Judy Haiven: “The first time a national childcare program was promised by the Liberals was in 1993. At the time, I had a 2 year old child and I needed quality childcare… I never thought 25 years later I’d still be waiting!”
News release: As part of a nation-wide Day of Mourning in Canada and the United States, disability rights advocates in the Halifax area will be holding a vigil on Thursday, March 1, 2018 to honor the lives of disabled people murdered by their families and caretakers.
Poverty activist and frequent contributor Brenda Thompson writes about adults only buildings and the law. She was one of the activists who, in the early 1980s, brought about changes that make discrimination based on source of income (welfare) and age (whether you have children) illegal. Landlords openly break that law all the time, and the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission just sits back.
The federal government continues its efforts to deport Abdoul Abdi, the young man who came to Nova Scotia at the age of six, with his sister and two aunts, as jointly-sponsored refugees who fled Somalia. Abdi had asked Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety, to suspend the deportation hearing while the Federal Court hears a constitutional challenge of the Minister’s decision to deport. The Minister refused this request and instead asked the Immigration and Refugee Board to proceed with a deportation hearing, hislawyer writes.
Rebecca Rose takes a look at a new Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) policy that means that Transgender women can now be sent to women’s prisons while Transgender men will serve their time in a men’s prison, if that is their preference. Under the old policy inmates were sent to the federal institution that “matched” their genitals, not their gender identity. Rene Callahan-St John, a member of the Prisoners Correspondence Project views the change as a victory, but says much more remains to be done.
February 5th is the first day of a human rights hearing regarding the province’s provision of supportive housing for people with disabilities. We’ve written quite a bit about this topic, going back to the days I wrote for the Halifax Media Co-op. I hope to be there on Monday, and as much as I can during the sessions after that.
A wonderful comedy that premieres later this week is the result of a unique collaboration between professional theatre people and clients of Stepping Stone, the organization that supports women, men, and transgendered persons that are now or were formerly involved in the sex trade. We talk with Wanda Lauren Taylor, the playwright and executive director of Stepping Stone.
Last evening’s founding meeting of Equity Watch was successful beyond her wildest expectations, Halifax writer and activist Judy Haiven tells the Nova Scotia Advocate. Equity Watch is a new organization that aims to call out public and private employers who refuse to stamp out bullying, misogyny and systemic discrimination in their workplaces. “I was very surprised, I expected maybe a handful of people, and what we got were 35 angry people ready for action.”
News release: Concerned social workers in Nova Scotia have launched a social media campaign to engage Nova Scotians and bring awareness to the significant stressors that the province’s child protective system is facing. “The current system is being stretched so thin and children are falling through the cracks. Child protection social workers continue to see high caseloads that are increasingly complex. This challenges the quality of case management and increases the risk to vulnerable children and families.”
Announcing this Thursday’s founding meeting of Equity Watch, an organization that aims to keep employers like HRM and watch dogs like the NS Human Rights Commission honest.