Bluenose II asset transfer completed

The province has finally got its hands on the Bluenose II's assets.

Premier Darrell Dexter announced today that the transfer of assets from the Bluenose II Preservation Trust Society is complete.

"The trust's assets will ensure (the ship's) assets will ensure her legacy as a living link to our proud seafaring and shipbuilding heritage is protected," Dexter said in a release.

The province has been trying for six years to get $1.4 million in cash and assets from the society for years, and a deal to transfer them has been in place since 2010.

The transfer includes more than $540,000 in cash and intellectual property rights held by the trust. It also includes title to a building in downtown Lunenburg that houses the storefront that the trust formerly operated, and the inventory in the store.

The Minister of Culture and Heritage, Leonard Preyra, said the money will be used to help pay the operating costs for the new Bluenose.

"We've been waiting for seven years, seven ministers have handled this file," he said.

The struggle over the assets centered around whether the province would be able to see the society's books. And recently, society head Senator Wilfred Moore said the transfer was delayed by concerns that taxes would eat up a large percentage of the assets' value.

Preyra said a foundation will now decide what to do with the Lunenburg building and the now-closed store and its inventory.

"The question of what is the best interest of the taxpayer, what is the best interest of the Bluenose and promotion of the Bluenose, those kinds of things will guide whatever decision making the foundation makes," Preyra said.

The province could receive even more money from the trust.

Moore says he's holding back $125,000 to cover the costs of the transfer.

Anything left over will be turned over to the province.