Bridgewater Mayor chimes in on 2011

Mayor Carroll Publicover

The Mayor of Bridgewater is reflecting on the year that was for 2011. Carroll Publicover says it was a sound year for the town, which featured a number of events including the sod turning at the Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre. Publicover says he's most proud of the work of council.

"We continue to grow our community efficiently through the BDA and through the council. We're very open to development, we try to cooperate with developers and work together to make situations work for the community, work for neighbours and work for everybody."

Publicover says he regrets not reconstructing North and Aberdeen sooner in his term as Mayor.

"I would've really hoped to have North and Aberdeen Roads reconstructed and a real redo of those for infrastructure purposes, traffic-flow purposes and for efficiency purposes."

He adds, it was a tough year for two heritage properties in the town. The Fairview Inn was demolished after a fire in June and council voted to de-register the Riverview Community Centre as a heritage building. He considers a study exploring opportunities for shared services and governance options between the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, Bridgewater and Mahone Bay to be the biggest news story of the year for the town.

LOCATED: Elderly Couple missing since Boxing Day

It was a quick and happy ending in the search for a missing elderly couple from Annapolis County. RCMP say 80 year-old Marjorie Cook and 74 year-old Wayne Sharp were located in a convenience store in Springfield. The couple had been shopping in Bridgewater since Boxing Day but never told their daughter about their plans to stay overnight. The couple's daughter contacted police on December 27th after they never returned to their home in Springfield.

Review 2011: South Shore-St. Margarets MP Gerald Keddy

The MP for South Shore-St Margaret's says 2011 had its challenges but overall was a successful year. Gerald Keddy says North America is still feeling the effects of the recession in 2007 but adds there are a few bright spots on the horizon. During a year end interview, Keddy pointed to Nova Scotia's successful bid to secure the $25 billion dollar shipbuilding contract as a main highlight. He also spoke about the importance of the May 2nd election when Canadians elected a majority Conservative government. "In the current economic state that not just North American is in but the entire world is in, to have a good stable government to pursue economic policies that are important to Canadians and help to encourage job growth and save as many jobs as possible during this downturn is extremely important," Other highlights for Keddy include the progress on the Queens Place Athletic Centre project in Liverpool and the new Lunenburg County Lifestyle Centre in Bridgewater.

Review 2011: Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Nova Scotia's debt-load is getting worse by the day. That's the conclusion of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Atlantic president Kevin Lacey says the government has little room to move and we're all paying for it. In a year-end interview with CKBW/Hank-FM News, Lacey says according to the size of Nova Scotia's economy, this province carries the highest tax burden of any province in Canada. "Our debt, federal and provincial debt is going up about $32.00 per second per person in this province. Our total debt per person is about $30,000 and that's a huge debt, it's getting worse before it's getting better," Meanwhile, Lacey is not very optimistic about 2012, he predicts more of the same - an increased deficit and taxpayers paying "through the nose".