St. John's putting money forward to replace popular wooden slipway
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CTV News
20 minutes ago
- CTV News
Halifax Harbour Bridges introduces new program to protect, preserve artifacts
Halifax Harbour Bridges has started a summer project to preserve and protect the history of both the MacKay and Macdonald bridges. 'For many years HHB has had a lot of artifacts and documents that we just put into cupboards and forgotten about. It has been very clear that we have been seeing some documents that have been beginning to degrade,' says Steve Proctor, communications manager with Halifax Harbour Bridges. Proctor admits the degradation could be due to the ways in which these artifacts have been stored, as well as the presence of mice and rats. 'We have just put it out of sight out of mind and if we don't do it now when are we going to do it and we will start to lose things that are important,' states Proctor. The team recognizes the importance of preserving the bridge's history, so they have hired a summer student to sort the documents. Proctor was surprised by the number of applicants for this job, as it is a niche subject matter. Julia Elliot started in the role two weeks ago. She just graduated from the two-year information technology program at the Nova Scotia Community College, with a personal focus on archives. 'Her job is really going around to cupboards, going to filing cabinets, going to safes, looking to see what there is with potential, getting rid of the stuff that has no historic value and no other value,' adds Proctor. Despite only being in the position for a short time, Elliot has already found a number of interesting items. 'I found so many pictures and so many news clippings, minutes from very back in the beginning of the construction of the bridges all the way up to the present. We have antique teacups that were made at the beginning of the bridge's history,' says Elliot. She feels fortunate to have been selected for this role and says it will benefit her in the long term, while pursuing this work as a career. 'This is something that I want to do as a long-term career and it's a very hard career to get started in and this is a great opportunity to get my foot in the door,' says Elliot. There are many steps to the job and it's quite the process. Both the MacKay and MacDonald bridges have a number of safes and cabinets with documents and antiques to go through. 'I start by going through boxes and I pull out files and go through them from beginning to end. I don't change anything in it, and I don't move around files,' says Elliot. There is a criteria she follows when determining what is important to keep and what she should toss. 'My main principles when I go through things are who is going to use this and who is going to benefit from this. If it's receipts someone got from lunch that is not important to the history of Halifax Harbour Bridges. But going through say and finding years records of Bridgewalk from where we started from and where we have gotten to,' says Elliot. Elliot adds anything she deems important to a database. It consists of an excel spreadsheet that highlights, titles, descriptions, dates and subjects. The purpose is to make it easy for researchers or the public to go back and search. 'We will have conversations with archives to say what they want for public access and what we are going to keep for a museum or display,' adds Proctor. Elliot is not just going through historical artifacts and documents that HHB, she is also examining items the public has dropped off. 'We often get people that call and bring in old photos and say they got them in grandpa's basement and don't know what to do with them,' adds Proctor. At this year's annual Bridgewalk on Sunday, the team will have a table set up with people to speak with Elliot and drop off any antiques they feel relate to either bridge's history. 'People can bring in their artifacts, they can bring in their old photos that they really don't know what to do with and we'll look after them, we will preserve them. We didn't have that possibility before we had an archivist,' says Proctor. For those that are unable to attend Sunday's Bridgewalk, but have items or photos they feel are important to add to the archives, they can reach out to Halifax Harbour Bridges via email. Elliot will set up a date and time to collect the artifacts. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Quebec population projected to decrease due in part to immigration policies, fertility rates
Social Sharing Quebec's statistical institute estimates the province's population will decline by 80,000 by 2030. The institute says the population will decrease due to a number of factors, including recent government policies to reduce the number of temporary immigrants. The agency also said its estimates were based on trends related to fertility rates and international migration patterns. The agency says Quebec's population in 2024 was close to 9.1 million. It is projecting this number will stabilize at around 9.2 million in the coming decades. The institute says the Quebec City region's population was expected to grow the most between 2021 and 2051, while the Montreal region's population was expected to decrease over the same period.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Clear Lake boat ban faces backlash amid new scientific claims
Social Sharing A group advocating for the return of motorized boats to Clear Lake says their scientific evidence suggests the ban may not be effective in stopping the spread of zebra mussels in the Manitoba lake. Fairness for Clear Lake hosted a packed town hall Tuesday in Wasagaming that gathered to hear from an independent biologist they hired and discuss getting boats back on the lake, which is just inside the southern border of Riding Mountain National Park. "You've got generations of people that have lived and been on the water … that their family members have [said] we're not coming home this year," member Trevor Boquist said. "I have a son that's out in Vancouver. He says … 'If I can't go in the boat, I'm not coming home this summer.'" Mark Lowden, AAE Tech Service senior biologist, said at Tuesday's meeting that zebra mussels are being spread in the lake by natural forces like wind and wave action — not boats. Fairness for Clear Lake hired Lowden to study the zebra mussels and their impact, how they move and the role boats play. "Ecologically, those mussels are still going to move around that lake, with or without boats," Lowden told the crowd of around 400. "It is just going to be a matter of time, in my opinion, that zebra mussels are going to essentially be all throughout the whole lake." Adult zebra mussels were first found in the western Manitoba lake in November 2023, near Boat Cove on the south shore at Wasagaming, inside the park. An effort to contain the invasive species with an underwater curtain in the summer of 2024 did not succeed. That fall, hundreds of live juvenile zebra mussels were found attached to docks and other structures outside of Boat Cove near the east end of the lake. In January 2025, Parks Canada said it planned to allow watercraft on the lake on a "one boat, one lake" basis. However, Parks Canada later reversed that decision and shut down motorized boat access over the May long weekend, citing the urgent need to protect the ecosystem from further zebra mussel contamination. The move sparked widespread backlash from cottagers and business people, who weren't consulted, Boquist said. "I'm a boater myself, and I don't think it always has to be all or nothing," Boquist said. "We're even open to having those conversations about what that looks like. The problem is we can't get the other side to sit down and talk to us about it." Lowden said the greater threat now is the spread of the aquatic invasive species to other lakes, something he said can be managed with strict controls. He recommended the "one boat, one lake" policy, along with mandatory inspections and decontamination to prevent cross-contamination. This would allow boating to resume without increasing ecological risk, he said. A Parks Canada official at the meeting said the ban was necessary, which brought on boos and questions from the audience. Andrew Campbell, Parks Canada vice-president of external relations and visitor experience, told attendees that boat access to the lake needs to be approved by the park's superintendent, and during the initial consultation, they were told at least one group would challenge approvals in court if boats were given the go-ahead. "We make decisions based on would we be able to, with the one boat, one lake, be able to survive a judicial review," he said. "The courts could take the action to say they would immediately suspend the decision until the judicial review was done." He declined to name the group threatening the "one boat, one lake" policy with court action. He did tell the crowd Parks Canada received the information at the beginning of May, and they believe it meant that no matter what, boats would not have been able to get on the water this summer. Consultations had been taking place but were interrupted by the federal election in April, he said. Now, Parks Canada is studying how boats affect the spread of zebra mussels, while addressing a judicial review filed in June by Fairness for Clear Lake. The group wants a judge to declare the ban invalid and let motorized watercraft back on the water. Transparency Wasagaming Chamber of Commerce president Jason Potter said many local businesses have felt left in the dark, because there's been a lack of communication with Parks Canada. The uncertainty is discouraging investment, with business and property owners hesitant to spend money when the future feels so unclear, he said. He hopes the town hall is the start of mending the relationship with Parks Canada. "Nobody wants to have a bad relationship," he said. "This is just a stumbling block right now." Longtime cottager Judy Marvin said the meeting felt like the first time the community received clear information about the zebra mussels. "We've been hearing little bits from various people, and we just really had no firm idea of what was going on, what's real," she said. Marvin feels like the advocacy group is listening and has a plan, and the meeting gave her hope for the future of the lake, she said. Attendee Brian McVicar said he feels better informed, but he questions Parks Canada's approach. "The science basically says motorboats are not the issue," he said. "It begs the question as to what really drove the banned boat decision." During the meeting, Conservative MP Dan Mazier encouraged attendees to sign a petition seeking the removal of the superintendent of Riding Mountain National Park and the return of motorboats. Boquist said while the community's relationship with Parks Canada has eroded over the last several years, he's hopeful it can still be repaired through transparent conversations. "Cottage owners, businesses, cabin owners, like, we all have vested interests," he said. "We're here because we want to be here."
