None of the provincial political parties is demonstrating the leadership necessary to stop carding in our province. Even the NDP is not endorsing the immediate moratorium on the racist practice that was requested by prominent members of the African Nova Scotian community.

A penny saved is a penny earned, says Community Services, as the department closed its 2016-17 financial books with a $2,4 million surplus in its Employment Support and Income Assistance (ESIA) program. That news may be difficult to stomach for people on welfare who struggled to make ends meet and saw their bus passes taken away or special diet allowances cut back over that same year.

We revisit the story of Mike Foley, the single father pursued by Community Services and the RCMP for fraud charges that advocates consider dubious. After months of inaction Foley received another phone call from the RCMP informing him that the investigation of ‘fraud’ is on again. Meanwhile, a terrified Foley and daughter Ashley continue to get by with very little money and no medications.