HRM lawyer defended racist slurs as protected speech
An HRM lawyer argued that racist comments made by employees at Halifax Transit are protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Very smooth.
Group calls for inquiry into racism, bullying at City Hall
Equity Watch, a group opposed to workplace bullying and discrimination, calls for an independent inquiry into workplace conditions at the Halifax Regional Municipality after the latest revelations about racism at Halifax Transit.
News brief: Racism allowed to fester at Halifax Transit for decades
A Nova Scotia Human Rights tribunal has found that HRM allowed racism to fester unchallenged at Halifax Transit.To what extent such horrific racism still occurs at Halifax transit today, and what the City will do beyond the NSHRC-mandated measures we may never know.
News brief: Rules around solitary confinement frequently broken, Auditor General finds
he provincial Auditor General has taken a closer look at the management practices in Nova Scotia prisons, and a new report suggests all is not well.
Weekend video: Harrietsfield water woes
Meet Melissa King, who with her husband bought a modest house in Harrietsfield to raise her family. The previous owner claimed the water was fine, and promptly left the country. Now King tells us how contaminated water forced the family to abandon their hopes and dreams and declare bankruptcy just so her family could start all over somewhere else. The video is part of the CBC documentary Defenders of the Dawn: Green Rights in the Maritimes, by Silver Donald Cameron.
Dealing with death the way we used to: Family-led funerals and green burials
Roxanne Walsh helps people plan funerals and supports survivors through the grieving process. We talked with Walsh about green funerals and why bypassing a funeral home is both healthier and less expensive. “It makes for a healthier relationship with death.”
Press release: Treaty rights holders slam Premier McNeil during NS ‘Open for Business’ talk in Toronto
News release: Water protector and Mi’kmaq Elder Dorene Bernard did not mince words during a speech by Premier McNeil this morning. The premier’s talk was entitled ‘Open for Business: Nova Scotia on the Move’, which Bernard says is a blatant glossing over of the Indigenous right to free, prior, and informed consent. “We’re only open for business if treaty rights holders give their free, prior, and informed consent,” says Bernard. “That consent doesn’t come from the KMK termination table, it comes from the people and the traditional governments.”
Book review: A wholesome horror. Poor houses in Nova Scotia.
There’s a wonderful new book on the history or poor houses and poor farms in Nova Scotia, written by poverty activist and frequent NS Advocate contributor Brenda Thompson. Things are better now, of course, but in a way not much has changed for people who are very poor.
Halifax’s free bus passes for people on social assistance, it’s a bit of a mess
Don’t get me wrong, free bus passes for all Halifax residents on social assistance is a good thing. But what about the people in rural NS? And what about the people who will lose their transportation special needs subsidy? Always constructive, I also offer a solution: Raise the rates!
Media release: Can Nova Scotia afford to cut creativity: paper-thin access to art education in Halifax
Important news release by the NS Art Educators Society: The Nova Scotia Art Educators Society is expressing its concern today about the loss of school-based art programs for elementary classes grades 4-6. “We wonder if kids in Nova Scotia can afford the loss of direct access to learning about creativity,” said Society President Robin Jensen.