(NB-Budget)
New Brunswickers are about to find out exactly how Premier Susan Holt’s Liberal government plans to tackle the province’s worsening finances.
Finance Minister René Legacy is expected to table the new provincial budget in Fredericton today.
Last month, he revealed the 2025-26 fiscal year was headed toward a record 1.3-billion-dollar deficit.
The government has warned nearly every service and program is potentially facing cuts this year, including health care. (The Canadian Press)
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(NL-Gushue-Team)
Two former teammates of Newfoundland’s Brag Gushue are forming a new curling team in Alberta.
Brendan Bottcher and Geoff Walker are joining Jacob and Tanner Horgan, both former champions in northern Ontario, says a social media post.
The new rink will be based out of Alberta with Bottcher as skip.
Gushue, a six-time Brier champion and one of the most decorated curlers in Canadian history, retired earlier this month. (The Canadian Press)
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(NS-Missing-Guns)
R-C-M-P near Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, are on the lookout for a half-dozen missing guns.
Police say a gun owner’s firearms and gun safe were moved without his consent earlier this month to an unlocked rural property in nearby Tusket.
When he went to retrieve the weapons, he found them missing and called the police.
Along with a broken 22-calibre rifle, police are looking for a nine-millimetre pistol, a 32-special long gun, two 12-gauge shotguns and a semi-automatic S-K-S rifle. (The Canadian Press)
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(NL-Road-Work)
Newfoundland and Labrador’s transportation minister says the government is playing catch-up on roadwork in Progressive Conservative districts after a decade of neglect.
Barry Petten says he was surprised when department staff told him the worst roads in the province are in P-C districts.
Former Liberal minister Elvis Loveless says he’s concerned that Liberal districts will be ignored, noting there was no funding for his area’s busy Bay d’Espoir Highway in the budget.
Petten’s road budget last week cut funding from 340-million to 250-million dollars. (VOCM)
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(NS-Blood-Collection)
A sewer blockage has caused the cancellation of 500 blood collection appointments in Halifax.
Nova Scotia Health says its site at the Bayers Road Centre will reopen today following the disruption.
Staff first found out about the issue last Thursday, but plumbers couldn’t fix it.
The issue didn’t cause any damage to the building or equipment. (CBC Nova Scotia)
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(PEI-Paralympic-wins)
P-E-I is celebrating a pair of Paralympic medals for hometown athlete Mark Arendz (uh-RENDZ’).
He captured a silver medal in the Para biathlon and a bronze in the Para cross-country skiing 10-kilometre interval at the event in Italy.
Arendz adds to a total that already included a dozen Paralympic winter medals.
The Island’s minister responsible for sport, Ernie Hudson, said Arendz is a trailblazer in Canada and on the international stage. (The Canadian Press)
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(Atlantic Update by The Canadian Press)
