Lives on Welfare gave a voice to John before, and last week he contacted us because he wanted to talk about the lack of support for people who deal with mental health issues, their own and those of relatives. “All I can do is wait for another suicide attempt,” he says.
Excellent reporting by the Globe and Mail reveals that police dismissal rates of sexual assault allegations are high and vary widely across the country. Nova Scotia is no exception. What’s going on?
This weekend we present a 20-minute documentary on the Hadhad family, Syrian refugees who arrived with nothing in Antigonish, and now run a successful chocolate business. Support by the good people of Antigonish was heartwarming to see.
Stereotypes, ignorance and bias are very much part of the way many of Nova Scotia’s reporters tell the stories of African Nova Scotians, Mi’kmaq people and immigrants. By and large that was the consensus that emerged during a well-attended panel discussion at the University of King’s College last Friday.
When you’re poor there are few places you can go to for socializing and fighting loneliness in the evenings and on weekends. Cup of coffee? Not if it comes out of your tiny food budget. The bar scene? Way too expensive and not suitable for many. A movie? Out of the question. So what to do?
Erin Wunker, professor at Acadia University ,and author of Notes from a Feminist Killjoy, speaks at yesterday’s Women’s March rally in Halifax. “What language do we use to refuse what is and imagine what could be?”
Lots of great speeches at yesterday’s Women’s March rally in Halifax. I thought Ardath Whynacht made some very insightful points for the long haul. “If we admit that the structures of state violence tend to replicate themselves in the ways we treat each other, than we need to turn that backwards and treat each other better.”
This week we have a wonderful documentary about some of the people who visit Connections, a place in Halifax that supports people who are recovering from mental illness.
Kendall Worth, inspired by a documentary we recently featured, makes a passionate plea to get serious about inclusion and community living. Kendall lives with several invisible disabilities, and he knows all too well what he is speaking of.
A group of folks who get special diet allowances and want to take Community Services to a Human Rights tribunal get a little bit of encouragement today. A judge ordered the Human Rights Commission to reconsider its earlier decision to deny their request, so it’s back to the drawing board.