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  Researching the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site of Canada
  Recherche sur la Forteresse-de-Louisbourg Lieu historique national du Canada

NATIONAL HISTORIC SITES OF CAPE BRETON
LIEUX HISTORIQUES NATIONAUX DU CAPE-BRETON

Vol. 4, No. 6,  2002
July - juillet 2002

PSAC Collective Agreement

On July 12, 2002, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced that the majority of represented employees ratified a tentative agreement with the Parks Canada Agency. The official signing date of this, the first-ever Parks Canada Agency collective agreement was July 24, 2002. This date also becomes the effective date for all the new provisions of the agreement.

A complete copy of the collective agreement is posted on the Parks Canada electronic bulletin board, and a print version of the agreement should be completed in the coming month and will be forwarded to all employees of the Parks Canada Agency via the Field Units, Service Centres and National Office for distribution.

News from AGB

AGB hosted a reception for the ALHFAM group on Wednesday, June 26th. It was a beautiful evening for these visitors to enjoy our wonderful setting overlooking the Bras d'Or Lakes along with the skirl of bagpipes, refreshments and museum tours. Aynsley gave words of welcome on behalf of Parks Canada and Grosvenor Blair greeted them on behalf of the Bell family descendants.

AGB was also the venue for an evening wedding rehearsal reception Saturday, June 22, 2002 - once again fabulous weather with sunlight giving way to moonlight and everyone enjoying the setting indoors and out.

Life is back to normal after the stir in the media over the US Congress resolution that Antonio Meucci not Alexander Graham Bell was the inventor of the telephone. It was a great round of publicity and we came out with our commemorative integrity intact. Just before rising for the summer break on Friday June 21st, the House of Commons passed a motion officially recognizing Alexander Graham Bell as the true inventor of the telephone. The documented history speaks for itself.

E.I. Training - Phase 2 Completed

Phase 2 of Ecological Integrity Training for the Cape Breton Field Unit has been completed. 85% of our Field Unit staff received training - which is on par with the national statistic of 86% overall Parks Canada Agency staff who have received training. Heather Dauphinee-Wilson, Sharon Morrow and Dave Algar have trained 365 staff and 34 partners, for a grand total of 399. Ten 12- hour and nine 3-hour courses were given. Two sessions for resource persons were also held at Beulach Ban Falls. This project was a tremendous accomplishment within the Cape Breton Field Unit and across the country.

We had lots of positive feedback from everyone who participated. Each session was educational, informative, lively and fun. It was an opportunity for staff and partners to express their opinions and discuss ecological integrity issues. The facilitation team would like to take this opportunity to thank staff, management and partners for making this training so successful. The Cape Breton Field Unit Ecological Integrity Team wish you luck with your Ecological Integrity Projects!

Submitted by Heather Dauphinee-Wilson

Toxic Sites

It has been brought to management's attention that many staff were approached by visitors about the article in the Cape Breton Post re Toxic Sites. Management did not know about this article beforehand or it would have given staff the information they needed to pass along to the visitors.

This list included 4 areas at the fortress. These sites are:

-former military dump - Off Havenside Road -former town dump - off Terra Nova Road -former trade waste dump - Back Service Rd. -compound area (gas spill)

The gas spill in the Compound Area is entirely remediated and it should be noted that the first three sites are all in remote areas and were in existence prior to the establishment of the park.

Louisbourg Website

It has been brought to our attention that some people were having difficulties getting on the website to check for job vacancies. If anyone should encounter problems, please call Valerie White (733-3503). She will let the webmaster know and have it corrected.

Men's Journal

The August edition of Men's Journal magazine features an article on Cape Breton Island. This magazine has an American circulation of 612,000 and the feature has a publicity value of $558,000. The article begins:

"Where, over the course of a long weekend, and within two hours' flying time of New York and Boston, can you and a significant other get a heady taste of both Scotland and France, drive North America's most stunning coastal highway, stay in charming inns that serve gourmet food, and bend yourself during the day to world-class salmon fishing, golf, hiking, mountain biking, sailing, sea kayaking and whale watching? Answer: Absolutely nowhere other than Cape Breton, Nova Scotia." What wonderful publicity!

Etude Acadiennes Centre

If you have requests about Acadian genealogy you can refer people to the Acadian Studies Centre at the University of Moncton.

This centre has copies of all registers previous to the deportation still available as well as copies of registers of present acadian parishes. To make up for existing gaps when primary sources are wrong, the Centre has important secondary sources in the form of books, revues, brochures, newspaper clippings and genealogical manuscripts. The website address is http://www.umoncton.ca.

Safety Tips

It has been suggested that a column be created in the Hear Ye! Hear Ye! for safety tips. These tips will be coming from our Health & Safety Committee.

Statistics

Reports are coming out weekly regarding statistics from the Visitor Activities Section. As of July 28th, the year to date statistics are 52,360 visits. This is up 1% from the same time last year.

Condolences

Our sincere condolences go out to Susann Myers and her family on the death of her sister, Joy Buckingham on July 3, 2002.

Did you know.....

....that Blaine Aitkens and his wife Claudette, a former employee of ours, had a new baby on Saturday July 20th. A little boy, Rémy Joel, weighing in at 8 lbs. 4.4 oz. Congratulations, Blaine and Claudette.

....Colleen Bennett became a "Grandmother" for the first time when Riley Henry Tulloch was born to Colleen's daughter, Sheliah and Ross on July 11th weighing 7 pounds 12 ounces. Congratulations Grandma!!!

 

  If you would like to make a submission to the Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Newsletter, please send information to Donna MacNeil at donna.macneil@pc.gc.ca