HALIFAX: Bear Paw Corporation’s plan to construct a pipeline and related facilities to the proposed Bear Head LNG export facility located near Point Tupper was approved in a written decision by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.
However, the board imposed several conditions on the company. These included the adherence of the construction to all federal, provincial and municipal laws, the development of a safety and loss management system, the submission of all design and materials specifications relating to the pipeline, and the submission of all construction specifications and procedures relating to the pipeline.
Bear Paw and Bear Head strategic and regulatory affairs advisor Paul MacLean called the UARB approval a milestone for the project.
MONCTON: A Strait area man who served six years of jail time for his role in the death of two teens received parole.
The Parole Board of Canada made the decision this past summer in regards to William Lionel Edmund Fogarty, who was found guilty in mid-2013 on two counts of dangerous driving causing death and two counts of impaired driving by drugs causing death. The charges stemmed from a traffic collision in late 2011 on Highway 4 in Tracadie, which resulted in the deaths of Kory Mattie of Havre Boucher and Nicholas Landry of Tracadie.
In receiving six months of day parole, Fogarty was ordered to reside at a community-based residential facility, refrain from consuming drugs or alcohol, and avoid contact with the families of the victims. Fogarty will live with family members following the successful completion of his day parole.
PORT HAWKESBURY: Long-time general practitioner Dr. James Collins was reprimanded by the Nova Scotia College of Physicians and Surgeons (NSCPS) in relation to an incident in 2014 involving one of Collins’ patients.
The NSCPS found Collins failed to take an adequate history of a patient, failed to conduct an adequate physical examination or investigation of a patient with significant neurological complaints, and failed to adequately document his encounter with a patient.
As a result, Dr. Collins must complete a NSCPS-approved record-keeping course, be subject to a re-audit of his ER practice six months after completing the course with direction from the Physician Performance Department of the NSCPS, pay a contribution towards the NSCPS’s costs in the matter to reimburse the NSCPS for the cost of the audit and expert review, and pay a contribution towards the remaining costs of the investigation.
PORT HAWKESBURY: With multiple coyote sightings within and around the town limits this past summer, town officials and the provincial Department of Natural Resources (DNR) advised residents to avoid leaving food out that may tempt the animals and immediately report any coyotes by using a DNR Web site.
A mid-summer statement on Port Hawkesbury’s municipal Web site confirmed that “in recent days, there have been many coyote sightings in the Port Hawkesbury area.” The statement also confirmed that town officials had contacted DNR staff about the issue, and encouraged residents to report any such sightings to a Web site established by DNR officials.
While Michael Boudreau, the human wildlife conflict biologist for the DNR’s Wildlife Division, noted that reports filed with DNR had only spoken of one coyote appearing at any given time, he added that two common threads appeared to be sparking most coyote sightings in the Strait area and around the province – specifically, the animals’ desire to take cover from danger and the sudden availability of food.
PORT HAWKESBURY: Strait Area Transit reduced service to Richmond County, following the municipality’s refusal to contribute additional funds to the service in its municipal budget for the coming year.
Dial-A-Ride service was unavailable to residents in the St. Peter’s-L’Ardoise area effective August 2, as part of a reduction of SAT’s weekly Richmond County Dial-A-Ride service from 60 hours to 20 hours. SAT’s board of directors applied for the reduction in a request to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) a month earlier, and the UARB had not received any written or verbal opposition to the move as late July, paving the way for this week’s service reduction.
SAT continued to offer Dial-A-Ride service to customers in Isle Madame and along Route 4 through western Richmond County but, according to board chair Jim Mustard, the transit co-operative could not continue to service the county’s east end in light of the municipality’s rejection of SAT’s pitch to increase its annual funding share from a previous contribution of $37,666 to $79,980.
JUDIQUE: A former Inverness County Warden with a combined 16 years of municipal council experience passed away on August 4 at the age of 78.
A.J. MacDougall was laid to rest four days later in St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Parish Cemetery following a funeral Mass at the parish church that was conducted partly in Gaelic. A native Gaelic speaker who spent many years teaching the language and mentoring young people in Gaelic language and culture, MacDougall later served on the boards of Judique’s Celtic Music Interpretive Centre and the Judique Community Centre.
The soft-spoken MacDougall, who cut his teeth in Halifax as an assistant to Inverness Liberal MLA Bill MacEachern before returning to Judique for good, served the community in several additional capacities, including membership in the Judique and District Volunteer Fire Department.
VALLEY MILLS: As a petition campaign calling for the replacement of a local bridge officially took root in early August, officials with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal cautioned local residents that they may not even see a temporary replacement for “a number of months.”
Residents in southern Inverness County were unable to use the Crowdis Bridge in Valley Mills since the structure was damaged by a motor vehicle accident in May. As a result, according to local resident and petition organizer Beverley Madill, residents from several Inverness County communities have had to deal with lengthy detours and delays over the past three months.
In response, DTIR Eastern District director Gerard Jessome confirmed that the department was carrying out a detailed review of all possible options to repair or replace the Crowdis Bridge on a permanent or temporary basis, including cost estimates for each option. The department was also in the process of hiring a consultant to determine the safest and most cost-effective course of action.
PORT HAWKESBURY: The union representing some of the employees of the Port Hawkesbury Nursing Home held information pickets in August to address the announcement of lay-offs and reductions in the hours of work at the facility.
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3630 president Caroline Latimer said workers were not pleased with the news. CUPE officials suggested that the lay-offs would impact residents of the home as well as employees, and requested a meeting with Cape Breton-Richmond MLA Michel Samson to discuss the situation.
The CEO of MacLeod Group Health Service Limited, Ramsay Duff, said the layoff primarily affected housekeeping and food services, and defended the lay-offs as a direct result of the province reducing its funding to the Port Hawkesbury facility.
Provincial NDP Leader Gary Burrill later described the cuts as “disturbing,” citing a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy request which revealed that the province’s most recent provincial budget had cut $41,900 from the Port Hawkesbury Nursing Home’s budget.
MARBLE MOUNTAIN: The latest chapter for a busy summer in this Inverness County community unfolded on a rainy August afternoon with the unveiling of a new water-based launch point for the Trans-Canada Trail (TCT).
Cape Breton-Canso MP Rodger Cuzner officially confirmed a combined $77,750 in investments through ACOA’s Innovative Communities Fund (ICF) for four of the five communities involved in the TCT’s water route along the Bras d’Or Lake shoreline.
Along with North Mountain Cultural and Recreation Association (NMCRA), which received $16,500 in ICF contributions to help Marble Mountain become the water trail’s first fully-functioning entry point, the Whycocomagh Waterfront Centre Association (WWCA) picked up $20,300 from the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program (CIP150) , while the Johnstown Community Development Co-operative (JCDC) received $7,200 in ICF monies.
The TCT Foundation also provided funding for the water trail access points, including $20,500 for the NCMRA and $11,200 to the JCDC, the WWCA is also contributing $25,000 to a land improvement and signage project that will accompany the upcoming launch of the Whycocomagh entry point.
ANTIGONISH: StFX University was the beneficiary of a contribution of $1,853,447 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) to assist the Antigonish campus in launching a petrochemical industry project.
Confirmed by Central Nova MP at a ceremony at StFX in August, the funding launched a four-year applied-research project with the aim of developing a gas-detection sensor used as an inspection tool for the petrochemical industry.
Users will be able to mount the ExACT (Emissions Attribution via Computational Techniques) sensor on a vehicle to gather near-ground geochemical readings, upload these readings to a cloud-based database, and allow for real-time analysis.
PORT HAWKESBURY: The RCMP Provincial Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) arrested and charged a town resident on August 18, following an on-line child exploitation investigation.
Malcolm Smith, 28, was arrested and charged with making arrangements to commit a sexual offence against a child. According to Cst. Jamall Gray, the RCMP received information from the public about Smith that led police to determine that the accused had contacted a third party to take photographs of a person under the age of 18.
Smith was released on conditions and assigned a November 18 court date in Port Hawkesbury.
PORT HAWKESBURY: The Strait area business community and the region’s general population mourned the loss of Bob MacKeigan, who passed away on August 18 at the age of 79.
The Sydney River native moved to Port Hawkesbury in 1971 with his wife Linda and their young family, where MacKeigan immediately launched the first of his many business ventures within the town, a Texaco franchise and bulk plant.
He then established a used-vehicle lot, one of the first of its kind in Port Hawkesbury, with official Toyota and Ford dealerships to follow, paving the way for two long-running businesses overseen by MacKeigan for years and still successful to this day, Tri-Mac Toyota and Canso Ford Sales.
A long-time member of the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce, MacKeigan was rarely shy about sharing his opinions about the local economy or most other subjects, devoting a significant amount of energy to the chamber’s shop-local initiatives.