PSA: In June 2017, all Federal parties supported a bill in Parliament to increase Canadian military spending by 70%. Redirecting $100 billion from military spending over 20 years is a good comparison of the additional funding that is required to address the housing crisis being experienced by thousands of people on low incomes.
Tundè Balogun: For anyone reading this article who is not familiar with Halifax and Mulgrave Park in particular, they would think it is a ghetto with graffiti everywhere, and residents that don’t take pride in where they live. Thus the community needs outside help to clean the mess they themselves have created. If CBC’s editorial staff allowed an artist outside that community to speak about budgets and people being left behind, it would also be fitting to speak about a community totally shut out of a $30 billion project.
Judy and Larry Haiven on the deplorable state of labour standards in NS: As we approach Labour Day of 2019, we would do well to ponder the miserable situation of those who toil in the workplaces of this province and how this hurts us all.
Press release: East Coast Prison Justice Society is calling for a formal Fatality Inquiry into the death of Gregory Hiles last week, after he reportedly attempted suicide at the East Coast Forensic Hospital
Letter: This week, people who use substances, community organizations, health care professionals, and families will recognize International Overdose Awareness Day. It’s a time to remember, and a time to act. Events will take place in Halifax and Sydney on Aug. 30, and in Truro and Amherst on Aug. 31.
“Unions aren’t just about negotiating with employers. We advocate politically so everyone can have fair wages, safer workplaces, pensions for retirement, and dignity at work,” writes NSFL president Danny Cavanagh in his Labour Day message.
Urgent press release: Women’s Wellness Within requests an immediate meeting with Minister of Health Randy Delorey regarding the hanging of Gregory Hiles, found dead in his cell last week at the East Coast Forensic Hospital. We call for a public inquiry into his death and all deaths of people held in provincial custody. We call for the Province to answer the questions raised by Mr. Hiles’ mother Sheila Hiles.
With Labour Day around the corner, Professor David Frank introduces an essay by the great J.B. McLachlan on the ideal preacher. McLachlan, known first and foremost through the Cape Breton coal miner strikes, is Nova Scotia’s most important labour leader, and he is on fire here.
“In a word, the “Ideal Preacher” is not a soothsayer. “He stirreth up the people,” for which he may get hanged some day, but if he gets his way the disinherited will refuse to remain disinherited.”
I talk with freelance journalist Maggie Rahr about the challenges of doing investigative journalism in Halifax, and why she’ll keep doing it no matter what.
New contributor Olivia Katz on how to live through a natural disaster (or any emergency, really) when you are poor or live with disabilities or chronic illness. News you can use!