Kevin Payne and Brandon Doucet: As we head towards a federal election, we’ll hear – as we do every 4 years or so – politicians pay lip service about access to dental care. To some of us, it may seem baffling that the bones in our mouths don’t receive the same consideration as the rest of our bones. Canadians take pride in our public health care system, so naturally we should also care about the health of our mouths.
Press release: Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education is urging the Minister of Education, Becky Druhan and NS Public Health to leave the current masking protocols, as well as other Covid measures in place in NS Public Schools for the foreseeable future.
Lisa CAmeron: Workplace infections have been the primary cause of COVID-19 outbreaks in hard-hit areas across Canada, yet 46 percent of Nova Scotian workers lack guaranteed access to paid sick leave; a benefit proven to help prevent the spread of illnesses and keep the public safe.
Statement: We at Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education were disappointed in premier-designate Tim Houston’s announcement of the Back-to-School plan, and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang’s details.
Judy Haiven about a Liberal announcement on its health platform. “While Rankin had about 12 people in his camp, including his manager, a campaign team and a van with several men, there were also two women in wheelchairs and about a 15 people holding homemade signs demanding action on housing for people with disabilities.”
Kendall Worth: This is a story about William (not his real name), a man who was forcibly handcuffed by police and taken to the QEII when he had a mental health breakdown. William came out of the hospital feeling even worse than when he went in.
A new report, published by the East Coast Prison Justice Society, raises serious concerns about conditions in provincial jails, miserable even under normal circumstances and now further aggravated by Covid-related lockdowns.
Stacey Gomez: There are migrant workers who want to be vaccinated and who haven’t yet received their first dose. At the same time, there are migrant workers who are being pressured to get the vaccine. For this racialized workforce with precarious immigration status, vaccine access is an urgent issue of racial inequity that must be addressed.
PSA: The election campaign has started and The ACE Team (Advocates for the Care of the Elderly) is calling on all political parties to make their Long-Term Care Platform clear.
Last week journalist Stephen Wentzell sat down with Gary Burrill, the leader of the provincial NDP, to have a wide-ranging conversation about issues dear to the Nova Scotia Advocate’s heart, things like the climate crisis and the threat to biodiversity, the sale of Owls Head Provincial Park, poverty and social assistance, housing and rent control, healthcare and many other issues