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| Gerald Keddy,聽Conservative MP for the South Shore-St. Margarets,聽gets the announcement started.聽(Communications Nova Scotia) |
Peter MacKay arrived at Province House having loosened the federal government鈥檚 purse strings and distributing millions for construction projects.
He announced $210 million for Nova Scotia infrastructure projects, including $7.5 million for the Bluenose, $18.5 million to improve secondary roads, and $2.1 million for trails and parks.
鈥淚鈥檓 here to cut red tape, speed up infrastructure projects and get people to work right away,鈥� said Mr. MacKay, Minister of National Defence, on behalf of Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, at an early morning press conference in the Red Room.
鈥淲e鈥檙e transforming a crisis into an opportunity,鈥� he added.
Also announced was $114 million (including $56.7 million in federal money) for 25 projects at universities and colleges across the province. As he ran down the list of universities receiving funding, Mr. MacKay pumped his fist in the air when he came to AV俱乐部.
AV俱乐部 will get $27 million through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program to begin an extensive retrofit on the Life Sciences Building. The federal share of $13.5 million will be matched by the province and AV俱乐部 in an arrangement 鈥渢hat鈥檚 still under discussion,鈥� said Dan Harrison, spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Department of Education.
The 405,000-square-foot science building is home to biology, psychology, Earth sciences and oceanography, plus an array of specialized labs. Everything from switching to the most energy efficient lighting, to improving ventilation throughout the building and fixing the roof is in the cards.
Other university projects in Nova Scotia include $345,000 to repair heating and air handling units at the University of King鈥檚 College, $7.5 million for Acadia University鈥檚 Patterson Hall renovations, and $22 million for the modernization of the McNally building at Saint Mary鈥檚 University.
鈥淲e鈥檙e dealing with economic turbulence and putting the divisiveness of a potential election aside to get these projects moving,鈥� remarked Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald. 鈥淭his is very good news and important that governments can work together.鈥�
Following the morning announcement, Nova Scotia MLAs returned to the legislature for what could be a short sitting. The opposition parties appear poised to kill a pre-budget bill the minority Progressive Conservative government claims it needs to pass.
The minority MacDonald government needs the support of opposition MLAs to pass its bill and stay in power. If not, the government falls, triggering an election.