PORT HAWKESBURY - The COVID-19 learning curve was steep on several levels for Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton.

For starters, Port Hawkesbury Town Council had to stop holding public meetings shortly after Nova Scotia declared a state of emergency in mid-March. The town also shut down all offices and facilities at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre, including Veterans' Memorial Arena, the J. Franklin Wright Art Gallery, and a fitness centre that had just come under the town's operations following the departure of the Cape Breton YMCA in January. 

On a personal level, Chisholm-Beaton and her father Archie Chisholm made the difficult decision to shut down their private business, the Fleur-de-Lis Dining Room, following a brief experiment with reduced hours and take-out options. While Chisholm-Beaton and her father made the decision in consultation with restaurant staff, the mayor described the development as a difficult pill to swallow for herself and her fellow business owners in Port Hawkesbury. 

However, the mayor is finding a number of different ways to serve her community during the pandemic period, and Chisholm-Beaton has made it a personal mission to ensure that no rumours or misinformation are spread about the presence of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia in general and within the Strait area in particular.

As an example, she noted the quick spread of commentary on social media regarding the news that an employee at Port Hawkesbury's Ultramar gas station had contracted COVID-19. Chisholm-Beaton stressed the importance of ensuring that no gossip spread about this employee or the local Ultramar operation, and she praised the company for its quick action to ensure that the employee would recover from their symptoms and that the business would remain shut down until it could be properly sanitized. 

Mayor Chisholm-Beaton also expressed "nothing but gratitude" for the hard work of her town council colleagues, municipal staff, and town residents that are pulling together to make it through the COVID-19 times.