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The Town of Truro and the Municipality of Colchester continue to face questions and criticism after overhauling how the Rath Eastlink Community Centre (RECC) is run.
Truro Mayor Cathy Hinton and Colchester Mayor Christine Blair addressed issues at the RECC during a breakfast organized by the Truro and Colchester Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.
Several RECC members, staff and former board members came to the breakfast, which was attended by about 60 people total.
The $50-million sports facility in Truro, which includes an NHL-sized rink, swimming pool and fitness centre, was the subject of a governance revamp starting last year.
The board of the RECC previously included eight citizen positions but is now composed solely of councillors from the Town of Truro and Municipality of Colchester, which jointly own the facility.
After the changeover, the board announced they were cancelling the 2026 Nova Scotia Stampede, which has been held annually since 2024 at the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition Complex in Bible Hill.
RECC staff previously organized the rodeo and managed the exhibition complex, as part of a series of contracts the municipalities say were unauthorized.
According to a 2025 news release from the province, the 2024 stampede generated $2.2 million in economic activity and supported more than $1.1 million in local wages and salaries.
Hinton fielded questions about the decision to cancel the stampede.
“[The Nova Scotia Stampede] did not make money, but it did do great things for the community and for that I am very grateful,” said Hinton, adding hotels and event vendors benefited.
Stephanie Jones, a local business owner, was one of eight interim members appointed to the board last spring after the previous citizen representatives were dismissed. Jones resigned months later along with the rest of the interim members, who were replaced with councillors.
Jones asked the mayors at the breakfast if minutes from board meetings in October and November would be made public. The meetings took place weeks before Jones and the other interim citizen members resigned in disappointment.
“You quit. The board quit. And when the board quit, the minutes were never approved. So what they end up as are notes,” responded Blair.
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County staff did not immediately respond for a request for documentation of what happened at the meetings that were not open to the public at the time.
“They are minutes,” Jones said.
“It wasn’t just me who quit, it was most of the board and that should send a message to you, the leader of our community, about what you have done to this organization.”
While the mayor promises citizen representation will return through an advisory committee, the council-controlled board is moving forward with an assessment of the facility’s condition at a cost of almost $41,000.
At a board meeting last month, the RECC’s interim CEO, Joel Dawe, said there have long been issues with the building’s heating and cooling system that help operate the rink and pool. The facility also has troubling roof leaks and a range of other issues estimated to cost millions to fix.
Former board members and the Rath family previously pitched the idea of a foundation to host events, like the Nova Scotia Stampede, to support the facility financially.
Currently, each municipality contributes a $750,000 operating grant to the RECC that is not allowed a deficit. The centre’s budget for 2026-27 has yet to be finalized, despite a March deadline.
Court appeal
The municipalities also face what could be a multi-million dollar payout to the original building contractor following a Supreme Court of Nova Scotia decision last year. Financial statements presented at a Truro council meeting earlier this month, show a transfer of $2.7 million to reserves for that payment. It’s not clear how much the County of Colchester may owe.
“The Town of Truro and the County of Colchester have appealed the decision so the final payment amount could change depending on the outcome of that process,” Truro CAO Michael Dolter said in a statement to CBC News.
Colchester CAO Dan Troke said the county council will decide how much to transfer likely before August.
“They are estimates, not exact numbers,” Troke said in an e-mail to CBC News.
“They are based on many assumptions so they would often be different by parties who might mutually own an asset.”
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