2018 James McGregor Stewart Award goes to Paul Vienneau
Activist, guy with heart of gold, and NS Advocate writer Paul Vienneau won the 2018 James McGregor Stewart Award. Congratulations, Paul!
Activist, guy with heart of gold, and NS Advocate writer Paul Vienneau won the 2018 James McGregor Stewart Award. Congratulations, Paul!
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.
We first met Sophia a couple of months ago, and did a Lives on Welfare story about her efforts to provide for her family while struggling with chronic pain. Here are more of Sophia’s memories about growing up on and off welfare. Unable to afford a computer, Sophia wrote this on her phone, because born story tellers like Sophia will always find a way.
These days you pretty well need a criminal record check for any job that’s out there., says Kendall Worth. But these things cost $50, and when you’re on welfare and all you get is $275 then that’s a lot of money. If society really wants people on social assistance to find jobs, then either the police should waive the fee, or Community Services should pick up the bill.
Rana Zaman, an immigrant, social activist and community volunteer, writes about the humiliation and raw pain she experienced as the result of a recent restaurant experience with subtle but clear racist overtones. She decided to tell the story, not to call out the restaurant or any individual servers, but to explain how very harmful and hurtful this kind of behaviour is.
Judy Haiven on your sadly non-existing rights when you have to work on Victoria Day.
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!
Educator Molly Hurd tackles the current threats to art education in Nova Scotia. “By reducing arts education, we are once again widening the gap between those who already have and those who have not. Rich parents will always be able to provide private lessons and classes for their children. Schools in wealthy neighbourhoods will always be able to fund-raise for extra artistic opportunities. Public education, to be truly equitable, needs to provide good arts education for all.”
Rebecca Hussman reports on last night’s angry community meeting at Harrietsfield where a Dalhousie professor confirmed residents’ long time drinking water quality concerns and politicians once again refused to commit to clean up the mess they allowed to fester for so long.
“Cape Breton was a mess this weekend,” writes Lisa Bond, referring to the many emergency room closures last weekend. “I called and left messages for you leading up to it in hopes that something would be done, but alas, I heard nothing back from you.”