May 2020 - Page 5 of 6 - Nova Scotia Advocate

Media release: Former correctional officer at the Nova Institution for Women arrested on charges of sexual assault against prisoners

May 11, 2020 1 Comment

News release: Today, The Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) – along with the Atlantic Elizabeth Fry Societies – have learned that a former Correctional Officer at the Nova Institution for Women was arrested and charged with 6 counts of sexual assault, 6 counts of breach of trust, and 1 count of trying to procure sexual service – all related to his work at the Institution.

Halifax living wage ordinance slips away into a distant future and Council is fine with that

May 11, 2020

Halifax Council had an opportunity to do something about the low wages paid by its contractors, and instead it chose to do nothing at all.

Depiction, a poem by Chad Norman

May 9, 2020

How to find Canada, how to believe again
it is where a freedom is rampant,
it is where it is worth what it takes
to rebuild the lives of those families
who somehow have managed to say,
“We can, and we will.”

A new poem by Truro poet Chad Norman, this one dedicated to El Jones.

Authorities ignored early warnings from Northwood’s long-term care workers and unions

May 8, 2020

“The largest and one of the deadliest outbreaks of Covid-19 in a long-term care (LTC) facility in Canada is raising serious questions about how Nova Scotia’s government has handled the crisis – and whether ignoring early warnings from frontline workers and their unions had deadly consequences,” writes John McCracken.

Pandemics: Misogynistic violence against women and girls and COVID-19

May 8, 2020

“This is what haunts us – the knowledge that women and children are trapped or captive in the safe at home COVID-19 directive, struggling to survive acts of violence that amounts to torture,” write Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald, co-founders of Persons Against Non-State Torture (NST). “How are we to care for all trapped in the shadow pandemic of violence against women and children that the COVID-19 pandemic has unsilenced?”

CERB rules leave income assistance recipients confused and worried

May 7, 2020 6 Comments

Last month Community Services told Income Assistance recipients who qualify that they must apply for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). We are hearing that this decision has raised many questions and quite a bit of anxiety.

Judy Haiven: Two recent mass shootings in Nova Scotia must be viewed through a feminist lens

May 7, 2020 1 Comment

Judy Haiven looks at the similarities between two recent mass shootings in Nova Scotia. “The RCMP still speaks about “domestic violence” as a set of one-off incidents. It’s time that the public demand more from the RCMP when they deal with these horrible crimes against women and children.”

Press release: Over 50 elected representatives in Nova Scotia and across Canada call on Feds to support essential migrant and undocumented workers

May 6, 2020

News release: 56 elected provincial and municipal representatives have issued a statement calling on the federal government to extend income supports to all migrant and undocumented workers. Claudia Chender (MLA Dartmouth South), Gary Burrill (MLA Halifax Chebucto) and Lisa Roberts (MLA Halifax Needham) are among the signatories to the letter which calls for “emergency income supports as well as all other social programs and rights ” for all essential workers regardless of immigration status.

Water Protectors ask allies to tell the province to face reality and suspend Alton Gas industrial approval

May 6, 2020 4 Comments

Tireless water protectors Rachael Greenland-Smith and Dale Poulette are calling on the Nova Scotia Department of Environment to suspend the Alton Gas Industrial Approval, effectively halting the proposed dumping of large quantities of brine in the river. They hope allies will join them in that call.

Making space for pedestrians – An email exchange between Halifax’s Brad Anguish and Martyn Williams

May 5, 2020 4 Comments

On April 29 Martyn Williams sent an open letter to Jacques Dubé (Halifax CAO) and Brad Anguish (Director, Public Transportation and Works) expressing concern that genuine issues relating to social distancing rules and lack of space for pedestrians were not taken seriously by Halifax City Hall. Here is a further exchange between Brad Anguish and Martyn Williams.