(Chignecto-Isthmus-Deal)
The federal government says it will join with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to spend a total of 650-million dollars to protect the Chignecto Isthmus.
Ottawa will contribute 325 million to the project, while the two provinces have committed to spend 162.5 million each.
The money will be used to raise the area’s dikeland system to decrease the risk of flooding from storm surges and rising sea levels, both of which have been linked to climate change.
The isthmus is the narrow strip of flood-prone land that links the two Maritime provinces. (The Canadian Press)
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(NB-China-Tariffs)
New Brunswick’s premier says she is concerned about effect of Chinese tariffs on seafood exports.
Susan Holt says China’s 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian seafood products are “concerning and significant.”
The province says it exported 87.8 million dollars worth of seafood to China in 2023.
China’s tariffs, which took effect yesterday, are in retaliation to the recently imposed Canadian surtax of 100 per cent on all Chinese-made electric vehicles, and of 25 per cent on steel and aluminum. (The Canadian Press)
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(NB-Travel-Nurses)
New Brunswick has introduced legislation that would allow the province to terminate travel nurse contracts.
Health Minister John Dornan says the legislation would end a contract for travel nurses between the francophone Vitalité Health Network and Ontario-based Canadian Health Labs.
He says the bill also aims to protect the province from legal action.
Canadian Health Labs charged 306 dollars per hour for a registered nurse and 162 dollars per hour for a personal support worker, and Dornan says the contract was costly and “unfair” to taxpayers.
(The Canadian Press)
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(Halifax-Tents-Removed)
The Halifax Regional Municipality says city compliance staff have removed tents at the Halifax Common.
On March 3rd, the municipality issued notices to vacate eight people who were sheltering at the grassy park in Halifax’s city centre, and removed their tents yesterday morning.
The municipality says there are several available spots at multiple indoor shelters and temporary housing if necessary on the Halifax peninsula.
The Halifax Common was listed as one of the designated sites where unhoused people could stay in Halifax, but the designation was later removed. (The Canadian Press)
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(PEI-Homeless-Count)
A homelessness study by the John Howard Society in P-E-I shows a steep increase in the number of Islanders without a place to live.
The point-in-time count suggests 318 people were without a home in 2024, compared to 146 in 2021.
The organization blames a variety of factors, including the Island’s low rental vacancy rate, coupled with increasing rent costs.
The study found the majority of unhoused Islanders were between 25 and 49 years old, and more than 67 per cent were male. (The Canadian Press)
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(NL-Suspicious-Fire)
Police are investigating a suspicious house fire in Triton, a small community along Newfoundland’s northeast coast.
R-C-M-P say they got a report about the fire around 7:45 p-m on Tuesday.
Officers arrived at the home on Ocean Drive to find it fully engulfed in flames.
Firefighters managed to put out the flames, and police are looking for any information about what happened. (The Canadian Press)
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