RCMP OFFICERS CHALLENGE CLAIMS ABOUT AVAILABILITY OF CARBINE RIFLES
Some New Brunswick Mounties are questioning the force's claim that every patrol vehicle in the province has a high-powered rifle, saying they can't use them because they haven't been trained, and many cruisers aren't yet equipped to hold them.
Two officers from different detachments are challenging a comment by Assistant Commissioner Roger Brown that every patrol vehicle has a carbine firearm.
The force pledged to roll out the carbines after a man gunned down three RCMP members in Moncton in 2014.
One of the two Mounties speaking out says most of the officers he works with cannot use the carbines, and many patrol vehicles do not yet have the proper rack to hold them.
DEATH OF TEEN PROMPTS CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT YOUTH ADVOCATE IN N.S.
The Opposition house leader in Nova Scotia says the province should consider an independent child advocate after a 16-year-old girl was found dead in a Halifax home.
Chris d'Entremont says there should also be more independent probes into deaths involving youth and children in care.
However, acting minister of Community Services Kelly Regan says she can't confirm if the girl found dead on the weekend was in care, due to privacy concerns.
D'Entremont complained that the province's response to this and earlier deaths of children hasn't been transparent.
PARENTS FIGHT FOR SCHOOL'S SURVIVAL AFTER ENROLMENT SINKS TO ONE STUDENT
A Nova Scotia school board will have to decide whether one of Canada's last remaining one-room schools should be kept open.
The elementary school on Big Tancook Island off the province's southern coast has just one student registered to attend in September.
But some residents of the eight-kilometre-long island are pleading with the board to keep the school open, saying they are concerned about sending small children on a ferry to Chester each day.
The community has a few young families whose children are expected to start school in the coming years.
CONSTRUCTION OF NEW N.L. FERRY COMPLETED IN ROMANIA
Newfoundland and Labrador's government says construction of the province’s newest 80-metre ice class ferry is complete.
The M-V Legionnaire is docked in Romania, where it was built, and will enter service when enhancements to the wharves at Bell Island and Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s are finished.
In the meantime the vessel will undergo maintenance and checks by the shipbuilder in Romania, Damen Shipyards.
The province says the new ferry will accommodate up to 200 passengers and 60 vehicles and will have increased capacity for operating in challenging ice conditions.
N.S. GOVERNMENT WILL CONTINUE TO OPERATE VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRES
The Nova Scotia government says its six provincial visitor information centres will remain open.
Opposition Tories had raised questions about the centres after they were left off a map in the province's latest tourism guide.
The Tories said it was proof that the Liberal government was preparing to shut down the centres to save money.
Business Minister Mark Furey says Tourism Nova Scotia has been consulting with industry and communities to decide what role the centres should play, and has decided to continue operating them.
HALIFAX AIRPORT SETS NEW RECORD IN 2015 FOR PASSENGERS SERVED
Halifax Stanfield International Airport says it served more than 3.7 million passengers last year -- the busiest year in the airport's history.
The airport authority's president and CEO Joyce Carter says the record-breaking year is even more impressive considering that nearly 1,400 flights were cancelled due to severe weather in the first half of the year.
She says the addition of several new domestic routes helped passenger numbers rebound in the months that followed.
Air cargo also grew slightly in 2015, with more than 32,000 metric tonnes processed, much of it being live lobster.
The Canadian Press
