Queens MLA and newly appointed Minister of Natural Resources Kim Masland and Premier Tim Houston at the opening of the Steele Athletic Grounds in Liverpool earlier in October. (Rick Conrad)

Queens MLA Kim Masland says she was surprised to get the call to take over the natural resources portfolio, but she says she’s up to the challenge.

“It’s gonna be very busy, very, very busy and for me, my top priority always remains at home, that’s why I was elected. That’s why I ran was for the people of Queens County. It certainly is a privilege to bring their voices and perspectives to the table, but it’s gonna be busy.”

Masland was already the minister of emergency management when Premier Tim Houston announced a cabinet shuffle Tuesday that moved Tory Rushton out of the job and Masland in. Two other longtime cabinet ministers were also dropped from the government’s inner circle.

It’s been less than a year since the province created the standalone Department of Emergency Management. And Masland says she’s been doing a lot of work to get that up and running.

“I have a tremendous amount on my plate right now in building this new department and I know how important resource development is to our premier and to our province so it’s a big lift for me but I know we’ll get there together. Obviously I consider it a privilege, especially considering one of my first mentors through politics was John Leefe, and he once held this portfolio.”

She said she didn’t consider turning down the chance to lead a second department.

“I do like a challenge. I have an extremely strong work ethic, as most people know at home. You know, I’ll give it everything I have like I do with everything that I take on in life, while trying to also find a bit of a balance for family and my friends, but this certainly is gonna be a challenge, but I’m up to it.”

Masland would not say whether the direction of Natural Resources will change with her as minister. 

Houston says he wants to make Nova Scotia an “energy superpower” and that the cabinet shuffle will help his government “stay focused on energy and resource development”.

Masland is stepping into Natural Resources at a controversial time.

The Toronto golf course developer behind Cabot Cape Breton wants to take over part of West Mabou Beach Provincial Park.

Former minister Rushton confirmed in early October that department officials and the company would “have a conversation” about the protected public land.

Local residents are fighting any attempt to allow the developer to use any part of the park.

Masland had her first briefings as natural resources minister on Thursday. She says it’s too early for her to comment on the issue.

“I’ve been a minister for a hot minute, so I will be briefed this afternoon,” she said.

“I’m coming in with an open mind. I’m going to listen to the department. I will listen to Nova Scotians and my decision will be made from that, but we need to be looking at development of our natural resources and doing them in an environmentally sustainable way. We’ve said no for way too long and it’s time to start looking at how we can ensure that our province is prosperous, and that people can have a good quality of life and earn a good living in our province.”

She says Rushton and she are close, and she’ll rely on him for advice as she learns the Natural Resources portfolio.

“I consider him one of my brothers. Tory has been in this department since the beginning and he has given it everything he has and he is highly respected in the industry. I have some huge, huge shoes, or I’ll say work boots, to fill in minister Rushton, but he is there to support me and to assist me going forward.”

Masland says that even with leading two departments, her focus will still be on Queens County.

“I am a very, very strong constituency MLA. I believe that the MLA needs to be in the constituency and needs to be talking with their constituents so I’m gonna work very very hard to make sure that I maintain that balance. They are my priority above anyone else, but I know I’ve put my entire life to the side to represent the people of Queens and it’s something that humbles me every day and I’m tremendously proud to represent those people, my friends, my neighbors, my family I love Queens County so that’ll be a focus for me to continue.”

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Kim Masland is Nova Scotia’s new minister of natural resources. (Rick Conrad/File)

Queens MLA Kim Masland will be taking on a bigger role in the Nova Scotia government.

Premier Tim Houston announced Tuesday that Masland, who is already minister of emergency management, will add Natural Resources to her duties.

Masland had served as minister of public works and Government House Leader in the Houston government’s first term in office. When they were re-elected last November, she was moved to Emergency Management.

Masland takes over the Department of Natural Resources from Tory Rushton, who was bumped from cabinet in Tuesday’s shuffle.

Houston himself will take over the Energy portfolio from Trevor Boudreau, who is also out of cabinet.

“I want to turn Nova Scotia into an energy superpower,” Houston said in a news release. 

“Responsible resource development will power our economy for generations, combat poverty and help Nova Scotians earn more money.”

Becky Druhan is the other Tory MLA out of cabinet. She has been replaced as justice minister by Scott Armstrong.

Masland takes over Natural Resources at a time when the department is under increasing scrutiny for its discussions with Cape Breton golf course developer Cabot Links and Cliffs and its bid for part of West Mabou Beach Provincial Park.

Masland’s cabinet colleague Barbara Adams will also add to her portfolios. She will become minister of opportunities and social development in addition to her roles as deputy premier and minister of seniors and long-term care.

Masland has been a longtime supporter of Houston, backing him in his bid for the party leadership in 2017-18. At an event in Liverpool last week, both Masland and Houston talked about their friendship, and Houston praised Masland for her work as minister and MLA.

Two other Progressive Conservative MLAs will join cabinet for the first time. John A. MacDonald will take over Municipal Affairs, while John White will become minister of housing.

The new cabinet will be sworn in later Tuesday afternoon in a ceremony closed to media.

Region of Queens Coun. Stewart Jenkins, Queens MLA Kim Masland and Greenfield and District Fire Chief Moyal Conrad at a funding announcement Monday about improvements at the fire hall. (Rick Conrad)

The Greenfield and District Fire Department will get much-needed improvements to its fire hall, with $600,000 in provincial funding announced Monday by Queens MLA and Emergency Management Minister Kim Masland.

“This funding will help ensure that the people who protect this area have the space and the infrastructure that they need,” Masland said at an event at the hall.

The support was part of almost $800,000 Masland announced for projects in Queens County at the Greenfield fire hall.

The Greenfield department is planning a $1.1- to $1.3-million renovation and expansion to its fire hall and emergency bays.

The work will ensure that the bays are the correct size for modern fire trucks. It will also create a dedicated bay for its rescue truck. Now, firefighters have to spend extra time driving a fire truck out of the bay to access the rescue truck.

The whole building is also getting a facelift, with new steel siding and other exterior improvements.

Renovations to the fire hall will make it even more useful as a community hall and a registered comfort centre.

Along with additional, expanded and accessible washrooms and separate shower rooms, the kitchen is getting a major facelift. At the fire hall’s popular fundraising breakfasts, volunteers can serve up to 300 people. With a new commercial kitchen, they will be able to serve more than 100 people an hour.

Chief Moyal Conrad told QCCR it will be the first time in 35 years that the fire hall has had significant work done.

“This will mean for us as a fire department it’s going to make my firemen safer, be able to respond faster and hopefully put a little more pride into their community with a new structure and all this gear potentially we could get out of this grant.”

The provincial contribution is on top of $200,000 from the Region of Queens Municipality and about $125,000 from the fire department’s own fundraising efforts.

Conrad said the department will raise the rest of the money.

Stewart Jenkins, a local business owner and municipal councillor for the area, is acting as the project manager for the hall overhaul.

He said the work will begin in a couple of weeks and be mostly finished by Christmas and likely wrapped up by April.

Jenkins said the work is vital to ensure the fire hall can continue to support the community. 

“It’s an important factor that we get the trucks out of the bays faster and especially the specific trucks that need to go can go immediately. And as far as the hall imporvements, it’s to become a centre for people if they need it. If there are power outages or whatnot, they can stay close to home and still get fed and showered and taken care of.”

Masland also announced $187,143.35 in funding from the province on Monday for groups maintaining trails in Queens.

The Queens Rails to Trails Association will get $144,345 for work on the Hunts Point Trail, including brushing, ditching, resurfacing and culvert replacement. The group will also get a total of $25,034 in an annual maintenance grant to look after various trails in Queens.

The Queens County ATV Association is receiving $17,763.75 for development of the new Deep Brook Trail, which will stretch from Highway 8 to River Road in Milton. 

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Queens MLA Kim Masland announced funding for six groups in Queens County on Thursday. (Rick Conrad / File photo)

Businesses and community groups in Queens County will get almost $80,000 in provincial funding.

Queens MLA Kim Masland announced the funding on Thursday from the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage for six different organizations.

The funding ranges from $25,834 to Rosefinch Mercantile in Port Medway for an accessible path and wheelchair lift to $4,250 to Mersey River Chalets in Caledonia for upgrades to the roll-in shower.

“These investments are making Queens a more accessible and vibrant place to connect,” Queens MLA Kim Masland said in a news release.

“By investing in restorations and accessibility infrastructure, we’re ensuring our community spaces are inclusive and full of life, bringing people together across our region.”

The projects are supported by a series of programs from the department, which provide grants to improve accessibility, upgrade community infrastructure and promote recreation.

Here’s how the $78,624 in funding was divided among the groups:

• Rosefinch Creative Inc., Port Medway: $25,834 for an accessible path and wheelchair lift.
• Region of Queens Municipality: $25,000 for accessible railings and upgrades to the compressor panel and sound system at Queens Place Emera Centre.
• Little Red South West School House Society, South West Port Mouton: $12,540 for the restoration of the historic schoolhouse.
• Pleasant River Community Hall Society: $6,000 for heat pumps, the stage, and replacing a ramp.
• North Queens Board of Trade, Caledonia: $5,000 for a new entry to Caledonia Park.
• Mersey River Chalets, Caledonia: $4,250 for upgrades to the roll-in shower.

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Road crews were working on the Mount Pleasant Road repaving on Thursday in Brooklyn. (Rick Conrad)

It’s that time of year again. The sounds of trucks and heavy machinery along with the smells of freshly laid asphalt will be popping up around Queens County as road work season gets underway.

Public Works Minister and Queens MLA Kim Masland said Thursday that more than $20 million is being spent this summer and fall on sprucing up roads and bridges around the county.

It’s part of the $583 million the government is setting aside for road and bridge work around the province this year.

“We have been very successful in advocating for some roads. But also, we have some very poor quality roads here,” Masland said.

“We are certainly getting our fair share (of work) this year. It seems like there’s never enough money to do all of the road work. But I certainly feel as MLA and certainly as minister that we’re playing catchup on some of these roads.”

Masland said that many roads in Queens County appeared to have been neglected when the Tim Houston government took over in 2021.

“I’m really happy with the work we’ve been able to do since becoming government.”

Some of that work has already begun. The 1.6-kilometre stretch of Mount Pleasant Road in Brooklyn is being repaved. That counts for about $1 million.

“That’s needed some work for a while. That’s one of the roads I really advocated for,” Masland says.

Queens MLA Kim Masland. (Rick Conrad photo)

About $8 million will be spent on ongoing work to replace the Pleasant River Bridge in North Queens.

And the long-rumoured repaving project for the Brooklyn Shore Road is slated to begin this summer, Masland says. That’s 5.5 kilometres at a cost of about $3 million from Brooklyn Wharf Road to Eastern Shore Road. 

Known locally as the “shore road”, it’s the scenic route to the popular Beach Meadows Beach.

“That will be done this summer. Very, very bad road. When you drive that, you’re literally having to go over on the opposite side of the road.

“With the Brooklyn Shore Road, it has deteriorated very badly and it’s a safety issue now, so that’s why they have brought that forward as a candidate to be repaved.”

Masland says officials from her department are always driving and inspecting roads and bridges in their areas. She says that as MLA and as minister, she also nominates projects after hearing from constituents.

“The public are the ones that really drive concerns. I actually go drive many of these roads myself. If somebody calls me with a complaint about a road, I go and drive that road myself.”

The province released its five-year highway improvement plan last December. 

Masland said the gravel road work budget this year is about $55 million, more than double what it was in 2021. And the province has also increased the bridge rehabilitation budget to $60 million. And her department is devoting $22 million toward the rural impact mitigation fund, which handles things like pavement patching and brush cutting.

“So it shows you the costs of doing these projects. They are not cheap. So to try to manage people’s expectations is certainly very difficult. Everybody’s road that they travel on is the most important. And that’s what makes it very difficult. … If I could pave everyone’s road, I would certainly pave everyone’s road because i understand that the road you travel on is the one that’s important to you.

“But there’s just not enough money to pave every road.”

She said she’s also happy to see the ongoing Highway 103 twinning project, which now reaches from Halifax to Hubbards. 

“Many people from Queens certainly travel the 103 to Halifax for medical appointments, school. It just blows my mind the amount of close collisions that almost happen every day. Twinning does save lives. It is costly but you can’t put a price on a life. “

Masland says that although maintaining roads and bridges is expensive, she’s proud of the work her department is doing. 

“I’m just really glad where we are now. The team’s doing great work. Our maintenance supervisor is out there talking to people, thinking outside the box on how to resolve issues and to try to get work elevated, and Queens County should be very proud of that.”

List of road and bridge projects in Queens County this summer and fall:

• Brooklyn Shore Road, from Brooklyn Wharf Road to Eastern Shore Road
• Mount Pleasant Road, from Trunk 3 to Brooklyn Shore Road
• Reinstating two segments of retaining wall along Shore Road
• Old Port Mouton Road: from Highway 103 Exit 20A to end of service
• Old Westfield Road: from Trunk 8 easterly
• Carters Beach Road and parking lot upgrades
• East Port L’Hebert road repaving
• Albany New Road, rebuilding gravel road
• Trunk 3: from Broad River Road easterly to White Point Road
• New Grafton Road: from Trunk 8 southerly
• Pleasant River Bridge, Route 208

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Nova Scotia Public Works Minister and Queens MLA Kim Masland with Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman at a funding announcement at the region’s offices on April 15. (Rick Conrad)

Queens MLA Kim Masland will be at Queens Place Emera Centre on Friday at 1 p.m. to announce money for community recreation infrastructure.

Masland, who is also Nova Scotia’s public works minister, is making the announcement on behalf of Allan MacMaster, the minister of communities, culture, tourism and heritage.

No other details were provided in a news release on Thursday afternoon. Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman will also be at the event.

This will be the second significant funding announcement for Queens County in the past two weeks.

Last Monday, Masland announced $10.7 million in funding for water and sewer upgrades for the region. The municipality is pitching in $10.8 million. The $21.5-million project will extend water and wastewater services to the Mount Pleasant area of Liverpool. That money will also help improve existing water and sewer services to more than 1,200 homes and businesses in the area, and help enhance the amount of water available for firefighting efforts.

That project paved the way for two new private housing developments on more than 60 acres of land. About 325 new housing units will be built for up to 1,200 people.

QCCR will be at the announcement on Friday.

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and Queens MLA Kim Masland will be speaking at a luncheon in Liverpool on Feb. 7. (Tim Houston Facebook page)

By Rick Conrad

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and Queens MLA Kim Masland will be speaking at a luncheon organized by the South Queens Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 7.

The two-hour event is being held at the Best Western Plus in Liverpool. The chamber says it’s a “prime opportunity” for Queens County’s business leaders and others to talk with the two politicians about the area’s future.

Houston and Masland, who is also Nova Scotia’s minister of public works, will speak about rural economic development. In addition to the speeches, the event will feature success stories from local businesses.

Attendees will get to ask Houston and Masland questions in a Q&A session. The chamber wants questions submitted no later than Feb. 1 to secretary@southqueenschamber.com.

Tickets for the event are $30 plus tax and are available through Eventbrite or by following links through the South Queens Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Queens MLA Kim Masland. Photo Ed Halverson

By Rick Conrad

The Nova Scotia government is contributing more than $20,000 to physical activity projects in Queens County.

Queens MLA Kim Masland announced the $23,435 in funding for various initiatives in the Region of Queens. 

“The support for the Region of Queens Municipality is a great opportunity to encourage more active lifestyles across our community,” Masland said Thursday in a news release. 

“It’s encouraging to see such diverse initiatives being implemented, promoting health and wellness for all.”

The money comes from the Active Communities Fund, part of the Nova Scotia government’s strategy to boost physical activity in the province.

It will be up to the municipality to decide which programs receive the funding.

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Queens MLA Kim Masland. Photo Ed Halverson

The MLA for Queens has contracted COVID-19.

In a release issued Wednesday, Kim Masland confirms the diagnosis and says she is unsure how she may have picked it up.

Masland who is also minister of Public Works and House Leader, says she is fully vaccinated and is tested regularly, most recently on Remembrance Day.

She began to feel unwell Sunday and was tested Monday.

The Queens MLA was scheduled to attend the official opening of the new infant care centre at Queens Daycare Tuesday but cancelled as a precaution.

Masland received the positive test result Wednesday morning.

In her statement Masland says, “This shows how contagious this virus is and how important it is to be vaccinated and follow public health measures. I am not feeling well, but thankfully my symptoms are mild and I know that the vaccine is preventing me from becoming seriously ill.”

She expressed concerns for those with whom she has recently been in contact.

Masland says this is a reminder that COVID-19 is still with us and it is critical to continue to follow public health protocols.

She urged people to continue to get vaccinated and to stay home if they are feeling unwell.

Masland says she will continue to work with public health and requests privacy as she recovers.

Her office remains open to address constituent concerns.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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