the government’s plan is not good enough. We need to do better. We need a plan so students can get back to school where they can learn and belong safely, and keeps students at school for the long haul so we aren’t all back in lockdown come Thanksgiving.
Danny Cavanagh looks at the changes announced last week to Employment Insurance. On face value, it looks like these changes may be a relief for some workers in the short term, but there’s lots of room for much needed improvements.
A press conference by parents and teachers this morning raised questions around the province’s back-to-school plan that, with just 10 days to go, are becoming increasingly urgent.
Sarah is 38 years old. She has lived with a learning disability her whole life and when she got older was diagnosed with OCD, mild anxiety disorder and Asperger. She has $315 left after rent, special diet and telephone is paid. That is $315 to pay her power bill and get groceries that are not covered in the special diet allowance.
In terms of racism and policing much of the focus has been on Halifax’s urban core, but what about rural Nova Scotia?. We talk with Jessica Bundy, a young African Nova Scotian academic who wrote about the policing experiences of Black residents of the Town of Digby and surrounding communities.
Danny Cavanagh: HRM council must ensure that workers’ rights are respected and that companies abide by the same rules as taxis and that checks and balances are in place to protect the travelling public and workers.
Dr. Julia Wright: University presidents cannot effectively lead academic institutions if they are made precarious by boards that overreach or can be significantly driven by the focuses and assumptions of their day-jobs, rather than by academic expertise and the urgent needs of our classrooms, our labs and studios, our libraries, and our province—the whole province, in all its rich complexity and diversity.
Erin Gaudet: “I am excited to return to my classroom in person, and I need time to get ready. What could staff do better if we were given the first week to prepare in a meaningful way, before students enter our classrooms?”
Black Nova Scotians and allies rallied outside the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission offices on Spring Garden Road. The NSHRC is reluctant to pursue race-based human rights violations while its employees often lack a lived understanding of racism, protesters say. And the commission isn’t listening.
Open letter to Chambers of Commerce across the province, asking them to stand with the 17,000+ members of Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education in demanding that schools adhere to the minimum requirements as set out by public health.