South Coast Today - stephen mcneil

McNeil renegs on open public review promise, says NSGEU pres

SCT and news sources — Thu, 17 Sep 2015 16:23:35 +0000

Backroom deal with private firm?
In light of the process currently underway to privatize Nova Scotia’s Motor Vehicle, Joint Stock and Land Registries, NSGEU President Joan Jessome is calling on Premier Stephen McNeil to honour the written commitment he made just two years ago, when he signed onto the “Five Point Quality Public Service Protection Plan for Nova Scotia”, says a news release Thursday.

“The Premier promised – in writing – to engage in a full and open public review, to ensure that these deals would be made in the best interests of all Nova Scotians,” says Jessome.

“Instead, the Premier has now entered into secretive discussions with his own campaign manager acting as a paid lobbyist, according to CBC News reports.”

Rather than the open and transparent review he committed to, adds the release, McNeil is preparing to hand millions in government contracts over to Teranet, a private-sector company who got the Premier’s ear by hiring the former Liberal campaign manager to lobby McNeil on their behalf.

“We are calling on the Premier to honour the promises he made to Nova Scotians leading up to the election,” says Jessome.

“Nova Scotians who will end up paying more to buy and sell houses, register their vehicles and businesses deserve an open and transparent process, not a Liberal backroom deal.”

350% increase in user fees in Ontario with Teranet
In Ontario, where Teranet secured a lucrative contract to privatize public registries, title search fees rose 350% overnight, from $8.00 each to $28.00. There is a class-action lawsuit currently on the books charging Teranet with illegally selling copyright-protected data from surveyors.

The possible effect on jobs in the privatization scheme is also something of great copncern to Jessome and NSGEU members.

The union has created a web site which takes a cheeky approach to what it sees as the pitfalls inherent in the move to privatize. See McNeil's Movers: Emptying Nova Scotia communities one at a time.

Facebook Like

Tags:

NSGEU

stephen mcneil

joan jessome

teranet

Provincial funding for "state-of-the-art" medical clinic announced

Timothy Gillespie — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 19:55:35 +0000

300% of original commitment by McNeil government

ER closures to continue?

A much-needed new clinic for Shelburne-area residents will soon enter the final stages of development, according to an announcement in Shelburne Friday.

Premier Stephen McNeil announced that the Nova Scotia government will contribute $1.65 million to renovate the old health clinic on the Roseway Hospital property. The new facility will now be referred to as a "primary health-care collaborative centre" and will have a team of family physicians and other health professionals.

The Municipality of Shelburne has committede $450,000 to the project and the Town of Shelburne pledged $100,000, in addition to funds promised by the Roseway Hospital Charitable Foundation.

The project, says the release, will move into the final design phase, with construction expected to begin next spring.

"It's about time," Pubnico-Barrington MLA and former health minister Chris d'Entrement told SCT. "This will be a long road. Getting new doctors here will not happen overnight."

"The community played a key role in identifying the need for a modern primary health-care facility," said Bob Legere, chair of the Roseway Hospital Charitable Foundation, today, Aug. 28. "Our foundation is pleased to join the Municipality and Town of Shelburne and the province in giving local people an opportunity to play a part in bringing this new health centre another step towards reality."

"The community was clear about their expectations for this facility, and the government listened and acted," said Premier Stephen McNeil. "We are working to ensure Nova Scotians have access to the right care at the right place, at the right time."

Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine said the group effort made the new clinic and its approach possible.

Glavine also noted that there will be no changes made in the emergency room at Roseway Hospital. A Shelburne resident who asked not to be named told SCT "this probably means that we will continue to have the rash of ER closures we have seen recently."

Shelburne mayor Karen Mattatall told the assembled crowd that she hoped that this announcement meant that area residents would receive the level of health care guaranteed by the Canadian Health Care Act.

"Young doctors and health professionals are telling me they want to work in collaborative care clinics like this one," said Mr. Glavine. "The community and governments worked hard to make this clinic a reality, and I'd like to thank everyone for their strong advocacy and support."

"This clinic will help us provide the types of care residents need early on, which will help them stay healthy and, in some cases, may help them avoid the emergency room," said Janet Knox, CEO of the Nova Scotia Health Authority. "It will also be a great recruitment tool as we work to attract more physicians, nurses and other health professionals to the Shelburne area."

The clinic will also include space for family medicine residents from Dalhousie University on residency placement in Shelburne.

Glavine referred to the new facility as a "teaching" facility, which was news to other participants in the announcement.

The project has been six years in the making, which has drawn ctiticism from Municipality of Shelburne warden Roger Taylor, who has previously accused health department officials of bungling the process

A 2011 announcement described the project as a more traditional doctor's office. It did not include space for health teams working together or residents who are part of the family medicine residency program.

The province had originally committed $429,000 to the project, but as it evolved, more investments were needed for the design and scope.

In a news release, the Municipality of Shelburne says it welcomes the significant investment announced today by Premier McNeil and Minister Glavine to enhance what they describe as "our community medical clinic." The project, says the release, "represents a major plank in our commitment to improve health care for the residents of greater Shelburne."

The release says that the Municipality was the first government to commit funds to the project and that they are pleased that the Province has announced their partnership today. Warden Taylor said, "For three years it was not clear if this project was even a priority for the previous District Health Authority or the Province. In our first meeting three months ago with Minister Glavine, after being briefed by Council on the project, he committed that this project would become a priority for him and his Department, and we are pleased he kept that commitment."

The new medical clinic, according to the release, gives the region a new and important tool to recruit doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners. "These are priorities for us given that Shelburne County remains one of the most under serviced areas in the province. We must also recruit for pending family doctor retirements."

"We look forward to working with the Nova Scotia Health Authority to build the clinic as soon as possible."

Facebook Like

Tags:

municipality of shelburne

LEO GLAVINE

stephen mcneil

medical clinic

Labour mobility ensured in marine trades and apprenticeship pacts

Timothy Gillespie — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 18:03:12 +0000

The premier's office announced Friday that Nova Scotia and British Columbia are teaming up to enhance workforce training and increase the mobility of skilled workers between the two provinces.

Premier Stephen McNeil and premier Christy Clark signed an agreement in principle today, July 17, that McNeil says will mean more opportunities for workers in the shipbuilding and industrial marine industry, and ensure that employers in both provinces have access to the qualified workforce they need.

"This is a perfect partnership, and one in which our economies and our workers will benefit," said Premier McNeil. "Our two provinces each have a strong and booming shipbuilding industry.

"Working together we will deliver top notch training for our skilled trades workers and help ensure our respective labour market needs continue to be met as these industries grow."

"Shipbuilding and ship repair is worth billions of dollars in our two provinces and we will continue to need trained workers in the coming years," Premier Clark said at the announcement in Newfoundland at a national premiers conference. "This agreement means employers will have access to a deeper talent pool, and workers will have more opportunities in a growing economy."

British Columbia and Nova Scotia will prepare a memorandum of understanding to implement the agreement. It will focus on sharing best practices in marine trades training, and exploring joint training ventures using innovative delivery methods. A co-ordinated training strategy will make it easier for skilled trades workers to move between the two provinces for work.

In 2012, it was estimated that the shipbuilding business supported a total of 4,423 direct and indirect jobs in Nova Scotia. Estimates suggest that by 2020, that number could triple.

The provincial premiers also approved an agreement yesterday that will permit apprentices to have mobility between the provinces, a move hailed by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses. In June CFIB released a interprovincial trade report called Transforming Trade: Reforming our economic union to remove barriers to internal trade, where they addressed the issue of labour mobility.

“Nova Scotia and other Canadian provinces face a significant skilled worker shortage,” said Nick Langley, Director of Provincial Affairs, Nova Scotia for CFIB in a news release. “And making it easier to move between provinces will help to attract more people to the skilled trades.”

The Provincial-Territorial Apprentice Mobility Protocol will allow provinces to recognize each other’s technical training programs, work experience and examination results for apprentices as they move between provinces and territories in Canada.

Stephen McNeil, has chaired a working group devoted to the issue of labour mobility between the provinces and CFIB said they are "...pleased to see agreement amongst all premiers on this important issue."

“CFIB has long-advocated for labour mobility and recognition of apprenticeship hours in different provinces.” said Langley. “Premier McNeil has shown leadership on this issue by chairing this file and to see quick action on this issue is good for Nova Scotia businesses, workers, and our economy.” Langley added.

CFIB says it is "...thrilled with the premiers’ commitment on apprenticeship mobility, and believes it is a sign of things to come in pursuit of a modernized Agreement on Internal Trade," and adds that it will "... continue monitor the protocol’s progress and implementation in 2016."

Tags:

Scrap internet use cap, Shelburne Muni tells Eastlink and Stephen McNeil

Timothy Gillespie — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 15:04:48 +0000

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil says Eastlink is adding "insult to injury" by charging customers more for poor service in some areas. (CBC)
Usage clawback counterproductive and insulting
After Eastlink’s recent announcement to cap rural Internet Service the Municipality of Shelburne is calling on Eastlink to immediately kill the cap and invest in the service to meet existing standard household Internet requirements, according to a news release Tuesday.

MODS CAO Kirk Cox said the Municipality of Shelburne issued and open letter to Eastlink CEO, Lee Bragg this morning. “If Eastlink has any sense of commitment to rural communities, it must reinvest in the system to bring it to at least the levels of service seen in northern Nova Scotia,” the Municipality said to Eastlink. “And finally, you must kill the cap.”

The Municipality also wrote to Premier Stephen McNeil (who recently said the Eastlink decision "adds insult to injury") to seek a joint solution to address the severe Internet deficiencies in rural southern Nova Scotia. “As we try to grow our communities it is insulting and counterproductive to claw back high speed Internet capacity.” The Municipality is asking the Premier to use his government’s leverage to encourage Eastlink to make the necessary investments or remove the company from the region and introduce a competitor under the condition that the service be upgraded to 5 Mbps.

Eastlink has publicly announced that all households under their rural program will have a monthly usage cap of 15 GB. This prevents residents outside of town centers from using the Internet in many normal standard circumstances, including video and audio streaming, e-commerce, and working from a home office. Comparatively, Seaside, in Northern Nova Scotia, has announced a $6 million upgrade to their rural network to 5 Mbps, and no cap on usage.

Facebook Like

Tags:

municipality of shelburne

Baillie wants fracking, says McNeil should reconsider ban

Timothy Gillespie — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 15:28:27 +0000

SOME RESIDENTS SAY FRACKING POLLUTES WELL WATER

Progressive Conservative leader Jamie Baillie called on the Liberal government in a news release Tuesday to review the new four-year study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on hydraulic fracturing.

Earlier this week, the Liberal government in New Brunswick said the new American report on hydraulic fracturing could play a role in its approach to shale gas. The report found no evidence of widespread, systemic drinking water contamination due to hydraulic fracturing. Baillie is calling on the McNeil Liberals to use the report to review ways to develop the industry in Nova Scotia.

“We must look at new ways to create good jobs for Nova Scotians here at home, where they can go home to their families every night,” said Baillie. “The Liberals incompetently banned shale gas development and put a chill through this entire industry.”

The Liberals, says the release, have yet to release the long-overdue definition of “high volume hydraulic fracturing”, which was promised by the end of January.

Last week, Nova Scotia Power, in its 2014-15 natural gas report filed with the UARB, said the supply outlook for natural gas in the Maritimes remains “relatively bleak” and that domestic sources in the region continue to dwindle and future development remains uncertain.

Baillie says the shortage of natural gas will impact our power rates and is putting added stress on this important industry.

“We have a world-class energy industry in Nova Scotia that was built over decades of hard work,” said Baillie. “We must continue to evolve with the times and look for new ways of creating jobs and getting power rates under control. Natural gas is a cleaner fuel that could benefit all Nova Scotians.”

Hydraulic fracturing has become a contentious environmental and health issue with Tunisia and France banning the practice and a moratorium in place in Quebec (Canada), and some of the states of the US.

Tags:

Cooke Aqua expanding into wild fishery

Timothy Gillespie — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 17:56:23 +0000

New company formed

Undercurrent news has reported that Cooke Aquaculture CEO Glenn Cooke and family members have signed an agreement to purchase Wanchese Fish Company based in Suffolk, Virginia US, after deal talks have taken place for one year.

This deal and investment into the wild fishery involves the creation of a new company, Cooke Seafood USA Inc., which "will provide another platform for future growth within the capture fishery."

The Wanchese Fish Company, founded in 1936, is a harvester, processor and distributor with the capacity to harvest 4,000 tons of wild scallops, flounder and other seafood products each year. It owns a fleet of 15 vessels capable of providing product fresh to the US, with process-at-sea capabilities, as well as a cold storage facility and processing plant in Suffolk, Virginia.

“This purchase is an exciting venture for us as we add a well-respected, family-owned and vertically integrated fishing company to our family’s businesses,” Glenn Cooke, CEO Of the newly formed company, said.

New Brunswick-based multi-national has been the dominant force in atlantic salmon feedlot aquaculture in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. The firm also has operations in USA, Scotland, Chile and Spain.

Cooke Aquaculture has been featured in recent years in stories about massive disease-related slaughters in several of their feedlot fish pens, in sea lice epidemics in several locations, in massive fish kills due to "super chill" and about federal charges of illegal discharge of dangerous pesticides into Canadian waters. Glenn Cooke and other executives pleaded guilty in a New Brunswick court in 2014 to the federal charges, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of nearby lobsters.

Most recently, Cooke was subject to a rebuke from Nova Scotia premier Stephen NcNeil for renegging on an agreement to build a fish processing plant in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. The agreement was part of a $25 million loan package from the Nova Scotia government. McNeil said if Cooke could not keep its agreement build the plant in 2015, they should "give back the money", referring to $18 million advanced by the government.

Thursday, a prominent Halifax restaurant owner commented on the healthiness of Atlantic salmon grown by Cooke or others, saying "I wouldn't feed it to my dog."

Tags:

NDP demands explanation of $41.5 million in healthcare cuts

Timothy Gillespie — Wed, 03 Jun 2015 17:27:59 +0000

PC MLA claims $300 million "discrepancy" by Grits

The McNeil government needs to outline specifically what its $41.5 million Healthcare cut, announced today, will impact, according to a news release Wednesday from the NDP .

Progressive Conservative Health critic Chris d’Entremont says in a news release Wednesday that, in fact, McNeil Liberals must answer for a $300 million discrepancy in the Nova Scotia Health Authority budget.

Today, says d'Entremont, the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) released its business plan with a budget of over $1.82 billion. The budget passed by the Liberals in April only budgeted $1.52 billion for the NSHA. The Liberals, he says, have been unable to provide a good explanation for the difference.

“This speaks to the incompetence of the Liberal government,” said d’Entremont. “If the Liberals cannot even get the numbers right on paper or explain them, how can we trust them with patient care?”

According to the NSHA Business Plan budget, administration went up $33.3 million, meanwhile mental health funding went down $25.6 million.

d’Entremont says the Liberals must answer for the major discrepancy in the numbers.

“Our population is aging, waitlists are getting longer and longer. People need certainty health care will be there for them when they need it,” said d’Entremont. “This merger is too important for the Liberals to get it wrong.”

Earlier this morning, the NDP release stated, without a formal announcement or media briefing, the provincial health authority released its 2015-16 business plan which contained more than $41 million worth of “mitigations” to health care programs and services.

The NDP also complained that, while the plan contains categories from which cuts will be made, it provides no explanation for how the proposed spending reductions will be achieved.

“Instead of releasing this document on time, the McNeil government waited until after the spring sitting of the Legislature was over, and then quietly sent it out with the Premier out of the province,” says NDP Leader Maureen MacDonald. “Specifically, which programs are being cut to provide these savings? How will the cuts impact various regions of the province? Is the government considering outsourcing and privatizing laundry and food services? If they intend to increase revenue through fees such as parking, what specifically will these increases be?

The business plan, which one political analyst told SCT "looks like an 18-page flyer", was described as indicating significant spending reductions in areas such as acute care, mental health services and addictions services, without any formal explanation for how the reductions are being achieved.

“The public deserves to know the specifics of this business plan. Unfortunately, the McNeil government has once again failed to be open and transparent, which will undoubtedly bring more turmoil to our health care system,” says MacDonald.

Facebook Like

Tags:

ndp

nova scotia health care

Maureen MacDonald

chris d'entremont

stephen mcneil

McNeil government cutting seniors services, says Belliveau

Timothy Gillespie — Fri, 15 May 2015 14:53:11 +0000

NDP MLA Sterling Belliveau says in a news release Fridaythat the McNeil government’s decision to cut funding that helped seniors with lawn care is causing extra stress for seniors in Shelburne County.

“Last summer I was able to get help with my lawn care but this year that’s changed. Now I’ll have to come up with the money on my own,” says Vivian R. Williams, a resident of Shelburne. in the release

Last year, adds the release, Williams, who has only one income to operate her household, benefited from the Lend a Hand program offered by the Shelburne Association Supporting Inclusion (SASI). SASI received funding from the Nova Scotia Department of Health Continuing Care division. In April, SASI was informed that funding for the Lend a Hand program was being cancelled.

Holly Perry, Vocational Coordinator with SASI, says they have been able to access funds through another government grant which will allow them to continue mowing some lawns this summer but not all the lawns they helped care for last year.

“Unfortunately the funding we lost for the Lend a Hand program means there are some seniors we can’t provide services for this summer,” said Perry. “We’re doing our best to work with those seniors, like Vivian, to help them find solutions.”

Belliveau says the McNeil government should have taken more steps to ensure seniors like Williams wouldn’t suddenly be without services.

“This type of funding supports seniors who are trying to stay at home. It’s very unfortunate the McNeil government isn’t supporting them," says Belliveau.

Facebook Like

Tags:

sterling belliveau

stephen mcneil

nova scotia government

Opinion: Stephen McNeil's epic fail; or why every fish needs a lawyer

Timothy Gillespie — Wed, 06 May 2015 13:58:57 +0000

Did Stephen McNeil lie to me?
When he was campaigning for his current premiership, Stephen McNeil told me point blank several times that he intended to look closely at what is considered by many as the abominable conditions of salmon farming in Nova Scotia and the environmental and social destruction caused in coastal communities as a result.

He also said that he intended to hold aquaculture companies - like the mega-firm, multi-national Cooke Aquaculture - accountable for their actions and farming practices. His party, McNeil and his local candidate told me, would be all about the science. This would be different science, we presumed, than the science ballyhooed constantly by the NDP aquaculture minister at the time, which, according to a freedom of information request and response, he never possessed in the first place.

Nonetheless, Dexter, et al, appeared to be falling all over themselves to turn over every nook and cranny of coastal waters to Cooke for their messy and bottom-destroying open net pen salmon farms - then tossing $25 million into the laps of admitted felon and lobster poisoner Glenn Cooke and his clan for aquaculture infrastructure which has still yet to materialize.

This is despite the fact that Cooke and others have had an impossible time keeping their salmon healthy and alive. Millions of fish have succumbed in recent years from ISA infection, sea lice epidemics and super-chill freezing.

Begrudgingly - according to party insiders - the NDP commissioned a study by two eminent professors to provide recommendations to government on if, and how to proceed with aquaculture development in the process. Lo and behold, respected professors Doelle and Lahey set about on an ambitious program of consultations with all imaginable stakeholders; community groups, industry, scientists and the like.

Their report was presented to premier McNeil and his government and - much to the surprise of many - was met with widespread support from the very environmental and community groups who had been fighting the pell-mell rush by the government to invite the salmon feces and lobster-killing chemical polluters into our pristine coastal waters.

The Report called for science-based decisions, for independent panels and committees, for a cautious, low-impact, high-value approach to salmon farm siting, for serious consideration of community desires regarding industrial salmon farms thrust into their midst and, much to the pleasure of many, for a more transparent way forward.

More than 200 community leaders, aquaculture activists and environmentalists gathered in Halifax in February to express their support of the Doelle-Lahey Report and to encourage McNeil and his government to accept and implement it - all of it.

So the fury that we have seen in the past week - in Halifax and throughout the province - cannot be too surprising to Stephen McNeil, or to anyone who has been paying attention here.

Fisheries and Aquaculture minister Keith Colwell introduced Bill 95, which would create a legislative amendment to the Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act and would codify only certain items from the Doelle-Lahey Report.

Despite being pleaded with - even warned not to - Colwell, McNeil and Company have signaled that they intend to cherry-pick items from Doelle-Lahey and the results - almost certain to favour industrial expansion - could be disastrous.

To add insult to injury, the government has manipulated the schedule of hearings at Law Amendments Committee to ensure that very few, if any, citizens from outlying communities could come to testify. Some folks were given less than three hours notice - to plan, to prepare testimony and to travel to Halifax to speak for 10 minutes. It has been described as a gong show and it is nothing less. At the very least, McNeil and Co. should be thoroughly embarrassed by this outrageous behaviour. They should, in fact, be ashamed.

Because they are based in Halifax, the Ecology Action Centre was able to appear at Law Amendments. The Committee refused to consider one of the more than two-dozen well-reasoned suggested amendments proffered by EAC.

In outrageous Lewis Carroll-like turn, the important issues of science and transparency were conflated in a part of the legislation which - rather than expand transparency as directed by Doelle-Lahey - the government is asking for an amendment to FOIPOP legislation which would make it illegal to disclose to the media or public information about fish health. These are fish that are swimming in our bays and harbours. Millions of them have died or been slaughtered as a result of salmon diseases and infections.

In a radio interview this week, minister Colwell even made the absurd postulation that this cloak of secrecy was needed, because the relationship the government had with the fish was like doctor-patient or client-lawyer. My lord.

There is no telling how this will all play out, but my guess is that this decision to suck up to Glenn Cooke and his pals and spit in the face of community leaders who were ready to embrace a reasonable decision on the future of salmon farming will end badly for Stephen McNeil - for all of us. It will likely mean more years of community groups in rural areas battling with a government which obviously has a tin ear when it comes to the appetite here for industrial aquaculture and, like the last government, will likely mean the loss of seats in the next election.

Then probably, more of the same.

It is obvious to me now that Stephen McNeil has either changed his mind about his government's approach to aquaculture - or was lying to me in the first place. And, no Virginia, we never do learn.

Timothy Gillespie
Shelburne, NS

Facebook Like

Tags:

keith colwell

stephen mcneil

ecology action centre

cooke aquaculture

Follow the money

Timothy Gillespie — Tue, 05 May 2015 20:36:18 +0000

Will premier McNeil's staff disclose whether the workshop at Esalen Institute was charged to Nova Scotia taxpayers?

Tags: