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CHAMBER NEWS - November
13, 2007
The Chamber is please to
welcome the following new members:
First Notice:
Excel Driver Training Centers, Windsor
Licensed Driver Training
http://www.exceldrivertraining.ca
Second Notice:
OK Tire and Auto Service, Windsor
http://www.oktire.com
Stuff your stockings locally
The West Hants Chamber of
Commerce & Hants Regional Development Authority are
pleased to present the 3rd Annual Christmas at the
Windsor Mall, 80 Water Street, on November 28 & 29th
from 9 am to 4:30 pm Local vendors will be on-site to
you to offer special local gifts one month before
Christmas. Come and explore at the two day Christmas
sale with handmade crafts, potpourri, jewelry, baked
goods, and wreaths. Just in time for the Holidays.
West Hants
and Area News
Twinning 101
The NS Department of Transportation’s highway planners
aren’t counting on an easy course to complete the
twinning of Highway 101 between Windsor and Avonport.
While some Annapolis Valley business people are worried
about possible delays in completing the twinning of
Highway 101 to Coldbrook, how the highway stretching
across the Windsor causeway will be handled is
apparently still up for debate. The Eastern Kings
Chamber of Commerce, which has a twinning advocacy
committee, recently learned that a long-term view to
twin Highway 101 does not include twinning west of
Avonport until 2015. But several meetings with the Nova
Scotia Road Builders Association and NS Transportation
Department engineers and planners have shown it will
take a concerted effort to complete the promised
twinning between Falmouth and Avonport by 2008 and Mount
Uniacke to St. Croix by 2009, EKCC Chamber President Mr.
Young said. He added in a news release that planning for
the Windsor area has not been completed due to
environmental concerns about nearby waterways. Concerned
residents in the area advocate restoring the natural
tidal flow there to prevent further silt buildup around
the causeway and along other local rivers Friends of the
Avon River (FAR) recently added MP Scott Brison to the
list of those working alongside the group. “Brison
agrees there is sufficient need for DFO to do a
comprehensive study to examine the significant decline
in fish populations of the Avon River Watershed and has
written to Federal Minister Hearn,” says FAR organizer
Sonja Wood. Federal approval is required prior to
construction.
NSLC Brooklyn Open for Business
It’s been a little busier at MacLean’s Petro Canada
since NSLC agency store opened last Thursday. Store
owner Gary MacLean says the product is just one more
thing that people will stop for from him, and he knows
it will make his business more popular. “People are
coming in happy and leaving happy,” he said. It’s taken
a year from the time he applied for the license to open
the new section, which includes a spacious walk-in beer
cooler and a decent selection of wines and spirits. But
MacLean also knows having the availability of liquor in
the area has a larger significance to the village of
Brooklyn and the Newport area in general. “It’s one less
thing residents have to go into Windsor for,” he says.
“Not to knock Windsor, but you know, the more people can
buy in Brooklyn, and the longer they can stay here, the
better it is for Brooklyn, for all of us who live and do
business here.” MacLean and his family have a history in
the area. He also farmed for over 30 years until he sold
his cattle last year. MacLean went into the retailing
business ten years ago when he purchased the old Esso
station on the same site the Petro Canada is today.
“Brooklyn has enormous potential, we see the people
coming out this way looking to buy or build,” he says.
“In fact, we hear it all here. They look at things
around the area, and the facilities and shops we offer.
We’ve got a bank, a great hardware store, some gas
retailers, good stores, two schools and a rink, Aliant
has high-speed, and now,” he adds, “we have an NSLC. But
new people are passing us by,” he says, “and that’s
where the business growth in this area will come from,
from all the new people that might settle in. But they
won’t live here if they don’t have sewer and water if
they had that before,” he says. “For us that are from
here, it’s all we’ve known, but we have to come into the
21st century at some point.” MacLean points to the
recent funding for Windsor and Falmouth as a prime
example. “It’s good for them, but Brooklyn should be
getting something, we need it desperately out here,” he
says, “No one seems to want to deal with it, and while I
try to give them the benefit of the doubt, I don’t think
some of these guys (in government) really understand
what’s going on.” Maybe having a couple of drinks with
Gary would do the trick. He could tell you where to buy
some, anyway. MacLean’s Petro Canada, Hwy #14, Brooklyn.
757-2555
Excel at safe driving
Business growth in West Hants turned another corner
since Excel Driver Training Centers started operating in
August 2006. “We are the only locally-based company
licensed by the Province offering full and customized
driver training serving the communities of Hants,” says
owner and operator David Beaton, who has several years
of driver training experience under his seatbelt. Now
that residents wanting to learn how to drive know they
don’t have to go very far to find a licensed driving
school, the company has increased its number of
certified instructors to meet demand. “It helps us be
more flexible to meet student’s schedules so they can
complete the program at their speed,” says Beaton. All
new drivers in Nova Scotia, regardless of age, must
participate in the Graduated Licensing Program, which
isn’t necessarily easy for a beginner to navigate,
Beaton says. ”Excel is here to help beginner drivers get
through the system without sacrificing driver safety,”
he says, adding its better for new drivers to enroll in
a driver training program early on in the process.
Beaton explains, “Successful completion of Excel’s
program reduces the first waiting period from six months
to three, but completion of a driver training program is
also essential to exit the entire GDL system and to
become a regularly licensed driver,” he says. “So why
not get the benefit of having 25 hours of classroom and
10 hours of in-car skills training before a new driver
spends two years potentially picking up bad habits?”
Excel Driver Training also provides customized training
for city and winter driving, or for those who simply
wish to brush up on defensive driving techniques, for
instance. Excel Driver Training, 792-2545 or visit them
online at
http://www.exceldrivertraining.ca
Bus boost efforts underway
And if you don’t drive, more public transportation is
available to Annapolis Valley residents now that Kings
Transit has expanded its service into West Hants.
Efforts are underway to ensure it grows and stays.
Transit spokesman Ron Mullins said in a recent interview
to the Chronicle Herald that its two new newest routes
that began in September from Windsor to Brooklyn and
Hortonville cover nearly 60 kilometres, bringing the
system’s operating area to more than 200 kilometres
across several municipal boundaries from Brooklyn, Hants
County, to Weymouth, Digby County. It’s not known at
this time whether the bus service might change its name
to reflect its broader area, but Mr. Mullins did say
that Kings Transit faces the unique challenge of serving
areas with low population spread across great distances.
“The municipalities should be applauded because they
recognize how essential transportation is to their
constituents," he said. “It’s a great service for
residents of Hants County. It provides them with
flexibility, independence and an opportunity to have
transportation they would not otherwise have." More than
3,800 riders have used the new routes since they
started, but Kings Transit and municipalities that
subsidize the system want more Valley residents to use
public transportation. “That’s great for a brand new
service. But we need more," Mr. Mullins said. John
Pearce, spokesman for Transportation 2000 Atlantic, a
non-profit group that promotes public transportation,
said, “We have to get more people to know about it and
use it. The service offers advantages to students,
seniors, low income earners, the unemployed and the
disabled." Mr. Pearce said he hopes the new two-hour
schedules will allow for even more expansion in the
future. “It needs to go where the people are," he said.
Information on route schedules is available at
kingstransit.ns.ca
or by calling 1-888-546-4442. (Source: The Chronicle
Herald, Kings Transit)
Clay Hut Opening
A fun, new business has just opened on Gerrish Street,
the first business for both Clay Hut proprietors Kelly
Skanes and Natasha Rafuse. Modeled after the Clay Café,
which opened in Halifax several years ago, painting
pottery is a popular activity for kids, but also for
adults who like to create. “We’re really excited to be
here,” says Rafuse. “The fact that this is a
kid-friendly environment for us to do business in has
helped us along with our own families who have been so
supportive because it was a big leap,” she said. Rafuse
also said that it’s just the kind of business Windsor
needs. “It’s creative in the artistic sense, but it also
appeals to all ages,” she said. “We’re hoping that teens
will find that instead of hanging out on the streets,
they will hang out here. I know when I want a couple of
hours to unwind, painting just takes it all away.” The
Clay Hut has catalogues available to custom order
pottery pieces as well. “There are no additional sitting
or painting fees either,” says Skanes. “You can come in,
choose and pay for your piece and paint to your heart’s
content - as long as it’s within business hours, that
is.” The pottery pieces range from simple designs like a
snowflake to the more elaborate ones requiring several
sessions to paint inside the studio where crafters can
also socialize. There are regular paints, neon paints,
puff paints (which raise on the clay to give the piece
some dimension) and speckled paints to choose from.
Finished pieces can be left to be cured (glazed and
fired) on site, ready for pick-up by the customer a few
days later. The Clay Hut also has birthday packages and
group rates for young and old ranging from $10 - $25 per
person. “On December 1st, we are doing an ornament
painting party, and then on the 8th we’re having a
children’s Christmas painting where parents can drop off
their kids so they can paint something for their parents
as a surprise on Christmas morning,” says Skanes. “Of
course, the parents love getting in here too and having
fun they don’t have to necessarily clean up themselves.”
They also have Pottery on the Go, where they will bring
the party to you. The Clay Hut, 173 Gerrish Street
792-1090 Tues-Thurs, 11 am – 7 pm; Fri & Sat 11-9 pm;
Sunday 11am – 7 pm. Closed Mondays.
theclayhut@eastlink.ca
Liberals visit Hants West
Liberals in Hants West re-nominated Paula Lunn as their
next candidate at the party’s annual meeting in late
October. “She has worked incredibly hard,” said the
party’s Leader, Stephen MacNeil, “Including co-chairing
the party’s leadership campaign,” he said. Using the
nomination meeting as a centerpiece, McNeil and his team
spent two days in West Hants meeting with key community
groups. Eight of the nine-member caucus visited
businesses, municipal leaders, daycares, and schools in
the riding. “They’ve learned a lot about the issues
here. We’ve had two days full of issues important to
people of West Hants. I think each of our MLAs has had
five, six or seven meetings each day,” Lunn said. It is
the first time in recent history one of the province’s
main provincial parties has spent that much time in the
area. One of those meetings was with the executive of
the Avon River Heritage Society, which is the
Municipality’s only provincially-supported museum and
one of few tourist attractions outside of Windsor.
“We’re certainly not in a position to play politics, but
I will say we are very pleased with the interest the
Liberal Caucus showed toward us,” said President Daryl
Sheehy. “I think it shows genuine effort," he said. "Our
museum, like so many other community organizations, is
run by an all-volunteer board," continued Sheehy, "A
busy and over-burdened board doing everything we can to
keep the museum open and promote our heritage, the Hants
Shore tourism industry and our local economy,” he said.
Sheehy said the meeting was to share information and
ideas about how their executive can engage the province
to have a long-term vision for the area. “Our needs are
lengthy, but stable funding for a full-time manager like
other museums in Nova Scotia is one priority,” he said.”
(Sources: ARHS, Nova News Now)
Provincial
& Regional Issues:
NS
wipes US Currency Debt
The Canadian dollar is now starting to retreat from its
record highs, and one advantage to the Canadian dollar
reaching at least reaching parity is that Finance
Minister Michael Baker eliminated the Province’s
exposure to foreign-currency debt last week. Last
spring, almost 10% of the province's $12-billion debt
was in U.S. dollars. The province signed a deal in
September to repay its last outstanding foreign currency
debt in Canadian dollars, at par. "I think it's an
extraordinary achievement," Baker said Thursday. "Over
the past number of years, the previous Liberal
government and then our government have moved
aggressively to limit our foreign-currency exposure, to
the infinite long-term benefit of Nova Scotians.
Gambling with taxpayers' money is never a very good
idea. Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil applauded the
government's decision to follow his party's lead in
reducing foreign debt. It makes debt costs and debt
repayment predictable. "They know a dollar is a dollar,
no matter what it's worth on the world market," he said.
NDP finance critic Graham Steele said it was wise for
Nova Scotia to eliminate the risk of foreign-currency
exposure. Past governments added to Nova Scotia's
staggering debt by engaging in currency speculation.
"There is no question the decisions of the past have
hurt us," he said. While the province's finances have
benefited from the rising dollar, some export businesses
have suffered. Baker said he will look for ways to help
manufacturers and processors as he prepares next
spring's budget. However, Baker announced today that he
will take time off from his duties in cabinet for health
reasons. Mr. Baker, who has undergone hip replacement
surgery, plans to spend several weeks recovering from
the procedure. During his absence Angus MacIsaac, deputy
premier and Minister of Economic Development, will be
acting Minister of Finance. (Sources: The Chronicle
Herald, The NS Business Journal)
Infrastructure Deja-Vu
Last week a multi-million dollar, multi-year
infrastructure agreement between the federal and Nova
Scotia governments was widely reported by provincial
media as being a recycled funding announcement. The
construction of phase 1 of a new Highway 104 project
outside Antigonish was identified as a priority under
the agreement. Nova Scotia municipalities will also
receive $223.70 million through the extension of the Gas
Tax Fund agreement from 2010 to 2014. Charles Cirtwell,
the acting president of the Atlantic Institute for
Market Studies claims the $25-million (annual) in base
funding to last until 2014 had been announced at least
three times, and “the gas-tax transfer to
municipalities, that's been announced twice before,” he
said. Yet for all Cirtwill's criticism, he and many
still welcome the infusion of cash to infrastructure
renewal. “The province's participation in the global
economy literally rides on the condition of our roads
and bridges, and they need all the funding they can
get," said Cirtwell. Great news," said Premier Rodney
MacDonald as he shared the announcement stage with
provincial Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal
Minister Murray Scott, federal ACOA Minister Peter
MacKay, federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon and
provincial Economic Development Minister Angus MacIsaac.
(Source: gov.ns.ca, The Daily News.)
Transcontinental merges
Mondays
While it was widely rumoured that Transcontinental would
be merging several of its rural Nova Scotia papers, the
company has decided to eliminate the Monday editions of
the Amherst Daily News, Truro Daily News and New Glasgow
News. Instead, a new publication called Monday News will
be distributed to these areas. According to Richard
Russell, the Transcontinental group publisher for the
papers, the move is supposed to give advertisers broader
coverage. "So we feel we have a bit more substantial
product on Monday. And it allows our advertisers to get
that broad market on Monday. The Monday News will also
have more pages, at 32 pages, rather than the 24 pages
the daily editions contained. Russell denies that all
three papers will be eventually rolled into one product
for the rest of the week. "There is not intention to
have a regional paper," he said. Russell said Mondays
are traditionally slow news days in the newspaper
industry and therefore have been very weak for
advertisers. (Source: ALLnovascotia.com)
Emerging
Issues: Currency Currents
Now that the Canadian dollar has exceed parity with the
US Greenback, it might be time to take a closer look at
the currency that Lotto 6/49 just handed out 37 million
more of to two lucky Upper Canadian families.
(Incidentally, one of the families had just won $13,000
at an Ontario casino the same night.) Long gone are the
days of Aboriginal wampum, furs and French playing cards
when there was no official currency. The Bank of Canada
was not created until 1934, and before then, the Bank of
Montreal, formerly known as the Montreal Bank, was the
government of Canada’s only bank since 1822. Today, the
increasing use of plastic - either credit, debit or
re-loadable purchase cards - and the transfer of
cyber-money online, is it possible Canada could
eventually move back to a paperless currency system? One
might think so, but judging by the tracking the Bank of
Canada does, it's still looking less likely. Some bills,
such as the $20 bank note, and the $100 bank note, have
more than doubled in circulation over the past 20 years.
Other patterns that have been identified include the $10
dollar bill falling in popularity with fewer in
circulation than $2 dollar bill which hasn't been issued
since 1996. Might we see a $10 coin next? These trends
are partly explained by increasing use of automated bank
machines and the banks' preference to disperse cash
using twenty dollar bank notes rather than the $10, so
the ATM's can be re-stocked less often. The $20 bill is
the most widely circulated Canadian paper currency, with
over 751 million notes in circulation in 2006, which is
an increase of approximately 400 million in twenty
years, since 1986. The $100 banknote is the second most
popular in circulation, whose popularity rose after the
$1,000 bill was eliminated. The $5 dollar bill is the
third most popular banknote.
Fast Facts
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The Bank of Canada started
printing the country's official currency in 1935.
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Although the Bank of
Canada stopped issuing the $1 bill and replaced it
with the Loonie coin (known as huard in French), there
were still over 156, 164, 690 of the notes still in
circulation in 2006, most in the hands of collectors.
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The Loonie coin is made up
of 91.5% nickel and 8.5% bronze.
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Since 1983, every Canadian
banknote is printed on paper made from 100 percent
cotton, which is more durable than regular paper made
from wood pulp.
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In mint condition, a first
issue $25 bill would be worth $15,000, a $5 would be
worth $7,000 if it had French text, and the $10 would
be worth $3,000 in English, $5,000 if it had French
text.
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The English and French
languages weren't combined on Canadian currency until
1937.
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Cost for a lifetime
membership in the Canadian Paper Money Society? $375.
Sources:
The Canadian Money Society
Bank of Canada
Events
Calendar - Submit
your event to info@whcc.ca today!
November 15-16: Atlantic Agricultural science
workshop
NS Agricultural College Campus Truro, examining the
prospects for the bio-economy in the Atlantic Region
bringing together a range of agri-food professionals and
practitioners to focus on broad issues and information
of current interest from researchers, farm leaders,
educators, to extension workers, entrepreneurs, agri-food
firms and services, and students. For more information,
please visit
www.nsac.ca/aascw
Saturday, November 17 – Frenchy’s Holiday Fashion
Show
7:00 pm Newport Corner Community Hall, #130 Highway 215.
Free will donation, refreshments served.
Wednesday, November 21st - Charity Auction
Family Resources Centre, Windsor Community Centre,
Viewing 6-7 pm, Auction starts at 7 pm. Nearly 100 items
to auction from merchandise to whale watching tour.
Thursday, November 22nd - Raise the House
Benefit concert in support of the Windsor Curling Rink
featuring Spinney Brothers with Sharon Ogilvie and
friends. Mermaid Performing Arts Centre, 106 Gerrish
Street. Tickets at Moe’s Music Sales. $20
Saturday, November 24th – AVHS Craft Fair
Avon View High School 9 am – 3 pm Admission $2/ Students
$1.
Saturday, November 24th –
Christmas Tea & Open House
11 am-5pm Turbine Design
Studio. Enjoy seasonal décor, sample complimentary
delicious house-made sweets and blends of tea, and take
advantage of some one-day-only specials on our giftware,
clothing and accessories. 1901 Hwy 1 RR1 Falmouth
902.798.3966
www.turbine.ca
Links you can use:
Who’s Hiring: Windsor-West Hants
Job Bank
Christmas Daddies
Give more by Giving Less
Chuckles:
A tour guide was showing a tourist around West Hants.
The guide pointed out the place where Thomas Chandler
Haliburton supposedly threw a dollar across the Avon
River. "That's impossible," said the tourist. "No one
could throw a coin that far!" "You have to remember,"
answered the guide. "A dollar went a lot farther in
those days."
Every two weeks, E-News is distributed to - and read by
- over 200 local business contacts throughout the
Windsor-West Hants area. If your business has news or
events you would like to share with our readers but
can’t find the words, please call our Newsletter Editor,
Heather Desveaux on 790-4009 or email
info@whcc.ca
Our next issue will be published November 27th, and the
deadline for submissions is Friday, November 23nd.
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