The NDP continues to push its Bill 36, a private members bill that would stop the racist practice of police checks in Nova Scotia. The proposed legislation is now in second reading, but will need Liberal support to proceed any further.
News release: Barely 24 hours after her Media Conference yesterday, Kathy Symington received an email from the NS Human Rights Commission (NSHRC). The NSHRC has decided to refer her entire complaint as it relates to Gender, Disability and Retaliation to a Board of Inquiry.
Judy Haiven reports on the case of Kathy Symington, a former Halifax firefighter whose quest for justice has been denied by the NS Human Rights Commission. “I’ve waited 16 years for justice,” Symington said. “The Commission is not accountable and not listening. I deserve to have my case properly investigated.”
Steve Parcell: Now that Doyle Block on Spring Garden Road is nearing completion, we can finally do some real-world fact-checking on an earlier public dispute about its impact on the Halifax Central Library.
Nobody wants illegal rooming houses, but not every arrangement where people live communally is a rooming house. One such household in Dartmouth North has been told by the city that they are exceeding the allowed number of boarders, and that one of the residents has to leave.
We cannot count on management or Council to deal with workplace racism, misogyny, ableism and sexism at Halifax City Hall. Matt Whitman says, let’s get the city’s Auditor General involved, and that’s a good idea.
Toni MacAfee with some personal observations on on the tremendous job done by Long Term Care workers anywhere in the province. They do this under very difficult circumstances. We need more and better paid staff, the residents and the workers deserve it, says Toni.
Weekend video: Over five years, acclaimed filmmaker Andrea Dorfman follows the heartbreaking yet uplifting story of the girls of Meru and their brave steps toward meaningful equality for girls worldwide. In Kenya, one in three girls will experience sexual violence before age 18, yet police investigations are the exception.
See the entire documentary on Sunday afternoon, at FIN, or whatever they call the film festival these days.
We are delighted and proud to feature this poem by Mad woman Anna Quon as part of our monthly poem series.
The news of the death of Joshua Evans, a young man who lived with developmental disabilities and committed suicide while on remand in the Burnside Jail, is devastating. The CBC reports that Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey now wants an investigation into Joshua’s death, including “whether he should have been there in the first place.” That’s quite the statement, given that In Nova Scotia we lock up people like Joshua all the time. Often in prison, where health care and mental health care needs are not sufficiently addressed. Even more frequently in prison-like institutions. And the province is just fine with that.