Paul Wartman in conversation with Jessika Hepburn, community organizer and owner of the Biscuit Eater Cafe in Mahone Bay about the multi-layered notion of Black food sovereignty. “If we recognize Black people and Indigenous people as sovereign, we have to talk with them as if they have equal rights and equal power to determine how things happen–how systems develop, how we create food systems, etc.”
Lindsay Lee: Environmental organizations are rightly applauding the government’s stated intention to formally protect 20 properties. But the government has failed to protect something important: public trust.
Seven of the 14 members of the Minister’s Advisory Committee on Forestry (MAC) last year wrote to the Minister of Lands and Forestry to request a moratorium on clearcutting on crown land, according to a Freedom of Information request received by the provincial NDP Caucus.
Lenora Steele: “Listening dumbfounded to him allocate, from the public purse, $5-million in women’s venture capital I was staggered at the heartlessness, at the cheek, while just over here, yes, here, right here in front of us a woman sits on the side of her bed, a hospital phone in her hand calling a taxi to take her to a low-budget motel for the night. Her breast removed yesterday, she has no way home and must spend the night alone in Truro.”
The story is a familiar one here in Nova Scotia. With full support of the government and without meaningful consultation a precious metal mine is built in a community, leaving residents worried about blasting, water quality and other environmental concerns. The same thing is happening in Guatemala, only much more brutally so. A Canadian-owned mine is vehemently opposed by local Xinka communities, and the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking The Silence Network (BTS) tries to amplify their voices internationally.
If you have a coffee at Tim’s or Starbuck’s on Heritage Day, chances are your server won’t be paid extra for the holiday.
Collective bargaining between workers employed by Bryony House and management may fail because the 24-bed shelter wants workers to surrender their three seats on the board of directors.
Wayne Desmond reflects on the long history of Black excellence in his hometown of New Glasgow. “So, when I think about African Heritage month, I don’t just think about the famous Black icons that are celebrated. I think about the trailblazers of my hometown, whose shoulders I stand on.”
Nova Scotians have allowed a lot of power to be concentrated at the provincial level, and it didn’t start with Stephen McNeil. What to do, Richard Starr asks.