Residents of three Nova Scotia communities on Cape Sable Island would benefit from improved wastewater treatment as a result of a shared investment by the Government of Canada and the Government of Nova Scotia. The improvements are being funded under the Communities Component of the Building Canada plan.

An investment of $4.2 million was announced by Gerald Keddy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, on behalf of the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and by Chris d'Entremont, Nova Scotia Minister of Health.

The Government of Canada, the Province of Nova Scotia and the Municipality of Barrington are each contributing $2,146,000 for the design and construction of a new water collection and treatment system for the communities of Newellton, Centreville and North East Point.

The project would enable approximately 375 households and 14 businesses to no longer depend on aging on-site sewage disposal systems. The new system would lessen the impact wastewater has had on ground and surface water, and the surrounding ocean.

Last year on 9 November, 2007, the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia signed a framework agreement under Building Canada, which is the Government of Canada's $33 billion infrastructure plan that would support a growing economy, a cleaner environment and stronger communities. Through the agreement, the Government of Canada is committing to a new investment of just over $634 million towards infrastructure needs in the province, between 2007 and 2014.

Under the Communities Component of the Building Canada fund, the federal, provincial and municipal governments anticipate investing $111 million in infrastructure projects in communities of less than 100,000 across Nova Scotia, between now and 2014.