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ShelburneCountyTODAY... News Archive

October 9, 2009: Moby Dick exits Shelburne... the excitement of having  a movie and movie stars in the small town of Shelburne came to this week when the film company began packing up for location shooting in Malta. 

September 29, 2009:  Canadian travel deficit sinks to new low of $3.1 billion... With travel by US travelers to Canada leading the tumble, American spending in Canada fell to $1.8 billion, a 10% reduction compared with the second quarter of 2008. Overall, Canada’s travel deficit with the US fell by $339 million over the same period of 2008, a 13% decrease. It was the highest recorded overseas travel deficit for a second quarter: $812 million, a 2% rise.
     Given the dependence upon U.S. tourism traffic from the ferries from Bar Harbour, Portland and New Brunswick, the South Shore and Yarmouth areas will be especially hard hit by the decline. A recent tourism assessment of the Yarmouth and Acadian Shores region described the situation there as in "crisis" 
     Shelburne County has just employed its first paid tourism development officer in more than ten years. From his first day on the job less than one month ago, Jeff Spencer has been feverishly overseeing the coordination of the Oct 25 visit to Shelburne of the cruise ship Balmora.  >>> more

September 29, 2009:  Newspaper story of unhappy film company a tempest in a teapot... "We've never been treated like this," production assistant  Andrew McInnes of Moby Dick Productions told the Coast Guard on Monday. Apparently, the producers thought they had a deal with Halifax overseers on using the Dory Shop Museum as a set and feel the deal was squelched, making them go to "plan B". The set for Spouters Inn has been built inside the north end of Cox's Warehouse. 
     The location problems, according to reliable sources were solved long ago and McInness' complaints do not represent the attitude of the production company or the film's producers and they are more than pleased with the cooperation, according to sources within the company. "Production assistants do not make decisions about where a film is being shot," said an industry insider, who also said that Mr. McInnes would not likely be included in a future Shelburne shoot. 
    What was not made clear in the Coast Guard story was that the buildings which are under local control have been made fully available to the film and are being used in several "sets" for film and are being made up by production designer Rob Gray to look and feel like the whaling town of Nantucket in 1850.
     Shooting in Shelburne begins on Wednesday for six days for day and night shoots.

September 29, 2009:  Mink farm setbacks get overwhelming support at public meeting in Yarmouth... Many of the people who spoke at a public hearing in front of Yarmouth municipal councillors on Monday night felt a 500-foot setback from watercourses, lakes or rivers for mink, fox, fowl or hog operations isn’t far back enough, but they felt it was a start and an improvement over the existing 328 feet. >>> more

September 29, 2009:  Fishermen frustrated at lobster assistance program... Early reaction to the announcement that the government is now accepting applications for a short-term assistance aid package contained within a lobster industry sustainability plan was not favourable.
    The Sept 29 Coast Guard editorial called the program a "sea of disappointment" and accused the federal government of turning their backs on the fishermen. >>> more 

September 29, 2009:  Shelburne in the running as location for Speilberg/Dreamworks Mayflower epic... News is circulating in the film industry that the 6-hour cinema adaptation of Nathaniel Philbrick's New York Times best seller Mayflower may be shot in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. The film will be produced by senior Dreamworks executive Darryl Frank (The Contender, Las Vegas, The Law, United States of Tara) and will be written, directed and produced by Emmy-award winner David Leland (Virgin Territory, Band of brothers).
    In an interview with SCT from his London home Leland said that line producers have been in Nova Scotia scouting what he considers to be "excellent" locations and, combined with the beneficial 65% tax credit (highest in Canada) and availability of crew and equipment, Nova Scotia is certainly a serious contender as a final location for the shoot. No budget has been announced,  but industry insiders say that a 6-hour series might cost $40-50 million to make.
     "Like so many projects," said Leland, "ours has been stalled some by the global recession,  but I am certain that it will get made." When asked what stars are attached to the project, Leland said it was too early in the process to say.
     The buzz among the film industry professionals in Shelburne for the shooting of Moby Dick is that Dreamworks representatives have been in Shelburne once or twice in recent weeks. Earlier in the year, the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts has local school kids send Speilberg hand-made cards pleading to have the film shot there.
    Nathaniel Philbrick's award-winning account of one of the seminal events of colonial history details the decimation of natives from white-borne plagues, slavery and treachery, the violence and betrayals by some of the Puritans and mutual devastation wrought by King Philip's War upon whites and natives alike. 
     Philbrick's prime protagonist is Capt Benjamin Church, 
     In an uncanny turn of events, Philbrick came to literary fame after writing "In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex", an account to the destruction of the whaling ship Essex and her crew by a massive sperm whale.  Herman Melville is said to have based Moby Dick in part on the Essex tale, gleaned from the personal journal of one of the ship's survivors, which he received from the man's son while on a whaling ship in the Pacific Ocean.

Moby sets sail for Shelburne... the design crew for Moby Dick is hard at work on the many sets for the film on Shelburne's Historic Waterfront... the sets include: Whaleman's Chapel/Bethel, Spouter's Inn, Nantucket Wharf, Nantucket Town, Black Church... >>> read more Moby Dick news here.

September 29, 2009:  Anderson, Hurt charm cast & crew... Reports from the set of Moby Dick say that stars Gillian Anderson and William Hurt, have been relaxed and easy-going on the set of the $25 million TV movie. "At first, everyone was stiff, but a couple of days later Ms. Anderson was joking with the crew and extras, which made for a much easier day for everyone," a crew member told SCT. >>> read more Moby Dick news here.

September 24, 2009:  Movie mavens selling Sandy Point base for $8 million profit... In what would amount to $11,000 of profit for each day they have owned the property, New Englanders and high school sweethearts Jim Kendrick and Mary Barstow have the 175-acre Shelburne Studios up for sale on the international real estate marketplace, telling prospective buyers that they would be buying a "film and television studio". 
      The property was purchased for $2.75 million two years ago under clouded circumstances from South West Shore Development Authority and the sale is part of an investigation being conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman, whose report is due soon. Since taking a $1.75 mortgage on the property after failing to win government approval for same SWSDA has been trying to sell the note at a high discount on the open market, but has filed to get cabinet approval. 
     Recently, Kendrick and Co., who were granted a two-year payment-free mortgage by SWSDA, sold off ten of the prime lots on the oceanfront property for a reported $600,000. Since taking over the moribund former military base, SeaCoast Studios has announced several businesses, including a hotel, market, mini-golf, drive-in movie, candle company and newspaper. There is no evidence of any of the start-ups lasting more than a few weeks or months. 
     One observer told SCT that, as the site is a bare sound stage at best, anyone thinking they were buying a "TV and film studio" would be grossly disappointed. During this past summer, SeaCoast advertised a comedy script competition with the winner receiving a "professional film production" of their script as a prize. No film was produced and the contest seems to have gone the way of previous SeaCoast ventures.

September 21, 2009:  Gillian Anderson, James Gilbert, Donald Sutherland added to MOBY DICK cast... Popular X-Files actress Gillian Anderson and Nova Scotia actor James Gilbert (The Tudors) are reported to have joined the growing cast of MOBY DICK, being shot in Shelburne and Lunenburg, with water scenes shot in Malta. Famed homeboy Donald Sutherland is being talked about as the pick for father Mapple, who delivers the passionate sermon from the nautical pulpit at the Whaleman's Chapel (set built on Shelburne waterfront). Sutherland is one of the most seasoned actors working, with almost 300 entries on his IMDB page. 
      Anderson will play Elizabeth, wife of Caption Ahab (William Hurt) and Gilbert is slated for the role of Steelkilt. Charlie Cox (Stardust, and Raoul Trujillo (In Plain Sight, The Unit) are set as well. In a wiki site for entertainment figures, Anderson's X-Files character Dana Scully is said to have been Moby Dick by her father when she was a girl. They gave each other nicknames from the book. She called her father Ahab and he called her Starbuck.

September 18, 2009:  More Moby Dick action on the waterfront... The 4-hour remake of the famed Moby Dick is now moving ahead at a grand rate. The little Chapel appears done, work on the interiors and exteriors of a tavern is well along and yet another ersatz building has sprung up in front of Cox's Warehouse.
     Filming in Lunenburg is set for next week and Shelburne shooting commences in Shelburne on September 30 for five days. Star William Hurt (Ahab) has been on the waterfront and seems to have taken a liking to The Bean Dock - little wonder!

September 17, 2009:  SWSDA told NO! - again - by Dept of Municipal Affairs... Despite his on-going campaign to increase the gravy train of local municipal funding, RDA chief Frank Anderson was rebuffed once again by the Department of Municipal Services in August when they wrote and told him that the proposed end-run of changing the Municipal Act to allow SWSDA (no, not the arts guys) to borrow from the member munies to prop up its crumbling finances doesn't pass the smell test  for good government. They told him once and for all that the RDA Act DOES NOT allow RDA's to buy, sell and own property.
     The SWSDA coffers are so bare, say some, that they don't even provide lunches or snacks to board members who spend more than 6 hrs in meetings and travel, since all of the meetings are now held behind the locked gates of the Yarmouth SWSDA compound after Anderson and Co. called in the Mounties to remove an interested citizen from a meeting in Shelburne.

September 17, 2009:  Reader's rant.... Periodically, we print opinion letters from readers. Recently, former Municipal Councilor Raymond Davis submitted a page of comments about municipal finances, council salaries, tax rates, sewers, etc etc (parts of the letter were printed in the Coast Guard). ... read the rant here

September 16, 2009:  Real estate report shows sales down, prices up in 2009.. Yarmouth lags behind provincial average gain by 12.5%... In a report from the Nova Scotia Association of REALTORS® the average price for multiple listing home sales from June to August was $197,007, up 5.7 per cent over the same three months in 2008. 
   A total of 3436 homes sold through the MLS® System in Nova Scotia from June to August 2009, down 3.5 per cent from one year earlier. The dollar value of these home sales totalled $676.9 million during the period, up two per cent year-over-year.
     Sales were up throughout the province except in Cape Breton and Yarmouth, where the average price fell 7% to $116,000, less than 60% of the provincial average of $197,000.

September 14, 2009:  Shelburne mayor Delaney suffers heart attack... Mayor Alan Delaney of Shelburne suffered a heart attack on Saturday and was rushed to Yarmouth Regional Hospital for treatment. By policy, the hospital would not discuss patient status, but Delaney is apparently responding well to treatment and is not expected to be hospitalized for long.

September 14, 2009:  Air show flying from Yarmouth?...  CBC Radio news is reporting Monday that the Nova Scotia International Air Show is considering yet another new venue after just one year at the Yarmouth International Airport. According to the CBC report, Air Show director Colin Stephenson said that sites in HRM and Sydney are being considered.
    In an interview with SCT, Stephenson said that the show is not abandoning Yarmouth, but is likely to establish a business model which has the show alternating between three or four venues. "We love Yarmouth and very much look forward to coming back", said Stephenson. "We have a loyal fan base there and a cadre of almost 200 volunteers who helped make the show so successful".

September 13, 2009: William Hurt & Ethan Hawke slated to star in $25 million Moby Dick.... William Hurt (Robin Hood, Kiss of the Spider Woman), will portray the megamaniacal, peg-legged captain Ahab of the whaler Pequod and Ethan Hawke (Staten Island, Training Day) is set to play first mate Starbuck in the upcoming miniseries retelling of Moby Dick. >>> more

September 11, 2009:  Southwest Nova fishers support Oceans First decision... In a letter to the editor, representatives from two major regional fishing groups have spelled out the reasons why the recent decision by the Nova Scotia Minister of Energy to discontinue funding for the troubled Oceans First Task Force was the right response.
     Pointing out that the group appeared to be biased and created to support a pro-drilling stance, that the Georges Bank ecosystem is one of few in which there is a resurgence of groundfish and citing the probability that any oil or gas found on the Banks would be hustled off to our Yankee neighbors, the letter says that any future panel would use a truly impartial and unbiased process to conduct a review of lifting the long-term moratorium on oil and gas drilling on Georges Bank. 
     For more information about the Georges Bank and Oceans First connection, click here.

September 11, 2009:  3 days left for RDA survey... Should Shelburne County have its own RDA? is the question on the local development accountability blog, with three days left to vote in the survey.

September 11 2009:  Full house at cruise ship meeting...  Shelburne mayor Al Delaney presided over a packed room of enthusiastic locals convened to discuss what benefits Shelburne and area could reap from the arrival on October 25 of a cruise ship with 1200 passengers from the UK.
     Many local non-profit and business leaders attended, including officials from the Town and Municipality, Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Association, Museum Complex and various festivals and events. Delaney shared the stage with Jeff Spencer, recently hired by South West Shore Development Authority as a tourism officer.
     Spencer outlined the enormous profits possible to local businesses and offered to serve as the coordinator who would sort out the various ideas, proposals and plans to accommodate the possible 500 or more of the passengers who are expected to disembark on the waterfront.
     Several ideas were floated, including the closing of parts of Dock Street and Water Street to auto traffic, a large welcome tent in the marina parking lot, salmon suppers, farmers' market, large pumpkin display, entertainment, walking tours, etc.
     It was agreed that there would need to be a few volunteers from the community to take a leadership role in the undertaking and a second meeting is planned for Thursday evening at the Fire Hall.

September 4, 2009:  Munis and govt pols being pitched to dump SeaCoast mortgage on discount market... The SWSDA Accountability Blog reports today that, despite that fact that a Frank-friendly Tory cabinet wouldn't even touch SWSDA's bargain-basement approach to fast cash from the $1.75 million mortgage to the American duo operating the SeaCoast Studios Pitch-and-Putt Outdoor Movie Hotel and Nightclub Conglomerate, Frank Anderson and Co. are apparently going after municipal and provincial support for their plan to generate cash from a substantially discounted sale of the questionable asset.
    The SWSDA blog suggests that holding a mortgage for $1.75 million whose terms provide for delayed payment "is like having a gold credit card where you've exceeded both the total and daily credit limit.....is it burning a hole in Mr. Anderson's pocket?"

September 3, 2009:  Barrington re-thinking land sales policy... Provoked by protesting citizens who packed council chambers to the rafters meeting after meeting, the Barrington Municipal Council has started on the road to revise a land sales policy which the current council now feels needs changing.
    Presentations at Council by the Clyde River Protection Committee made clear to Council that the previous policy was much of the problem behind what appeared to be a backroom deal to sell 300 acres of land to the Yarmouth Area Industrial Commission, purportedly for a "state-of-the-art" mink farming facility proposed by YAIC and South West Shore Development Authority honcho Frank Anderson.
     Based upon a discussion that Council do away with existing policies allowing for the sale of large tracts of Municipal land without public input, Councilor Shaun Hatfield moved that the portions of the existing policy be changed. Hatfield's motion would significantly limit Council's power when it comes to selling/ providing public land. 
     The new policy, if adopted by Council, would allow Council to sell or provide 20 acres or less of land without public consultation - and only if it is clearly in the social, economic, health, recreational, educational, or environmental interest of citizens. If this 20 acres or less is located in an environmentally (Clyde River watershed) or historically sensitive location (new library on historic outdoor skating rink) - then all rules with respect to a public hearing process would apply.
     There is also discussion within the municipality of creating a policy regarding the transfer of public land so that the land would revert back to the municipality people should a proposed business plan or project fail to materialize, such as been the case with the original mink proposal by SWSDA/YAIC.

No to $20k SWSDA plea... The Barrington Council Committee also voted to deny the request from SWSDA's Frank Anderson for an up-front fee of $20,000 to prepare tendering documents for the construction of a Business Park in Barrington which Anderson has admitted previously he is unable to locate the funding to build. One observer of the Council told SCT that SWSDA's request was similar to "someone asking for a fee to paint a car which had been stolen the previous week." (see Shakedown story)

September 3, 2009:  CBC to move The National" to 11pm?.... A group called Friends of the CBC has been reporting that the flagship news program will be moved to 11pm from it 10pm slot, reducing viewers by 1/3. The web site Ceasefire.ca, operated by the Rideau Institute on International Affairs, has been mailing people across Canada asking that they sign the online petition from the Friends. to stop the CBC move.

September 1, 2009:  Roseway closures for September - parts of 18 days... Southwest Health announced Roseway Hospital Emergency Department closures for September... 

August 31, 2009:  Moby Dick ramps up in Shelburne... The $16 million German/Canadian remake of Melville's classic Moby-Dick, or The Whale, is getting into full steam, with shooting starting soon in Lunenburg and Shelburne (Sept 28), with whaling scenes being shot in Malta. Service Canada has a listing for 10 production assistants @ $10/hr per to route traffic and bodies on Shelburne's waterfront in late September and CBC is reporting casting calls for hundreds of extras in Shelburne (Wed Sept 2) at Seacoast Studios or by emailing and Lunenburg (Sept 1). They are looking for tiny (size 6 max) women with long, natural coloured hair and men (size 44 or smaller) with and without beards and hair that is not too modern are needed.  A few children will be used as well. Pix and measurments can be emailed to casting at: castingmovieextra@gmail.com
     Bill Norman Park is the site of the recreation of Melville's Whaleman's Chapel (actually, the Seaman's Bethel in New Bedford, Mass.). Orson Welles was masterful in the 1956 Moby movie by John Houston.  Welles abandoned his own whale tale to work in Houston's.  

August 31, 2009:  Shelburne Ship Repair, Roseway emergency and SWSDA dissatisfaction top meeting with provincial ministers... With economic issues specifically affecting Shelburne County, Economic Minister Percy Paris and Fisheries and Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau spent the day in Shelburne County to listen to both local government and residents of the county. >>> more

August 31, 2009:  SWSDA shakedown redux?... As if getting stiffed by the province and feds on their SWSDA-produced pitch for funds for a business park wasn't enough, now the Barrington Municipal Council is being asked by the self-same SWSDA (not the arts guys) to pony up $20,000 to put together a tender offer for the business park that isn't going to be built! That would be like Shelburne handing over 20g's to Frank and Co. to design a traffic program for the visitors arriving on the storied Boston Ferry.
     The Municipality is in an "economic crisis situation" regarding the need for a business park, according muni meeting minutes and South West Shore Development Authority agreed to seek funding for the project. The only application made by SWSDA was rejected as not fitting the criteria for the Community Development Trust.
    To put the most recent SWSDA request in some perspective, the $20,000 would provide the following funding in Barrington:

• Wood’s Harbour Days                             20 years    

• Samuel Wood Historical Society              20 years         

• Do For Others Club                                 20 years

• Charlesville Green Grove Cemetery     50 years

• Barrington Municipal Exhibition                15 years

• Safe Grad                                               60 years

• Chapel Hill Historical Society                   20 years

• Shag Harbour Incident Society                 30 years      

• Old Farm Cemetery                            20 years

• Ross Heritage Society                             25 years

   Thankfully, someone on Barrington Council (their minutes don't say who) asked what funding approval has been received for this project and the clerk said "nada". Where the citizens and politicians of South West might be on the lookout for the next SWSDA cash-grab is anyone's guess, but our money would be on 1.) the $5 million Shelburne Port expansion project (no written record on file of ANY funding attempts by SWSDA; 2.) proposal to assess the likelihood of Yarmouth Industrial Commission ponying up the $240,000 overdue to the Yarmouth Municipality in collected rents for Register.com; 3.) funding applications to Department of Environment to clean up the expected mess created by the mink ranches going into the Clyde River area.

August 28, 2009:  Financial bail-out looming for Yarmouth Industrial Commission?... Under the leadership of development czar Frank Anderson, the Yarmouth Area Industrial Commission (YAIC) has developed a dire cash flow problem needing $300,000 to solve, according to documents on file with the Town of Yarmouth. The Request for Decision (RFD) is posted online by the Town and states that the YAIC is "cash-poor" as a result of the Domtex project losses and they are without any other options to continue operating if the three area Municipal units do not rescue them with $100,000 payments each.
     The CAO's recommendation comes with serious conditions attached, including detailed answers re: YAIC most recent financial statements, appointment of Grant Thornton as auditors, the three area CAOs are appointed to the YAIC audit committee, with one as chair, YAIC develop a strategy with goals and timelines, increasing financial transparency, hiring a real estate specialist. 
     Recently, financial problems seem to plague organizations headed by Anderson. The South West Shore Development Authority (SWSDA) is reported to be in serious financial shape and has been struggling to increase its loan guarantees from area municipal governments and Anderson has told his board - and it is common knowledge throughout government - that he and SWSDA are the subjects of a lengthy investigation by the provincial Ombudsman's Office, with one of the primary concerns being the relationship between YAIC, SWSDA and Anderson. SWSDA's financial statements were due in March, 2009 and Anderson has said recently that they will not be available until mid-September. 
     This past Monday, the Barrington Municipal Council voted unanimously to launch an investigation of the questionable Clyde River mink farm land sales deal overseen by Anderson, YAIC and SWSDA.
     SWSDA previously came under criticism from citizens and local politicians for its handling of the sale of the former Shelburne Boy's School and CFS Shelburne (Shelburne Park). 500 Shelburne County citizens in 2006 asked for an audit of SWSDA's books by the government. SWSDA and Anderson have failed to produce any results in their well-published attempts to raise funds for a Barrington Industrial Park and Shelburne Marine Terminal upgrade.
     Anderson has recently suggested that he and SWSDA could help Shelburne County develop their industrial commission, but a development expert familiar with SWSDA, YAIC and local sentiments told SCT that, in light of the current financial debacle and the two separate investigations, that idea may not develop much traction in the short term.

 August 27, 2009:  Barrington trying to sabotage development, says Ken Anthony... As if the beleaguered Municipality of Barrington didn't have enough on its hands with the big mink stink and land deal investigation surrounding Yarmouth and Area Industrial Commission and South West Shore development Authority, Nova Scotia Business Journal Business Buzz now reports that the Municipality is continuing to thwart Anthony's re-do of the once decrepit high school on Hiway 103.  >>> read more 

August 27, 2009:  Frankly speaking... inquiring minds want to know... Seems like my news sources are filled with bits and bytes of news about SWSDA (not the art action one) and CEO Frank Anderson. Apparently, almost every government department and agency in Halifax is abuzz with the anticipation of the the highly-anticipated report from the Office of the Ombudsman about some of the questionable practices of South West Shore Development Authority and Mr. Frank. Insiders say the report, which is the result of dozens of interviews by trained investigators and still dozens more meetings with government officials, will be a scorcher.
      For those who are not aware - or have a shortened attention span - the investigation was instigated by a request from the Concerned Citizens of Shelburne County in a petition signed by 500-plus ratepayers here who where incensed by Anderson's dealings on the Boy's School and CFS Shelburne (now SeaCoast Studios and Minnie and Goofy's Mini-Putt Emporium) and were also incensed with Paulette Scott and Reg Ridgely's determination to buy both of the white elephants from SWSDA at a hefty price, raising the tax rate for us all.
     As evidence of the interest by Halifax pols and bureaucrats in the doings and dealings of Frank and SWSDA, those folks account for a substantial percentage of readers of SCT - estimated 20,000 visits over the past year and many regular visitors from Municipal Affairs, Economic Development, ACOA, DFO, Justice, etc etc.
     Frank in the Barrington woodshed?... the economic development czar was apparently called Wednesday into the Barrington Muni offices to discuss the pending investigation into his handling (representing both SWSDA and Yarmouth Area Industrial Commission) of the great Barrington Mink Stink Land Deal and what role he and the Muni Council played in turning a $75 million state-of-the-art "model" project with 150 jobs into a one job fiaso which would make aged swiss cheese look like a solid object.
    Anderson has apparently been telling folks that he has the Barrington folks (and Clarks Harbour) "locked up" as far as jumping the SWSDA development ship come March, when the Munis in this region have to reaffirm their confidence in the ineffective (for this region)  RDA. Maybe they should all be locked up together?

August 26, 2009:  Public meeting in Shelburne with provincial ministers... or, a breath of fresh air... When public agencies in this region call in the RCMP to keep reporters and others from hearing their business and when town and municipal councilors regularly meet in secret, private sessions to discuss land sales, development and other (who knows what?) matters, it is a real breath of fresh air to see NDP ministers Sterling Belliveau (Fisheries & Environment) and Percy Paris (Economic Development) schedule their confab on Friday with local mayors, wardens and councilors as a public affair, with citizens being invited to observe. Good on them! 
     The meeting is on Friday, August 28 at 10:30am at the King Street Community Centre (Fire Hall) . For more about this meeting and a treatise about "From Client to Citizen", go to the new Shelburne Citizen blog.

August 26, 2009:  More bullying from SWSDA's legal beagles... Apparently concerned that a local arts activist group (South West Shore Department of Art, or SWSDA) would be presumed by SCT readers to be engaged in economic development activity in the region, yet another team of lawyers for South West Shore Development Authority (also SWSDA, but NOT the art action one) have threatened SCT with a law suit, claiming that the economic development SWSDA's trade name has been tarnished.
      The threatened suit was described by an economic development expert as "beyond foolish". In a response to the SWSDA mouthpiece, SCT publisher Timothy Gillespie reminded the erstwhile attorney that, in addition to there being not a chance in hell of SWSDA succeeding in what would be a very lengthy and costly (more taxpayer dollars down the drain) lawsuit, SWSDA and CEO Frank Anderson should instead focus on "the enormous challenges facing (them), including serious economic difficulties, demands from deputy ministers to reform its organization, multi-million dollar lawsuits, actions for contempt, investigations by provincial and perhaps other bodies..." and that the lawyer "...might advise them to spend more time tending to business and less time bullying those of us who are working for serious and lasting improvements in the civic life of our communities."

August 26, 2009:  Mink stink rally and demonstration in Yarmouth tonight.... A group calling itself South Western Nova Scotia Citizens for Environmental Justice has scheduled an anti-mink farm rally Wednesday evening at 5:00pm at the Hebron Municipal Building, where the Yarmouth Municipal Council meets the same evening.  According to a spokesman, the group expects young and old adults, children, and pets to the rally/demonstration designed to "put a face on the community who wants their voice heard about what is good for the community and the environment." 

August 26, 2009:  Queens to get new tourism centre... The Region of Queens tourism industry is being given a boost, thanks to the Community Adjustment Fund (CAF), according to an ACOA news release. Gerald Keddy, Member of Parliament for South Shore - St. Margaret's, announced investments of $200,815 for the construction of a new visitor information centre in Liverpool, and $86,857 for upgrades to the Seaside
Recreation and Community Centre.

August 26, 2009:  Barrington muni ignores another SWSDA caution... Despite having had two successive meetings dominated by presentations and discussions surrounding questionable actions relating to the South West Shore Development Authority (SWSDA) and Yarmouth Area Industrial Commission (YAIC) involvement  in a failed mink ranch breeding facility and subsequent land sale surrounding the mink farm property.
     Not more than 30 minutes after voting unanimously to launch a serious inquiry into the actions of the Council and SWSDA and YAIC in the matter - including questionable communications from and with SWSDA, the Council didn't bat an eye when the most recent questionable correspondence from SWSDA's CEO Frank Anderson was introduced at council. (see weasel words story below)

August 25, 2009:  Oceans First de-funded... citing "fiscal pressures" and redundancy in research and review efforts, Energy Minister Bill Estabrooks has advised Yarmouth Municipal Council that the controversial Oceans First Task Force has been de-funded. The task force was the brainchild of business partners Frank Anderson (CEO for South West Shore Development Authority) and Richard Hurlburt (Yarmouth MLA, former Energy Minister, construction executive), plus a high-ranking, pro-oil drilling energy dept bureaucrat. 
     Originally funded in a non-tendered $150,000 contract to SWSDA, the task force was mired in controversy from the outset, including outlandish sums reportedly spent on a useless Norway junket by Hurlburt, Anderson, bureaucrats and several pals, pro-drilling conclusions published by task force chair and Hurlburt/Anderson crony and Yarmouth lawyer Cliff Hood, months of inactivity, lack of public input... i.e., business as usual for the "Yarmouth Brotherhood". 
     A comprehensive review of Georges Bank information can be found HERE.

August 25, 2009:  Overflow crowd hears unanimous vote for SWSDA (South West Shore Development Authority) land deal inquiry... after a thoughtful and concise presentation by Doug Brannen of the Clyde River Protection Assoc, the Barrington Municipal Council voted unanimously Monday night to invite a neutral third party to investigate the many irregularities in the land deal surrounding the creation of a mink ranch in Clyde River. The office of the Nova Scotia Ombudsman was suggested. A report from that office on another ongoing investigation of SWSDA is expected soon. 
     Brannen's presentation iterated circumstances which suggested several problems which may have impacted the apparently flawed decision-making by the Barrington Council, including: possible unseen and unhealthy relationships between SWSDA and YAIC (Yarmouth and Area Industrial Commission) [SWSDA CEO Frank Anderson represents both bodies as executive]; misrepresentation of status of an environmental assessment; lack of public access to information about public land sales; one lawyer representing both the current mink farm and the municipality; inappropriate 300-acre land option given to YAIC; the controversial sale of 300 acres to private investors by YAIC; the $66,000 grant to SWSDA supposed to cover the original YAIC purchase. 
     In a recent letter to SWSDA board members, the Ombudsman outlined the questionable relationship between YAIC and SWSDA as a specific area of investigation by the office. The Council voted Monday to rescind the previous vote granting YAIC future options on land in the area. Although Frank Anderson is quoted this week in local papers as saying that the original $75 million Mink Breeding Facility deal had fallen through due to lack of private financing, Brannen stated to recently Anderson told the YAIC that a major mink farm project in Shelburne County was on the burner, with $1 million each committed by federal and provincial governments and $3.5 million in private financing.
      The Clyde River Committee representative who closed the mink farm discussion told the Council that they were not going away and that they would fight a mink farm in the area to the bitter end.  >>> Nova News story

August 25, 2009: Mink stink spreads to Yarmouth County... Many of the people attending the Barrington meeting were from the Yarmouth and Carleton areas, where a bitter battle is being waged by citizens against the proposed increase in mink farms in that area. Mink farms are thought by many to be the source of the "devastating impact" of a blue-green algae infestation in lakes in Yarmouth County. A YMCA camp was shut down recently as a result of the algae.
    A group of citizens plans a protest at the next Yarmouth Municipal Council meeting and "No more mink farms" signs are popping up throughout the area. Nova Scotia is thought to be the source for more than 50% of the minks bred in Canada, with as many as 1 million of the rodents being raised in Southwest Nova Scotia.

• see CBC story
• 150 residents say NO
• see "Pollution on the Tusket" web site
• see $1 million investment in Rosedale Farms
• mink plan stinks - Hurlburt asks for moratorium
• public protests

August 24, 2009:  More weasel words from SWSDA (South West Shore Development Authority)...in a  letter placed on the agenda for Monday's Barrington Muni Council meeting, SWSDA (South West Shore Development Authority) CEO Frank Anderson makes a further foray into trying to get the Barrington (and 12 other) Council to further underwrite SWSDA's projects with loan guarantees (which are now forbidden by provincial legislation) by forwarding an August 14 letter to a low-level bureaucrat (with copies to ministers, wardens, mayors, etc etc). In it, Anderson says that a Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities resolution supporting his position is attached, and in this he is correct. Anderson also says that a response (presumably to the resolution) from then Minister Jamie Muir is attached. THIS IS NOT TRUE. What is attached is a portion of a letter from Muir, which appears to be in response to an inquiry from someone (but NOT a resolution). 

SWSDA (South West Shore Development Authority) and its management seem still committed not only to the pusillanimous and profligate presentation of weasel words, but also to the prevalant preponderance of bafflegab, gobbledygook and newspeak. The question before the Council is: will anyone on Council even bother to question Anderson's veracity in this latest, shameless episode?

From Wikipedia: [ Weasel words is an informal term for words that are ambiguous and not supported by facts. They are typically used to create an illusion of clear, direct communication. Weasel words are usually expressed with deliberate imprecision with the intention to mislead the listeners or readers into believing statements for which sources are not readily available.] [ see weasel words web here]

August 24, 2009:  Mink stink in Barrington... 
a group of irate citizens filled the Barrington Municipal Council Chambers last week at a Committee of the Whole to protest the outrageous behaviour of the Council in selling off 300 acres (with 300 additional optioned) to SWSDA (South West Shore Development Authority)  and Yarmouth Area Industrial Commission based on claims by Frank Anderson that he would create a $75 million, 150-job, state-or-the-art and ecologically-sound mink farming "university". Big surprise... multi-million mink deal fell through, but YAIC kept the land, then sold it to a couple of local guys who will, according to interviews with SCT, produce .75 jobs! (that's 1/2 of one percent of SWSDA's claims).

Apparently, about $28k of the $66,000 sale price came back to Barrington, but not until after the Council voted to "grant" SWSDA (South West Shore Development Authority)  the self-same $66k for "economic development", according to their meeting minutes. When pressed several times by SCT, Warden Louise Halliday admitted that the "economic development" described in the minutes was, in fact, for mink farm development.

The citizens group is furious that the council never even considered  holding a public meeting on this touchy issue and did much of its wheelings and dealings with SWSDA/Anderson/YAIC in secret, closed-door meetings. Although councilors Shaun Hatfield and Cecil O'Donnell seemed genuinely concerned about the outcome of the secret dealings and lack of public input, warden Halliday and the other councilors seemed oblivious to the consequences of this scenario as it unfolds.

All in the family... one odd part of the meeting, during a break after the presentation by the citizens group, had Warden Halliday's husband following this reporter around the room leaning in to listen in on interviews and conversations. At one point, Mr. Halliday verbally attacked a visitor from Shelburne, shouting that "Barrington never had no trouble until you fellas from Shelburne showed up." The ugly details of this and other dealings with SWSDA (South West Shore Development Authority)  - should they ever become public - will prove the gentlemen horribly wrong.   NOTE: The Barrington Council meets Monday night to address the issue further. It is on the agenda for 7:15pm.

August 24, 2009: More questions than answers... some of the questions which may - or may NOT - be answered at Barrington Municipal Council on Monday... submitted by a knowing Barrington citizen... see questions HERE

August 17, 2009:  SWSDA arts group coalition forms for art action projects... the disturbing political climate hereabouts, including the unbelievable shenanigans of SWSDA (South West Shore Development Authority)  and Frank Anderson - not to mention the aiding and abetting by the various municipal and town councils in the gutting of our economic development future - has apparently spawned a new SWSDA - the South West Shore Department of Art.

My guess is that we can expect some interesting and provocative public art projects from these folks, if their first project is any indication. Below is a photo of a 100 square-foot highway billboard recently-installed on the well-trafficked highway 103 near Sable River. You go boys and girls! (click on the photo for larger version) (NOTE: based on furious call from Yarmouth, the Dept of Hiways tore down the sign on Thursday)

July 25, 2009: SWSDA and Anderson under new pressure to shape up or ship out...   Several fronts have reported that the Provincial investigation of South West Shore Development Authority (SWSDA) is still in high gear, despite honcho Frank Anderson's assertions recently to his rubber-stamp board that, since he met with officials of the Ombudsman's Office and set them straight, everything was A-OK.

A Yarmouth County source reports that on Friday, the erstwhile directors of SWSDA got a letter from the Ombudsman telling them that the agency was under investigation for several serious issues, among them the relationship between SWSDA and the Yarmouth Area Industrial Commission (YAIC), their financial dealings and the duties of the directors. It is thought by some that the YAIC is a front for SWSDA and some of its real estate interests, that Anderson's big, "secret" paycheck comes from YAIC and that the incestuous cross-pollination of directors, employees and political cronies among SWSDA and YAIC would make even the most cavalier of apiarists blush. Within minutes of the sale of the former Boy's School in Shelburne, Anderson and SWSDA wrote large checks to YAIC.

Added to this mess is the likelihood that Lockeport and Shelburne towns and Shelburne muni are poised to send Anderson and SWSDA packing back to the graft-hungry confines of Yarmouth County and the likely loss by Anderson and SWSDA in the  impending contempt trial, plus the ponderous weight a $ 5 million civil suit which goes to trial in January... but wait, there's more to this Damaclean nightmare. What about the absolute certainty of additional scrutiny of Anderson's expense claims and spending habits and his growing Yarmouth real estate empire with partner and former Provincial minister Richard Hurlburt?

What the current and past directors will come to realize in the coming months and years is that, when the true nature of SWSDA's finances are finally disclosed - and they will be - they will be held both morally and personally responsible for enormous damages and liabilities which will ensue.  These are likely to be in the millions, with local taxpayers possibly on the hook for every penny. If and when the local pols who are promising public input into our future relationship with SWSDA and Anderson hear the growing drumbeat of civic unrest at their utter lack of fiduciary duty and collusion in our misfortunes, they will see that the time for turning a blind eye to the shenanigans of the RDA and its cronies is long past.

If SWSDA had not been the ABSOLUTELY worst thing to hit Shelburne County since the great depression, leaving the ugly scab of broken promises, failed ventures, "disappeared" funds and general malaise in its turgid wake, I'd feel bad. Oh, Frank... please don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

June 25, 2009: No 3rd paycheck for Hurlburt despite heavy lobbying...   Although business leaders and politicians in Yarmouth may have become accustomed to receiving 2nd and 3rd paychecks on top their sometimes bloated salaries and expense accounts, MLA Richard Hurlburt lost his bid to add $24,000 to his paycheck by becoming the defeated Tories interim leader. The putative head of the "gang" which had run Yarmouth and Southwest Nova business and politics for some time, Hurlburt was reported in Thursday's Herald as "lobbying hard for the interim leader’s post" and "thought to have a lock on the job."  Tough-talking, no-nonsense Karen Casey got the plum by unanimous consent.
     As late as just days before the election, Hurlburt is thought to have been lobbying - and possibly offending by his efforts -  the Tory cabinet to allow SWSDA chief Frank Anderson (one of the Yarmouth gang and real estate business partner of Hurlburt) to discount an already bargain basement-priced mortgage for the former military base in Shelburne, sold to an American couple who seem to have a knack for opening Mickey Mouse businesses there which never quite seem to catch fire. Anderson had gotten approval from his rubber-stamping board of directors to sell the base by assuring them that a provincial guarantee on the mortgage was a sure thing. Oops.

June 15, 2009: Dept of It's about bloody damn time...   in a move that may change the face of economic development in South West Nova Scotia, the Ian Thompson, Deputy Minister of Economic and Rural Development has informed  Rodd Rose, chairman of South West Shore Development Authority that SWSDA does not qualify for performance-based funding under its current incorporation.  To receive future funding - which SWSDA CEO Frank Anderson has said is crucial to the organization's continued existence -  and to ensure transparency and accountability, the development authority must completely re-constitute itself, including: incorporate under the RDA Act, must change its name, must change its board composition, must create internal management by-laws, etc etc.
     This is the same agency that for years has been under almost dictatorial control by Anderson, Rose and a small cadre of Yarmouth-based politicians - including the now-backbencher Rich Hurlburt -  and has been the subject of much public sturm and drang over the past two years. Anderson reported recently that he and SWSDA were under investigation by the Ombudsman's Office and the NDP and Liberal parties have demanded complete forensic audits of SWSDA by the Auditor general. The RCMP is currently conducting an investigation regarding the incident where Rose and Anderson forced the removal of a reporter from a recent SWSDA board meeting.
     Anderson and SWSDA have also been the subject of news reports (and some law suits) surrounding contracts, various property sales, the Georges Bank Review, funds destined to Team Shelburne and irregular Societies Act registrations, among other matters.
     Let's see how the weak-kneed local pols react to this great opportunity to take some real control - and responsibility - over economic development. FYI, the Muni of Barrington refused to provide a copy of the letter, as did Thompson's office. Town of Yarmouth coughed one up no sweat. The Town of Shelburne has refused to provide any correspondence with Anderson re: his handling of the $5 million pitch for port improvements. What does everybody have to hide when it comes to business dealings with Anderson and SWSDA?  More information about the RDA issue, including a copy of the letter can be found HERE on today's SWSDA Blog.