Kendall Worth: As we all know, living through the second lockdown with the Christmas season upon us is no fun for anyone, whether you are rich or poor. Christmas this year is going to be different for all of us.
91 well-paying union jobs, many in rural Nova Scotia, will disappear when the Nova Scotia Health Authority farms out its health records management to US-owned Iron Mountain. CUPE Nova Scotia President Nan McFadgen is concerned how this will impact the already depressed economy in rural Nova Scotia, now stressed even further because of the pandemic. She’s also worried about entrusting an American company with personal health information.
Nothing comes easy in the collective bargaining between the Dalhousie Faculty Association and the Dalhousie Board of Governors. Now the BoG announced it is willing to sign off on all but one of the Conciliation Board recommendations. That one issue, not a biggie in the grand scheme of things, affects at what point in time instructors qualify for educational leave.
What happens when a Mi’kmaw and settler university student share car rides on their way to university and other places? They talk, and the settler learns some hard lessons about colonial oppression, systemic racism and white privilege. “One Saturday afternoon when we happened to be together, Flo shared a very personal story about why she finds it difficult to eat when she is in a social food sharing situation.”
Kendall checks up on several folks we met before to see how they are holding up during the second lock down. Altogether a lot better!
Lindsay Lee wrote the following letter following the call to action by Jacob Fillmore, the young man camped out on Grand Parade Square to protest the government’s lack of action on climate change. “An increasing number of Nova Scotians are exasperated by the lack of environmental action. Together, we are telling you that this era of autocratic governance and environmental degradation must end.”
Gary Burrill: “The cancellation of the fall session of the House means that a whole series of legislative proposals, including those we in the NDP have ready to bring forward — from paid sick leave, to permanent rent control, to the establishment of a cross-sector, multi-Party Economic Recovery Task Force in Nova Scotia — will not at this time see the legislative light of day.”
We all know Christmas can be a very hard time. At the Mi’kmaw Legal Support Network (MLSN), a community organization which works to ensure fair and equitable service for Indigenous people in the criminal justice system, this hardship is witnessed every day.
Raymond Sheppard: “We should recognize and credit those African Nova Scotians who have made a difference in the past and continue to make a difference today. Dr. Lynn Jones is such a person. She helps wherever and whenever she is able to.”
“Bomb carrying jet makers are clinking their glasses as they hope to bring the fighter jet ‘deal’ to IMP in Enfield, Nova Scotia,” writes Kathrin Winkler. But such fighter jets, armed to kill, are part of the arms dealing pandemic that we can no longer ignore.