What is it that people in Nova Scotia have against masks? Look around you, in the supermarkets, in Spring Garden drugstores downtown – sure, some people are wearing masks – but most aren’t. Halifax writer Barbara Elizabeth Stewart tries to find an answer to that question.
In 1995 there were 156 rooming houses in Halifax and Dartmouth. In 2016 there were fewer than 20 left. This video looks at the reasons why. Greed (aka capitalism) is the obvious reason, but urban planners and poor bashing media also played a role.
Warren (Gus) Reed: My present complaint against the Human Rights Commission and the ministries of health, environment and justice goes to the heart of government indifference to the needs of people with disabilities. Being disabled in Nova Scotia is no cakewalk. There is discrimination at every turn. Employment, health, income, education, transportation – you name it – people with disabilities face discrimination.
“From racial disparities in health care to the tragic loss of life in long term care, there are at least a dozen distinct and pressing issues that require public scrutiny. If people can go to a bar or get a tattoo, then our democratic institutions can meet, either in person or via tele-conferencing, to make decisions and provide public scrutiny of the response.”
“We were short-staffed to begin with. Now it is a disaster,” says a Halifax long term care worker employed at three separate group homes, reflecting on the first COVID-19 wave. “Of course, when someone feels sick, it is important that they stay home. But nobody is there to replace them. The care responsibilities are falling on fewer and fewer of us. Everyone calls us heroes, but we don’t have a choice. This is our job.”
How to describe the mass shooter’s behaviour? This question takes us back to 1993, the year we came face-to-face with the knowledge that there are those who live, work, and play among us, even in Nova Scotia, whose behaviours must be described as actions of human evil, write Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald.
Letter: I realize that we must strive to get the economy back up and running, but at what expense? Do we risk the lives of the day care workers or others including parents and families for the sake of supposedly getting unemployed mothers /partners back to work.
Petition: The mass murders in Nova Scotia were not “senseless.” They were predictable. We need an independent public inquiry with a feminist analysis of the persistent pattern of Nova Scotian women beaten, burned, sexually assaulted, stalked, strangled, shot, stabbed, tortured, trafficked, murdered (femicide), disappeared, and dismembered.
Press release and link to petition: Wapna’kikewi’skaq – Women of First Light strongly requests that the investigation into Chantal Moore and Rodney Levis’s death be led by Indigenous people. “We need Indigenous people, especially women to be leading this investigation”, stated Clan Mother and Board member, miigam’agan, “We have seen time and again how the truth is hidden, and the institutions protect their own.”
Danny Cavanagh: Our message to low wage employers is workers are understandably reluctant to accept the health risks of serving customers and possibly bringing COVID-19 home to their family. The safety for them and their family far outweighs working at a low wage job for a few hours a week on erratic scheduling, for minimum wage or a few pennies more.