Reports indicate Ottawa will be imposing the carbon tax in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and PEI next summer.

Indications are that federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault will make the announcement today that the carbon tax would take effect in the three provinces on July 1st.

 

Nearly 31-million dollars in relief donations received in the wake of post tropical storm Fiona has been distributed by the Canadian Red Cross.

The organization says most of that money has gone to Nova Scotia and P-E-I.

Spokesman Dan Beddell says the agency had given 500-dollar payments to more than 54-thousand households as of last Thursday.

Beddel says nearly six-thousand households in Nova Scotia, P-E-I and Newfoundland also received a second 500-dollar payment because of “exceptional or unique needs.”

 

 

A new 250 million dollar federal grant program could see middle and low-income homeowners eligible for up to five-thousand dollars to switch from home heating oil to electric heat pumps.

Immigration Minister and Central Nova MP Sean Fraser made the announcement yesterday and says the grant is especially needed in Atlantic Canada where about 30 per cent of homes still heat with oil.

Fraser says the money will cover costs such as the installation of heat pumps, the electrical upgrades required for the new equipment and the removal of oil tanks.

The new funding is in addition to an envelope of 250 million over four years that was announced in September to assist people with home heating costs, with nearly half of that money earmarked for Atlantic Canada.

 

 

Police are investigating a fatal all-terrain vehicle crash near Brookfield.

R-C-M-P say a 20-year-old woman from Salmon River who was a passenger on the A-T-V, died at the scene of Sunday’s crash.

Police say they responded to a report of two people who were missing after going for a trail ride.

Emergency responders were led to the scene of the crash by a 21-year-old Salmon River man who had walked to a nearby home to call for help.

 

 

Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair has told the Emergencies Act inquiry that he was worried inflammatory language from his cabinet colleagues could incite an inflammatory response from protesters.

Blair says he worried that could prompt more people to join the protests.

He told the inquiry that he tried to arrange meetings with politicians from all three levels of government, but no one from the Ontario government would attend.

 

 

Full-time and part-time staff at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design have reached a tentative four-year agreement.

The Halifax university says it expects the new collective agreement will be ratified in a vote held as soon as possible.

The last agreement with Nova Scotia College of Art and Design university staff and faculty expired at the end of June.

The parties have been at the bargaining table since August.

 

 

The Town of New Glasgow Holiday Decorating Contest is back and accepting registrations for both residents and businesses.

To enter, fill out the entry form that’s available through the Town of New Glasgow’s Facebook and submit a photo of your decorated property.

Winners will be chosen by online community vote.

The winning properties will be announced in the new year.