Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced yesterday that the federal government will suspend its carbon pricing on home heating oil, beginning in two weeks.

The carbon price rebate for all rural Canadians will also double beginning in April 2025.

Trudeau also announced a boost to the federal funding available for eligible homeowners that would make it free for lower-income households in Atlantic Canada to get a heat pump.

Premier Tim Houston and the other Atlantic premiers have vocally opposed the federal carbon pricing, saying it disproportionately affected the region, where oil heating is more common than in the rest of Canada.

 

 

Gasoline prices increased while diesel prices decreased overnight in Nova Scotia.

Gas prices increased by 2.2 cents per litre, putting the minimum pump price for regular self-serve gasoline at 167.7 cents per litre locally.

Diesel prices decreased by 3.5 cents per litre, leaving the minimum pump price for diesel at 208.5 cents per litre in the local area.

 

 

The provincial government is spending five million dollars to fix trails that were damaged by flooding following a massive rainfall in July.

Service Nova Scotia Minister Colton LeBlanc says the funding will be used to reimburse non-profit trail organizations which have already begun the repair work.

The money will also be used to help those groups pay contractors.

More than 45 trails located on provincial land in Pictou, Colchester, Guysborough, Annapolis,  Queens and other counties are to be repaired.

 

 

The province has announced it’s providing the Pictou County Historical Society with $1,500 in funding.

Pictou Centre MLA Pat Dunn says the funding will bolster local efforts to preserve and promote the area’s rich history.

Dunn says this is the first funding increase museums in our province have received in more than fifteen years.

 

 

Nova Scotia has announced a 47.3-million-dollar program aimed at improving cellular phone service in areas of the province without proper coverage.

The government says the first phase of the program is to improve coverage in the short term using existing infrastructure, while the second phase will look to close remaining gaps with new infrastructure.

The government says there are more than 21-thousand civic addresses without cellular coverage.

 

 

The Town of New Glasgow is advising that fireworks will be held on Tuesday at 7:30pm at the Christian Fellowship Church on Abercrombie Rd. in New Glasgow.

The Town reminds everyone that the Town’s Noise By-Law requires that you request permission from the Town to set off fireworks.

 

 

A sports note, the Pictou County Weeks Crushers beat the Miramichi Timberwolves 4-1 in Maritime Junior Hockey League action.