Maritimes

N.S. premier says Ottawa must pay entire bill to protect land link from flooding risk

N.S. premier says Ottawa must pay entire bill to protect land link from flooding risk

Nova Scotia's premier pulled no punches Thursday, saying Ottawa should pay the entire cost of protecting the important land corridor linking his province and New Brunswick from climate change-related flooding. Tim Houston made the comment after being asked whether his government would apply to the federal disaster mitigation fund by the July 19 deadline. Federal Infrastructure Minister Dominic LeBlanc has encouraged both provinces to apply for funding for up to half the $301-million potential cost to protect the Chignecto Isthmus. "That (land) strip is a very significant national trade corridor," Houston said. "We understand Minister LeBlanc's position on that and the offer for the feds to pay 50 per cent, but quite frankly we think he's wrong. We think the feds should be paying for that."

Nova Scotia pumpkin regatta cancelled indefinitely due to lack of water in Lake Pisiquid

Nova Scotia pumpkin regatta cancelled indefinitely due to lack of water in Lake Pisiquid

The annual pumpkin regatta in Windsor, N.S., that transforms giant gourds into personal vegetable crafts to be raced across a man-made lake has been cancelled indefinitely. Organizers of the Windsor-West Hants Pumpkin Festival made the announcement on Wednesday, citing a lack of water in the lake as the reason for the cancellation. "Lake Pisquid is dry right now and we haven't had a full regatta since 2018, so it just felt, in consultation with our committee, that the timing was right," Vanessa Roberts, the long-time logistics coordinator for the regatta, told Mainstreet from CBC Halifax.

Maritime farmers doing 'what we can' to get surplus hay shipped to drought-stricken Prairies

Maritime farmers doing 'what we can' to get surplus hay shipped to drought-stricken Prairies

Hay from the Maritimes could make its way to the Prairies later this week as livestock producers in Western Canada struggle with devastating drought conditions. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) announced last week that it has started work to facilitate a initiative coined "Hay West," that will see surplus hay from farmers in eastern Canada sent west — where dire hay and feed shortages loom. Tim Marsh, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, said farmers in his province have extra and want to help out.