Friends of Nova Scotia
TrentonWorks Announcement
Nova Scotia's green economy is continuing to grow through a new venture led by the province of Nova Scotia and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Ltd. (DSME). DSME will establish a wind turbine tower and blade manufacturing facility at the former TrentonWorks site, creating hundreds of jobs. The province is investing a total of $80-million and getting an equity stake in the Pictou County operation.
DSME is a diversified company and one of the world's largest ship builders. The South Korean-based company was established in 1973 and today is a first-class builder of commercial and naval ships and offshore projects. In 2009, DSME acquired DeWind Inc., an American wind turbine engineering company, and announced plans to expand into the wind-power sector and build a production plant in North America. South Korea-based Daewoo is publicly listed on the Korean Stock Exchange.
DSME and the province signed a shareholders agreement and committing to an equity investment. DSME is contributing $20.4 million and will hold 51 per cent of the common shares and the province is contributing $19.6 million and will hold 49 per cent of the common shares. The province will also have representation on the board of directors.
Read more and find photographs and video from DSME Trenton Inc. and last week’s announcement.
Responsible Gambling Technology Funding
A Nova Scotia-based developer of responsible gaming solutions for video lottery terminals, slot machines, the Internet and other gaming systems, will further capitalize on the growing market for their product with some recently announced suport from the province.
Techlink Entertainment International has received a $2.5-million investment through Nova Scotia Business Inc. Venture Capital to support it's continued implementation of responsible gaming solutions.
Sidney Crosby: A Proud Province
A surge of energy could be felt across Nova Scotia February 28 as the province's pride and joy, Sidney Crosby, became a national hero.
It was Team Canada versus the United States in the gold medal hockey game. Tied at two and heading to overtime, Canadians from coast to coast were standing, praying, believing, and hoping for a miracle goal. Those prayers were answered.
Sidney Crosby scored the gold medal winning goal seven minutes and 40 seconds into overtime. The celebration started. In hockey bars, living rooms and in the streets of cities and towns across Canada - we came together to praise Canada, Sidney and an incredible Olympic performance. In Halifax, not far from Sidney's birthplace of Cole Harbour, folks celebrated in the street.
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter congratulated Crosby in a news release issued after the game.
NS-based Relief Vessel Returns from Haiti
The 225 member crew of HMCS Halifax received a warm reception from hundreds of family and friends on March 2 when they returned home from a six-week deployment to Haiti in the aftermath of the Jan. 12, earthquake.
The Canadian navy vessel together with HMCS Athabaskan left Halifax Jan. 14, carrying power generators, first aid and other supplies. The Althabaskan remains in Haiti.
SportsDirect Inc. Inks Partnership
Leading Halifax-based sports information providers SportsDirect Inc. and Enetpulse, jointly announced today that the companies have formed a long-term partnership to combine offerings to bring together worldwide sports information coverage.
The combined product offering from the alliance will offer comprehensive sports information feeds from nearly all major sports, with coverage totaling over 600 leagues worldwide. The infrastructure for this global sports information network will emanate from three different continents, North America, Europe and Asia.
As a result of this partnership, SportsDirect Inc.'s offering expands to include Enetpulse's coverage of global football leagues and tournaments as well as tennis, rugby and more. SportsDirect Inc. will supply Enetpulse with premium real-time and post-event information from North American leagues and events including the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and NCAA.
"After extensive analysis of the marketplace outside of North America, we came to the clear conclusion that Enetpulse was the perfect partner," said Brandon Moore, SportsDirect Inc. vice president of Business Development. "Our alliance with Enetpulse will quickly and efficiently increase the value of each company to both our current and potential clients by providing a single, high quality source for global sports information."
NS Shipyards Chosen to Refit Bluenose II
A consortium of three Nova Scotian shipbuilders has won a contract to begin restoration work on the famed Bluenose II schooner.
The Lunenburg Shipyard Alliance, made up of Covey Island Boatworks, Snyder's Shipyard and Lunenburg Industrial Foundry and Engineering begins work on the 47-year-old tall ship later this year and must be completed by March 31, 2011.
Activist to be Pardoned, Africville Injustices Acknowledged
Over the weekend Premier Darrell Dexter said that the province will work toward posthumously pardoning a Nova Scotia woman for her actions in a 1940's civil rights protest.
Viola Desmond was jailed and fined following her Nov. 8, 1946 attendance at the segregated white-only Roseland Theatre in the town of New Glasgow. Premier Dexter told the Chronicle Herald "It was a conviction where a lot of things went wrong," He said Nova Scotia's Minister of Justice, Ross Landry will be in touch with Desomnds' family to begin the process..
"(The case) stands out for its statement as a matter of civil rights and exemplifies what was going on at the time."
Earlier this month, Mayor Peter Kelly, on behalf of Halifax Regional Council and Halifax Regional Municipality, apologized recently for the loss of the historic Halifax community of Africville in the 1960's.
The mayor also presented the terms of an agreement reached between the municipality and the Africville Genealogy Society. The agreement, which includes $3 million toward the reconstruction of the Seaview United Baptist Church to serve as an Africville memorial, is designed to honour the past, take action in the present, and plan for community-based improvements for the future.
For full text of the apology delivered by Mayor Kelly, background information, audio, video and photos, and other resources related to the Africville community, visit halifax.ca/Africville.
Co-op Announcement, Employment Opportunities
The provincial government and the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council kicked-off a new partnership February 24th that will connect unemployed or under-employed Nova Scotians with jobs that meet today's labour market needs.
Premier Darrell Dexter and Community Services Minister Denise Peterson-Rafuse launched the Target 100 employment program. Mountain Equipment Co-op, a member of the Nova Scotia Co-operative Council, hosted the event, which was broadcast live via a government webcast.
The program is designed to recruit, train and employ 100 Department of Community Services' clients over the next two to three years for jobs at co-op businesses around the province.
Universite Sainte Anne Enrolment on the Rise
For the fifth year in a row, the number of students enrolled at Nova Scotia's leading French-language university - Université Sainte-Anne - has been on the rise with a new record set this year. Université Sainte-Anne has 495 students enrolled as of Feb 2010, which represents a 6.5 per cent increase since Oct.ober 2009.
MSVU Professor Awarded $1-million for Research
Mount Saint Vincent University professor Dr. Patricia Williams has been awarded a $1 million Community-University Research Alliances (CURA) grant for her Activating Policy Change for Community Food Security research program.
Williams, also the Canada Research chair in Food Security and Policy Change and the director of the Participatory Action Research and Training Center on Food Security at the Mount, has been working collaboratively with community, government and academic partners to address the issue of food security for 10 years. Community food security means that everyone in communities can obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance, and social justice.
Learn more about Universite Sainte Anne, Mount Saint Vincent and Nova Scotia’s other quality universities at Canada’s University Capital.
Blog: Nova Scotia Real Estate
Experts in the real estate market have a favourable outlook for properties in Nova Scotia, encouraging those who have been won over by the province's many advantages, to make the leap and purchase property. Read more from this blog post.
“Travellers to Nova Scotia have long experienced the adventure and breath-taking beauty of a land and a people truly shaped by the sea. Renowned for the highest tides in the world at the Bay of Fundy, award-winning vineyards, nationally recognized chefs and over 700 festivals annually, Nova Scotia is a place of remarkable natural beauty and thriving culture. Tourists have the option to relax at Peggy's Cove fishing village, go on a whale watching trip, tour the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island, or take extensive tours. These historic waterfronts are home to some of the province's hottest action (think fresh-caught seafood at trendy restaurants, vibrant live indoor/outdoor music, historic attractions such as Pier 21 Halifax, all with the stunning harbour as a backdrop).”
NS-inspired Graphic Novel
Inspired by time spent living in Halifax, North Carolina-born cartoonist Hope Larson
completed a graphic novel telling the story of two Nova Scotian girls living in different eras.
Asked about the book in a recent interview posted online, Larson says “I wanted to do a story about Nova Scotia because we were living there, and there aren't really a lot of good stories about Nova Scotia," Larson said. "The movies are all about 'Gosh, it really sucks here. Let's make the best of it. "I wanted to do a story that said, maybe the good things about the area mean there could be some adventures there. There's so much history in the province, and no one really seems to tap into that."
