The Nova Scotia Department of Education Minister’s Commission on Public Education Finance, also known as the Walker Commission, was created on August 1, 1980 by Terence R.B. Donahoe, Minister of Education. George Walker, Superintendent of Schools for Kings County, was appointed chairperson with John Levangie, Director of Finance and Budgeting for the Department of Education, and Daniel Brownlow, Mayor of Dartmouth, as co-commissioners. The Commission’s mandate was to examine matters related to the financial support of public schools in Nova Scotia, in particular how the costs are shared between municipal and provincial levels of government, the existing grant structure, and the role of school boards. They held meetings across Nova Scotia between October 1980 and January 1981. They received over 125 written submissions (briefs) from school boards, municipal councils, organizations, and individuals. The Commission presented their final report to the Minister of Education Terence R.B. Donahoe on March 31, 1981 and then disbanded.
Missing Piece Productions was founded in 1988 by Chris Zimmer and Lulu Keating. It was created in order to form a company independent of Keating's Red Snapper Films Ltd. and Zimmer's Imagex Ltd. to produce the feature film "The Midday Sun". This separate entity was established primarily for two reasons: to receive investment revenue to facilitate the production of "The Midday Sun"; and, to repay investors for taxation purposes (in compliance with Telefilm Canada regulations). The name, Missing Piece Productions, alluded to the indispensable final chunk of financing which seemed to elude the filmmakers during this project. Eventually $2.3 million dollars was raised from a variety of sources, both public and private, so that the first Canadian feature-length film shot on location in Africa could be made. Missing Piece Productions was disbanded in 1992, having accomplished the objectives for which it was created.
Muriel Helena Duckworth (nee Ball) was born in East Bolton, Quebec in 1908. She received a BA in French and economics from McGill University in 1929 and afterwards studied with her husband, Jack Duckworth, at Union Theological Seminary. In 1930, they returned to Montreal where their children John, Martin, and Eleanor were born. During their residence in Montreal, Muriel Duckworth was active in the C.G.I.T., the Student Christian Movement, and Notre Dame de Grace Community Centre. She also helped to acquire for Jewish teachers the right to teach in Protestant schools in Quebec. In 1947, the Duckworth family moved to Halifax, and Muriel joined the Adult Education Division of the Nova Scotia Dept. of Education as a part-time parent-advisor. Between 1962 and 1967 she worked as a program advisor to the department. From 1967, she dedicated her efforts to groups concerned with the role and rights of women in society, education, pacifism, world development and cooperation and social justice. She was a founding member of the Voice of Women (Halifax) and national president of the Voice of Women (Canada) from 1967 to 1971. She was also a founding member of the Canadian Conference on children, the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Nova Scotia Festival of the Arts, and the Junior School of Community Arts. She has received six honourary doctorates, the Persons Award (1981), and the Order of Canada (1983).
Pendant les années 1993 et 1994, Le Réveil de Pombcoup a commencer de faire un livre appeler Les Maisons de Pubnico Ouest - 1930 à1995. Le livre contient toutes les maisons du village construites pendant cette période, l'année de leur construction, qui les a construite, qui en étaient les propriétaiares et qui les possédaient au moment de la publication du livre.
National Sea Products Limited originated in Lunenburg in 1899 as W.C. Smith & Co., a ships' chandlery and salt fish operation. In 1926 the latter company merged with Lunenburg Sea Products, a cold storage and fresh fish plant, while retaining its company name. Soon the new company began to modernize its offshore fishing ships by installing diesel engines in existing vessels and constructing new types of dory trawlers and diesel powered otter trawlers. In addition, it was one of the first fishing companies to install radio-telephone communications between fishing vessels and port, and to introduce other electronic and navigational equipment. Further expansion led to the construction of new plants at Louisbourg, North Sydney, Lockeport and Digby, as well as Shippegan and Loggieville, N.B., and sales offices were opened in Montreal, Toronto, New York and Boston. In 1938 both Lunenburg Sea Products and W.C. Smith & Co. were acquired by a holding company, Smith Fisheries Ltd. During World War II the company built two modern otter diesel trawlers, Cape North and Cape LaHave, that revolutionized the Atlantic fishing industry by replacing offshore line fishing by draggers towing trawls along the ocean floor. The company also improved its processing methods and equipment, and developed a variety of new frozen seafood products. In 1945 Lunenburg Sea Products, its associated companies, and Maritime National Fish Company of Halifax were acquired by outside interests and amalgamated into National Sea Products Ltd. In the 1960s Nat Sea built a new plant at Battery Point on Lunenburg Harbour that was considered one of the most modern and largest fish plants in the world. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, as with the fishing industry in general, Nat Sea was plagued by over-inventory and a weak market. But in 1983 the establishment of federal government quota and allocation systems helped stabilize the industry and improve the company's financial outlook. In 1998 Nat Sea became a division of High Liner Foods Incorporated, one of North America's largest marketers of fresh and frozen seafood and frozen pasta products. In 2003 the sale of National Sea Products' High Liner Foods fleet to Clearwater Seafoods, Halifax, was announced.
The Native Council of Nova Scotia was established in February 1975, in Yarmouth, as an advocacy group for all Mi'kmaw / Aboriginal People residing off-reserve in Nova Scotia (who number about 15,000, according to 1990 statistics). The Council was formed in reaction to the perceived inadequacy of Federal and provincial government policy in dealing with such "non-status Indians". The Council contends that all Aboriginal people are equal, regardless of where they choose to reside. The primary objective of the Council is to help Mi'kmaw / Aboriginal People residing off-reserve to find a voice and to organize to ensure "a better future" for all Aboriginal people. Since its inception the Council has been extremely active, establishing and/ or participating in a host of cultural, political, and economic organizations, including: The Native Council of Nova Scotia Employment Outreach Services; The Native Council of Nova Scotia Education Fund; The Native Council of Nova Scotia Native Social Counselling Agency; The Native Council of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Language Program; The Mi'kmaq Society; and the Mi'kmaq Development Corporation. The Council has worked in cooperation with all levels of government, public and private agencies, private industry, and other Mi'kmaw / Aboriginal groups. Membership in the Native Council of Nova Scotia is open to both "status" Indians (those on band lists) and "non-status" Indians, and to people with Aboriginal ancestry. The Council has established twelve operational zones in the province. Within each zone, there is an executive usually consisting of an elected President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. The Council maintains a central administrative office in Truro, and regional offices in Halifax, Sydney, and Bridgewater.