HALIFAX, MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2022

 

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE ON SUPPLY

 

5:43 P.M.

 

CHAIR

Dave Ritcey

 

 

THE CHAIR: The Subcommittee on Supply will come to order. It’s now 5:43 p.m. The subcommittee is meeting to consider the Estimates for the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, as outlined in Resolution E3.

 

Resolution E3 - Resolved, that a sum not exceeding $141,951,000 be granted to the Lieutenant Governor to defray expenses in respect of the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, pursuant to the Estimate.

 

I now invite the Minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage to make opening comments for up to an hour, and if they wish to introduce their staff to the committee, please do so.

 

The honourable Minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage.

 

HON. PAT DUNN: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I trust that you can hear me.

 

Good afternoon. I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are in Mi’kma’ki, the traditional territory of the Mi'kmaw people. I also want to acknowledge that people of African descent have helped shape the history and culture of Nova Scotia for more than 400 years.

 

I am pleased to be here today to highlight the work of the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage and to speak about our priorities for the year ahead.

 

[5:45 p.m.]

 

Before I proceed, please allow me to introduce the members of my senior team who are joining me today. With me are Justin Huston, Deputy Minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage; Catherine Berliner, Deputy Minister of Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives; Wanda Fletcher, Executive Director of Financial Advisory Services; and Associate Deputy Minister of African Nova Scotia Affairs Dwayne Provo.

 

The Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage supports communities across the province to be welcoming, inclusive, and accessible, providing a great quality of life for Nova Scotians and an experience for visitors. We value the collective diversity of our heritage and our people, and we believe this rich culture helps create healthy, active, growing communities. We recently added tourism as a division of the department, a transition that began in the Fall of 2021 and was formally completed on January 1, 2022.

 

We are excited about the opportunities that will arise and are already arising from having tourism as part of the department. Tourism is a vital part of a strong Nova Scotia economy and we have so much to offer visitors from around the world. We know the pandemic has been hard on tourism operators and we want to help our industry stand out and succeed.

 

As a division of the department, tourism will be even better equipped to promote all that Nova Scotia has to offer, from our unique events and cultural destinations to our diverse cultures and vibrant communities.

 

For all the partners and sectors that we work with, and there are many, COVID-19 recovery is top of mind since March 2020. In 2021-22, artists, performers, musicians, and venue operators continue to cope with uncertainty and instability as the various waves of the pandemic, and the necessary public health measures that the province implemented in response, limited their ability to reach their audiences. Theatres and museums operated at diminished capacity and sometimes had to close their doors for weeks or months at a time; recreational facilities dialed back programming and limited spectators; and major events were postponed or cancelled.

CCTH continues to help our sector partners and community organizations to weather the waves of the storm. The department provided more than $1 million in COVID-19 recovery funding in 2021-22, including a funding program for Summer theatres to offset the costs of reduced seating capacity because of COVID-19 gathering restrictions, valued at $78,678; supplement funding of $165,000 for Music Nova Scotia’s Community Presenter Program; providing arts and culture presenters with break-even funding for live events; a $250,000 Culture Innovation Fund Audience Engagement Stream to help arts, culture, and heritage organizations re-engage with their communities; and $583,000 in case-by-case emergency support for organizations to identify the need for additional resources to stay afloat.

 

We continue to support arts, culture, and heritage organizations through our funding streams as well. Arts Nova Scotia oversees a budget of $3.2 million to foster creativity and innovation in the culture sector and support the role of artists in building Nova Scotia’s unique identity and culture. This includes $1.34 million in operating assistance to organizations like Symphony Nova Scotia and Ship’s Company Theatre in Parrsboro, the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia in Windsor, and it also includes $1.5 million in project funding to help artists and organizations create and present their work.

 

The department’s culture and heritage division also operates the $1.5 million Culture Innovation Fund, which empowers more inclusive communities by using culture and creative expression to address social needs and create opportunities for Nova Scotians. This fund encourages joint community projects that find new perspectives and new ways to address complex social issues. We have certainly seen some of those issues become more complex and challenging over the past two years.

 

As one example in the past year, the Culture Innovation Fund provided $50,000 to the East Coast Music Association Wellness Program, which focuses on the mental health and wellness of musicians. The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on everyone, and it has been uniquely difficult to groups like musicians who have faced challenges to their livelihoods.

 

We know it’s so important to invest in supporting the mental health of Nova Scotians in the creative industries. Through the Festival and Community Event Development Program, we helped 32 events find ways to operate during the pandemic including the first Clare Disability Pride Festival, which celebrated how people with disabilities are reclaiming the word disability as something that makes them unique and gives them a distinct point of view to contribute to their communities.

 

The program also helped the Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival adapt and present a successful online version of their event. This festival, in its 11^th year, continues to nurture emerging artists and filmmakers, provide opportunities for creators who had traditionally been underrepresented in the film world.

 

We also saw our libraries continue to play an important role in their communities during the pandemic. Libraries are a gateway to knowledge, and they are also a gathering space, and an important hub in their communities. Over the past year, as they found ways to continue to provide important services to their patrons, libraries also went above and beyond to keep Nova Scotians healthy and safe. Across the province, libraries distributed important information on COVID-19. Many served as rapid testing sites and distribution centres for take-home tests, as supplies allowed.

 

We know that across the country the pandemic has especially had an impact on racialized and marginalized communities. Here in Nova Scotia, the department continued to support an equity-based response to help address needs in some of our most vulnerable communities.

 

The Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs continued its partnership with the Department of Health and Wellness, the Nova Scotia Health Authority, the Health Association of African Canadians, and the Association of Black Social Workers to provide access to vaccines directly in African Nova Scotian communities where people would feel comfortable receiving care in trusted community settings. This approach has been a model of how community and government can work together in partnership to address community needs.

 

I’m going to turn now to speak more about tourism and the great work under way as we work to help the industry rebound and thrive. There was a commitment in my mandate letter to increase tourism marketing with the focus on local operators and home-grown tourism.

 

I am thrilled to share that beginning this fiscal year, we have increased the tourism budget by $2 million to allow tourism to work with community stakeholders to further develop and promote our unique Nova Scotia places, attractions, and experiences.

 

Tourism recovery is happening, and we are optimistic that 2022 will be a better year for the industry. In February, we launched marketing campaigns in key markets in Canada, the Northeastern United States, and overseas to inspire people to visit this year. The campaigns were launched two week earlier than usual to take advantage of when travellers in these faraway markets start planning their trips.

 

The campaigns are performing well and tourism businesses in the province are reporting strong bookings so far. Based on research reports, businesses, and the province’s official tourism website, novascotia.com, there is a lot of pent-up demand for travel and interest in travelling in Nova Scotia remains strong.

 

To further boost these efforts, our government invested $12 million in March to help tourist accommodation operators and regional marketing organizations with their marketing initiatives. In this competitive environment, we are working closely with the industry to ensure Nova Scotia is front and centre to potential visitors through marketing activities that highlight the breadth and quality of places to go and things to do.

 

We know that labour and decreased air capacity will make it challenging for the tourist industry to return to pre-pandemic levels quickly. Over the coming months we will be working with the Halifax International Airport Authority, the JA Douglas McCurdy Sydney Airport, and a working group of key stakeholders to develop a marketing plan to restore and establish new air routes between Nova Scotia and our key travel markets. The pandemic also reinforced the need to encourage digital adoption and make sure our province is a compelling destination year-round.

 

We are working with operators to develop and enhance unique travel products and experiences for all seasons. We are also offering programs and services to help businesses improve their online profile and digital marketing ability. In partnership with Digital Nova Scotia, we have created an industry-leading online resource centre where tourist and tourism operators can access tools, templates, webinars, and one-on-one support from digital experts on everything from website design to social media and digital marketing strategies.

 

Over the next several years, the tourism team will work with the film industry to identify opportunities to leverage Nova Scotia-produced movies and television shows to promote our province as a tourist destination. We see so many opportunities in both tourism and film that will grow our economy and mark Nova Scotia as a prime destination to visit, work, and live.

 

Film production has been booming in Nova Scotia. This has been one of the safest places to work during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to the strong leadership of Public Health. Filmmakers and producers turned to this province in soaring numbers. The Nova Scotia Film and Television Production Incentive Fund received an increase of $23.6 million in 2021-22 to support the additional demand.

 

The fund supported 90 projects in the past fiscal year including projects like the popular documentary series The Curse of Oak Island, the Netflix series Locke & Key, and the CBC drama, Diggstown. As a government, we have committed our support to help the industry build on this momentum and continue to grow.

 

As the Premier recently announced, we are making a further $23 million investment in the film sector with two major components - $8 million toward a sound stage that helps film become a year-round industry and $15 million for a Nova Scotia Content Creator Fund to be used over five years. These are investments that the film industry has been seeking for years.

 

A banner year was had by film productions in Nova Scotia in 2021, and 2022 is continuing that trend. We are making these investments now to help the film industry grow sustainably.

 

A sound stage will help Nova Scotia’s film industry move from a seasonal industry to a year-round economic generator. It will allow Nova Scotians in the industry to stay here instead of heading to Vancouver or Toronto during the Winter months, and it will increase our capacity to attract productions to Nova Scotia while helping the industry create up to 500 new jobs in the next five years.

 

The Nova Scotia Content Creator Fund will be a top-up grant to support Nova Scotia’s own film and television content above and beyond the existing Film and Television Production Incentive Fund. The Content Creator Fund will support local productions and help Nova Scotian directors, writers, actors, and performers thrive.

 

[6:00 p.m.]

 

These investments will also help build equity in the industry, allowing more under-represented stories to be told and supporting a more inclusive workforce. We are supporting a healthy balance in the industry, increasing capacity to serve big international productions while making sure that local creators have the support and resources they need to grow and thrive.

 

The Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage also plays a big role in supporting healthy, vibrant communities in Nova Scotia. It’s no secret that health care is a top priority of this government. I’m proud that this department plays such an active and proactive role in helping Nova Scotians develop and maintain healthy lifestyles.

 

Sport infrastructure is a backbone of so many communities in Nova Scotia. The local community centre, the local rink, the paddling club, the outdoor fields and trails for walking or biking - these are all gathering places where children, youth, and people of all ages learn new skills, forge new friendships, and develop healthy habits that will last them a lifetime.

 

As a long-time educator, a hockey coach, and a parent of six kids I have spent more than my fair share of hours in rinks in Pictou County and across the province. I know how much they mean to communities. I also know how challenging it can be, especially in some of our rural areas, to keep up on the cost of maintenance of these facilities.

 

Another priority in my mandate letter was establishing the Rink Revitalization Fund to help offset those costs. I am pleased to say that we put that program in place right away. In January we announced the first round of recipients for the $1 million fund. We supported 33 rinks across the province and the department is reviewing applications now for the second round of funding in the upcoming fiscal year.

 

This fund helps facilities like the Oxford Arena, which received an investment of about $92,000 that they will use to add a community room and make the building more energy efficient, bringing down costs and helping the rink operate more sustainably for years to come.

 

We also made investments in healthy communities through the Recreation Facility Development Grant program, a $1.5 million fund that supported 41 projects this year, including the Parrsboro Playground Committee, which is working with the Municipality of the County of Cumberland to build an accessible, inclusive park and playground. The Recreational Trail Expansion Program provided another $960,000 to 29 projects to develop and extend trails across the province.

 

In this fiscal year we were also able to make one-time investments in several important sport and recreation infrastructure projects that will benefit Nova Scotia for years to come. Many of these investments have been years in the making. I’m so pleased that we’ve been able to help sport and community organizations advance these important projects.

 

Lake Banook in Dartmouth is a world-class gem that has hosted multiple national and international paddling events, including the upcoming 2022 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships and the 2023 North American Indigenous Games. It’s also a lake where hundreds of children have learned to paddle and swim, developing skills and habits that will benefit them all their lives. We invested $3 million in the Banook Canoe Club to support significant infrastructure upgrades, and another $1.5 million to operate the finish-line tower so the lake can continue to support major events.

 

We provided $635,000 to the Springfield Lake Recreation Centre to enhance its baseball fields so that more youth in the growing community of Middle Sackville will have access to minor ball. We invested $2.7 million in sport and recreation projects in Cape Breton, including a fully accessible recreation complex at the Hawks Dream Field in Dominion and an outdoor, multi-court recreation facility in Inverness County.

 

Another investment of $5 million will allow Sport Nova Scotia to provide accessible equipment and programming across the province for athletes with disabilities and allow more kids with financial needs to take part in sport through the KidSport Nova Scotia program.

 

The pandemic has truly heightened just how important it is for our physical and mental health to stay alive, and these investments will help bring down barriers and give more children, youth, and adults access to sport and recreation opportunities across the province.

 

We also know that physical activity doesn’t have to happen in an organized sport setting. Through Let’s Get Moving Nova Scotia, the government’s cross-departmental action plan, we are working with community partners to improve physical activity by encouraging people to make movement a part of their daily lives. In partnership with Doctors Nova Scotia’s Healthy Tomorrow Foundation, the second phase of the Make Your Move campaign was launched to pilot a community tool kit to help people build more movement into their daily routine.

 

The department also provides funding and support across the province through the Active Communities Fund and the Mi’kmaw Physical Activity Leadership program. These programs help First Nations communities, municipalities, villages, and non-profit organizations develop and implement community-wide physical activity plans and encourage more movement through people’s days.

 

We know that attracting and retaining medical professionals is another important measure to ensure that Nova Scotians have access to the health care that they need. The Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage provides funding through the Healthy Communities Stream to help community leaders embrace physicians and their families with projects and initiatives that draw on Nova Scotia’s diverse cultures and creativity.

 

This fund supported 12 projects with $200,000 in 2021-22. One example is the Soldiers Memorial Hospital Foundation in Middleton, which used their funding to host community connection events where new physicians and their families could take part in cultural activities alongside community members. Initiatives like these help people feel welcome and included, like they have truly arrived at home.

 

Within the department and within the offices and divisions that are also part of my portfolio, we lead or support much of the work within government to make Nova Scotia a more inclusive and equitable province where everyone has access to the resources they need to succeed and thrive. Addressing racism, discrimination, and hate, and advancing equity is important to me, and is a priority across the department and the offices.

 

Staff from the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives worked with the all-party committee and held extensive engagement with Nova Scotians to develop the Dismantling Racism and Hate Act that was introduced earlier in the Legislature. As you have heard me say on the floor of the House, this groundbreaking legislation will make us the leader in Canada and give government a framework for addressing systemic racism, hate, and inequity in all walks of life.

 

This legislation also addresses systemic discrimination, hate and inequity toward marginalized communities, such as the 2SLGBTQ+ community, newcomers and immigrants, and people with disabilities. It also recognizes and calls for action to address the intersectionality between communities.

 

It’s certainly not the end of the journey. We will continue to work with the communities most affected as we develop a community network and a provincial strategy to eliminate systemic racism, hate, and inequity. The network will provide a shared space for government and communities to work together to address these issues, helping make Nova Scotia a more welcoming and inclusive place to visit, live, work, and play.

 

Through this strategy we’ll also work with public sector partners, including municipalities and villages, universities and colleges, and Crown corporations to support them in taking action as well. For us to be successful in this work, we need everyone to be involved and accountable.

 

The legislation has a strong focus on accountability. We will be responsible for publishing a report to the Legislature each year detailing efforts across government to address hate, inequity, and racism.

 

The office will also provide regular updates on their engagement website and through an inequity dashboard. The dashboard will be built based on the type of information Nova Scotians want to see and what they have told us will show them we are making progress.

 

In addition to the work required by the legislation, the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives will work with other departments to ensure equity and anti-racism are considered in developing policies and programs. This includes ensuring community engagement throughout the process, not simply at the beginning or end.

 

The office will also work with departments to evaluate existing policies and programs to identify and address systemic inequity and racism. These evaluations will build on previous reports and analyses that may or may not have been effectively acted upon.

 

We are already working toward change on many fronts: the Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs; the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage; and the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives have worked with the Department of Health and Wellness and a group of community partners called the Primary Reference Working Group to advance the race-based health data initiative. This project is another example of how government and communities can and must work together toward a more equitable province.

 

With government support, community partners led an extensive engagement and consultation in their respective communities to help inform the language and categories that the health care system will use when it begins collecting this data later in 2022. Collecting and interpreting race-based data will help identify and address unfair differences and inequities in health care. It helps government and health care workers understand which communities need greater health care support and why. It also helps the health care system to better serve racialized people by working together on community-level programs and initiatives.

 

This approach to data will also be expanded through the new legislation, which requires the development of an equity and race-based data standard. Communities have been telling government for decades about their concerns with systemic inequity and racism. It is no longer okay to say we don’t have the data to support what we are being told by communities about their experiences in the education system, in the justice system, in the child welfare system. The data standard will enable government to consistently collect data about our equity, marginalized and racialized communities, and, just as important, it will ensure that the data is used with community input and intent to benefit communities rather than causing further harm.

 

At the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives, staff continue to work hard on the Land Titles Initiative, which helps residents in the historic African Nova Scotian communities of North Preston, East Preston, Cherry Brook, Lake Loon, Lincolnville, and Sunnyville in getting clear title to their land.

 

In November we completed the transition of Part I of the Land Titles Clarification Act to the responsibility of the office. Since that transition, I can tell you that I have signed five Certificates of Claim and four Certificates of Title. In the previous three years the average was about eight certificates per year, and we have completed nine in the past five months alone. That shows that great progress is under way.

 

Staff continue to resolve cases through other streams as well, such as property migration. We continue to look for ways to remove barriers and advance the initiative to help people gain clear title to their property.

 

Across the divisions within CCTH there is great work under way to support equity, diversity, and inclusion in all the sectors we serve. Within that department we have an equity, diversity and inclusion leadership committee that has hosted several first voice sessions and book clubs with leaders and authors from racialized or marginalized communities to help develop a deeper understanding among staff of the impacts of systemic discrimination.

 

We are working to diversify the membership of agencies, boards, and commissions, or the ABCs, under our responsibility and to help create an inclusive culture among those ABCs. Work is underway to provide EDI training and tool kits to the leaders and members of our boards, including to community members who serve on library boards.

 

[6:15 p.m.]

 

As a department, we are also committed to accessibility and helping businesses and community organizations become more accessible. The Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage administers their Business ACCESS-Ability Grant Program and the Community ACCESS-Ability Program, which each have a budget of $1 million to help businesses and community facilities become more accessible for people with disabilities.

 

For example, through the Business ACCESS-Ability program, the Edgar Harris medical clinic was able to purchase a specialized exam bed to serve their clients with disabilities. Through the community stream, our department supported the Centre for Equitable Library Access with $50,000 to continue to convert print media into accessible platforms, such as audio and digital text. By 2025, Nova Scotians will have borrowed more than 595,000 books and other media in accessible formats from provincial libraries.

 

The department participates in the Treaty Education implementation committee led by the Department of L’nu Affairs and the Mi’kmaw Culture Activities Program. Community groups and organizations to help preserve Mi’kmaw culture and heritage.

 

The Community Sport and Recreation Division continues to champion the Black and Indigenous Coach Mentorship program, a partnership with the sport community that creates an inclusive and supportive learning environment, renewing and inspiring coaches. This helps coaches develop in their learning, and it also benefits athletes who get to see someone who looks like them in positions of leadership.

 

At Arts Nova Scotia, the Arts Equity Funding Initiative helps professional artists from communities who have historically faced barriers to accessing funding. Again, this not only benefits the artist, but creates a ripple effect for the future artists their work will inspire.

 

This is an important message to remember and relay about equity. When we address barriers to access and support underrepresented communities, when we say no to systemic racism, hate, and inequity, it leads to better conditions for all Nova Scotians. We all benefit when everyone has increased access to opportunities and resources. Our communities are more vibrant and we become even more appealing to visitors and people wanting to make Nova Scotia their home as we look to grow our population in the coming years.

 

As Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs, I want to say a bit more specifically about how we are addressing anti-Black racism and supporting African Nova Scotian communities. In addition to the work that has been mentioned, the Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs continues to advance the work of the Count Us In: Action Plan in Response to the International Decade for People of African Descent. The goal of this plan is to create a province where African Nova Scotians have equitable access to all the opportunities that our province has to offer.

 

To support and enhance the Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs’ work, we have added a dedicated Associate Deputy Minister, Dwayne Provo, along with six program administration officers, and three new regional offices. One in Digby, serving the Digby-Annapolis-Kings County region. One in New Glasgow, serving Pictou, Antigonish, and Guysborough Counties.

 

The third office is in the Preston area serving the historic communities of North Preston, East Preston, Cherry Brook, and Lake Loon. With these new offices joining the existing offices in Halifax, Yarmouth, Truro, and Sydney, African Nova Scotian communities across the province will have greater access to programs and services.

 

We have heard loud and clear that rural African Nova Scotian communities have unique needs and concerns, and we’ve increased our staffing and support to help meet those needs. We’ve also made investments in two community hubs serving African Nova Scotian communities.

 

Recently, I travelled to Digby to share the news that the government is providing $3 million toward the Jordantown-Acaciaville-Conway Betterment Association - known as JACBA Centre of Excellence. I can tell you that the communities were thrilled to hear this news. JACBA and the Digby Education Committee have been working for close to a decade to bring this project to life, and they are planning to break ground this Spring. This facility will include a community room, gymnasium, stage, fitness room, library, meeting room, seniors’ area, and rental space. It will serve as a true culture and economic hub for African Nova Scotian communities in southwestern Nova Scotia.

 

We have also invested $1.7 million in the Richard Preston Centre of Excellence at New Horizons Baptist Church in North End Halifax. New Horizons is the flagship church of the African United Baptist Association of Nova Scotia, founded by Richard Preston almost 190 years ago, and it has always served as a community hub as well as a spiritual home. This funding for the Centre of Excellence will allow for more tutoring and mentoring programs, community services, and gatherings in the renovated space.

 

The Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs continues to work across government, supporting important initiatives like the child poverty strategy being led by the Department of Community Services. It also supports and works closely with community organizations such as the African Nova Scotian Decade for People of African Descent Coalition and helps facilitate African Heritage Month celebrations around the province. In February 2022, the theme Through Our Eyes: The Voices of African Nova Scotians recognized the legacies of people of African descent through their first-voice lived realities and experiences.

 

African Nova Scotian Affairs is proud to collaborate with Dalhousie University’s Bridge into Agriculture, a program for African Nova Scotians. This program will provide African Nova Scotian students with better insight into the agriculture industry. Important initiatives like this one will help open doors and increase African Nova Scotian representation across the sectors of our provincial economy.

 

I have mentioned the role of libraries and want to highlight that the department provides funding and support to many arts and culture hubs, including libraries, Nova Scotia museums, locally managed community museums, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, and organizations such as the Black Cultural Centre and the Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre, just to name a few. These important sites and organizations help showcase Nova Scotia’s unique and diverse culture and heritage, and through the Nova Scotia Event Strategy, the Events Nova Scotia team takes a proactive approach to attracting and supporting major events in the province that draw visitors and market Nova Scotia to the world.

 

Of course, the pandemic has had an impact in this area as well, but the team has worked closely with industry partners over the past two years to share guidance and best practices on virtual events and safe hosting guidelines. As we move into 2022, major events will be a key economic driver for the province, helping us recover from the pandemic and welcome back visitors. We have some exciting events on the horizon, including the 2022 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships taking place at Lake Banook in August - we’ll see everyone there - and the 2022 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 World Sailing Championships on St. Margarets Bay. This is another area where it’s an asset that Tourism is part of the department. The Events and Tourism teams can work closely together to put Nova Scotia’s best foot forward as we welcome athletes, support staff, and fans from around the world.

 

There are many other programs and initiatives I could mention. Staff have worked hard on Phase 2 of the program improvement plan to make sure that all our programs, funds, and grants are modernized and effectively meet the needs of the communities we serve.

 

I’ve had the opportunity to meet with and hear from many organizations, especially in the arts and culture sectors, who have shared about their needs. I’ve also heard directly from sector representatives who compiled the important report Building Back Better: A Vision for Culture Sector Recovery. The department business plan for the coming year outlines many of the ways that CCTH will support opportunities for growth proposed in Building Back Better. Some of the key initiatives include: working with staff at the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration to identify supports for increased training to meet growing labour demands in the creative sector; working with the Department of Environment and Climate Change to support opportunities in the creative sector to promote education and action on climate change; and increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion across the arts, culture, and recreational sectors as we support COVID-19 recovery.

 

The past few years have certainly been challenging and we know that people across our sectors are still feeling the impacts. This government will continue to work with our partners to listen and do all we can to help find solutions in film and tourism, in arts and culture, in museums and libraries, in sport and recreation, and across all our sectors for these important creative industries to not only rebound but grow and thrive.

 

In a recent highlight from one of our museums, in November the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic launched a beautiful new exhibit, How Unique We Still Are, which reflects how the Mi’kmaw people remain connected to the lands and waters of Mi’kma’ki. This installation brings together cultural artifacts, symbolic artwork, and first-person testimonies and personal histories of Mi’kmaw people from across the province, to connect past, present, and future. It is presented in Mi’kmaw, English, and French.

 

In introducing the exhibit, guest curator Salina Kemp said this exhibit is intended not only to educate the public about our continued existence and treaty relationship but also to provide Mi’kmaw youth with a sense of cultural pride.

 

This description is an example of what we aspire to do across the department through our programs and services and the organizations we support. We provide opportunities for people to come together, opportunities to learn about other cultures, opportunities to break down barriers and advance our collective well-being. If we want to create a province where everyone is included and welcome to celebrate and take pride in their culture, whether they are Mi’kmaw or African Nova Scotian, Acadian or Gaelic, a member of a disability group or the 2SLGBTQ+ community, a generational resident or new to Nova Scotia, from another province or country.

 

Mr. Chair, I’d like to conclude my remarks by providing a brief overview of the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage that I have witnessed during the last eight months. As George Bernard Shaw once said, those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. Open-mindedness, respect, and trust permeate throughout the culture of CCTH. It is present in everything the employees do.

 

The department, beginning with the deputy minister and assistant deputy minister, and throughout the employees’ various levels of responsibility, is open to ideas and always willing to consider creative, innovative or novel approaches. These ideas often come from within and through engagement with community groups and organizations. That was readily observed during the past number of months through the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives in their engagement with community.

 

Great things are happening with CCTH. One of the main reasons for our departmental success is the concept of shared responsibilities. Things are seldom done by one person; they are done by a team of very qualified people who are enthusiastic and devoted to the work they do. Their goal or major focus is always helping all Nova Scotians.

 

I am very fortunate to be with this department and to have the opportunity to work with a group of dedicated and very knowledgeable and friendly leaders in their areas of expertise. Communication is their strongest attribute, and communication occurs daily with other departments in government. The Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage consists of a comfortable blend of skilled and experienced long-term employees and newer talent possessing a great knowledge base. Culture, art, recreation, leisure, and sport activities play an important role in our communities, where many benefits include improving the health and well-being of individuals, contributing to the empowerment of residents, and promoting the development of inclusive communities. These activities are relevant to people of all ages, abilities, and levels of skill. Participation in these areas may be one of the few opportunities people with disabilities have to engage in community life beyond their immediate family.

 

[6:30 p.m.]

 

The Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage takes appropriate measures to address inequalities with proper access to activities. The department encourages and promotes participation to the fullest extent possible of persons with disabilities in mainstream sporting activities, ensuring that children with disabilities have equal access with other children to participate in play, recreation, and sport activities.

 

Mr. Chair, we know that there’s more work to do. As a department, and across the offices and divisions connected to this work, we are committed to finding creative solutions and making Nova Scotia a place where everyone can succeed.

 

Thank you. Now I will entertain any questions that members may have.

 

THE CHAIR: Thank you, minister. The time is now 6:31 p.m.

 

According to the practices developed in this Legislature, the Opposition caucuses take turns asking questions for approximately one hour each. During a caucus’s turn, the members within a caucus may take turns examining the minister on the Estimates Resolution. Only the minister may answer the questions. Caucuses are also expected to share time fairly with the Independent member. To begin the examination, I now recognize the Official Opposition.

 

The honourable member for Clayton Park West.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Thank you to the minister for your long speech and the information that you gave. Before I start, I must say that green background looks wonderful as a background. You’re looking very nice and healthy and comfortable, but very well dressed for the background as well.

 

I also wanted to thank all the staff who are with you tonight. I am sure that it’s not easy for them to be taking all these long hours. I thank them for the preparation, and I hope they have a lot of the answers to a lot of the questions that we will be asking tonight. Please give them my regard and thank them for being there tonight.

 

I’ll start with the Building Vibrant Communities grant program. We know that each year, there’s an overwhelming number of applications that focus on food security. I just wanted to know if this was the case for the most recent round of applications. Maybe you can give us how many were received and how many actually got funding.

 

THE CHAIR: The honourable Minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage.

 

PAT DUNN: I don’t know if the member ever played a game of softball, but there’s a game of softball called lob ball. I was assuming that she’d start things off with a lob ball so I could hit it out of the park, but she fired a question that I had to hesitate for a few minutes and collect my thoughts. Having said that, thanks for the question.

 

In 2017-18, Mr. Chair, the government of Nova Scotia at that time announced a five-year $20 million investment in action-oriented projects, with the goal to test innovative ways of addressing poverty in Nova Scotia communities. In each of the five years, the application and guidelines referenced that grants were part of a five-year investment to determine how government would make future investments and take action to address poverty. There was no expectation at that time that the program would extend beyond the five years.

 

Annual investment focused on three streams of work - the Building Vibrant Communities, a partnership between the Department of Community Services and CCTH; investment in poverty reduction government innovations; and social innovation labs. The Building Vibrant Communities grants offered the opportunity to build the capacity of community organizations and encourage partnership among communities to work in the communities to build vibrant communities, to prevent poverty by attempting to break the cycle, alleviating the effects of poverty, and to enable Nova Scotians to exit or leave poverty.

 

The 2021-22 fiscal year was year five, the final year of this particular pilot project. The five-year investment facilitated more collaboration across government departments and new and deepened partnerships between the government departments, community organizations, stakeholders, and different levels of government in support for community- oriented innovation, employment, and skills development. As a result of the learnings, community input, and investment from the past five years, government is now committed to work across numerous departments to establish a five-year target for the reduction of childhood poverty.

 

CCTH offers many supports and funding programs that communities and groups can apply to in order to address poverty and other issues. We would encourage groups to reach out to our staff to discuss their ideas, projects, and challenges, and discuss ways our programs could help.

 

With regard to food security, food security funding is available across a number of departments, not just CCTH - over $2 million in emergency food funding during the past two years.

 

We also talk about food delivery and other projects that occur through not only our department but many others.

 

The final round of BFC funding in the fiscal year of 2021-22 provided funding for 24 projects. These included Black Girls Gather, which through its Graduate to Employment offers a free sponsorship program that connects Black women who are recent graduates to skill development resources and mentors who help them achieve their employment goals.

 

The Nova Scotia Community College Foundation - this program seeks to provide wraparound supports for Indigenous students attending the Nova Scotia Community College, offering flexible financial support that can meet a variety of needs. This is a new program designed in collaboration with the Nova Scotia Community College Indigenous student advisors, our Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion unit, and our student awards, scholarships and bursaries office to meet the unique needs of Indigenous students at Nova Scotia Community College. The program is designed to help Indigenous students across the province address everyday financial issues that can get in the way of academic success. The program takes a tiered approach, and the levels of support students can access will vary depending on the level of urgency and the need for longer-term solutions.

 

Aidaen’s Place provides a food and clothing closet that is free for the community, especially for at-risk youth ages 11 to 17. This Aidaen Mae fund provides clothing, laundry facilities, hot meals daily onsite, and take-home meals such as bedtime snacks, breakfast, and school lunch. We can reduce food and clothing poverty in our community.

 

At the YMCA of Southwest Nova Scotia, a proposed program, Taking Control of Your Money - Basic Budgeting for Youth, is designed for young people ages 15 to 25 years old who have expressed a desire to better understand finances, to empower them with the knowledge to transition to independent living. The crux of the entire thing since it started five years ago is the fact that it permeated through many departments, not just Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, which was a great thing to see, having many other departments come on board to work towards reducing child poverty.

 

THE CHAIR: The honourable member for Clayton Park West.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I was trying to figure out where you were going with this, Minister. My question was very simple and clear. Every year you receive so many applications. I wanted to know how many were received, just the total number who have applied in regard to food security, and how many actually received funding. I got the number 24 and then you went on talking about three or four of them. So 24 received funding? How many applications did you actually receive that did not receive - the total? I’m assuming that 24 was the number that received funding. Was that correct?

 

PAT DUNN: The 24 grants is certainly accurate. The exact number over and above that, we can get that information for you. The average amount was in the ballpark of $25,000.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: So an average for the 24 projects, about $25,000, that’s wonderful. You will send me the information on how many applications you received in total? Also, if I could ask at the same time, if we can get a list of the recipients and their provincial distribution - where are they? We would like a list. If you have it tonight, we would like it. If not, just send it to us at a later date. That will be great - the list of how many of those 24 projects, where they are in the province, and the names, if you don’t mind.

 

PAT DUNN: We would be delighted to provide that information – we don’t have it at our fingertips right at the moment but we can certainly get that information and provide it to the honourable member.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I thank the minister. This is wonderful, if he could.

 

It is hard for me to ask the next question because I was hoping you would give me how many applications actually were received. I’m assuming it was much larger than 24.

 

My next question was: Do you think that the food security - because we know that in the past we’ve received many applications, and the amount of grants was never enough to satisfy all of them - do you think that we should be separating the fund for food security from the Building Vibrant Communities grant and provide their own funding stream for food security applications or projects?

 

PAT DUNN: With regard - we’re aware that the pilot program has reached the end of the project. We learned a lot of things throughout those five years and, as a result, there are a lot of initiatives that various departments are looking at.

 

[6:45 p.m.]

 

Not only the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, but a lot of other departments. I think of examples like Summer Street Industries in New Glasgow. I’m sure some members around the table there would be aware of it, but it’s an absolutely wonderful facility that works with a lot of adults with intellectual disabilities.

 

Their plans this year are to create a new greenhouse and through this greenhouse, be able to produce food that they can use for the very purposes that we’re talking about, and to combine with that, they give the opportunity for some of the people who attend Summer Street Industries a chance to work, to learn about the produce that they’ll be making, and also at the same time earn a living wage. It’s a two- or three-pronged venture.

 

Those types of things are happening because of what we have learned over the past five years. I can think of another place out in River John, which is also in Pictou County, that has a program there that provides food supplies to try to reduce the food insecurity problems that we have faced in our province.

 

I believe, if I can remember, with the River John project, I think that the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage here itself provided $651,000 to River John to promote this particular food security program.

 

Again, in summary, there are a lot of initiatives being discussed right now across many departments. Going forward, I anticipate a lot of different things happening with regard to the topic that we are talking about right now.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Just by my calculations, you said there are 24 projects with approximately $25,000 each, so about $600,000 was spent on food security. Or is this in general?

 

Now that you’re changing, if the five years are finished for this program, Building Vibrant Communities, and you’re going to start different programs, how much of that money that was allocated for Building Vibrant Communities is going to go to food security? Do we have any idea?

 

PAT DUNN: A question the member had a few minutes ago, I believe was on the number of total applications. I think it was 51, and out of the 51, 24 grants were provided. What I don’t know right at the moment is just how many of them were tied directly to food security. A lot of them were, for a total of around $600,000.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Thank you for that number, minister. The 51 applications. So about half received funding from Building Vibrant Communities this year. If we can get that list, I’d really appreciate it.

 

I’ll move on to arts and culture. In your speech, you mentioned the Building Back Better - A Vision for Culture Sector Recovery in Nova Scotia report. I’m assuming that you’ve read it. Also, A Roadmap for Recovery - Rebuilding Nova Scotia’s Live Performance Sector. I have a couple of questions on that.

 

Can your government commit to implementing any of these recommendations made within these reports? If you can tell me which ones.

 

PAT DUNN: With reference to the question from the honourable member, we realize that it’s a strong strategy, and support for the principles that are intact.

 

Some of the key initiatives include working with staff at the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration to identify supports for increased training to meet growing labour demands in the creative sector. Working with the Department of Environment and Climate Change to support opportunities in the creative sector to promote education and action on climate change.

 

These things I had mentioned earlier in my opening remarks. Of course, increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion across the arts, culture, and recreation sectors as we go on and support the COVID-19 recovery in our province.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Nice change. So there were three of them that I will look into after. I know that you invested in the film industry, for the film sector, but when we look at the budget: Would you be able to please explain why there is no funding earmarked for the arts and culture sector? Without looking into the film industry, there is absolutely no money going into the arts and culture sector or earmarked for that.

 

PAT DUNN: One thing about that particular sector is that the operating funding has remained stable, it certainly hasn’t decreased. It’s about $45 million towards Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, that development division.

 

I can honestly say that it’s something that has been discussed around the board table at CCTH. I would say probably a week hasn’t gone by where there hasn’t been meetings and discussions and briefings dealing with the sector.

 

I personally have met with the sector. Our staff continue to engage and work with the sector to help them rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. As I mentioned earlier, the operating fund remains stable.

 

There are a lot of discussions going on, even with my own colleagues in the caucus. Look at Minister Corkum-Greek, for example. I’m not sure if you’re aware of her background, but certainly she has a great love for the arts and culture world. We’ve had many discussions about that, exchanging ideas and so on, to help that sector. The most important thing is that we continue to have dialogue with them at our department, with our staff in our department, as the days and weeks go on.

 

We provide operational support for 153 not-for-profit artistic, cultural, and heritage organizations across the province, including community museums. Of course, these are well-established organizations with a proven track record.

 

Our Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage works with the Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries and Casino Corporation, which provides investments to these areas - their support for culture and support for sport programs. There are examples of non-profit organizations that receive operational funding from CCTH, including the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, and the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia.

 

Again, I guess to summarize, the answer would be the funding remains to be stable and we continue to look at other ways internally of how we can help the sector.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: My question to the minister is: How can you say “stable” when they’ve just come out of two years of COVID-19, where they’ve had absolutely no revenue? I’ll give you an example: the Highland Arts Theatre did not qualify for operational funding. There are many who are struggling because they had to pay for the lights, they had to pay rent over two years without any income. You are saying to me, we’re giving exactly the same amount of money, we’re not going to help them to come out of this?

 

To me, I don’t know how you can say that. I know there are 153 . . .

 

THE CHAIR: Order. Please refrain from using “you”.

 

[7:00 p.m.]

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I do apologize. Minister, I just want to know how many organizations split the current operational funding. You just replied to that and said 153 - can we get a list of which organizations, the 153 that got the funding this year?

 

PAT DUNN: Again, besides the operational funding being the same throughout this time, also in 2021 there’s an additional $2.1 million in emergency support for arts and culture organizations. That was just to provide them some stability, to remain stable and healthy and able to maintain or restart your operations, in some cases, within the Public Health guidelines that they had to follow.

 

Over and above the standard funding we did add $2.1 million in 2021.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Exactly what I was going to say. I wanted the dates because I thought that was the Liberals who invested the $2.1 million, not the new government. Can I confirm that - is there any new money from the new government for operational support?

 

PAT DUNN: Besides the standard operating funding we did supply some emergency support to the organizations, to that sector.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: If I may get an answer to two things - will I get a list of organizations that split the operational funding, all of them, if it’s 153, if I could get a list of those, and also the emergency funding that you just spoke about, how much was that? How much and when?

 

PAT DUNN: Although we don’t have it at our fingertips right at the moment, we certainly will provide that information to the member - how much and when and how much emergency support and the list that you refer to. We’ll definitely provide that as quickly as possible.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I’m very grateful and look forward to getting that information.

 

I’m just wondering do you have an idea of how many asked for operational funding and you said no, or we couldn’t supply. If you can give me a list of those as well in the future, I would really appreciate that.

 

I’ll move onto the next question. I notice on Page 5.3, from Programs and Services there is a reduction. In the Estimates for 2021-22, there was $45,294,000, and you are reducing it by $208,000 for the Estimate of this year. Can you tell me why we’re going down when we’re just coming out of COVID-19, and if you can give me something, explain why and where these changes are going to be reflected in the budget? Who’s getting cut?

 

PAT DUNN: With reference to that question - it’s somewhat on the complicated side, Mr. Chair. I’d probably have to go back to university and take a couple more math courses to work my way through it.

 

There’s $533,000 that went to the Hawks Dream Field in Cape Breton, but this was partially offset with a transfer of two Nova Scotia Business Inc. film staff. There are a lot of moving parts going on in what we’re looking at on that particular page. I guess there’s no real reduction. There’s a lot of moving parts - a couple of staff being transferred, and $533,000 to the Hawks Dream Field in Cape Breton.

 

I guess to answer that question, we work our way through the ashes, or may I say, the dust - there’s definitely no reduction. It may look like that when you glance at the printed page, but that’s not the case.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I just want to clarify to make sure I understood it. We’ve taken money from programs and services that we give to people and given it to salaries in the film industry, correct? That’s the answer for those $200,000?

 

PAT DUNN: No, that’s incorrect, Mr. Chair.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: So I misunderstood. That’s why I’m clarifying.

 

PAT DUNN: I guess to just repeat that answer, no, that’s an incorrect assumption.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I’ll take it as it’s moved around from one to the other.

 

My next question I’ll move on to is the MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning. What amount has your government committed to the MacPhee Centre this fiscal year, and is there any consideration in increasing this amount in future years?

 

PAT DUNN: For the honourable member, looking at the information at my disposal, I don’t have the exact information the member is looking for but we’ll certainly find that information for the member and pass it on.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: That’s wonderful if we can have that information in the future, that would be great.

 

I will move on to Business ACCESS-Ability Grant Program and the Community ACCESS-Ability Program. Maybe the minister could give us an update on the Business ACCESS-Ability and Community ACCESS-Ability grant programs. I will add one more to it, has the department had to deny applications solely for the purpose of there not being enough funding for the community stream - how many applications and have you had to deny some?

 

PAT DUNN: One thing comes to mind before I give some information on the Community ACCESS-Ability and then after that I’ll mention something on the Business ACCESS-Ability. One thing I immediately saw in the department when I first entered was when an application comes in from some area of the province and the staff do due diligence in looking at the application to make sure that it meets the criteria for that particular funding, often - and to my surprise at the time - was the fact that sometimes an application doesn’t specifically fit the funding. What I’ve seen them do over and over again is go to their counterparts in the CCTH to see if there’s any other funding programs that might be able to help that particular community or that particular organization. That’s something that happens consistently.

 

As far as the Community ACCESS-Ability Program, Mr. Chair, it definitely demonstrates government’s commitment to persons with disabilities by providing equal opportunity and certainly improved access to community facilities. The government wants Nova Scotia to be a province where everyone can live, work, learn and play in an environment that is inclusive, welcoming and fulfilling.

 

The Community ACCESS-Ability Grants Program helps local community groups make their facilities more accessible to the people they serve and to those who work or volunteer within their organizations. Community ACCESS-Ability grants are open to non-profit community organizations or groups, Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw communities, and municipalities.

 

[7:15 p.m.]

 

Under this program, Mr. Chair, the provincial government will make investments of up to two-thirds of the direct and indirect costs of renovations, installations and/or equipment, to a maximum of $50,000, with the sponsoring organization being responsible for at least one-third of their improvement project’s funding.

 

The types of facilities that are eligible include things like community halls, meeting facilities, libraries, community parks and playgrounds, Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage facilities, shelters, group homes, non-profits, and, of course, sport and recreation facilities.

 

The types of projects we often get through the department are requests looking to include ramps, power door operators, lever door handles, barrier-free washrooms, elevators or lifts, audio signals and loops, lighting/colour contrasting for the visually impaired, and accessible community playgrounds.

 

Mr. Chair, some examples would be - maybe two or three examples. One would be an investment of $20,000 to support the Digby Area Recreation Commission. That is situated in the town of Digby, the Digby area. This investment facilitated the installation of full-motion sensor, double-sliding accessible doors that created an independent barrier-free path of travel into their entrance.

 

Another one was $17,500 to support the Truro Curling Club. The Truro Curling Club wanted their facility to be fully accessible and they’ve been working on their own for quite some time on improvements to accessibility features, in the last couple of years. They applied for a grant to install a lift to access their second level. With this feature now completed, the organization is ready to apply again in this new fiscal year to finalize their accessibility needs with upgrades to their front entrance and the approaches to the front entrance.

 

A third and final one would be the investment of $50,000 to support the Centre for Equitable Library Access by March 31, 2025. I mentioned this earlier in my opening remarks, that public library patrons in Nova Scotia will have borrowed in the ballpark of 595,000 books and other media available in accessible formats. This investment provides the necessary funding to continue to convert print media into accessible platforms for many of our libraries across the province.

 

Community ACCESS-Ability for 2021-2022: there’s 105 applicants, 95 were approved, $9,800 was the average amount received, and the budget was $1.0 million. That’s for the Community ACCESS-Ability.

 

Now, Mr. Chair, for the business one, which was not part of the question. The Business ACCESS-Ability Grant Program is another $1 million budget from the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage. It is providing grant funding for businesses. It offers funds to businesses for accessibility-related improvements such as removing physical barriers that we often see around businesses, providing accessible communication and information, assistive devices, accessible transportation, and education and training programs.

 

Of course, this program furthers the government’s commitment to equal opportunity for everyone by improving accessibility for persons with disabilities. To date, 32 projects totalling $738,000 have been supported throughout Nova Scotia to make accessibility improvements and remove barriers for persons with disabilities, both as customers and employees, at various locations of business in the province.

 

There has been less uptake in this program during 2021-22, of course, due to the impact of COVID-19 on businesses. Normally, the number of projects that come into the department during the year would be in the area of 40 to 45, would be a safe average.

 

Government proclaimed Nova Scotia’s first Accessibility Act back in the previous government in 2017, with the goal of making the province fully accessible by 2030. Of course, government’s goal still remains the same. Funds are available up to $100,000 per applicant per year.

 

Businesses can apply for funds under five program categories, including built environment, 66 per cent of eligible expenses to a maximum of $50,000; accessible communication and information, which also would take care of 66 per cent of eligible expenses to a maximum of $30,000; assistive devices for disabled employees and customers - once again, 66 per cent of their eligible expenses to a maximum of $30,000; universal design capacity building, up to 75 per cent of eligible costs; and accessible transportation, which is, again, 66 per cent of eligible expenses, to a maximum of $20,000.

 

Just three quick examples. One would be the Bras d’Or Lakes Inn. The department invested $50,000 in the Bras d’Or Lakes Inn to help its clientele create lower-level full accessibility to three units, allowing persons with disabilities to independently access rental units and all other amenities.

 

The Edgar Harris medical clinic, approximately $4,500. The department invested this amount to help this client invest in an exam bed for disabled individuals. This group had been striving to create universal access since a few years, and realized this specialized piece of equipment would be instrumental in serving many of their clients who had disabilities.

 

The last one would be Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean, which received approximately $12,282. Again, this client was committed to access for a number of years, as evidenced by their fully accessible campsites, amenities, and facilities, but realized that they needed to improve their water access and ability for people to board their recreational watercrafts. The department invested over $12,000 to help this client install accessible docks that provide greater water access to the community of the disabled.

 

Again, with the business accessibility, everyone who met the eligibility requirements - 47 recipients – received, on the average, ballpark, around $16,500 in a $1-million budget for the year.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Thank you, minister. I’ve got lots of numbers here, so if I can have a list of who received this funding from the program since September 2021, when you guys took office. You mentioned 47 businesses received funding, and 105 and 95 approved. I’m not sure which number have received so a list of either the 105 or the 95 approved for the non-profit organizations, I am assuming, and then the businesses, 47. If I can get a list of both, the 105 and the 47 - if you don’t have it right now, as long as I can put a tick that I will get it later, I am more than happy.

 

PAT DUNN: Mr. Chair, with regard to that question, to the honourable member, we’ll certainly provide that information to you. I don’t have it at my fingertips but it’s available on our website. However, we will provide it for you. I’ll make sure that you receive that information.

 

To the honourable member, earlier you asked a question about the MacPhee Centre, about the annual operating - the annual operating for the MacPhee Centre was $200,000.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Maybe I can get one more quickly and that is Events Nova Scotia. When I come back, I have lots of questions on tourism. Let’s start with this one - the Festival and Community Event Development Program can be considered as a competitive program, typically seeing more applications than the funding can support. I’m wondering if there will be an increase to funding now that organizations will need even more support to get their events back up and running? Can we also receive a list of the most recent recipients of this fund?

 

PAT DUNN: I will attempt to answer the member’s questions and if there are a few gaps she can always let me know what they are, and we’ll do our best to come up with the answers.

 

Again, as far as the list of people who received this, we certainly can get that information to the member for Clayton Park West. It’s not only the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage that is providing funding for this here, one example would be ACOA. ACOA has funding for current events, event funding. Develop Nova Scotia also has, so there are certain areas that funding actually is coming from, we just happen to be one of those areas.

 

[7:30 p.m.]

 

Again, one thing we realized once Tourism moved into the division within our department, it was just like putting a glove on. It was a nice fit to have Tourism in with all our tourism projects across the province, especially Events Nova Scotia. They just work hand in hand to attract and entice tourists to our province. But again, the dollar value with regard to the budget, the budget did increase slightly because our government certainly does, and we all, recognize the importance of festivals and events that occur across the province. It’s a way to celebrate our culture and heritage.

 

Certainly, events bring a lot of people together, not only from within our province but for . . .

 

THE CHAIR: Order, the time has expired for the first hour for the Liberal caucus. It’s now time for the NDP caucus. The time is 7:31 p.m.

 

The honourable member for Dartmouth North.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the minister for his opening comments. And to all the staff at the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, thank you for everything you do.

 

I want to begin by thanking the minister for quoting one of my favourite playwrights, George Bernard Shaw, at the end of his remarks. I would like to say that one of my favourite quotes by George Bernard Shaw is he was known to have said that “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” I’ll leave that right there for you. A great Socialist, George Bernard Shaw.

 

Also he said that “Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable” - which I obviously also agree with. So that is where I will begin my questions - with arts and culture.

 

Now my friend from the Liberal Party has already asked a little bit about this so I’m going to try not to repeat some of the questions she asked. I will start by referencing the two campaigns that are in the province right now in terms of arts and culture, that is Home is Where the Art Is and the #NSLive campaign. Both of those campaigns are highlighting the needs of the cultural sector, in particular in light of what has happened in COVID-19.

 

We know that the live performance sector has been the hardest hit across Canada and Nova Scotia. We also know that the sector makes a huge contribution to our GDP, besides all of the other contributions that art makes - like Shaw is talking about, how it makes our unbearable world better. In terms of economics alone, culture is responsible for 3 per cent of Nova Scotia’s GDP, which is about $989 million. We know that is not the case this last couple of years because of COVID-19.

 

I guess my first question to the minister - I know those two campaigns approached the minister through letter writing and I’m wondering, has the minister responded to the campaign?

 

PAT DUNN: I welcome the member to the second round of questions. I certainly agree with you with the great contribution to our GDP from that sector. I know the last time she spoke about it in the Legislature, she probably didn’t want to use the word passionate, but I mean, I know she’s passionate, and has every reason to be. She’s certainly not alone within the confines of the House. There are a lot of people there who think a lot of the arts and culture.

 

I must say, I can honestly say this: I’ve met with the arts and culture sector and our staff continues to meet with them. There’s ongoing dialogue. We realize that they’ve been slammed hard by the pandemic, along with many other areas across the province. Certainly arts and culture took, in other words, a beating, as far as what has happened over the past two years. The department is aware of that. As I said, our staff continues to work with them, trying to improve things internally.

 

When you mentioned - when you started to talk about, you mentioned a couple of campaigns there, like the #NSLive campaign and so on. We haven’t met with them yet, but we’re absolutely open to meeting with them. I believe the campaigns are just getting under way and so on. We’re definitely open to meeting everyone, listening to them, learning from them, and trying to improve the sector.

 

We appreciate that the operating grant programs provide predictable support. We have focused on providing this targeted project support. It’s aimed at helping organizations develop these new initiatives that impact communities and potentially new revenue streams, dealing with your strategic planning and export market development. As part of our program improvement initiative, we continue to engage with the arts and culture organizations, like I mentioned before, to review their funding programs. That’s something that is constantly going on, including operating grants, to ensure that they are meeting the needs of the sector.

 

Again, as minister of the department, we have, as the member would know, many pressures from so many sectors across the department. There’s rarely a meeting that we’re not involved in, but the bottom line in the request is for increased operating expenses, and certainly arts and culture is in that category. That’s why we continue to meet with them, just to learn the needs of the sector and try to find innovative ways to help them.

 

Having said that, the increase in the operating was not approved in the budget, but we continue to be in regular contact, like I mentioned earlier, with our clients, to provide the ongoing operating levels with additional project and staff support where we can. Again, there are different projects out there that they can apply for. With regard to the different levels of project and staff support, I mean, $54.8 million in investments in March 2022, and of course including $23 million to the film industry for a sound stage and the Nova Scotia Content Creator Fund. Again, that sound stage, it’s going to change the whole atmosphere of that industry in the province, because it’ll be an all-year-round sound stage that will help people in that industry from leaving the province and going to find some other place to work, during certain months of the year. Now they’ll be able to stay here in the province. There’s $12 million for tourist marketing in digital adoption programs. Into other culture and recreation infrastructure projects, government provided $14.8 million, and another $5 million to Sport Nova Scotia for accessible programs and equipment.

 

In 2021 - I mentioned this earlier - $2.1 million in emergency support for arts and culture organizations that was provided just to help them remain stable and healthy and able to maintain or, in some cases, restart operations within the Public Health guidelines.

 

It’s no hidden secret that we made significant investments in the areas of film, tourism, and infrastructure, knowing that these investments will also build a healthy and prosperous culture sector. As you mentioned before, in the contributions to our GDP, these organizations certainly will make an important economic and social contribution to communities across our province.

 

I guess I’ll finish my answer by saying that it’s very seldom a day goes by where the staff are not engaged either within the department or engaged with people across the province in the arts and culture sector, talking to them and trying to find ways to assist and help them. I’ll end there, Mr. Chair.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: Yes, I have no doubt that the staff and the department are very committed to the arts and culture sector. I know it personally and I know it from talking to stakeholders in the sector, and I really appreciate that. I do appreciate and I do believe the minister when he says that the staff and he are meeting with the sector and concerned about the sector. I really do trust that and I appreciate that.

 

I’m not going to continue on this point for very long, Minister. I assure the minister I won’t because I know he knows how I feel about this and I know they all do, who are listening. It’s my job, so I’m going to say this. To say that operating funding or operating companies are stable is inaccurate right now. They are not stable because COVID-19 has taken such a bad hit on them. However, I will say this also, that the funding has not increased in 20 years, really. There have been some small increases but there hasn’t been any really meaningful investment, and I guess that includes the NDP government. All governments are at fault for this.

 

The fact is that it is impossible to be stable if the funding hasn’t increased in 20 years. It is mathematically, or whatever, incorrect to say it because of inflation.

 

Again, I appreciate that the department is continually grappling with this. I know that people in the department know that the increases need to happen, so I remain hopeful that perhaps there will be some announcement coming, that the Treasury Board will make a special whatever you call it - allocation? What’s that word, President of the Treasury Board, when you allocate money? Appropriation - an additional appropriation at some point during this year to show the sector that the province actually understands its contribution to our tourism, to our health and well-being, to our ability to attract professionals to the province, to all of that. I’m not going to belabour that point. I’m going to move on.

 

In the minister’s business plan, under the section Museums and Libraries as Economic Drivers, there is a plan to collaborate with Tourism Nova Scotia to promote libraries and museums as regional assets.

 

Before I ask my question I’ll just say again, could have included cultural institutions in that list, but anyway. Is there an increase in funding to strengthen the operations of the museums and libraries that are being referred to in the business plan?

 

[7:45 p.m.]

 

PAT DUNN: Thanks to the member for the question. As the minister was sort of referring to a number of times here museums and libraries certainly are at the heart of all our communities across the province. At the moment there’s no increase in the operating budget for museums. For example, we know these libraries are more than a place where youth and adults go just to secure books and so on, they are a multi-faceted operation now. They certainly are a very important hub in the province, and they play a very important role in building a stronger community. I can vouch for that - the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library back home, it’s a marvel to see what they actually do now.

 

We have continued to maintain the $16.5 million a year, these operating grants, to support the provincial libraries. Back in 2020 the government introduced a new funding formula for libraries that better reflects the role they play in our various communities across the province.

We work with library boards and municipalities on this new funding formula that provides $2 million, along with a new fund, it’s a $500,000 library development fund that will allow more support for libraries, over and above the standardized operating fund. This $500,000 (Inaudible) libraries can apply for.

 

A lot of them will come up with a lot of unique projects, innovative programs and types of service they are offering. For example, that would be in the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library the virtual health pilot program that they are offering. So there’s extra money there that’s available. Basically, that extra $500,000 is available to support innovation and the unique needs identified in specific areas across the province in these facilities and, again, like I said, for any other sector.

 

I want to thank the member for her generous compliments about the staff. I certainly agree with that. They continue to work with all sectors across the province including museums and libraries.

 

I’m not sure if the member is interested in me talking about the Nova Scotia Museum. It’s made up of 70 locally managed museum sites and 11 directly managed museum sites. It includes over 240 buildings and more than a million artifacts and specimens and numerous vessels.

 

One thing that I think we were very pleased with is, during the March Break, the number of people who visited the three main museums in the province. The Museum of Natural History saw an increase of over 38 per cent from the previous March Break. There’s over 7,800 people who showed up at the Museum of Natural History during the March Break of this year versus the approximately 3,000 the year before.

 

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic had an increase of over 46 per cent during the March Break. That was 2,000 more visitors compared to the approximately 1,000 the year before.

 

Back in my neck of the woods, in Stellarton, the biggest increase was in the Museum of Industry which saw a 47 per cent increase in visitation. The museum had 2,050 throughout the March Break in 2022. A year ago, they had fewer than 1,000 - somewhere around 970 visits during that same time frame. Again, we know all these sectors are working as hard as they can to rebound from the pandemic. We’re working with them and doing everything we possibly can to alleviate some of the barriers that they’re facing.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: Mr. Chair, I would agree that certainly in Dartmouth North, our library is one of the centres of our community. The staff there have truly been on the front line of the COVID-19 pandemic and response. They were some of the first to have rapid tests available and they, along with a number of other organizations, organized a Winter clothing drive last year and this year for folks because they weren’t able to collect their usual used clothing. They just do amazing things.

 

I just want to clarify with a very short answer if the minister would be willing: Is the $500,000 fund for kind of anything that libraries want to apply for or is it thematically linked with the library as a tourism asset? In the application process, does the library have to make a case for how this will attract visitors to the library or the town, or can it be for programs that will simply serve the people who the library normally serves?

 

PAT DUNN: Mr. Chair, once again to the member. It is an innovation fund and it’s very broad, it’s wide open. If there’s an initiative or a project that a library in any community across the province would like to initiate, the funding is there and that’s (Inaudible) $500,000 is available for. The answer is yes. It’s pretty wide open to requests.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: Thank you very much for that clarification. I am also interested in the statistics that the minister gave about visits to museums. It’s great news that this year’s March Break saw such a huge increase in visits to museums. Certainly on March Break that is the kind of thing that I do with my own children.

 

I’m surprised that there would be celebration – I don’t mean to be sarcastic – to compare to last year. It’s great that there’s an increase, but if the comparison is to last year, when we were in the heart of the pandemic, and vaccines were only beginning to roll out, it doesn’t seem super surprising to me that those increases would be the case this year when we were triple vaccinated by March Break this year.

 

I’m wondering if there’s any kind of analysis of the growth this year compared to pre-pandemic numbers. Are we still in a recovery phase, or are we status quo with pre-pandemic numbers and growing? Could the minister give some analysis on that?

 

PAT DUNN: Certainly we are definitely in a recovery stage. The numbers look so promising from what we have experienced over the past two years so we’re really, really excited when looking at the numbers for March Break as compared to last year.

 

Of course, last year we were deep into the COVID-19 pandemic, and a lot of people did not want to venture out and visit places like these museums. We were quite pleased at the fact that there was an increase. We are expecting more of a rebound, and we’re anticipating that the numbers will be even higher this summer. We’re anticipating that and hoping for that.

 

The other part of the question that the honourable member mentioned was – and I don’t have these at my fingertips right now, but I’ll try to get them – the numbers of visitors pre-pandemic, like in March 2019, for example. We’re definitely in recovery mode and we were pretty pleased to see the numbers from this past current March Break.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: My last question about libraries is that I’m wondering what the plan is to increase access to Atlantic Canadian-authored works in our libraries in Nova Scotia.

 

PAT DUNN: I’ll mention two or three things to the honourable member and if there’s more information that she may require, I’ll be happy to secure that and provide it to her.

 

I personally have met with the book publishers of the province. The staff, as expected, is certainly working and engaged with the publishers and those in the publishing sector. There are initiatives afloat like the one page. We are certainly committed to this here. I think of the e-books that are available from authors from the province, and not only Nova Scotia but across the Atlantic Provinces.

 

[8:00 p.m.]

 

During our dialogue with the Nova Scotia book publishers, that was discussed in our meetings with them - basically what the honourable member brought up here. We are definitely looking forward to expanding this and helping the local authors thrive.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: To the minister, thank you for that. Good to know that that’s on the radar. I had some questions about the book publishers’ program, so I will skip to them now, since we’re on the topic.

 

We know that - or it’s our understanding that the Assistance to Book Publishers program, which I believe has been in existence for about five years, is now under review. Would the minister provide an update of what’s happening with that funding for publishers in the province? I’m wondering about the total amount of funding for this year over last, as well as the timeline for applications and distributing the funding.

 

PAT DUNN: The funding over the past few years has been - in recent years - has been $1 million. That’s going to stay stable. It’s going to remain at dedicated funding totalling $1 million.

 

To address the COVID-19 impacts with the sector, Mr. Chair, we extended the terms of the five-year investment for at least an additional year, providing the support with priority projects and activities. During our consultations and meetings with the Nova Scotia book publishers, they’ve been advocating to the department for a new and ongoing dedicated funding stream to support their initiatives. CCTH has provided cumulative $5,940,000 to 13 publishers over the past few years. The department also has contributed an additional ballpark $209,000 over the same span in support of the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association.

 

Arts Nova Scotia, by the way, also provides support to the publishing sector in the form of approximately $125,000 annually through its project grants for publishing programs.

 

I’m not sure if that answers or gets the information that the member wanted, but I’m going to stop there, Mr. Chair.

SUSAN LEBLANC: I guess a question of mine is: I’m wondering, with the review under way, will the eligibility requirements for publishers be changed?

 

Right now - and I understand the reasons for this - this money is available to an exclusive group. Currently anyone who accesses that money must be an active member of the Atlantic Publishers Marketing Association and have published a minimum of 12 eligible titles, and four of these must have been in the past fiscal year.

 

That’s quite a tricky requirement to meet for many small publishers. Obviously, it makes sense for the Nimbuses or the Formacs of the world, but for sort of more either emerging publishers or just smaller scale ones, it makes it pretty tricky to access that funding.

 

I’m wondering, is part of this review exploring the eligibility requirements for publishers to be able to access that money?

 

PAT DUNN: Mr. Chair, as the honourable member was discussing, the criteria there with regard to some of that funding and as she was mentioning the various pieces of the criteria and so on, I was having flashbacks to my days in the classroom with passing out some requirements to my students if they wanted to get a pass in a certain subject.

 

I tell you one thing that I like about Estimates is the fact that members like the honourable member right there will bring up some issues that are certainly great issues that need to be looked at and need to be discussed. This is certainly one of them. We’re going to borrow it from the honourable member and certainly we’re going to look at this further within the department and have discussions going forward.

 

We looked at different things. We looked at trying to provide ways that the authors can export their work easier and better and more often and so on. But this particular issue here I can assure the member that she has given us food for thought. We’ll certainly be looking at those criteria. I’m going to thank her for that.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: Mr. Chair, thank you to the minister for looking at that. That’s great.

 

Lest the minister think that all I think about is arts and culture, I am going to ask some questions about short-term rentals and the Tourist Accommodations Registry.

 

The Tourist Accommodations Registry and short-term rentals - how many short-term rental registrations have been made for the categories of 1-to-4 bedrooms, 5 or more bedrooms, or as platform operators? If the minister doesn’t have this at his fingertips, I’m happy to get that later, but I just want to get that question on the record.

 

So that’s short-term rental registrations for the categories of 1-to-4 bedrooms, 5 or more bedrooms, or platform operators.

 

PAT DUNN: Mr. Chair, the honourable member surprised me there - I was expecting more questions from her on the area that’s so dear to her heart.

 

With regard to the short-term rentals and so on, I don’t have that information at my fingertips, but we’ll try to get as much of the information as possible, and I will certainly provide it for her.

 

I can say this much, we can certainly give her the information where people have registered. Now I think it’s safe to say that there’s some short-term rentals that have not registered. This bill that was introduced in the Legislature today is looking at that part. if this was this time next year, I could probably give her a pretty accurate total of short-term rentals that are in our province. The information that we can acquire for the ones that have registered we’ll certainly apply that for her.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: I will say to the minister that one of the most important skills of a good performer is being able to surprise their audience. So there you go, I’ve done it.

 

I wanted to ask about exactly what the minister just mentioned there, notwithstanding the fact that we don’t really know how many short-term rental units are being operated in the province, what percentage of short-term rentals does the department currently feel the registry is capturing - your best guess?

 

PAT DUNN: I couldn’t hazard a guess, that’s just like me walking in to write a physics exam and thinking I’m going to make a 98, Mr. Chair. We actually don’t have that information at our fingertips. Again, it’s something that we certainly will, as we continue down the road with short-term rentals in the province.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: I understand that no fees, like either $50 or $150, depending on the number of rooms, no fees are being collected by the registry this year, and they haven’t been collected for the years 2020 and 2021.

 

Could the minister say what went into the decision to give people a break on short-term rental fees during a housing crisis, especially considering that the fees are for people’s secondary residences?

 

PAT DUNN: The decision that was made encompasses all tourist accommodations, not just short-term rentals, and so on. For obvious reasons, the pressures that were brought in during the pandemic during the last two years.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: How many fines of $1,000 to $7,500 have been issued for people who are operating short-term rentals but not registered?

 

PAT DUNN: At this point my understanding is that it is zero.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: Are we or are we not collecting fees from platform operators, like Airbnb, currently?

 

PAT DUNN: I’m going to have to check on that for the member, Mr. Chair, to get back to her with an accurate answer. That information will be readily available going forward, after some legislation works its way through the Legislature in the Fall.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: So the Act allows the minister to suspend or cancel a registration if it’s in the public interest. I’m just wondering, have there been any suspensions or cancellations of registrations for short-term rentals since the registry was created?

 

[8:15 p.m.]

 

PAT DUNN: At this particular point, none that I’m aware of.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: I’m now going to move on again. I’m going to switch, not back to arts and culture, but to recreation. I wanted to ask the minister a few questions about the Let’s Get Moving Nova Scotia plan.

 

We know that before the pandemic, statistics showed that only one in five Canadians met the recommended level of physical activity for health benefits. Then, of course, the closure of sports facilities, and lockdown measures, and increased screen time during the pandemic have only made that situation worse. I was quoting there – I apologize – from a federal committee studying the impacts of COVID-19. The committee also noted that during the height of lockdowns, only 3 per cent of children were meeting the daily requirements for physical activity.

 

Anecdotally, in my house, all we did was physical activity during the first months of the pandemic, because I would have probably lost it. Every day we were riding our bikes and walking the streets of Dartmouth, but yes, I can see how that was tricky. People who were working – not everyone was doing that, obviously, and not able to do it. I was lucky.

 

My question is: Is the department considering updating or accelerating the Let’s Get Moving Nova Scotia plan in light of COVID-19’s effect on physical activity?

 

PAT DUNN: To the honourable member, I’m certainly pleased to hear that your household was very active during that time, because there are certainly some households that were not for a variety of reasons during the pandemic. The more we can be moving around, certainly, the better for our health.

 

With regard to the dollar value, there’s an increase in the budget for this coming fiscal year. I believe it’s in the ballpark of at least $700,000, in addition to last year’s budget amount.

 

The other thing, too, is that Let’s Get Moving Nova Scotia is across several departments, it’s across the governmental action plan for increasing physical activity and just encouraging movement in the province.

 

I can remember back many years ago, Mr. Chair, I had the privilege and honour of being the Minister for Health Promotion and Protection. At that particular time, we had, internally, within our staff, a project where when we came to work we wouldn’t use the elevators. We would use the stairs. Again, it was a little project, and a healthy project, that most staff members bought into just for the physical activity and so on.

 

We are absolutely, definitely committed to improving physical activity by redefining movement to emphasize incorporating any sort of physical movement in the daily lives of people, regardless of what they’re doing, who they are, what age they are and so on, and trying to reach out to where Nova Scotians spend their days - if it’s at home, if it’s at work, wherever they are spending most of their time. At the same time using a lens of inclusion and focusing on the opportunities that are out there that appeal to - opportunities I would say that appeal to the less active population we see in the province.

 

We also know that encouraging this physical activity wherever people spend their days certainly is so important to our mental and physical health, in particular during the last few years during this pandemic. By helping people to have the opportunities to be physically active I think certainly helps people as we move through this pandemic recovery.

 

I can also think of partnerships, one would be the Doctors Nova Scotia Healthy Tomorrow Foundation, the second page, Make Your Move campaign which was launched early in 2022. Of course, this is a public awareness initiative encouraging people to include small amounts of movements into their daily routines, regardless of where they’re going, what they’re doing and so on. In this particular phase we’ll see the pilot of that, a community tool kit being available.

 

I guess some further examples, Mr. Chair, would be the municipal Mi'kmaw Physical Activity Leadership Program provided funding to support communities to lead the development and implementation of community-wide physical activity plans. In 2021-22 this cost-shared program supported 47 community agreements to fund staff positions to serve 43 municipalities, one village, 11 Mi'kmaw communities and the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre.

 

From CCTH for 2021-22, the forecast contribution was $1,313,000.

 

Just to finish my answer, the Active Communities Fund supported over 55 communities in the province, not-for-profits, and First Nations communities. Through that they were able to create initiatives that encouraged less structured movements throughout their day.

 

Of course, we’ve also supported the Nova Scotia Health Authority to gather information and plan to integrate physical activity, active counselling, into their primary health care chronic disease management wellness plan. I know that back in my neck of the woods, back home, various areas, including phys.ed. teachers and so on, are initiating plans in those schools trying to increase the physical activity of students on a daily basis.

 

We are hoping within the department, and across other departments, to encourage people to get active and be physical. When I think of it, back in 2003, the former Premier, John Hamm, created the Department of Health Promotion and Protection. I remember talking to him and he said that the main reason why he wanted that department created was because he could see the deteriorating health performance of a lot of our Nova Scotians. He felt that if we don’t get active, if we don’t start adhering to some good physical activity, we’re going to have a lot of people who will be suffering from a lot of chronic illnesses as they grow old. That department began in 2003, I believe the former Premier Rodney MacDonald was the first minister of that department.

 

I believe, Mr. Chair, and I may be wrong but if my memory serves me right, somewhere around 2010 - and that’s ballpark - it was removed and put back into the Department of Health and Wellness.

 

THE CHAIR: The honourable member for Dartmouth North with six minutes.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: Thank you, Mr. Chair. 2010 - that’s when the NDP was in government. Interesting.

 

Well, it’s great to hear the minister speak about the importance of activity to our health and wellness. I hope - I mean, the minister’s speaking my language, Mr. Chair. This is upstream health and wellness funding that is necessary, right? We’re talking, absolutely we should be investing upstream so that folks do not develop chronic illnesses, so they can stay active as they age and not develop chronic illnesses. It would save a lot of human suffering. Obviously that’s the most important thing. It would also save the Health and Wellness budget a substantial amount of money.

 

I hope the minister is talking to the Minister of Health and Wellness about this. I also hope the minister is talking to the Minister of Public Works about this. I certainly will be taking the opportunity to talk again, as she is very happy for me to do, about active transportation. The trail systems in Nova Scotia are all amazing; the Active Communities Fund, whatever it’s called, is awesome for that exact reason. But we need a sort of province-wide strategy that involves Health and Wellness and Public Works. I’m happy to hear that our Minister of CCTH is on board.

 

Probably the last question I’m going to be able to get in here is, speaking of other ministers, Hike Nova Scotia has asked the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables - I’m saying it like that because the minister happens to be in the room right now - to increase funding for provincial parks to increase winter access to trails. I’m wondering, has the Minister of CCTH spoken with the Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables about investments needed so that people can have access to provincial parks all year round?

 

PAT DUNN: I’m certainly aware of this. Our intentions and plans are certainly to be talking with the minister about that, Hike Nova Scotia and so on.

 

Again, walking down the street today, I mentioned to someone I was walking with, isn’t it nice, the weather’s starting to get warmer and we’re going to see more bikes on the go - people being active, people being physical, and so on.

 

Also, I know through my initial career, 30 years in the school system - actually, Mr. Chair, I coached for 40 years in the community, 30 years at the school level. I was very busy trying to make people active. I recall taking my class a number of times out for maybe a 15-minute stroll, for a couple of reasons. One, just to get outside, breathe in some air, get some physical activity, and get their minds off the books inside, so that when they returned, they would be fresh and ready to roll again.

 

I can remember one day taking the class out and another teacher saying: Where are you going? I said: Going for probably a 12-minute stroll around the block with my class. The teacher said: Are you allowed to do that? And I shouldn’t have said this, but I said: Well, I can’t see anybody here who’s going to stop me. Anyway, away we went.

 

The kids enjoyed it. They got some physical activity and they got outside the classroom. We read about the schools in the Scandinavian countries. We read about over in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and so on, and all the physical activity that they have throughout the school week, which is just totally incredible. I’ve discussed this with several Ministers of Education in this province over the last number of years.

 

I want to mention to the member the fact that I didn’t want to mention the NDP, so I just kind of turned it around with the year, 2010 or maybe 2011. I think it was around that time. I was very disappointed, because the reason it became a department by itself was the fact that it wouldn’t be swallowed up through the budget by the Health Department. They felt at the time that if it were separate, there would be more of a priority and focus for physical activity if we had that department alone.

 

[8:30 p.m.]

 

Again, moving ahead to where we are now, we have a lot of work going on in various departments - the Department of Health and Wellness and our own. The staff between the departments are having this discussion, I want to tell the member right now, I’ll certainly be talking to Minister Rushton very soon on this.

 

THE CHAIR: With 20 seconds, the honourable member for Dartmouth North.

 

SUSAN LEBLANC: Well, I just want to say thank you to the minister for answering my questions and, next hour, my colleague will be up. Thanks again and we’ll see you tomorrow.

 

THE CHAIR: The time is 8:31 p.m.

 

The honourable member for Clayton Park West.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: The minister’s doing really well. Do you need a break, minister? Is he okay?

 

PAT DUNN: No, thank you. I’m just rearing to go. I’m excited.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: You’re doing amazing, honestly. How much coffee did you have?

 

PAT DUNN: Actually, I don’t drink coffee. I’m a Red Rose tea guy.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Me, too. I just had my tea to keep up.

 

I have one more question before I move on to tourism. Again, with this one, it’s the Healthy Communities stream through the Culture Innovation Fund - another fund which was very successful during our government. It helped support physician retention.

 

Can you please share if this program is currently open and, if not, when will it be reopening?

 

PAT DUNN: Mr. Chair, to the honourable member, maybe if this evening goes on, I’ll start drinking coffee. We’ll see.

 

Anyway, as far as the Healthy Communities stream, the budget for 2021-22 was $200,000. Going forward for 2022-23, it also is again $200,000. That particular stream is just helping community leaders and innovators to embrace decisions in their families through projects and initiatives that are not only creative but are using creativity and diverse culture.

 

I know in my own area, and in all the areas throughout the province, there’s a lot of activity going on in our communities trying to make visiting physicians feel at home, to like Nova Scotia, and to like the community. They’re trying to integrate their spouse into activities and so on. Sometimes their spouse doesn’t work and kind of feels left out in the community, not knowing anyone. There are all kinds of activities and I’ll mention a couple - one being the YMCA - in a minute.

 

To be considered for this particular funding, this Healthy Communities stream, the applicants must consider their community’s assets and barriers and how their community can better support physicians and their families just to feel really at home in the community that they are visiting, regardless if it’s in Middleton, or Eastern Passage, or Cape Breton or wherever it may be.

 

The stream supported 12 projects in 2021-22. Many projects were collaborative in nature, recognizing the importance of communities working together to create a positive picture of life in our province of Nova Scotia. Soldiers Memorial Hospital Foundation received approximately $18,500 to host seasonal community connection events to promote cross-cultural exchange and opportunities for physicians and families to engage in cultural activities alongside local community members.

 

I mentioned earlier the YMCA, the YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth, also in collaboration with the YMCA outlets across the province, received over $51,000 to connect new, prospective physicians, and their families of course, with a YMCA guide navigator, to do things like provide them a tour of the YMCA facility in the community, the setup of a six-month introductory membership program for them, and introduce them to all the programs that the YMCA has to offer. They are also connecting any family members if a family member is connected with the physician or the physicians who come into the area, so basically showing them all the resources that the YMCA has to offer.

 

Just a few more quick examples - $13,000 was made available to the Eastern Passage & Area Action Committee in partnership with Eastern Passage and, of course, their area business association, in creating a promotional strategy and tools, including a video highlighting the many assets of that community. Of course, included in that were testimonials from community members, from health care collaborators, school staff, and businesses that are there in preparation of welcoming these new physicians and health care professionals to the community.

 

Part of the tool kit will also include a community asset map to bring attention to Eastern Passage’s many businesses and services, along with key resources and literature. Another example would be $40,000, Mr. Chair. The YMCA that I mentioned earlier, the guide navigators, there’s $40,000 there. There was another $5,000, the Bras d’Or Lakes Day Camps Association where quality programs and incentives for physicians and their families mean they can form good connections and relationships to people living in the community; $10,000 to a Cape Breton business partnership. Again, just creating a program that has helped them purchase passes to local cultural and historic tours, dealing with many unique local products, gift cards, welcome baskets and all those types of initiatives for new physicians and their families.

 

Another $5,000 for a Cape Breton South Recruiting for Health has produced a comprehensive guide with a list of all the amenities and resources in the Cape Breton South region to introduce and welcome new physicians and families to communities in that area.

 

Again, Mr. Chair, another close to $15,000 for another association basically doing the same types of things - $6,200 to Healthy Pictou County. I’ll say that Pictou County has been a leader in this area and Pictou County has been developing a local well-being program, focused on the health of physicians and their families through connections, socialization, interaction with all kinds of recreational opportunities that are available in the County of Pictou.

 

I had the opportunity to not only know some doctors in the area, some physicians who are involved in this area, but they’re involved in the physical aspect of things.

 

The Municipality of the District of Chester received $15,000 to create a sustained community engagement program that, again, fosters connection and belonging for these health care professionals, once they are recruited to their communities. It’s critical to get them here, and it’s just as critical to retain them. Anything we can possibly do, and certainly through this Healthy Communities stream, is one way that we are trying to do that.

 

The South Queens Chamber of Commerce, about $15,000. That Chamber of Commerce there in South Queens developed a Summer tour for doctors, medical students, interns, and their families, who are interning or practising in Queens County. I can safely say that my youngest daughter of six kids is finished, I believe June 15^th, in her second year of residency at Dal. If I said once to her over the past three or four years, I’ve said a hundred times that if she wanted to do something for her father, it’s to get all of her classmates to stay here in Nova Scotia and set up shop somewhere across the province to help us out. I’m still waiting for her to come across with that - I’m going to call it a birthday gift or whatever.

 

There was $15,000 given to the South Shore Multicultural Association, to develop a newcomer settlement guide. It was a resource for physicians - to attract them to that area and to retain them in that area.

 

Maybe I’ll just finish with a couple more. There are more than that. The Annapolis Valley Chamber of Commerce, I think they received funding of around $23,000 to work on a strategy to build a broader plan to attract, support, and retain physicians and community volunteers through collaboration with communities in the area.

 

Finally, the Soldiers Memorial Hospital Foundation had funding around $15,000 for hosting seasonal community connection events to promote cross-cultural exchange and opportunities for physicians and families to engage in cultural activities alongside local community members.

 

Our tentacles are out there everywhere, trying to attract and entice doctors to come to Nova Scotia. There is certainly a need for a lot of these doctors with their families to engage in cultural activities that they are familiar with.

 

I’ll finish by saying that the 2022-23 fund is not open yet. We will be, and are, working with the Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment just to determine what the best time is to open up these applications for this current year.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Thank you to the minister. I tried to write all these, but really what I want is the list. Maybe if you could send me the list that you just read - I wrote most of them, but if I could have that list sent as well, with the other four or five lists that I asked for already.

 

To me, it’s $200,000 for all these - you said it was $200,000 per year, and that was last year. Since you’ve taken office, how much money has gone out? If I could have the list of to whom it went.

 

PAT DUNN: To the honourable member, I’m going to have to buy you a new leather satchel, because you’re going to have a lot of lists before this night’s over.

 

I’d be very happy to get that list for you, honourable member. We can make that available to you. I’m not sure if the honourable member meant - if I understood her to say that the $200,000 that was available last year in the funding is or may not be available this year. I’m not sure if she said that or not. But just as a clarification, the $200,000 is definitely in the budget for this current year for the Healthy Communities stream.

 

[8:45 p.m.]

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I’ll clarify that to the minister. I really didn’t hear it very well at the beginning, you said it was $200,000 before and it’s the same amount for the year coming - I just wanted to make sure that you’ve not increased it.

 

If it has worked really well, how come there was no increase? If there isn’t, I just also wanted the list since you’ve taken office, to whom it went since then, how much money was spent out of this $200,000 for 2021-22? I know you listed a lot of them, there’s 15, three of them 15, there’s a 40, there’s a 10K, there’s a 5K and a 13K, but one of them was 51K. Have we gone above the $200,000? If you can give me the list of this year’s budget of the $200,000. Was it spent? Have we gone over it? If it’s working so well, why can’t we increase this to see if regional - I see a lot of PC constituencies that got this money. I just want to know if there are any other constituencies that received any money as well. If you could give me that list, I’d really appreciate it.

 

I have five different lists that I’ve asked for - the Building Vibrant Communities, the operational funding list, also the ACCESS-Ability programs for both business and community, and I also asked for a list for Events Nova Scotia, for the Festival and Community Event Development Program. This was my fifth one, which is a community stream as well, so there will be six lists altogether that I’m hoping for.

 

I will stop with the lists and move to tourism. I just want a confirmation that the minister will provide me with that list as well, on the $200,000.

 

PAT DUNN: Mr. Chair, I am the minister responsible for lists. I’ll certainly provide any list that the honourable member wants. I’d be happy to do that.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I truly thank the minister; that’s lovely. Thank you, that makes my life easier.

 

Now I’m moving to tourism. My first question is on Page 5.2. I honestly want a clarification more than anything else. On Page 5.2, for tourism, the estimate for 2021-22 was $20,671,000. The forecast, which is the amount spent, was $56,007,000 and this year in your budget you’re putting in $23,450,000. The spending was more than double, almost three times - I would like the department to give me an update on where that additional money went.

 

PAT DUNN: Mr. Chair, thanks to the member for the question. Again, there was a lot of the central COVID-19 support response for accommodations and so on. As we look back over the last two years, the tourism sector along with many other sectors has had a devastating impact from the pandemic with a lot of the health measures that were trying to protect and keep Nova Scotians safe.

 

It certainly hit the tourism sector very, very hard. In fact, when I think back to pre-pandemic in 2019, I think we had somewhere in the area of 2.6 billion visitors to the province. In 2020 and 2021, there’s about a billion, so it’s down 1.6.

 

The forecast with regard to your figures and so on, there’s a lot of response to help all kinds of organizations inside the tourism sector. Marketing activities is one example. Marketing activities was at $9.2 million; the Small Business Real Property Tax Rebate Program was around $7.2 million; and what they called the Tourism Accommodations Restart Customer Attraction Program that was provided, that was in the ballpark of $8.9 million.

 

I don’t have a number at my fingertips, but in the marketing part of it there was a considerable amount of money made available to help this sector rebound from the pandemic.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I definitely understand that the tourism sector was the hardest hit and they needed help. I’m happy that they received the help that they got, especially in 2020 and 2021. For your budget, you’ve only increased it to $23 million from $20 million and we’re still coming out of COVID-19 and it’s going to take the tourism operators a long time to recover.

 

How do you expect that this increase of just $3 million from the Estimate of the year 2021-22 would cover when it took more than $36 million of extra spending? You’re just giving them $3 million more. Where did these figures come from and how are you going to survive helping those tourism operators?

 

PAT DUNN: Mr. Chair, it’s awfully nice of you to recognize me at this time of night.

 

The $2 million that is in the difference there is certainly towards marketing in the sector. I can say that as the pandemic moves on, things change. We are constantly talking to the tourism sector, working with them, listening to them, learning from them, acting on some of their suggestions and ideas, and we will continue to always be open to assist and to help them.

 

Again, because of that, there are different levels of support that are required or needed at certain times throughout the pandemic. Some of the needs right now would be probably different from needs about 14 months ago or eight months ago, or whatever. It just depends on what part of the pandemic we are in.

 

There’s an Atlantic Canada Agreement on Tourism. I think there’s approximately $875,000 involved in that. But once again, the $2 million is new marketing, to help the sector rebound from the pandemic, jump on their bicycles, I guess, and thrive throughout the province and the Atlantic Region to entice people to come into this province, Mr. Chair, to stay in our province, to spend their money in our province, to enjoy our province, to come back here and live in our province.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Compared to last year, this government increased their Estimates for the department by $4 million in total. Since that time Communities, Culture and Heritage has taken over Tourism, which is a huge addition. I’m just wondering, how does the department plan to oversee an additional division with only $4 million in a budget increase?

 

PAT DUNN: Thank you to the honourable member for the question. I think, looking at it here, the 2021-22, it actually includes the tourism aspect of the budget. The percentage up, like the $4 million that may have been mentioned, that Tourist Nova Scotia marketing is $2 million, the Rink Revitalization Fund was $1 million, and it’s in the area of $800,000.

 

Included in the 2021-22 Estimates is, I believe, $20.7 million in Tourism Nova Scotia only - it’s only for Tourism Nova Scotia. I’m not sure that answered the member’s question, Mr. Chair.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I think I’m more confused than when I started. I believe what you are trying say, for the total amount it went from $137,769,000 to $141 million, but I also see some discrepancies there that I would like to ask about, so I’m going to leave that question.

 

Before I forget, on the same Page 5.2 it is notable that the Department of Acadian Affairs and Francophonie has gone down, the budget for this year compared to the budget for 2021-22. The Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs has also decreased. However, the Department of Gaelic Affairs has increased.

 

[9:00 p.m.]

 

Can you explain under the new bill that we brought in for equity and anti-racism, how do you see this faring when those two departments’ budgets have decreased while the Department of Gaelic Affairs has increased? It just does not look right to me. Maybe you can explain that one.

 

PAT DUNN: That discrepancy that we are looking at is basically dealing with staffing vacancies. It’s basically the status quo with a very, very slight decrease.

 

Again, with the staffing vacancies. There’s new staff coming and going and the new staff coming in sometimes they come in at different pay scales, so that’ll show a little difference in the numbers and so on. I think that’s where the decrease is showing, Mr. Chair.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: So, have we reduced the number of staff for the Departments of Acadian Affairs and Francophonie and African Nova Scotian Affairs? What do you mean by the decrease? Did they move from full-time to part-time? If you can clarify what actually happened - an exact reason as to why it is decreasing.

 

PAT DUNN: Again, basically right across the various divisions there, the offices, the number of staff who remain is practically the same. You have to consider the fact that there’s a fair bit of moving within the various offices and so on. For that matter, departments across government, sometimes when people retire or new junior people come in, their pay scale is at a different rate. As far as the number of staff, it’s practically the very same.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I will take that as just a staffing change, that it’s not the budget for the department that has reduced.

 

All right, the next one that I had was about novascotia.com. It seems to be a one-stop shop for those to learn information on where to visit, shop, and stay in Nova Scotia. Does the minister know how successful the website has been in terms of visitors and inquiries? Does the department have any way of tracking how many of these website visits lead to sales or growth in the tourism industry?

 

PAT DUNN: Mr. Chair, I’ll begin a brief answer by saying that we’ll try to provide as much information as we can to the honourable member.

 

We’re sort of in a situation where there are some new things here like the Crown corporation arriving on our doorstep, the transitioning and so on. Although there is going to be data available, there is some data that we don’t have at our fingertips at the moment.

 

We have different campaigns, and all campaigns are tied to our website. The member mentioned novascotia.com and there’s Doers and Dreamers and so on. We also provided - I think I mentioned earlier in my opening remarks, $1 million to businesses for digital work, digital offerings, and so on.

 

There’s a lot of work through social media provided by the department to engage and entice tourists to visit our province. But the exact numbers, we don’t have the data available at the moment. Again, it’s only very recently that they became a division underneath the umbrella of the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Maybe we can add that to the list. It’s No. 6 on my list. If you don’t mind, could you just get me some information on how well this program is doing. They can provide that, I’m sure, if there’s tracking of this - and how well it’s working. You said that you’ve given money to companies or businesses for their digital work; maybe a list of those, as well, will be wonderful - those businesses that are using the digital money.

 

We learned the news this past week that there are approximately 1,000 job vacancies in the hotel industry in Halifax. Given the department’s plans to grow the tourism industry in the province, what plans do they have to support hotels in hiring more employees - are these jobs included in our current immigration employment streams?

 

PAT DUNN: Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for that question; it’s a very important question.

 

I’ve had the opportunity, more than once of course, to talk with members of the tourism sector across the province and one of the first challenges that they’ll mention is labour. We’ve heard from them directly. They talked about how important it is to obtain quality people with the right skill set for their areas of expertise or what they are involved in in the tourism industry - getting the right product and the right people and so on.

 

We are very busy dealing with this through the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration. There are programs that are becoming available to train for this sector. We’re certainly working daily to address this challenge. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to the federal minister and all the provincial and territorial ministers across the country on a Teams meeting. Ironically, they’re all suffering from the same types of challenges, one being a shortage of labour.

 

Another one is the fact that a lot of their areas were cut off from air access to their particular areas and so on and they were very, very anxious to make some marketing plans to increase some direct routes from areas where they used to have a lot of tourists visit our province.

 

Talking to the service industry, hotel associations, they have been having recruiting fairs and so on. There’s actually a lot of things going on to recruit, retrain, and obtain the necessary labour force that’s required. Again, it’s certainly very challenging and it’s something that is happening right across the country.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: Mr. Chair, thank you to the minister. Yes, I hope we are working hard at finding ways to find people for the industry as they open up. A thousand jobs - a big concern when I saw that number. I’m sure the department is working hard to find solutions.

 

My next question. We are very interested to hear from the minister regarding the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. I know that I’m so excited for the art gallery and the new design. Can the minister update us on how the new build is progressing? Has your government implemented any additional safeguards to ensure that the project stays on budget?

 

[9:15 p.m.]

 

PAT DUNN: Thanks to the member for the question. When I think of a new art gallery, what could be more exciting than that? I think of the great success of the new library in Halifax and what that has meant to not only the community but to the province.

 

With regard to the art gallery, it’s no hidden secret that due to the pandemic, whatever you are doing there’s certainly escalating costs that seem to arise. For example, I spent a fair bit of my time doing some carpentry work, that’s probably something that you may consider, Mr. Chair, if you ever want someone to build a deck for you, you have my phone number.

 

The point I’m going at is that pre-pandemic, an eight foot two by four was somewhere between $2 and $2.50 a stud. They are around $10 or $11 right now - totally incredible. You can imagine that just building a new room in the basement of your house all the studding you would need for your walls and compare the price of $2.25 to whatever it might be, $9, $11, it’s just totally incredible. That’s just one small item. Another one, a four by eight pressure board, and I’m not talking about good plywood, I’m talking about a four by eight sheet that has tripled in cost. Contractors are having quite a difficult time coming up with an estimate to build things.

 

Anyway, back to the art gallery - I must agree with the honourable member that this is an exciting project and what it is going to do for the province, let alone Halifax, the capital city, but the tourists that will be coming from all parts of the world to a world-class art gallery, I believe it’s just going to be magnificent.

 

Of course, our plans are keeping it within the budget. We’re planning and planning to work with the approval of the budget that is on the table right now.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I understand that we know, but maybe the minister can be more specific and give me what the budget was. I believe it was around $70 million. I should have had that written when we announced it.

 

Where are we today? What figures does he have for us? Where is the budget as of today?

 

PAT DUNN: To the member, the province committed $70 million. The federal government committed to $30 million. There’s a major fundraising campaign under way and they’re committed to acquiring $30 million. We’re talking about $130 million. The planning is to work with that approved budget.

 

THE CHAIR: The honourable member for Clayton Park West with 10 minutes to go.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I’m sorry, just the last sentence, I didn’t hear. We are still within budget for the $130 million? Is that what I heard at the end? I didn’t hear the last sentence you said.

 

PAT DUNN: My last statement was that we’re still planning to work within the approved budget. We’re doing everything we can to stay within that budget that I just mentioned - the 70, 30, 30.

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: I appreciate that. I do know how hard it is.

 

In the last 10 minutes, maybe a quick question without too much - the department’s business plan. There is a section that discusses voluntary sector planning and identifying feasibility of records checks for the non-profit sector. Could the minister please elaborate on this point, the feasibility of the cost of records checks?

 

I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this or not, but that’s the bill that I tabled on Friday. For me, I was a volunteer, and I always had to pay $30 to get a police records check. I don’t know how we can ask volunteers to pay for something when they’re giving us their time for free.

 

What is the amount of money that it requires? How much money do we collect every year from the voluntary check, and what is the budget for that if we are to absorb it?

 

PAT DUNN: Again, to the honourable member, I enjoyed that question because I lost count of how many times I had to do a check myself throughout the numerous years volunteering in my community, coaching a variety of sports teams, male and female. I know exactly where you’re coming from. I know exactly what you’re feeling. Volunteers do such great work, I mean, all we have to do is look through the past two years, the excellent work the volunteers did across our province.

 

One thing Nova Scotia is noted for is we probably have the best volunteers in the country, as far as the number of volunteers, the percentage of volunteers, and so on. I agree with the member, it’s kind of a barrier, I think, towards volunteers.

 

What’s happening, I can tell the member right now, in the department and across some other departments is we’re doing - there’s been research happening concerning this here and we’re looking at ways - how can we improve this? How can we be of help to volunteers, because of the incredible work they do?

 

I have marked down here again to make sure, to the member, that it’s something we’re going to continue to look at and discuss at our regular meeting. I’m going to thank her for bringing that up, because I’ve heard that so many times, and I’ve felt the same way, having just last year to do a police check. Now when I walk into the New Glasgow police station, there’s not a police officer in there who doesn’t know me - for the right reasons. But here I am, I’m doing a police check. Of course, you know, you have to pay for those police checks.

 

It’s something I’m glad the member brought up, and we’ll certainly look into it and see if there’s any way we can help out.

 

RAFAH DICOSTANZO: With only four minutes, this is a quick one. I hope the minister has a faster answer for this one. Regarding the River John food bank that was announced on March 16, what grant or funding stream was this distributed through? Why was the original request for $163,000 but then it became $650,000? Can the minister clarify, why did it increase by five times? First, which stream, and then the increase as well.

 

PAT DUNN: I’ll be as quick as I can. That particular operation in order to make it sustainable, the initial funding certainly was inadequate. There was some year-end funding that became available, so in order to have the federal government be a partner in this, certain things have to happen. We know we talk about food security, we know that there’s a critical gap in the province and so on. We know the project was based on merits.

 

[9:30 p.m.]

 

The Community Support Society of River John will operate that food bank, which will include an emergency food pantry, a community garden, and greenhouse. It will offer educational food literacy programs. We know that the facility will also be used by local groups in the area, including that 4-H club, local church groups, health services, River John ladies’ group and seniors’ group, and others. Basically, there’s an opportunity to work . . .

 

THE CHAIR: Order. The Liberal Party’s time has expired.

 

I now pass it over to the NDP caucus and the member for Halifax Needham. You have seven minutes.

 

SUZY HANSEN: I’m just going to cut right to the chase here. The African Nova Scotian Decade for People of African Descent Coalition is a critical voice for our community. I know the minister is very well aware of their role. I would like the minister to assure the DPAD Coalition and the African Nova Scotian community that the organization can expect reliable funding through the minister’s mandate. This is a yes or no question, minister.

 

PAT DUNN: Thank you to the honourable member for the question. Nice to see you this evening. The quick answer would be that the DPAD funding supports the provincial DPAD Coalition alliance with operational funding with a multi-year agreement investment. The coalition has just completed their third year of the four-year agreement.

 

The DPAD Coalition represents 30 of the many organizations that serve the African Nova Scotian communities. We’ve just completed the third year and we’re in our fourth year at the present time.

 

SUZY HANSEN: Thank you, minister, for that. (Inaudible) I’m wondering, can you commit to continuing the funding for that particular program?

 

PAT DUNN: It must be getting late, Mr. Chair, because I’m having trouble finding my mouse.

 

The answer to the honourable member’s question is, again, there’s one year left in the program. What will happen as we go through this fourth year is we’re going to be working with DPAD with regard to access to funding or any other needs that DPAD may need or have or want, going forward.

 

SUZY HANSEN: Minister, we’re going to have to have a deeper conversation about this particular part of the department.

 

My next question is going to be - I’ve heard some concerns from the community about the Land Titles Initiative being moved from the Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs. We know that there is expertise in the Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs around the particular systemic barriers faced by African Nova Scotians that they believe is necessary to administering this program.

 

Can I ask the minister, briefly, to address these concerns, and is it possible for you to shift it back to ANSA?

 

PAT DUNN: I guess I’ll try to answer this way. I’ve heard some of those concerns myself. I can say that government is working and will continue working together with other departments in government. We all know that collaboration is so critical and so important.

 

Again, I’m working with the deputy minister and the associate deputy ministers daily and weekly for the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, and the Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs, and the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives. So I can say to the member that the government is looking at all aspects of the Land Titles Initiative.

 

It’s not just a single office working on this initiative. It’s a whole government approach. The Department of Justice is involved. The Department of Natural Resources and Renewables is involved. The Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs is involved. The Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives is involved. The tentacles have been spreading everywhere with regard to this.

 

SUZY HANSEN: I want to ask a question, but I will say this. I hear all of those pieces. Yes, there’s collaboration and there needs to be. When we think about where it lands and what it’s about, it’s about the African Nova Scotian community which, in turn, should be specific to the Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs; it is an African Nova Scotian affairs department which will also be affected in other ways.

 

I will say that these are discussions that we could have thoroughly over the next little bit because I really want to pick your brain on a number of other pieces. Obviously ten o’clock at night is not the best time to be asking questions. Myself, I’m out there. I really appreciate your time, minister.

 

THE CHAIR: Thank you to the member. Minister, before concluding the consideration of the Estimates for tonight, I invite the minister to offer closing remarks and then read the department’s Estimates Resolution.

 

The time is now 9:38 p.m. We have to adjourn by 9:43 p.m.

 

PAT DUNN: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to thank all the members from the Liberal and NDP Parties for their thoughtful questions tonight. I hope we were able to answer most of them. Of course, the ones that we were unable to, we will certainly provide any information that we may have and get that to them quickly.

 

I certainly want to thank the staff at the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, the Department of African Nova Scotian Affairs, the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives from the deputy ministers and the associate deputy ministers right down the line. We’re blessed with great staff who are very dedicated, enthusiastic, and do a terrific job.

 

Again, like I mentioned earlier, I find myself very fortunate to be able to have the opportunity to work with them. They’re very open-minded and it’s just a pleasure working with them.

 

Having said that, Mr. Chair, I’m going to conclude with the Estimates Resolution, if I may.

 

THE CHAIR: Shall Resolution E3 stand?

 

Resolution E3 stands.

 

Resolution E28 - Resolved that a sum not exceeding $4,803,000 be granted to the Lieutenant Governor to defray expenses in respect of the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism Initiatives, pursuant to the Estimate.

 

Shall Resolution E28 carry?

 

Resolution E28 is carried.

 

It is now 9:40 p.m. and the House is set to adjourn at 10:00 p.m. That concludes the subcommittee’s consideration of Estimates for today. The subcommittee will resume consideration when the House again resolves into a Subcommittee of the Whole on Supply.

 

I ask you to please return to your seats in the Legislative Chamber. The Committee of the Whole House must rise and report back to the House before the House concludes its business for the day. They will be completed at 9:53 p.m. next door.

 

I adjourn today’s meeting, the Subcommittee on Supply. Thank you, minister.

 

[The subcommittee adjourned at 9:41 p.m.]