News Release Archive

PREMIER--COASTAL COMMUNITIES
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Nova Scotia will fight to maintain federal support for coastal
communities hurt by the downturn in the fisheries, Premier John
Savage said today.

The premier was responding to an Ottawa report which suggests
communities with bleak futures should no longer receive support
from government development agencies.

"Nova Scotia rejects totally the notion that communities be
abandoned just because they've fallen on hard times. To suggest
otherwise is at the very least discriminatory. We will resist
attempts to cut any community off from federal support programs."

The federal report looked at 12 coastal communities in Atlantic
Canada which were hurt by the 1992 fishing moratoriums. In Nova
Scotia the communities studied included Lockeport, Shelburne,
Canso and Louisbourg.

"While the report does not specify which communities should be
abandoned, I'm concerned about the report's assumption that its
okay for government to turn its back on communities in trouble."

Premier Savage said it is the Nova Scotia government's policy to
support the province's rural and coastal communities.

"That's the reason the provincial government is actively
promoting community economic development. We've established
Community Economic Development Authorities in every area of the
province and we're encouraging investment in rural and coastal
communities through tax incentives."

The premier said in addition to supporting the development of new
or alternative fisheries resources, the government is attempting
to diversify local economies through the local development
authorities.

"Local communities, with assistance of government, are putting
together their own development plans. Some of this activity will
need time to produce results. In the meantime, we will press the
federal government to ensure that communities like Shelburne,
Lockeport, Canso and Louisbourg continue to receive the support
they deserve," he said.

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Contact: David Harrigan  902-424-6600

trp                        June 18, 1996 - 2:35 p.m.