Nova Scotia is remembering one of its most accomplished athletes.
Nancy Garapick has died at the age of 64. Swimming Canada says she passed away peacefully at her home in Langley, British Columbia.
Garapick rose to prominence at a young age, becoming Canada’s youngest Female Athlete of the Year at just 14 in 1975.
That same year, she set a world record in the 200-metre backstroke at just 13 years old while swimming with the Halifax Trojan Aquatic Club.
She went on to represent Canada at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, winning bronze medals in both the 100-metre and 200-metre backstroke.
Over the course of her career, Garapick won 17 national titles and 38 championship medals, along with multiple international honours.
She was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.
Garapick later continued her involvement in swimming at the university level and remained connected to the sport throughout her life.
In a statement, Swimming Canada extended condolences to her family, friends, and the broader swimming community, noting her lasting impact on the sport in Canada.
When Maribel Lopez heard her cruise ship was not going to Bermuda, she even considered cancelling her trip altogether.
“I was definitely a little disappointed and I had second thoughts about even coming to the trip at all,” she said.
Virgin Voyages’ Valiant Lady launched Saint John’s cruise season Wednesday morning — more than two months ahead of schedule.
According to Port Saint John’s cruise ship schedule, the season was not set to begin until June 20.
The ship, with more than 2,000 passengers on board, sailed Monday from New York and was originally bound for Bermuda, but was forced to divert to Saint John due to weather conditions.
Lopez, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y., said with New York still experiencing cold weather, she had “sadly” not put her winter clothes away when she heard the news.
However, she said the diversion meant she had to think more carefully about what to pack to face the negative temperatures in Saint John.
“I definitely packed more relaxed and warmer clothes,” she said. “Some outfits will not be seeing the time of day here but it’s okay.”
Lopez travelled with her friend Rachel Torres, also from Brooklyn. She said both she and Torres are still processing the change of plans and are “rolling with the punches.”
“Ultimately, I had my time scheduled off, and I was like ‘I’m on vacation, so I have to go somewhere’,” she said.
Lopez said she and Torres have enjoyed their time in the city so far and were glad it wasn’t as cold as they expected.
“I mean, it’s a lovely town. It’s a little different than what I’m used to in New York,” she said. “It seems a lot more quieter and calmer, but I kind of appreciate that energy.”
Lopez and Torres weren’t the only disappointed passengers aboard the ship.
Dorian Bowers and Vanessa Perrineau were looking forward to the 26-degree weather, sunshine and pink sand beaches Bermuda had to offer when they learned the ship would instead divert to the much colder Saint John.
“I love Canada, I used to come up here all the time when I was kid, to the thousand Islands, or camping near Ontario, so I’m used to it, [but] I wanted something warm,” she said. “We just got over the cold in New York.”
Dorian Bowers, left, and Vanessa Perrineau are tourists with Virgin Voyages’ Valiant Lady. Bowers says they were looking forward to a sunny vacation in Bermuda. PHOTO: KATHERINE DEL SALTO/ACADIA NEWS
Like many other passengers, Bowers and Perrineau are trying to make the best of their vacation.
Bowers and Perrineau’s first stop in Saint John was the City Market, and Bowers said they were excited to continue exploring the city and pick up some maple syrup and maple cookies.
For other passengers, the diversion not only changed their vacation plans, but also their honeymoon destination.
Eric Bates and his wife, Mariam Sultan, from Baltimore, Md., had initially planned to celebrate their honeymoon in sunny Bermuda when they received notification Friday afternoon that the ship would instead divert to Saint John.
“That’s a little serendipitous,” said Bates.
He explained they had originally planned to take a bus to New York City on Friday and spend the weekend there, but at the last minute decided to change their departure time to Saturday morning.
Eric Bates and wife Mariam Sultan. The couple is celebrating their honeymoon in Saint John due bad weather conditions diverting their cruise ship. PHOTO: KATHERINE DEL SALTO/ACADIA NEWS
“Around 4 o’clock on Friday we received the email saying ‘ahoy sailor, we are swapping that out,’ and so we had time to pack,” he said. “It could’ve been much worse in the sense that we would’ve had to invest in cold weather gear in New York City.”
Bates said he and Sultan have enjoyed their time in Saint John so far. The couple went on a trolley tour, visiting the Bay of Fundy and the Reversing Falls, and were also looking forward to stopping by Tim Hortons.
“I think it’s just wonderful that you can just have such a historic port city. There’s just a lot to look at [and] a lot of wonderful history to learn,” he said.
The Valiant Lady stayed in Saint John for one day and departed Thursday at 4 a.m.
Miners, geologists, prospectors, and investors have descended on Thunder Bay for the 30th annual Northwest Ontario Prospectors Association (NWOPA) Showcase.
Interested parties from across the northwest use the event to network, show off what they’re working on, and tap into the community.
NWOPA President Percy Clark says the event is about “displaying what the northwest has to offer in terms of mineral prospectivity and mining.”
The mining industry in northwestern Ontario is going through a period of optimism, says Clark.
“We see record gold prices, which really spur investors to invest in the industry. We see a lot of support from local, provincial, and federal governments,” he explains. “We also get a lot of support and optimism from maybe the community that isn’t directly involved in mining.”
The government support Clark speaks of includes new efforts to speed up mining permits and the achievement of significant milestones on the path to developing the Ring of Fire.
The showcase allows companies to show off not just their projects, but also the breadth of mineral wealth that can be found across the northwest.
“It’s not just gold, you know, there’s really everything under the sun here,” Clark says.
Representatives from North Rock Engineering show off a drone at their booth. PHOTO: SAM GOLDSTEIN/ACADIA BROADCASTING/APRIL 8, 2026.
NWOPA’s showcase gives companies a chance to show off some of the new tools, gadgets, and technologies that are entering the industry, such as drones.
“If you look back 30 years, the technology has really changed. Everything’s become very digitally driven,” remarks Clark. “Utilizing drone technologies, AI, and just general advancements in technology has made exploration a little bit easier, but also more sustainable and cheaper.”
Two attendees at the 2026 NWOPA examine a piece of equipment. PHOTO: SAM GOLDSTEIN/ACADIA BROADCASTING/APRIL 8, 2026
The 2026 NWOPA Showcase was hosted at the Valhalla Hotel & Conference Centre in Thunder Bay on Wednesday and Thursday.
A wind farm in Antigonish County has been given the green light.
The province said an environmental assessment has been approved for the Eigg Mountain project.
It will bring 22 wind turbines near Connors Mountain Road that would produce up to 150 MW of energy and provide 250 jobs over 35 years.
“It will also reduce Nova Scotia’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by about 271,000 tonnes – the equivalent of taking more than 58,800 gas-powered cars off the road,” said the province.
Moose group opposes
The president of the Moose Conservation Association of Nova Scotia (MCANS) was on pins and needles waiting for the verdict.
The group had a meeting with Renewable Energy Systems (RES) – the company behind the project – Wednesday, in order for RES to explain the farm in more detail.
Al Muir said the meeting was cordial and learned Eigg Mountain was chosen primarily because of wind speeds, but they made clear how serious the situation is while delivering a strong message.
“[Thursday] the environment minister makes a decision on the project. He’s in effect the judge and jury of the fate of the moose up there. It’s our belief that if he accepts [it] he’ll become its executioner also,” said Muir.
In recent weeks, Muir had been desperately trying to put an end to the farm, concerned about detrimental effects to moose in the area.
He even went as far as to start a campaign, putting a face to the moose population, while pushing the public to write to Halman.
“This was a last-ditch urgent message we were trying to get out to the minister of the importance of this area,” explained Muir.
He said, he believed they were successful in getting the point across, but it came down to Halman who he called the “judge and jury”.
Next steps
Now that the project has been approved, what the next steps from MCANS will be, remains unclear.
“I don’t know what could happen and there’s local people in the area that don’t want it there. Who knows what move they’ll make,” said Muir.
Meantime, Muir says RES did ask to meet again with MCANS regardless of the decision made, Thursday.
“We’ll decide our next course of action after we hear.”
Supporting downtown business and increasing safety, with the hopes of overall retention, that’s the goal of the Downtown Resilience Program.
The two-year pilot program officially launched this week.
It’s a project funded by the City of Moncton, which has partnered with Downtown Moncton Centreville Inc.
“This program is about action, supporting our businesses today while investing in a safer and more resilient downtown tomorrow, DMCI Executive Director Patrick Richard explained.
The City of Moncton will provide $250,000 annually to help with recovery costs from incidents, including vandalism and other criminal activity.
“We’ve all heard the concerns, break-ins, vandalism, property damage, and rising costs for businesses. Downtown businesses are often disproportionately affected, and they’re impacted severely, simply due to the fact that there’s density and activity downtown. This program acknowledges a simple reality,” Richard added.
This project means that businesses will not have to carry the burden of the impacts of criminal activity on their own. It’s designed to help businesses offset uninsured losses, support preventative investments and reduce repeat incidents over time.
Richard explained that the project for 2026 and 2027 is structured around two streams. Stream one is for immediate relief, providing 100 per cent coverage to a maximum of $5000 per property per year. It supports things like break-in repairs, vandalism cleanup, graffiti removal, damaged doors, locks and storefronts and covers insurance deductibles, which ensures businesses can recover quickly and reopen faster.
He added that stream two is prevention and resilience and offers long-term solutions. It is a 50 per cent cost share with business and the property owners for up to $10,000 per property per year. It supports security cameras, lighting improvements, reinforced doors and access controls, anti-graffiti coatings, septic-based design improvements, with a goal to reduce repeat victimization.
“Businesses should not have to carry the full burden of these impacts alone,” Richard stressed.
Currently, the program focuses on downtown businesses, property owners and tenants of non-residential commercial spaces and those directly impacted by the crime-related incidents.
“This will operate on a continuous intake basis versus the Saint John program that has two intake periods per year. Our continuous intake process will get funds out faster and directly to businesses in real time. The program is also retroactive to January 1st, 2026. I’m actually already happy to say that we have our first applicant go through the program. Their incident dates back a few weeks, but we had them work with us and kind of become a test subject. We were able to work with the landlord of a business whose window was smashed with a brick. Since we have offered support, they’re actually going to replace their window with shatter-resistant glass, versus just the normal run-of-the-mill window. So we’re already seeing preventative measures in place, ” Richard explained.
There will be lane reductions on Vaughan Harvey Boulevard on Thursday.
Crews will be repairing a water main break between Gordon and St. George Streets.
Northbound lanes will be closed from 9 am to 4 pm.
The city says northbound traffic (towards St. George Street) will use the following detour: Vaughan Harvey Boulevard, Gordon Street, Cornhill Street, back to St. George Street
Traffic travelling West down Gordon Street will be diverted up High Street to help with traffic flow.
The traffic lights at the intersection of High and St. George Streets and Vaughan Harvey and St. George Boulevards will be inoperable while work is conducted.
The possibility of a strike by long-term care workers in Nova Scotia was front and centre during question period yesterday.
Halifax Armdale MLA Rod Wilson said workers are nearing a breaking point, with some earning only slightly above minimum wage even after years on the job.
“Long-term care workers have been telling me they don’t want a strike but they can no longer afford to pay their bills,” Wilson said.
He urged the province to act quickly, adding, “The minister could prevent a strike today by presenting a fair raise to long-term care workers.”
Wilson also raised concerns about how a strike could impact care inside nursing homes.
“We know a strike will mean reduced staff… there will be no kitchen staff, no housekeeping staff, no laundry staff,” he said. “Without them the risk of infection will go up.”
Seniors Minister Barb Adams defended the province’s position, saying a comparable deal has already been accepted elsewhere in the system.
“The offer that was made is the exact same offer that was made to acute care workers… and home care workers… and over 23 other long-term care facilities have already accepted the deal,” Adams said.
She also pushed back on concerns about safety during a potential strike.
“What the member just suggested… is just factually incorrect,” Adams said. “There is a legal requirement called an essential service contract.”
Adams added long-term care workers will continue to provide care if job action occurs.
“Our long-term care staff care so much about their clients, they are going to make sure that that care is provided.”
Wilson, however, said the current offer is not enough to prevent a strike, warning job action could begin as early as next week.
