Sunday, 6 October 2024

Month: January 2020

Open letter to Minister of Finance Karen Casey about the absence of any new investment in community home capacity

“The current government adopted the Roadmap Report and a 10-year time frame for significantly increasing community-based supported living options while decreasing reliance on large institutions. So far, however, the allocation of resources from government needed to create community capacity has been woefully inadequate. Wait lists for services continue to grow – from 1100 in 2015 to 1300 in 2017 to nearly 1500 last year. This is because the badly needed investments by government have not been forthcoming.”

PSA: The human right to food: a panel discussion

PSA: The right to food protects Canadians from food insecurity and hunger. However, this does not obligate the Canadian government to feed citizens. This panel will examine the practicality of harnessing private sector food supply chains to provide affordable and nutritious food as well as assessing policy mechanisms that can protect Canadians against hunger and malnutrition.

Workers in the gig economy feel lonely and powerless

It’s time to push back a bit on the many op eds and letters elsewhere calling for Uber to come to Halifax. It’s not all good, certainly not for the workers, A survey shows gig workers are lonely, unhappy and feel they have very little control over their lives.

Kendall Worth: Complaining about harassment by police and security guards gets you nowhere

Fairly often poor people in Halifax get stopped by police and private security guards for involuntary behaviour such as fidgeting and staring at people, behaving as if intoxicated, and talking to themselves in public. In a follow up on earlier stories Kendall Worth spoke with people who submitted formal complaints with police, mall management and even the Human Rights commission.

No war with Iran action, Halifax

On Thursday, January 2, 2020 the US bombed Iraq’s Baghdad international airport, killing an Iranian General and Iraqi military leader, sparking instability in the region and inching the world closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East.

Weekend video: Faith Nolan sings the Viola Desmond song

This weekend’s weekend video features Toronto activist and singer Faith Nolan, with a rousing song about Viola Desmond. I found out about Faith’s connections with Nova Scotia while reading Before the Parade, a great book by Rebecca Rose about LGBTQ activism in Halifax in the seventies and early eighties. Watch the video and buy the book!

John Clarke: If housing is a right we should take it

When it comes to homelessness and a lack of affordable housing Halifax is not much better off than larger cities like Toronto and Vancouver. John Clarke draws on his long experience as a poverty and housing activist in Ontario to consider what avenues of direct action will allow us to make real gains.