Barbara Elizabeth Stewart chronicles life in Halifax during the first 66 days of the pandemic. “At first it was a novelty. There was a whiff of World War II on the home front, the sacrifice and solidarity: front line soldiers in protective gear trudging off to do the most essential and dangerous work, while civilians stayed home and did a lot with little.”
Kate MacDonald on a city without Menz and Mollyz: “So what queer space can we dream into existence now? Without holding back, how big do we dare to dream and how can we get there? I have no answers to these questions. But trust me, I am dreaming. I am playing loud music in my headphones. I am dancing like I am still there.”
Richard Starr looks at premier Stephen McNeil’s governing style and sees a pattern: “McNeil needs a new raison d’être, and with remarkable dexterity he has found one with COVID-19, moving smartly from the manufactured fiscal crisis to the real crisis presented by the pandemic.”
“It’s always on our mind. Before I was redeployed somebody had tested positive at the call centre, and you think about it while at work. Then when you come home you worry about what you may have brought home.” Janitors do essential and dangerous work, but wages are very low and too often it’s all about doing more with fewer workers.
Statement by Equity Watch on the provincial government’s autocratic handling of the pandemic. “It seems clear that to this government workers, organizations and opposition politicians are to be seen but not heard. “
Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald on the need for a provincial inquiry with a feminist lens focused on confronting the degrees of men’s violence, including femicides, inflicted against women. “An inquiry must stay local—be voiced locally—to extend healing support and provide a local say in re-designing a non-violent culture for our future.” TW: descriptions of misogynist torture and other acts of male violence against women and children.
Kendall checks up on two more folks he has written about before. Many do not even have social contacts in the community to talk to except the people at the soup kitchens and various drop-ins that people living in poverty attend.These are difficult times and we must look after one another, and Kendall is doing his share.
“We’d all benefit from living in a city that was less racist, that was less unjust, that was less oppressive, that was less centered on displacement in the interest of white supremacy and profit.” An interview with professor Ted Rutland about urban planning as a misguided strategy to reduce crime and poverty and pave the way for gentrification of the historic Halifax North End.
Open letter signed by 33 Law Professors at Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law urging the premier to hold a public inquiry into the horrifying events in central Nova Scotia on April 18 and 19. “In a modern democracy committed to state accountability, an internal investigation will not suffice.”
Journalist and poverty activist Kendall Worth is the subject of a recent letter of appreciation written by NDP leader Gary Burrill. Great time to add our own praise for this wonderful man!