N.S. adds specialists trained at Dalhousie

Canada’s federal ethics watchdog ruled Wednesday that Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc violated the conflict of interest act when he approved an Arctic surf clam licence to a company employing a family member.

Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion said in a report that LeBlanc knew his wife’s first cousin was involved in the Five Nations Clam Co. and would have benefited financially when he awarded the company a multi-million dollar license in February and should have recused himself from the decision.

“If a public office holder is aware of a potential opportunity to further the private interests of a relative through the exercise of an official power, duty or function, the public office holder must be vigilant in avoiding such conflicts of interest.”

The decision comes less than two months after the government cancelled the decision and started the process over to award a fourth Arctic surf clam licence to encourage Indigenous participation.

Speaking to reporters in Saskatoon, where Liberal MPs are gathered for a caucus retreat, LeBlanc says he accepts Dion’s findings “without reservation.”

Halifax is moving ahead with a sweeping ban on smoking on municipal property as of Oct. 1, roughly two weeks before the federal legalization of recreational cannabis comes into effect. Former Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Dominic LeBlanc rises in the House of Commons during Question Period in Ottawa earlier this year.

“Canadians expect when mistakes are made that people assume those mistakes and, more importantly, commit to doing better in the future and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

However, he also qualified that Dion’s ruling “confirms that no financial benefit was created in this circumstance and no preferential treatment was given.”

The deal to award a fourth fishing licence for Arctic surf clams would have ended a 19-year monopoly on the Arctic clam fishery held by Clearwater Seafoods and offered 25 per cent of the catch to local Indigenous communities.

But it came under scrutiny after court documents suggested the company did not meet the

Council decided Tuesday not to adopt an amendment that would exclude tobacco from the Nuisance Bylaw and instead voted to accept housekeeping amendments, such as renaming it the Nuisance and Smoking Bylaw.

federal government’s initial eligibility requirements, and that the company had close ties to the federal Liberal party — including the family ties to LeBlanc, and also connections to one current and one former Liberal MP.

LeBlanc was shuffled out as fisheries minister in July, the same month the government decided to cancel the licence and start the process over.

New Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in August the licence cancellation had nothing to do with the ethics issue facing LeBlanc and that he didn’t think LeBlanc had acted inappropriately.

Cancelling the licence means Clearwater Seafoods will continue their monopoly at least until 2020.

Municipal staff had recommended that the bylaw amendment approved nearly two months ago remain the same — keeping its prohibition of smoking any substance on public property, including tobacco and cannabis.

A British sailor accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Halifax-area military base is expected to head back to the United Kingdom as he grapples with a serious infection that has delayed his trial multiple times.

Simon Radford’s lawyer told Nova Scotia Supreme Court Wednesday that his client remained in a Halifax hospital with a staph infection and doctors were expected to drain his leg on Thursday, before Radford was scheduled to fly out later that evening.

“I’m told the (Royal Navy) are flying over a medical officer or attendant to journey back with him,” said lawyer David Bright, who had told the court earlier this week that his client had undergone surgery.

“There is no likelihood he would be able to return to court this week.”

The trial was not scheduled to sit next week, so Justice Patrick Duncan adjourned the case until

Nova Scotia’s government is providing funding for 15 additional specialists annually at Dalhousie University, with plans for most to be placed outside of Halifax.

The expansion will mean the annual number of spaces at the province’s medical school will grow to 65, with the residents to spend up to five years training in their specialty.

The program is aiming to add the positions beginning in July.

Health Minister Randy Delorey said the expansion will provide service in communities in need of specialties such as youth psychiatry, palliative medicine and internal medicine.

“This addresses the treatment and delivery of specialized services. This helps manage workload for specialists in each of the disciplines,” he said.

He estimated that up to 75 per cent of doctors in residency programs in Nova Scotia tend to stay in the province. He estimated the annual cost at $1.5 million, noting the funding will fulfil a Liberal campaign pledge.

Delorey said the decision wasn’t based on the risk that Saudi Arabian residents and specialists based in Nova Scotia may be recalled by the Saudi government over a diplomatic dispute with Canada. That possibility arose last month, as the Saudis responded to the Canadian government’s criticisms of its human rights record.