It’s high time that the racist practice of carding be stopped in Nova Scotia. Good for the NS NDP for thinking it through and reaching that conclusion. Shame on all the municipal and provincial politicians who continue to look the other way.
Unusual flooding, erosion, something has changed about the Margaree River in Cape Breton, writes Sam Ainsworth. When local residents start pointing it clear cutting of the Margaree watershed by Port Hawkesbury Paper, the company fights back. An expert report, the local salmon fishers association, politicians all get mobilized to argue that things in fact are just fine. Not so fast, writes Ainsworth, ” The Margaree could be a beacon of light in a very dark history for salmon in this province but the clearcutting must be drastically reduced.”
This weekend we feature In the shadow of the dam, APTN’s brand new and excellent documentary on the indigenous resistance to the Muskrat Falls project in Labrador. You can’t condemn environmental racism and violation of Indigenous rights in Nova Scotia, and remain silent on what’s happening in Labrador right now. It’s that simple.
Why people on income assistance who were punished for something they didn’t do should get their money back, and why it won’t happen. Austerity and secrecy continue to set the agenda at Community Services.
A recent decision by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal found that the department of Community Services was wrong to cut off welfare benefits from innocent family members for something the so called head of the family did wrong. Now a coalition of 20 community groups from across Nova Scotia is asking that Community Services review all its current practices for similar signs of discrimination. It also demands that all people unjustly deprived of benefits in the past get their money back.
Roberta Benefiel, founding director of Grand Riverkeeper, Labrador, is visiting Nova Scotia to remind us that for the people who live there Muskrat Falls is an environmental disaster that will poison traditional food sources and flood indigenous lands. She believes that through the Maritime Link this is Nova Scotia issue as well. “There may not be that many of us, but people do live here. We need to put a face to these people,” Benefiel tells the Nova Scotia Advocate.
Lot of rent-poor people in Nova Scotia. 24,000 Nova Scotians, or one in five people who rent, spend more than 50 percent of their annual income on rent. New data released by Statistics Canada tells the story. Also, a neat app that lets you put it all on the map.
About paywalls, and why we don’t have one. Also about how the website is doing. This story mostly targets nice people with some money to spare.
It’s needlessly difficult to make a call from the Nova Institution for Women in Truro, says Martha Paynter of Women’s Wellness Within. Phone charges should be dropped, and internet access should be provided. Current restrictions just add to the prisoners’ sense of isolation and emotional duress. Turns out the phone provider is Bell Canada, of #BellLetsTalk fame.
An important decision by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal says Community Services is wrong to deprive entire families of welfare benefits just because the so called ‘head of the family’ did something wrong. All credit to Rosemary Sparks, who felt an injustice was done to her family and decided to fight back, and to the lawyers who fought the case all the way to the highest court in Nova Scotia.