Nobody wants illegal rooming houses, but not every arrangement where people live communally is a rooming house. One such household in Dartmouth North has been told by the city that they are exceeding the allowed number of boarders, and that one of the residents has to leave.
We cannot count on management or Council to deal with workplace racism, misogyny, ableism and sexism at Halifax City Hall. Matt Whitman says, let’s get the city’s Auditor General involved, and that’s a good idea.
Toni MacAfee with some personal observations on on the tremendous job done by Long Term Care workers anywhere in the province. They do this under very difficult circumstances. We need more and better paid staff, the residents and the workers deserve it, says Toni.
Weekend video: Over five years, acclaimed filmmaker Andrea Dorfman follows the heartbreaking yet uplifting story of the girls of Meru and their brave steps toward meaningful equality for girls worldwide. In Kenya, one in three girls will experience sexual violence before age 18, yet police investigations are the exception.
See the entire documentary on Sunday afternoon, at FIN, or whatever they call the film festival these days.
We are delighted and proud to feature this poem by Mad woman Anna Quon as part of our monthly poem series.
The news of the death of Joshua Evans, a young man who lived with developmental disabilities and committed suicide while on remand in the Burnside Jail, is devastating. The CBC reports that Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey now wants an investigation into Joshua’s death, including “whether he should have been there in the first place.” That’s quite the statement, given that In Nova Scotia we lock up people like Joshua all the time. Often in prison, where health care and mental health care needs are not sufficiently addressed. Even more frequently in prison-like institutions. And the province is just fine with that.
This is the heart wrenching story of a young Mi’kmaw woman we’ll call Angela, about the police officer who harassed her, her struggle to recover from an arrest and curfew for the possession of one single hydromorphone pill, the loss of her young son, and much more.
News release: “Finally, it is important to understand that the over-representation of BIPOC folks in prisons is by design. The prison system in Canada is a part of the settler-colonial project and therefore, entrenched in colonialism and racism and it is up to us to challenge and dismantle these institutions.”
NSTU president Paul Wozney on this year’s chaotic start of school: “It’s important to set a few things straight. First and foremost, contrary to what Minister Churchill has said, not having proper bus service in place for students to start the school year is not par for the course. Nor is having dozens of support and specialist positions left unfilled at this juncture, for that matter. This dysfunction is far from business as usual, and it would appear the government’s elimination of school boards has led to a great deal of confusion and turmoil within the system.”
Media release: The Nova Scotia College of Social Workers (NSCSW) is advocating for the creation of a Child and Youth Advocate office to protect and promote the rights of Nova Scotia children and youth with their campaign launched today called Child Youth Advocate NS.