abigail Smith and recent world indoor shot put champion Sarah Mitton.

More than 100 people showed up to cheer on the athletes at a homecoming meet and greet organized by the Region of Queens.

Jillian Young, Michael Moreau and Rebecca Delaney made up half of Nova Scotia’s medal-winning snowshoe team at the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games which wrapped up this past weekend in Calgary. And Ben Theriau of Hunts Point was on the silver-medal-winning curling team.

Young won silver in the 100 metres and bronze in the 4 x 100-metre relay; Moreau captured the silver in the 4 x 100 men’s relay; and Delaney won gold in the 100 metres and bronze in the 4 x 100 relay.

Only six athletes were selected from across the province for the snowshoe team. And three of them are from right here in Queens.

“These are three snowshoe athletes that made it by competing at provincial games to get to national games,” said Earl Mielke, assistant coach with Special Olympics Lunenburg/Queens.

“That tells you something about the program and the commitment and the coaching.

“A huge thanks to the Region of Queens and the wonderful community we have being so welcoming and inclusive. It’s really important and this community is behind these athletes. They know it, we know it and it’s wonderful to be a part of it.”

It was a sentiment shared by all the athletes on Thursday. 

Sarah Mitton of Brooklyn won the gold last Friday in the shot put at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, breaking her own Canadian record twice in the final round on the way to the win.

She said having such solid hometown support has motivated her throughout her whole career.

“It means a lot,” she told the crowd. “So much of who I am is where I came from. And this community and where I grew up, I’ve learned so much. … Everybody that has been a part of my journey has shaped me into the human being I am and most of that comes from here.”

Mitton said financial support was also crucial when she was starting out. And she said that she hopes the community continues to be giving and supportive of athletes like the Special Olympians and fellow Brooklyn athlete Abigail Smith.

“There’s so much talent in this community on every level,” she said in an interview afteward. “And I think with Abigail, she’s up and coming and I think she’s going to be the next really big thing for Queens County. I just always want to make sure we’re continuing to support the next generation. Some day I’m going to retire and these athletes will be the ones carrying Queens County on their backs. And with the Special Olympians, their joy for the sport makes me remember that sport is supposed to be fun.”

Brooklyn judo athlete Abigail Smith is only 16, but she’s already made a mark on the national and international stage, placing on the podium at national competitions and at a recent meet in Denmark. She will be travelling to Germany this month representing Team Canada in an international tournament there.

She said that even though she and Mitton grew up near each other, Thursday was the first time they had actually met.

“It’s pretty cool and pretty crazy. Sarah came up to me and said, ‘Do you mind if I sit by you?’ And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, of course.'”

Smith said it was great to see all the support from the community for all the athletes.

“It’s really nice. Of course, I always know that my community’s been behind (me) supporting me, donations, constant messages and posts. But today was very real, it was very nice, everyone is here to help me and Sarah and our Special Olympics athletes. So it was really nice.”

Mike Ferguson of Milton was one of the people who turned out to show their support.

“They’re providing inspiration to other young people to get involved in their community, in athletics or in arts, or whatever it is that makes them happy,” he said.

“It’s about working together and doing something you love doing and having happy fun at it. That’s what I think is the most important message here. Yes, you can win. There are always winners. But it’s all the rest of it. The way they all talked was so wonderful and they showed that wonderful inspiration.”

If you couldn’t make it to the event in person, you can catch a replay of the livestream on the Queens Place Facebook page. 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to the audio version of this story below

The Apitamkiejit Wind Energy Project proposed for north Queens would include 10 turbines with a capacity of up to 68 megawatts. (SWEB Energy photo)

A company hoping to build a wind farm in north Queens is planning a community engagement session on Thurs., March 21 at the Greenfield Fire Hall from 4:30 to 7:30.

The Apitamkiejit Wind Energy Project would include 10 turbines with a capacity of 68 megawatts.

It would be built on private property near Wentworth Lake in north Queens. SWEB Development, an Austrian company with offices in Halifax, is planning to partner with one or more First Nations communities on the project, according to the company’s website.

The session is open to everybody. You can call 902-830-1347, email api@sweb.energy or check out their website here for more information. 

Members of the Astor Theatre’s Seniors Connecting group produced a holiday play for QCCR in December. (QCCR photo)

Non-profit groups in Queens County can now apply for wellness funds through the Queens Community Health Board.

Past projects funded by the grants include a regular seniors art and craft get-together at the Astor Theatre, learning to curl sessions at the Liverpool Curling Club, and a podcast hosted by South Shore youth.

Groups can apply for up to $3,500 for new projects. 

There are 35 community health boards across the province. People can apply to more than one board if their project occurs in more than one area.

Applications and additional information are available on the Community Health Board website.

The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. on Mon., May 6. 

Listen to the news update below for Mon., March 4

Sarah Mitton of Brooklyn, Queens County, after winning the gold medal in the shot put at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow on Friday morning. (Sarah Mitton photo)

Brooklyn’s Sarah Mitton can now add world champion to her already long list of accomplishments.

The Olympic shot putter from Queens County captured the gold medal Friday morning at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

“Incredible. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” she said in an interview via Zoom from Glasgow shortly after her win. 

“I’ve just been up in the top but never really on top at a world championship and now I’ve done three outdoor worlds and this is my second indoor worlds so it’s been a long time coming, so it’s just really sweet.”

Mitton beat her own Canadian record, twice: once with her fourth throw at 20.20 metres, which secured the gold medal. And then, she beat her own record again with her sixth and last throw of 20.22 metres. That was also a season’s best.

“The last one was really fun because when you’re in the lead you get to be the last thrower,” she said. “And so we know what third is, the only person that can overtake you is this girl in second. She doesn’t do it and then you’re standing there and you still have one attempt and you know you’ve just won a world indoor championships which is kind of surreal because you’re just flooded with emotion. 

“And so I stood there and I had goosebumps all over my legs and I was like, ‘OK. But you still have one more attempt to make a mark and have a better throw and just increase your lead.’ I really love the sixth round. It’s the last throw of the (competition), particularly this one where it’s the very last throw of the comp and it’s just really free. Like it didn’t matter if I threw 10 metres, it didn’t matter if I threw 25, I was still gonna be the champion so I think it opens the door for a really relaxed fun throw.”

German athlete Yemeni Ogunleye captured silver with a personal best throw of 20.19 metres. American Chase Jackson won bronze with a throw of 19.67 metres. 

Mitton said that making her first world indoor final in 2022 and throwing more than 19 metres for the first time at a championship really boosted her confidence. And that set her up for the success she’s had ever since.

She is ranked No. 2 in the world in the shot put. She won Canada’s first ever world medal in women’s shot put with her silver at the Budapest games in 2023. And she is a Commonwealth Games champion and Pan American Games champion.

She set a new Canadian indoor record just last week in the Czech Republic with a throw of 20.08 metres. Her personal best is 20.33 metres.

“I had usually underperformed from what I was usually capable of at these majors and I think it really just opened my eyes to be able to believe in myself that hey you’re now amongst these girls. You can break into their world. And from there, it just seems to have skyrocketed.”

And she’s been doing it all with bone chips in her right elbow. 

“My right arm takes a big brunt of the throw every time. And a lot of the girls struggle with elbow issues and of course the older you get, the more speed and force that gets put through your elbow.

“Thankfully we’ve been able to manage that from a non-surgical perspective for now and everything’s been good. … Thankfully, that’s been much better than last season, so I think that’s why I might be seeing a little bit more success indoors than I did last year.”

While her family didn’t make the trip to Glasgow for the short weekend competition, they will all be in Paris for the Summer Olympics in August.

In Glasgow, she had her coach and his wife and the rest of the Canadian team cheering her on.

“She’s been a big part of my career. She’s very involved. She just brings a really good, fun energy. She’s always the loudest person in the stadium and I can hear her from a mile away. But it’s been really fun to have her here.”

She says that having this breakthrough in Glasgow sets her up nicely for the Olympics.

“I’ve had my eye on Paris for two years at least. And everything we’ve been doing in the last two years is a part of our preparation, the same thing with this championships. This was a big part and I think right now, everything’s working, everything’s coming together.”

Mitton has a few meets coming up in China and Morocco, before returning to Canada to begin high-performance training. Then there are the national championships at the end of June, before heading to Barcelona to train and prepare for the Olympics.

Before any of that, though, she’ll be taking a week off and coming home to Liverpool to visit friends and family. And she may even pop into the gym at Queens Place Emera Centre when she’s home.

“I’m excited to see everybody,” she says. “I think it’s always fun walking into Queens Place. It can be really overwhelming, because it’s a lot of people I grew up with. It’s a lot of friends and family, but it’s also just been really great. When you show up, you know everybody and it just feels like home.

“I just want to thank everyone so much for the support. I know the flood of that comes from Liverpool and Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, and all through the East Coast. But I’m working my best to get back to everyone, but I will see you all when I get home. And I just really appreciate all the messages and the support.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to QCCR’s interview with Sarah Mitton below

Brian and Cathie Mourre live in Eagle Head. (Rick Conrad photo)

Nova Scotia’s coastline now has even less protection after the province announced Monday that the Coastal Protection Act is dead, some Queens County residents say.

Tim Halman, Nova Scotia’s minister of environment and climate change, announced the government would not proclaim the long-delayed act, effectively killing it.

The legislation was passed with all-party support in 2019. Instead, Halman introduced plans, tools and other legislation that would have property owners, municipalities and the province share responsibility for protecting coastal property.

He said the government wants to empower coastal property owners to make informed decisions. As part of that, the government introduced a new online coastal hazard map that shows projected sea levels, storm surges and flooding potential to the year 2100. 

Residents who have been waiting for stronger coastal protections were disappointed, but not surprised. Len Michalik lives in Eagle Head.

“I was somewhere between disappointed and vindicated in my thoughts that wow this is really where they’re going with this,” Michalik said. 

“They’ve kicked this can so far down the road that it’s in the ditch and unrecoverable. They promised they were in full support of this when in opposition. … And ever since they’ve come into power, they’ve done seemingly everything they can to make themselves look good while pushing it to the side.”

Michalik is part of the group Protecting Eagle Head Beach. 

It was formed in June 2022 when former Halifax mayor Peter Kelly bought a property on Eagle Head Beach and immediately blocked the road through the property which people used as one way onto the beach. The community was also upset that he was damaging the beach and wetlands on the property.

Despite many appeals to and meetings with Environment and Natural Resources officials, as well as with Queens MLA and Public Works Minister Kim Masland and her staff, the development was allowed to go ahead.

Cathie Mourre lives in Eagle Head. She is also a member of Protecting Eagle Head Beach. She said the Tories could have committed to enforcing current environment protections and making them stronger with the new act.

 “But instead they took the easy way out and put it in our hands. We’re not experts, we don’t know how to protect the coastline.”

Mourre said she’s worried that more of that job will now fall to smaller municipalities like Queens, who have limited resources.

“And the thing is Nova Scotia is a coastal province. So what happens in the municipality of Queens isn’t necessarily the same that’s going to happen in the municipality of Lunenburg. So we have two coastlines butting up against one another and we’ve got two different sets of rules, well that’s crazy.

“The municipality had bylaws set out and we know they didn’t follow them. The Environment (department) has tons of rules. They didn’t follow their own rules.”

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman joined 11 other municipalities last year calling on the government to enact the new legislation. 

She said that while she is disappointed, the region’s municipal planning strategy and land use bylaw, passed in 2022, has some of the strongest protections in the province.

She said she’s more concerned with neighbouring municipalities like Shelburne or the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg having minimal or weaker protections. The Coastal Protection Act would have levelled the playing field across the province.

Mourre says she believes property owners should be able to build on their own land. But they should be forced to follow the rules.

In the meantime, she says she wants a moratorium on coastal development. 

“And permitting on a beach is totally different than permitting in a subdivision,” she says.

“So when this permitting along the coastline happens, (staff) should be getting out from behind their desks and they should be going and looking at the piece of land that people want ot develop. It’s as simple as that.”

Michalik says he’d like to see the municipality resurrect and integrate the Coastal Protection Act into its own bylaws.

“However, I have my doubts that that will happen. We don’t have the resources or the manpower to actually do the investigation, do the research and do all the enforcement on it. I hope for the best but I fear the worst.”

Both Michalik and Mourre said, however, that maybe this will spur more people to pressure governments to do more to protect Nova Scotia’s coastline.

“We’re also in danger of having our licence plate motto which is known across the country and around the world, Canada’s Ocean Playground, is going to become the playground for those who can afford it. 

“The rest of us are going to have to stay in our designated areas and keep quiet.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Queens County voters may get an electronic voting option in October. (Elections Nova Scotia Facebook)

Queens County voters are getting closer to having the option to vote online or by phone in this October’s municipal election.

Councillors asked CAO Cody Joudry in January to prepare a report on the feasibility and costs of introducing electronic voting to Queens, while keeping the traditional paper ballot.

Twenty of 49 Nova Scotia municipalities offered an electronic voting option in 2020. Elections Nova Scotia used electronic ballots in the July byelection in Preston. And it plans to allow e-voting in the 2025 provincial election.

Joudry says in a report to council this week that more than 40 municipalities are expected to offer electronic voting as an option this year.

Joudry recommends that councillors vote to keep the traditional paper ballot, while also introducing online and telephone voting. Joudry estimates that adding an e-ballot option would cost an extra $20,000, for a total of $70,000.

Joudry also recommended that Ian Kent be appointed the new returning officer for the municipal election. Kent was recently hired by Elections Nova Scotia to replace Ted Bulley as the provincial returning officer for Queens, after Bulley’s retirement. The province’s returning officer has traditionally performed the same role in municipal elections.

The cast of Follies on opening night Thursday at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)

The curtain went up on a big, bold, breathtaking musical at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool on Thursday night.

Stephen Sondheim’s Follies began its eight-show run at the historic theatre. It features more than two dozen cast members from Queens and Lunenburg counties ranging in age from 14 to 77. 

One of the many elaborate costumes in the musical Follies, playing until March 3 at the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)

A co-production of the Winds of Change and the Astor Theatre, it’s the first big musical mounted at the Astor since 2018. It runs until March 3. Tickets are available in person at the Astor Theatre box office, by calling 902-354-5250 or through Ticketpro Atlantic.

QCCR was at opening night and got reaction from some members of the audience after the show. Listen below.

Tim Cranston is the new chairman of the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board. (Facebook)

By Rick Conrad

The chairwoman of the Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board is out and a new chairman is in.

Groups getting ready for hearings into a proposed fish farm expansion in Liverpool Bay got a surprise this week when they were told chairwoman Jean McKenna is no longer on the board, and that hearings set for March 4 to 8 in Liverpool are cancelled.

Her replacement is Tim Cranston, who was appointed to the board on Feb. 16, 2023, and who ran for the Progressive Conservatives in the last provincial election.

Cranston is a lawyer with 20-plus years’ experience for two marine biotech companies, according to his biography on the review board’s website. He also owned and operated two rockweed leases during that time. And he was the co-founder of Natural Ocean Products.

As a candidate for the Tories in Halifax Atlantic, he lost to Liberal MLA Brendan Maguire.

(Nova Scotia PC Party Facebook page)

Cranston was appointed to the review board for a three-year term by then Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Steve Craig.

Former chairwoman McKenna had been reappointed member and chairwoman at the same time as Cranston. But according to the list of recent appointments to agencies, boards and commissions as of Feb. 16, 2023, her term expired on Feb. 15, 2024. McKenna is still listed as the chairwoman of the Nova Scotia Police Review Board.

Jamie Simpson with Juniper Law represents one of the intervenors, 22 Lobster Fishermen of Liverpool Bay. Simpson said he received a “high priority” email on Tuesday from the board’s clerk telling him that the March hearing dates were cancelled and that McKenna was no longer on the board.

“Certainly, it came out of the blue and at a fairly late stage of planning for this hearing. From my experience, I’ve certainly never seen or heard of a decision maker being switched right where we’re in mid-stride here just getting ready to go into the first scheduled portion of the hearing coming up in early March just a couple of weeks away here. So it was quite surprising, that’s for sure.” 

Simpson said the board gave no reason. The board had also set aside April 2 to 5 for the hearing at the Best Western Plus in Liverpool. Simpson said those dates still stand.

“It’s no small feat to get several days in a row scheduled among all the diverse parties here, so it’s a challenge. So when they had the March dates nailed down it was an accomplishment and to see them cancelled, it’s a shock. But I can only guess that that has to do with the new chair needing time to get up to speed.”  

Kelly Cove Salmon, which is owned by Cooke Aquaculture, applied to the board in 2019 for an expansion of their fish farm operation in Liverpool Bay. 

Kelly Cove wants to increase its farm near Coffin Island to 20 pens from 14 and to include trout as well as salmon. It also wants to set up 40 pens at two new sites off Brooklyn and Mersey Point. 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.

Joel Richardson, spokesman for Cooke Aquaculture, said Wednesday he was waiting for more information from the board.

“I’m really not offering any additional comment on it. We’ll have our communication with them and we’ll go from there.”

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston came out against the project at an event organized by the South Queens Chamber of Commerce in Liverpool on Feb. 7. 

“I think some areas are great for aquaculture and I think that some others are maybe not the best place for it.

“On this specific question on Liverpool Bay, … I personally don’t think Liverpool Bay is a suitable place for it. That’s my personal opinion. I respect the process, the independent review board will do their process and will have hearings. They’ll do their thing. But my personal opinion is I don’t think Liverpool Bay is a suitable place for it.”

Queens MLA Kim Masland, who is also Nova Scotia’s public works minister, has spoken against the expansion since she was an Opposition MLA. She also repeated her stand against it at the same event.

Masland submitted a letter to the review board, but it was rejected because it said that it had to be free of the “appearance of any possible influence” by elected officials.

QCCR asked the review board for comment on the delay and on McKenna’s status.

In an email, board clerk Stacy Bruce referred questions about board appointments to the minister of fisheries and aquaculture.

“Information about the upcoming public hearing in Liverpool on applications by Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd. Is posted on the Board’s website,” he wrote. 

Bruce said new hearing dates would be posted on the board’s website when they’re available.

A spokesperson for Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Kent Smith could not be reached Wednesday.

Lawyer Jamie Simpson says that despite the “bizarre” turn of events, he and his clients continue to prepare for the hearings.

“Looking forward to representing the interests of the lobster fishermen with respect to the potential impact of this massive aquaculture site on their livelihoods and also the ability it would have to navigate safely through Liverpool Bay.” 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Listen to an audio version of this story below

Roswall Met tower measuring wind speeds at the proposed wind farm site in Milton. Photo Roswall Development

By Rick Conrad

Queens County residents will get their say on a wind farm project planned for Milton.

The Region of Queens plans to sign a development agreement with Roswall Development Inc., the owners of Mersey River Wind. The company would build 33 wind turbines on about 80 hectares of Crown land near the Mersey River.

The company plans to lease the land from the Nova Scotia government. Under the municipality’s land use bylaw, large-scale wind farms are not automatically allowed on the land as it’s currently zoned.

Councillors voted this week to move ahead with the agreement. As part of the process, though, a public hearing must be held before anything is signed.

That hearing is scheduled for March 12 at 9 a.m. in council chambers at 249 White Point Rd.

Mayor Darlene Norman says that while she hasn’t heard much opposition to the project since 2022, it’s important for the public to have their say on the project and the development agreement.

“It gives the region the ability to do some controls and then a development agreement requires a public hearing, so the public has a right to comment on that agreement.

“Anyone can go and present their opinion.”

If they can’t attend the meeting, they can also send written comments to the region.

The company held two public consultations in Milton in 2022, attended by more than 50 residents. It also met with about 40 members of the local indigenous community in February 2023. 

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

The owner of 90 Common St. in Liverpool has been ordered to demolish the buildings and clean up the property. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

A rundown Liverpool property that has been the subject of numerous complaints since 2009 will be torn down in the next 30 days.

Queens regional councillors voted on Tuesday to issue a demolition order to the owner of 90 Common St. in Liverpool.

The property used to be known as the Wesleyan Church. In 2009, Chris Currie and a friend bought the property. Currie is now the sole owner.

Neighbours had lodged many complaints over the years with Queens bylaw enforcement officers, saying the property is dangerous and unsightly.

Bylaw enforcement officer Jason Hartung told councillors Tuesday that since 2009, neighbours have continued to file complaints and the property has continued to deteriorate. He recommended that council declare it dangerous and unsightly and issue an order for the owner within 30 days to demolish the main building and an out building, and clean up all construction and demolition materials and all other miscellaneous debris like glass, metals, shingles and plastics.

If the owner doesn’t comply, the municipality may do the work and bill him for it.

“It appears to be collapsing in on itself and it presents a clear and present danger to the public,” Hartung said. “The owner has had numerous years to address these concerns.”

Queens bylaw enforcement officers say 90 Common St. in Liverpool ‘is a possible threat to public safety’. (Rick Conrad photo)

The owner told bylaw enforcement in 2015 that he would tear down the property, but that never happened. Hartung said Currie complied with several requests to clean up the property, but the building continued to deteriorate.

In 2017, a fire inside the structure damaged it further. Despite the property being mostly boarded up, people were breaking in and vandalizing it. Even the RCMP contacted the municipality with concerns about their officers’ safety, Hartung said.

In April 2020, the region’s building inspector recommended it be demolished as soon as possible.

Currie told the municipality in May 2021 that he would demolish the building and build a new rental property on the land. Hartung said that when that didn’t happen, Currie blamed Covid lockdowns.

Hartung said municipal staff gave him more time to fix the problems. In May 2023, bylaw enforcement again inspected and found that the property was still dangerous and unsightly. In December, they received yet another complaint about dangerous conditions on the property and saw that an exterior wall at the back of the building had collapsed. Parts of the roof were also caved in.

Hartung said Currie has said he would apply for various permits to develop the property over the years or promised to demolish it, but never followed through. 

“This property can no longer be secured,” he said. “The building is a possible threat to public safety.”

Currie’s wife Karen Gilmour asked councillors Tuesday to give him more time. She said he plans to build a three-unit affordable rental on the property. She said he couldn’t be there because he was away working.

She asked them to extend the 30-day demolition order to 90 to 120 days to give Currie time to fix it up and secure funding for the affordable housing project.

“There have been numerous times where he’s tried to do something with that property,” she said in an interview after the meeting. 

“He’s just a private landowner. He bought a building that was in disrepair, was hoping to do something with it and … it hasn’t really worked out. He’s done the best that he could to ensure that he was complying with bylaw enforcement in terms of cleanup and covering up graffiti.”

District 2 Coun. Ralph Gidney said that while he sympathizes with what Gilmour told councillors, he said it’s obvious the buildings can no longer stand.

“With everything that’s transpired in the last nine years (since 2015), I can’t see holding this off any longer. But history is repeating itself here. And I think we’d better do something now.”

Gilmour said her husband will go ahead with his plan to develop affordable housing on the site.

“It’s only been in recent weeks that we’ve been able to explore the options available for affordable housing, which this community is in desperate need of. I was really hoping that council would consider that. And it’s a little bit disappointing that that didn’t even get discussed.

“It’s quite a viable project. … It’s just unfortunate that we’re not going to be given the additional time needed to secure the property.”

Mayor Darlene Norman said council is always hesitant to issue a demolition order. But it’s been 14 years and “it is a huge concern to people in the community.

“I do believe the owners are responsible people and they will work with staff to get that building down and get the place cleaned up within 30 days of the date of the order.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Region of Queens Municipality administration building. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

Residents in Liverpool and parts of Brooklyn should brace for water rate hikes but not right away, Mayor Darlene Norman said Tuesday.

 “Please be prepared for a water utility rate study and a very probable increase in water utility rates,” Norman said in an interview.

Regional council got a better picture on Tuesday of the budget impact of the boil water advisory for Queens water utility customers from Aug. 9 to Oct. 5 last year.

The municipality had already budgeted last spring for a loss of $173,700 for the water utility. The treatment station was struck by lightning on Aug. 9. Residents on the municipal water supply were under a boil water order for eight weeks.

Joanne Veinotte, director of corporate services for the Region of Queens, gave councillors a third-quarter financial review on Tuesday. As of Dec. 31, the water utility has run an extra $252,655 over budget, or $426,355 so far. 

Norman said Queens water customers pay some of the lowest rates in the province. The utility must pay for itself and not run a deficit.

Before any rate increase, however, the utility has to prepare a rate study. The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board would have to approve any fee hike. 

Norman said she has no timeline for when that review may be done. She said council does not have the money in its current budget for the rate study. 

“The system is old, early 1900s. So it constantly needs repair and upgrading.

“It may well be the next council coming in in October that will be looking at the results of that study.”

Veinotte told councillors Tuesday that the region will be reimbursed for $82,000 from its insurance provider for the damage caused by the August lightning strike. 

“At the end of the day that claim is now finalized but we’re still dealing with some of the fallout from the lightning strike,” Veinotte told councillors.

In other positive financial news for the region, revenue from the 2.5 per cent deed transfer tax was again over budget for the third quarter.

Veinotte said the region brought in about $220,000 more than expected from the tax in the quarter and the region is expected to exceed its projection for the deed transfer tax by about 58 per cent for the whole fiscal year.

The region also got a higher-than-expected share of the Nova Scotia Power tax payout from the province of about $132,000.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Some Nova Scotians will be able to access their medical records via the YourHealthNS app. (Communications Nova Scotia photo)

By Rick Conrad

Patients at Queens Family Health in Liverpool will be providing valuable input to Nova Scotia Health over the next few weeks as part of a group of people around the province with early access to their health records on the YourHealthNS app.

About 3,700 patients of the clinic can sign up and see their doctor and ER visits, medications, test results and immunization record. They must have a valid Nova Scotia health card and be 16 or over.

It’s part of a pilot project involving the Queens clinic and three others around the province to give Nova Scotians easier access to their health records. In total, about 12,000 people are eligible to participate. The other clinics are in New Waterford, Westville and Greenwood.

Nova Scotia Health will be sending out letters to the eligible patients at Queens Family Health. But people can start using the app now.

Dr. Ashley Miller, the chief medical information officer with Nova Scotia Health and IWK Health, says it can be costly or cumbersome now for patients to get access to their own records. 

“So I think people are really appreciative of having a single source of truthful information related to health care, but they’re very much wanting to access their own health data,” she said in a recent interview.

“And I see this in my own patient population all the time. It’s very valuable to have access to your own information so that you can appropriately self advocate but also so that you can do research on your own. You can consult your own network of friends, colleagues, family to make decisions about your own health.”

Miller says officials wanted diversity in demographics and geography for the pilot. 

“We were looking for clinics who were early adopters, people who understand the importance and potential of digital transformation in enhancing the experience of Nova Scotians. So it was a combination of working with the willing but also looking to have a representative sample so we could really learn from this pilot experience and inform our next steps.”

Queens Family Health has five family physicians and one nurse practitioner. Miller said they were also looking for clinics who would give regular feedback and evaluate how care was affected by using the app.

One of the goals is to cut down on unnecessary visits to the doctor’s office to get test results. They’re already getting feedback from around the province.

“Twenty-nine per cent of people who answered this survey so far said yes that in fact it actually prevented the need for a visit. So in a health care system where we know the demand exceeds the capacity currently, the potential for patients to gain access to care without needing to book an appointment with a provider is really appealing.”

Miller says that within the first day of the project’s launch last week, more than 700 lab and diagnostic records were accessed.

As for privacy, Miller says she understands if some patients are hesitant.

“One of the benefits of this application is that none of the personal health information is stored in the actual application itself.”

And she says people don’t have to participate or use the app if they’re unsure. If you do, however, you can opt out at any time.

Scott McKenna, Nova Scotia Health’s chief information officer, says they’ve put privacy and security “front and centre”. 

“One of the principles of this is that we would rather miss one of your health records than serve you up incorrect health records,” he said in an interview.

“We’ve done a lot of matching with a high level of confidence across multiple fields to make sure that record’s confidence before we serve it up. And we may even hold back on your health records becasue we weren’t sure.”

Miller says she’s also not concerned about people diagnosing themselves instead of visiting their doctor. In fact, she says, research has shown that it’s better to give patients more control over their information. 

“Patients are better able to interpret their own health care experience and their medications and their treatment as well as advocate for themselves when they have access to their data.”

Miller says she encourages patients in the pilot project to give feedback on the app.

If you’re a patient at Queens Family Health, let us know about your experience with the app. Email us at rickconradqccr@gmail.com or cjqcradio@gmail.com.   

Jerri Southcott took over this week as executive director of the Astor Theatre in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

The Astor Theatre in Liverpool got more than a new executive director this week. It also got a new dog.

Jerri Southcott took over on Feb. 5 from interim executive director Jean Robinson.

And she’s already made one big change.

Macduff, her laidback nine-year-old Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever, will be keeping her company as she leads the Astor.

Southcott isn’t worried about the old W.C. Fields warning against working with children or animals.

“He takes that saying and spins it to the positive for sure. He’ll definitely steal the show.”

Macduff and Southcott are no strangers to the stage. He made an appearance in the musical Pippin last summer at the theatre, which Southcott brought to the Astor with her own theatre company, South Shore Summer Theatre.

Macduff at the Astor Theatre. His mom, Jerri Southcott, took over as executive director. (Jerri Southcott photo)

The Astor announced in January that it had hired Southcott, who lives in Mahone Bay with Macduff and her husband Dave Stephens.  

In her first week on the job, she says she’s been busy getting to know the theatre, its staff members Ashley-Rose Goodwin, Katy Hopkins and Malcolm Freeman and the community.

She’s already impressed.

“We’re really blessed to have Ashley and Malcolm and Katy here who are so incredibly skilled,” she said in an interview.

“I just observed over the past few days how wonderful the people are in this community and how much they adore this theatre and so I feel very fortunate.”

She says she doesn’t plan any big changes, because she knows what it’s like to balance a tight budget for a charitable organization like the Astor.

“I learned a lot when I started South Shore Summer Theatre. But it really helped me especially with this job understand the accountability you need as a non-profit, understanding the balance of providing an opportunity for professional training at no cost to the community, especially youth, and how you balance that cheque book.”

She says the key will be continuing the work the Astor has done in the past couple of years to bring people back to the theatre after the pandemic.

With homegrown productions like the musical Follies, opening Feb. 22, she says it’s an exciting time to be here.

“I’m coming at a really great time because we have Follies opening on Feb. 22 and it’s going to be a great show. But it’s also given me an opportunity to meet some really interesting characters who come through the doors and really take ownership of the building adn the theater. They are so giving and generous with their time, often their money. We’re very blessed to have such a great hub of the community here with this theatre.”

Southcott says it’s her priority to get to know the community and what they want from the Astor. It’s important to keep people coming back to the theatre, she says, whether that’s for great entertainment or by offering more training and workshops for youth, regardless of their financial background.

“This has always been a really strong passion of mine to make theatre, dance, music accessible to families who don’t have the money to pay for expensive music lessons … or private dance classes.”

With her background in government communications, Southcott says she is optimistic that the Astor can become the theatre destination for the whole South Shore.

“How do we get that message out there and how do we continue to let people know we’re here? When you look at the big picture, on the South Shore we are the biggest theatre. We have the potential for Bridgewater, Mahone Bay, Lunenburg to take ownership of this as their theatre on the South Shore because there isn’t a venue as big anywhere in the area. So I think that the future looks really bright.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool is on restricted hours until next week. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be on restricted hours until next Wednesday (Feb. 14).

It will be open most days this week from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. It will be open all day Thursday (Feb. 8) at 8 a.m. It will be closed at 1:30 p.m. Friday, all of Saturday, and reopen Sunday at 8 a.m.

Here is when the ER will be closed this week, according to Nova Scotia Health:

• from 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6 and reopens Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 8 a.m.
• from 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7 and reopens Thursday. Feb. 8 at 8 a.m.
• from 1:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9 and reopens Sunday, Feb. 11 at 8 a.m.
• from 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11 and reopens Monday, Feb. 12 at 8 a.m.
• from 1:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12 and reopens Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 8 a.m.
• from 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13 and reopens Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 8 a.m.

For more information on emergency department hours, visit https://www.nshealth.ca/emergency-care .

The ER at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will be open.

Patients of Queens Family Health can call 902-354-3322 for same-day treatment for certain conditions.

According to the latest numbers from Nova Scotia Health, as of January, 1,113 people in Queens County were still looking for a family doctor or nurse practitioner. That’s about 10 per cent of the population.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Melanie Perron, co-owner of Hell Bay Brewing in Liverpool, says she hopes summer 2024 is better than the 2023 season. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

Fires, floods and downpours combined last year to keep visitors away from the South Shore, according to numbers released recently by Tourism Nova Scotia.

Hotel stays, or room nights sold, for the May to October 2023 period were down about five per cent over 2022. That compares to an overall decrease of two per cent in all of Nova Scotia. The only regions that saw more people in 2023 were the Eastern Shore and the Annapolis Valley.

The South Shore was one of the hardest hit areas of the province. Yarmouth and Acadian Shores saw the biggest drop at six per cent over 2022.

Stephanie Miller Vincent, co-ordinator of the South Shore Tourism Co-operative, says the wildfires in Barrington and Shelburne, and torrential rains and floods later in the summer conspired to keep people away from the South Shore.

“We had an odd beginning to our peak season in 2023,” she said in an interview. “We had fires in the Barrington area that shut down (Highway) 103 so folks weren’t travelling this coast. So that affected numbers.

“2023 numbers are tough to look at because we’re looking at numbers that are coming the year following a couple of years of pent-up travel demand.”

The numbers aren’t really surprising to businesses and organizations in Queens County that rely on summer tourist traffic to help float them through the rest of the year.

Melanie Perron, the co-owner of Hell Bay Brewing Company in Liverpool, says she saw a lot fewer visitors from the Maritimes last year.

“We rely so much on our patio season to bring in tourism and people from the city and other places,” Perron says.

“And it seemed like it rained every weekend so those would have been when we would have had a surplus of people coming and enjoying our beaches and our parks and then coming and stopping and having a flight (of beer) or getting beer to go. So I found our numbers were way down because of the weather.”

At the Queens County Museum, which relies partly on donations from tourists, visitor numbers dropped by more than 3,000 across its four properties over 2022. Besides the main museum, Perkins House, Fort Point Lighthouse and the Queens Museum of Justice are also part of the museum complex.

Dayle Crouse, the museum’s administrative assistant, said that despite a spike in visitors in 2022 when people were doing more post-Covid travelling, the numbers still haven’t recovered to 2019 levels.

“We found that after Covid and everybody had a little bit of freedom they really spiked and everybody was spending their dollars and going out. But then I think the next year, people really started to rein in their dollars and numbers have dropped.”

Crouse says a combination of rising gas prices, bad weather and news coverage of the wildfires contributed to the decrease.

Miller Vincent says that while tourists from outside the Maritimes tend to book their vacations six months to a year in advance, those closer to home are more spontaneous.

“As Atlantic Canadians and Maritimers we look on Wednesday and say, ‘OK, what’s the weather this weekend? Should I go or should I stay?’ And if it’s calling for rain, you’ll see those accommodation numbers not pick up where they need to be.”

Perron says she hopes 2024 brings brighter weather and more people back to the area’s beaches and the brewery’s patio.

“We usually bank on the summer to get through the winter. So our summer was so dismal that we’re just scraping by to get through the winter and hopefully we’ll have a nice sunny hot summer to bring out all the beer drinkers.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Queens General Hospital. Photo Ed Halverson

UPDATED

By Rick Conrad

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital will be closed at 1:30 p.m. Friday for the whole weekend and reopen Monday at 8 a.m.

Earlier Thursday, Nova Scotia Health said the ER would be closed from Thursday morning (Feb. 1) and reopen Friday morning before closing again Friday afternoon for the whole weekend.

But in an advisory sent after 5 p.m., it amended the ER’s hours, saying it reopened at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Nova Scotia Health did not give a reason for the temporary closure. The emergency department at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater will remain open.

The ER at Queens General was closed for part or all of the day for 13 days in November, 15 in December and 15 in January. A Nova Scotia Health official told QCCR in January that staffing is the main reason.

The ER at Roseway Hospital in Shelburne is also open.

Patients of Queens Family Health can call for same-day appointments for certain conditions at 902-354-3322.

If you’re still waiting to be assigned a doctor or nurse practitioner, Nova Scotia Health says you can also access VirtualCareNS.

The Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Line is also available any time by calling 1-888-429-8167.

For information on when emergency rooms are open, visit nshealth.ca/emergency-care.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Lorna MacPherson, vice-president of the Liverpool Curling Club. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

The Liverpool Curling Club will be hosting some of the best curlers in Nova Scotia starting on Thursday.

The provincial mixed doubles championship will be held from Feb. 1 to 4 at the club in downtown Liverpool. Twelve teams will be competing to represent Nova Scotia at the Canadian championships in Fredericton from March 17 to 22.

Club vice-president Lorna MacPherson says it’s a great chance to see some high-level curling.

“The games are approximately an hour and a half in length and they’re fun to watch because it’s fast curling. It makes it really fun for spectators to watch the games.”

Canada won the first ever mixed doubles curling Olympic gold medal in the sport’s debut at the 2018 games in South Korea.

“It has created quite a following and it’s becoming more and more popular.”

MacPherson, who is co-chairing the event with Cheryl Innes, says they hosted it last year with nine teams competing. This year’s 12 teams also include hometown duo Matt Sheffield and Megan Trimm, who will be representing the Liverpool Curling Club.

The mixed doubles championship is free. People can just drop in for any of the games or practices beginning Thursday morning at 9:30. 

“So our kitchen will be open for breakfast and for lunches and we welcome anybody from the community to come in and join us,” MacPherson says. “It’s certainly going to be fun curling to watch but we also are going to have great food to enjoy and I think they’ll find that it will be very warm hospitality at the curling club.”

All four of the rink’s ice sheets will be in play. There will be two draws on Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.. And three on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

“We welcome the community. We want people to come in, and feel free to ask questions if they don’t understand what’s happening. It’s an opportunity for people in our community to see some fun curling, but also these are competitors, they’re athletes, they want to win and so there’s the combination of the competitiveness but in an environment that everybody can enjoy.”

Full details, including a schedule, will be posted on the Liverpool Curling Club’s Facebook page, and updated through the event.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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Queens County’s first snowstorm of 2024 closed schools Monday. Some organizations and businesses closed or delayed opening. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

Queens County got a snow day on Monday, as the first snowstorm of 2024 hit the region.

Schools were closed and some businesses and organizations either had delayed openings or closed for the day.

Environment Canada ended its snowfall warning for Liverpool at just after 10:30 a.m. It predicted snowfall amounts of 15 to 20 centimetres, with strong winds.

The South Shore Regional Centre for Education closed all schools Monday morning. Reynolds Pharmasave in Liverpool and the Queens County Museum closed for the day. Some other businesses and organizations remained open.

Environment Canada is predicting continued blowing snow in the afternoon and wind chill of up to -10 Celsius, with temperatures dropping further overnight.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

A paramedic takes a patient’s blood pressure. (Communications Nova Scotia photo)

The emergency department at Queens General Hospital in Liverpool will be closed from 1:30 p.m. on Friday (Jan. 26) to Saturday at 8 a.m.

It will close again on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and reopen Sunday at 8 a.m.

Patients of Queens Family Health can access the same-day clinic by calling 902-354-3322.

The emergency department at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater is open.