PAYETTE’S RESIGNATION PROMPTS CALLS FOR STRICTER VETTING

Federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who is from New Brunswick,  is conceding that Julie Payette’s resignation as governor general last night shows a need to strengthen the process for vetting vice-regal appointments.

Her resignation comes a week after the government received the very concerning findings of an independent investigation into allegations that Payette presided over a toxic work environment at Rideau Hall. The report was commissioned by the Privy Council Office that Leblanc currently oversees, and he admits it came to “compelling” and “stark” conclusions.  Justin Trudeau side-stepped an arms-length panel set up during the Harper years when he appointed Payette in 2017.  (Files from Canadian Press, National Post Photo)

 

NORTHERN ZONE SCHOOL CLOSED DOWN BY CORONAVIRUS – STUDENT AT ACADIA UNIVERSITY ALSO INFECTED  

 

Northern Nova Scotia has its first school closure from the Coronavirus.  It’s the French School, Ecole Acadienne in Truro. The infected person was not at school yesterday and that school will stay closed for deep cleaning and contact tracing until at least Tuesday.  Yesterday’s only other new case in the province was also here in the Northern Health Region and is travel-related. There are currently 22 COVID infections across Nova Scotia.  One of those cases is a student at Acadia University in Wolfville, with ten people in the Annapolis Valley-area currently being traced after contact with that student on campus this week.   (Aerial Photo – Ecole Acadienne de Truro) 

 

DIRECTORS NAMED TO REVIEW PANEL REGARDING PORTAPIQUE SHOOTER – ANTIGONISH BORN WOMAN NAMED INVESTIGATIONS DIRECTOR

The commission leading the investigation into last April’s mass shooting across Colchester, Cumberland and Hants Counties has named 6 directors to support the federal-provincial inquiry.

Thomas Cromwell, who is a former Supreme Court justice, has been named Commission Counsel Director.  The directors also include Barbara McLean, a deputy chief of the Toronto Police Service, who is originally from Antigonish, and is the country’s foremost scholar in complex criminal matters related to violence against women.  Others on the panel include leaders in human rights as well as mental health and wellness.

 

NEW GLASGOW REGIONAL POLICE TO START PILOT WITH BODY CAMERAS

            

Constable Kelly-Moore Reid shows body cam’s small size. 
(NG Regional Police Photo)

New Glasgow Regional Police are about to don body cameras as part of a two-month experiment.  Constable Ken MacDonald says they’ll record audio and video, and they’re relatively small, so as not to interfere with things.  The plan is for front-line officers to be able to record their interactions with community members starting next week.  The main goal is to strengthen trust and accountability.  Deputy Chief Ryan Leil says research shows body-worn cameras will enhance public safety by augmenting how evidence is collected, improving de-escalation, and setting up better police transparency.

CASEY ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION FROM NS POLITICS AFTER 15 YEARS

Our neighbours from the Tatamagouche area down the other shore into Five Islands and Debert are losing an MLA, and the province is about to lose its finance minister with the resignation of Karen Casey. The former teacher and school administrator has announced she’s quitting politics and leaving the riding of Colchester North after 15 years.  When Rodney MacDonald lost the 2009 election, Casey took on the role as interim Tory leader, then switched to the third-place Liberals under Stephen McNeil when she said she could no longer trust the P-C leader of the day, Jamie Baillie.  Casey joins Valley MLA and Health Minister Leo Glavine in following McNeil out of politics, now that she’s held successive senior roles within McNeil’s government, in similar fashion to Glavine. (Global News photo)

Gas prices are unchanged from last week.  Although diesel prices have changed, they’re only up by 7-tenths of a penny this morning, selling for $107.8 here in the Pictou, North-Central Colchester, Antigonish County and Guysborough County pricing zone.

 

RCMP SAY CAPE BRETON FUGITIVE HAD HELP DURING HIS STAY IN WOODS

RCMP say it appears a man provided shelter to this week’s armed fugitive in Cape Breton.  As a result, a 49-year-old man from Meat Cove has been arrested for obstruction of justice.  34-year-old Perry MacKinnon (pictured above)  is the man who gave himself up to police on Wednesday after avoiding arrest earlier in the week, prompting warnings to the folks living in Meat Cove, Cape Breton. It also meant a two-and-a-half day search for MacKinnon on multiple firearms warrants as he apparently roamed the winter woods on the Island’s northern tip.

Police have now recovered a long gun from the woods, and are discounting reports that MacKinnon was cold, wet and hungry when he surrendered.  (RCMP Photo)

 

RCMP CHARGES IN DEATH OF WESTVILLE MOTHER IN COURT, JANUARY 2022

The case of a man charged in a car crash that claimed the life of a Pictou County mother of two goes to court just under a year from now, in early January 2022.  37-year-old Jason Edward Alexander of Bible Hill has entered a plea of not guilty and has elected to be tried by a Supreme Court judge without a jury, after the crash in the community of Oliver, between Tatamagouche and Wentworth last April. Alexander is facing a number of charges after an RCMP investigation from the crash that claimed the life of 30-year-old Tanya Rector of Westville. (File photo)