Budget Bulletin: Rural Nova Scotians

What It Means for Rural Nova Scotians

• $10 million to improve rural roads.
• $1 million to build on tourism, culture, and heritage.
• $500,000 to expand community-based transportation services.
• $1.3 million more for silviculture.
• $2.2 million to provide agricultural specialist services.
• $125,000 more for fisheries enforcement.

The 2001–02 budget includes several initiatives specifically designed for Nova Scotians living in rural areas.

Again this year, the Department of Transportation and Public Works will spend $10 million on improving rural secondary roads. These are roads that are largely unpaved and more susceptible to damage from frost, rain, and other weather conditions. They are often important links within and between rural communities. The $10 million will be used for asphalt patching, regravelling, ditching, and brush clearing. This brings to $18 million the total amount spent on or committed to improving rural roads since April 1, 2000.

Transportation related issues are often dominant in rural areas. The lack of public transit means people without access to a vehicle or unable to drive are dependent on friends or family for transportation. This problem is especially felt among people with low incomes, seniors, and people with disabilities.

To help fill this void in rural areas, Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations will make available grants to community-based transportation services and help establish them where they do not currently exist. These services are often provided by service organizations or other non-profit community groups. They generally focus on providing transportation to medical appointments for seniors and people with disabilities. The new funding will help service providers to maintain what they do now and expand into providing transportation to skills training and other education opportunities.

Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations will provide technical advice and assistance as well as $500,000 in grants to community-based transportation services across Nova Scotia. In year two of the program, municipalities will be asked to contribute. While municipal involvement will be voluntary, it will also be critical to continued operation of this program.

The tourism, culture, and heritage sectors are making significant contributions to Nova Scotia’s economy and quality of life in all regions of the province. The government’s goal is to make tourism a $1.5-billion industry by 2004 and to capitalize on investment opportunities and development potential in our culture and heritage sectors. This year, the Department of Tourism and Culture will invest an additional $1 million to build on the tourism, culture, and heritage strengths in rural Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia will continue to aggressively market the province in partnership with the Tourism Partnership Council to promote Nova Scotia as a year-round destination. To support the goal of industry and government to build a 12-month season, we will be investing in provincial and community visitor information centres to foster extended operations and encourage year-round service.

The Department of Tourism and Culture will also make new investments in cultural industries and support opportunities for cultural development at the regional and community level. To generate increased export sales of cultural products and to support communities in pursuing cultural development priorities, $400,000 will be directed at new partnerships with cultural producers and distributors.

Pilot initiatives were introduced in 2000 aimed at economic growth in rural communities in the tourism, culture, and heritage sectors. These will be continued, with $100,000 targeted at community museums for the preservation and promotion of Nova Scotia’s heritage and $500,000 to assist initiatives designed to support economic and industry growth through partnerships with tourism and culture businesses.

Traditional industries continue to play an important role in the Nova Scotia economy and are the lifeblood of many rural communities. Approximately 18,000 Nova Scotians are employed in fisheries, agriculture, and forestry alone. Properly managed, these industries can continue to provide employment for many years to come. It is with this goal in mind that the government will be making additional investments in traditional industries, particularly fisheries, agriculture, and forestry.

The Department of Natural Resources will spend an additional $1.3 million for a total of $3.5 million on silviculture on Crown land. Silviculture is a forest management practice that includes such activities as weeding, thinning, and planting to grow a healthier and more productive forest. By using silviculture, each hectare of managed woodland can produce three to four times more wood than a natural stand.

The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is making good on its commitment to provide professional consulting services to Nova Scotia’s farmers. The department has budgeted $2.2 million for the Agricultural Development Institute (ADI), which will begin offering services this spring.

ADI will be hiring eight specialists to offer advice and services in livestock, horticulture, forage and field crops, pest management, and weeds. The ADI specialists will also monitor for diseases and insects and support training and education initiatives.

In order to preserve and protect Nova Scotia’s fisheries resource, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries will increase its enforcement budget by $125,000. This money will be used to hire more enforcement staff and legal services.

The Department of Natural Resources will be following through on its plan to end full-time services at the Stellarton drill core library. The facility will still be available to the industry on an as-needed basis. Mining industry representatives have been kept abreast of these developments since last year.

NOTE: For other 2001–02 budget information, visit the Department of Finance Web site at www.gov.ns.ca/finance .