On 19 October 1962 Premier Robert Stanfield announced the creation of the Interdepartmental Committee on Human Rights. Chaired by the Premier, the other members of the committee were the Ministers of Education and Labour, and the Deputy Ministers of Public Health, Public Welfare, Labour, and Education as well as the Chairman of the Nova Scotia Housing Commission. The committee was charged with giving immediate attention to the problems of Blacks in Nova Scotia, reviewing existing provincial services and legal responsibilities in respect to all minority groups, and making recommendations to improve race relations in the province and generally promoting freedom of equality and opportunity. Following a report by C.R. Brookbank in 1967 on the Organization and administration of the human rights program of the province of Nova Scotia, the committee directed the creation of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. Throughout its existence the committee was chaired by the Premier with F. R. MacKinnon, the Deputy Minister of Public Welfare, as its secretary.
The Helen Creighton Folklore Festival of Dartmouth Society was officially registered on 12 March 1990. The mandate of the Society was to organize an annual festival for the presentation and preservation of folklore in Maritime Canada. These festivals were held at the Dartmouth Alderney Gate Library between 1990 and 1993. The organization also sponsored a national competition between 1990 and 1993 for a commissioned piece of music based on the collection of Helen Creighton's records at the Nova Scotia Archives. On 11 April 1994 the name of the organization changed to the Helen Creighton Folklore Festival Society.
Bennett Smith & Sons was a shipbuilding and shipping company with offices in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Saint John, New Brunswick. Bennett Smith was well known as one of the largest and wealthiest shipowners in the Maritimes. After his death in 1886, Bennett Smith & Sons was taken over by Bennett's sons, John Marshall Smith and Charles Dewolfe Smith.
Enos Collins was born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, on 5 September 1774, the son of Hallet Collins, a merchant trader, and Rhoda (Peek). He received little formal education and went to sea at an early age. Before the age of 20 he was captain of the schooner Adamant, sailing to Bermuda. He eventually moved to Halifax where, by 1811, he was established as a merchant and shipper. He made his initial fortune in privateering during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. During the latter war he was partner in a firm which bought captured American vessels from the Court of Vice-Admiralty and sold their cargoes at a profit. During the next decade he was successful in currency speculation, backed many trading ventures, and entered lumbering and whaling businesses. By 1822 he was made part of the principal governing body of the colony, the Council of Twelve. In 1825, denied a bank charter by the Legislative Assembly, Collins and seven other prominent Halifax businessmen organized the Halifax Banking Company, the first such private company in Nova Scotia. During the 1830s Collins continued to expand his business activities and to participate in governing the colony, continuing on as a member of the new Executive Council of Nova Scotia. He left the Council in 1840. During the turbulent 1840s and 1850s he refrained from active politics but was a financial backer of the Conservatives. He spent the last 30 years of his life in partial retirement, keeping a close eye on his investments. When he died in Halifax on 18 November 1871, he was said by many to have been the wealthiest man in British North America.
In 1955 Public Works was established as a separate department, responsible for the construction of public buildings and the maintenance of government property and equipment. In 1980 Public Works assumed responsibility for government communications and information and was renamed Government Services. In 1992 the minister assumed formal responsibility for the Communications and Information Act and the department was renamed Supply and Services. The department was responsible for purchasing, tendering and supply services; publishing, communication services and Queen's Printer; environmental engineering, project management, design services and construction services; information technology policy and standards, network services, information technology services and records management; accommodation services, facilities management and insurance and risk management. In 1996 the department was broken up and its responsiblities distributed among the new Department of Transportation and Public Works, Communications Nova Scotia and the Technology and Science Secretariat.
The Council of Nova Scotia Archives (CNSA) was incorporated on 29 June 1983 under the Societies’ Act. It was established by a core group of twenty-five institutions and individuals as a professional organization for archives and archivists in the province of Nova Scotia. The aims of the CNSA are to promote archival standards and practices, provide members with a forum for discussion, establish and maintain a network for archival co-operation and promote the importance of archives to the general public. The activities of the CNSA have included annual meetings, a variety of training and outreach advisory services, workshops which offer a grounding in the basics of archival education and from time to time offer advanced workshops on more specific archival topics, and publications such as the CNSA Newsletter. The CNSA also makes available to its members funding support for archival projects through a variety of granting agencies, as well as annual awards for archival excellence. The CNSA maintains various on-line tools, including the on-line database of descriptions of holdings in Nova Scotian archives, “ArchWay”. Today there are over 100 members, representing community archives and museums, university and religious archives, the provincial archives, heritage associations, and corporations.
Richard A. Donahoe was born September 27, 1909 at Halifax, N.S. The son of Edward Donahoe and Rebecca Margaret Duggan he was educated at St. Mary's University and graduated from Dalhousie Law school. After some unsuccessful attempts at municipal, provincial and federal office he was elected an alderman for the City of Halifax in 1951 and as Mayor in 1952. Following the death of Premier Angus L. Macdonald, Donahoe was elected as a Progressive Conservative member of the legislature for Halifax South in 1954. When the Stanfield government came to power in 1956 Donahoe began to serve as as Minister of Health and also as Attorney General. He held both posts until the Liberal administration came to office in 1970. In 1979 he was named a Senator. In community life he has been prominent in Irish and Catholic organizations and was named a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory in 1970. He is also amember of the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame. Two sons, Arthur and Terrence R. B., have also served in the Nova Scotia legislature.
The Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company was incorporated federally in 1898 as the NS Iron and Steel Company Ltd. Its name was subsequently amended in 1901 [NS Statutes, 1901, ca. 158]. The new company was an amalgamation of several smaller steel, iron and coal companies that had been established in Cape Breton and northern Nova Scotia in the 19th century. In 1900 the NS Steel Company had purchased coal leases for the collieries and mines of the General Mining Association of London. These leases included the Sydney Mines and Point Aconi areas, whose seams were considered to be of superior quality. In 1901 an integrated steel mill was established on the southeast side of Sydney Harbour in Whitney Pier, by the newly-formed Dominion Iron and Steel Company Limited (DISCO). DISCO merged with the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Company (SCOTIA) in 1920 to form the British Empire Steel Corporation (BESCO). BESCO reorganized as Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (DOSCO)in 1930. The Hawker-Siddley Group bought the steel plant in 1957 and operated it for ten years. In 1966 DOSCO and its parent corporation, A.V. Roe Canada Ltd., announced that its coal operations would be terminated. This action precipitated a series of events that resulted in the federal government stepping in to take over the Cape Breton collieries. In February 1967 it established a federal crown corporation, the Cape Breton Development Corporation (DEVCO.) This decision led to the subsequent provincialization of the DOSCO steel plant, renamed the Sydney Steel Corporation (SYSCO).
The Halifax Funeral Home was incorporated under the Nova Scotia Companies Act on 30 March 1939 and was initially located at 90 Dresden Row, Halifax. In 1953, it opened a second funeral home located at 6270 Quinpool Road, Halifax. The Dresden Row funeral home closed in about 1972. Business continued at the Quinpool Road site until 1977 at which time the company ceased business. The business was operated by Francis MacDonald, Rod MacAskill and Duncan MacAskill.
On 7 June 1991 the Nova Scotia House of Assembly created the all-party Working Committee on the Constitution. Its purpose was to identify the range of constitutional options acceptable to Nova Scotians. Eric Kierans was appointed chair. The committee published a discussion paper intended to assist Nova Scotians in making informed decisions on constitutional matters. It held public hearings and distributed questionnaires to solicit the views of Nova Scotians on constitutional issues. The committee submitted its final report on 28 November 1991.