PORT HAWKESBURY, NS – On November 10, Mike Kelloway, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard and Member of Parliament for Cape Breton–Canso, on behalf of the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, announced an investment of nearly $1.8 million in Net Zero Atlantic to lay the foundations for new Nova Scotian offshore wind projects through capacity building. Net Zero Atlantic and the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq are also contributing to the project, bringing the total investment to nearly $1.9 million.
Working with Mi’kmaw groups the Unama’ki Institute of Natural Resources and the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq, as well as with local communities, the Capacity Building for the Sustainable and Inclusive Development of Nova Scotia’s Offshore Wind Resource program will ensure an inclusive approach to offshore wind development in Nova Scotia in two phases.
Phase One will bring together Mi’kmaw and other communities in educational forums and workshops toward the creation of community outreach plans. Phase Two will deliver on these plans by developing the foundations for off-shore wind developments across Nova Scotia’s coastal communities.
These investments demonstrate the Government of Canada’s ongoing commitment to supporting innovative projects in energy sectors toward a clean, sustainable and competitive energy and resource industry while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, advancing economic reconciliation and fighting climate change.
“Today’s announcement of nearly $1.8 million in support for Net Zero Atlantic’s offshore wind capacity-building program creates a foundation for further clean energy deployment, including in rural and Indigenous communities. In the recent Fall Economic Statement, the Government of Canada announced support for clean energy and technologies and the creation of a sustainable jobs training centre and secretariat. Smart investments like those announced today are enabling a sustainable and prosperous low-carbon future powered by clean, abundant and reliable energy” said the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson Minister of Natural Resources.
