By Maurice Rees Colchester North MLA,

Karen Casey, met QueenElizabeth II while represent-ing Nova Scotia at the open-ing of Canada House at theCanadian Consulate inLondon, England week of

February 16th. Within CanadaHouse, Nova Scotia has a spe-cial room in which everythingwas made in Nova Scotia.

During the opening cere-monies, Casey presented apainting to Canada’s HighCommissioner, Gordon

Campbell, former premier ofBritish Columbia. The paintingdone by a member of theGroup of 7 was previouslypurchased by the Fountainfamily of Halifax, who donat-ed it to the Nova Scotia ArtGallery. The painting has now

been loaned to Canada Housefor a period of 10 years.

The carpet on the floor ofthe Nova Scotia room is handwoven with a Nova Scotiatheme. The Nova Scotia roomis important to Nova Scotia,because if provides an oppor-tunity for the premier to meetbusiness people from aroundthe world who are interestedin locating a business in NovaScotia. Premier McNeil hasalready used the room andwill be making another trip toLondon in May.

The Canada House officialopening was followed in theevening by a State Dinnerwith Casey sitting at the headtable with other head tableguests, which included JohnBaird, former Minister ofForeign Affairs and Canada’sHigh Commissioner, GordonCampbell.

LONDON, UNITEDKINGDOM - FEBRU-ARY 19: Britain'sQueen Elizabeth II (L)meets Canadian artistCharles Pachter, fromPachter Hall andMoose Factory inToronto, during a visitto officially reopenCanada House follow-ing an extensive pro-gramme of restora-tion and refurbish-ment February 19,2015, in London,England. CanadaHouse is the official home to the Canadian High Commission in the United Kingdom. The buildingwas first opened in 1925 by King George V. MLA Karen Casey is seen in the background after havingbeen officially welcomed by the Queen. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

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Casey Meets Queen in LondonPublications Mail™#40048924 - VOL. 19 NO. 3 MARCH 2015

EMO toProvide FloodDamage ReliefBy Maurice Rees

If you suffered uninsurablelosses from heavy rainfall onDecember 9th-12th, you canapply for financial helpthrough the EmergencyManagement Office. Some eli-gible expenses are evacuationoperations, restoring publicworks and infrastructure topre-disaster condition andreplacing or repairing basic,essential personal property ofindividuals, small businessesand farmsteads.

“Many residences and busi-nesses in our communityexperienced significant dam-age from the heavy rainfalls,”said Karen Casey, MLA forColchester North. “The disas-ter financial assistance pro-gram will help homeownersand small businesses recoverfrom their losses.”

Tom Taggart, councillor forDistrict 10 is concernedabout uninsurable losses fromsimilar flooding in Septemberis not covered. Perhaps morelocalized, but flooding inSeptember in parts of WestColchester area, apparentlycaused more damage thanDecember’s disaster.

He’s particularly concernedabout the losses incurred atGreat Village Legion, Elm RiverPark and several private resi-dences, but as of Friday,February 20th September’sdamages are not covered.

continued on page 9

While in London for the re-opening of Canada House inLondon, Karen Casey present-ed a painting on behalf ofNova Scotians. Casey is shownwith Gordon Campbell, whobecame Canada’s HighCommissioner to the UnitedKingdom in September 2011,in front of the painting byArthur Lismore - one of TheGroup of Seven . (Submitted)

By Joy Laking The new group, RASCALS

(Rural Association forSustainable CommunitiesAlong our Shore) had its firstsuccessful meeting onFebruary 12. Rather than

thinking of our shore as vari-ous isolated communities, theRASCAL group is hoping totake on initiatives that sup-port the one large communityof “our shore”; Five Islands toMasstown.

At the first meeting, atten-dees brainstormed about allthe big and small initiativesthat RASCALS might work on.Some of the initiatives arealready being taken care of byexisting community groupsand our aim is to help theseother groups with communi-cations and volunteers, andwhatever else they need.

It is anticipated a websiteand social media venues willbe up and running soon. Thiswill act as a community bul-letin board for all of ourshore’s groups.

Eventually, but not now itis hoped to we might also co-ordinate ride shares to eventsor town or doctors appoint-ments and you’ll be able tovolunteer and/or expressyour opinions on this websiteas well. Please just considerattending our next meeting.Everyone is welcome and allideas are appreciated. Ournext meeting is March 12, at 7

Pictured above are a few of the folks at the first RASCALS meeting.(L-R); Front row: Joy Laking, Emily Lane, Karen Ewing, Back RowAnita MacLellan, Carol McNutt, Cathy Mazur and Jim Campbell.(Jim Wyatt Photo)

RASCALS to hold “Drop-In Mornings”

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FRONT PAGE BRIEFSMarch 2015

Nova Scotia’s 2014 peak tourism season saw a five per centincrease in accommodation revenues, the largest increase in roomnights sold in one year since 2002 according to numbers released onJanuary 29th. Nova Scotia welcomed 1.8 million visitors in 2014 as ofNovember 30, with more than half arriving during the peak season ofJune to September. Overall visitation in some key markets was also upwith New England accounting for the largest increase of 19 per cent.Detailed results can be found at http://novascotiatourismagency.ca/nova-scotia-tourism-performance

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • The second session of the 62nd general assembly of the Nova ScotiaLegislature will resume Thursday, March 26, at 1 p.m.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Nova Scotians can check to see when their road will be cleared by visit-ing the new plow tracker and plowing priorities websites. The goal is to pro-vide another road condition tool to help Nova Scotians anticipate when it’ssafe to travel. The plow tracker site is a live snowplow activity map that usesmoving plow symbols to show where trucks are working on Nova Scotiaroads in real time. The plowing priorities site uses colour to depict plowingstandards for each provincially maintained road. For example, a red-coloured road is cleared within eight hours after a storm. To visit the sites,go to http://novascotia.ca/tran/winter/plowtracker.asp and http://novasco-tia.ca/tran/winter/losmap.asp

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Michel Samson, acting Energy Minister, is encouraging everyone to pro-vide further input on a draft report that summarizes what it heard duringElectricity System Review public consultations in the fall. The EnergyDepartment will use the feedback in a final report, which will be tabled inthe legislature this spring. Key findings from last fall’s review indicates NovaScotians want: long-term rate stabilization and predictable electricity rates;more accountability and transparency in setting electricity rates and a focuson the environment and support for renewable energy resources, if it does-n't significantly impact electricity rates. An English copy of the report and aFrench executive summary are available online. People can comment on thereport before March 18 by visiting www.novascotia.ca/electricityfuture,emailing electricityreview@novascotia.ca or writing to the department.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .CA and the Community Investment Program. Through theCommunity Investment Program, .CA funds projects that demonstratethe capacity to improve the Internet for all Canadians. The .CA teammanages Canada’s country code top-level domain on behalf of allCanadians. A Member-driven organization, .CA represents the interestsof Canada’s Internet community internationally. The second round ofthe .CA Community Investment Program is now open for applicationsat www.cira.ca. To learn more about the CIP and to arrange inter-views with the .CA Community Investment Program, please contact:Ryan Saxby Hill, Communications Manager for .CA, ryan.hill@cira.ca, Ph: 613-316-2397 

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Connecting older adults with mobile technology. The NovaScotia Community Access Program (NSCAP) is launching a newinitiative aimed at providing seniors with skills and confidence in usingmobile technologies. The program, called “Connecting older adultswith mobile technology” has been launched across the province.There are currently 167,000 people over the age of 65 in Nova Scotia,and NSCAP hopes to reach as many people as possible by offering thisprogram in community-based CAP sites all across the province. Theprogram will offer beginner, basic, and advanced training options andwill include topics such as: choosing the right device, understanding thetechnology, finding useful applications, and accessing ongoing support.NSCAP is one of 29 organizations to receive funding in the first yearof the .CA Community Investment Program. For more informationon how to register for “Connecting older adults with mobiletechnology” visit www.nscap.ca or call 1-844-539-9063 (toll free).

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Opportunity for Youth - FREE COURSES. Over the March Break,there will be three courses for youth offered at the Great Village Fire Hall,free of charge. We will present a first aid course for youth ages 7-11 whichteaches them how to react in an emergency situation and when to call 911.Children attending this course will be asked to bring a lunch and the coursewill run from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. and they will receive a certificate of atten-dance. The second course is the Babysitters course. This course will alsorun from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Please bring your own lunch. It focuses onhandling situations which may occur while youth are babysitting andincludes some first aid skills. This is a certification course. Lastly, a CPR-Ccourse will be offered during the week. This is open to anyone in the sur-rounding communities. All courses are being offered at no charge. Seating islimited and pre-registration is required. For further information and to reg-ister for any of these courses, please contact Kathy Giles at 668-2613 orleave a message at 668-2784.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • HUMOUR CORNER: A wife asked her husband: “What do you like mostin me, my pretty face or my sexy body?” He looked at her from head to toeand replied: “I like your sense of humour.”