Unreliable drug and alcohol testing performed by an Ontario lab has caused the unwarranted break up of families, not only in Ontario, but very possibly in Nova Scotia as well. Community Services used the Motherisk lab for a hair strand test that has now been discredited in hundreds of cases. After a review, Ontario revisited every case where Motherisk evidence was used. Not here in Nova Scotia, though.
“The other day I met this young woman who is on income assistance, and who nonetheless keeps having a positive attitude and remains full of hope that someday she will get off the system. Her life is hard, and Community Services isn’t making it any easier for her,” writes Kendall Worth
Frequent contributor Tim Blades on living in poverty, his struggle with illness and mental health issues, and the urgent need to be compassionate and open with one another. “Now I want to delete that last paragraph. My heart is racing just from typing that last paragraph. While I want to be safe and delete that last paragraph, If I let go of that secret, it’s just one less thing for me to hold onto.”
Anti-poverty activist and Nova Scotia Advocate contributor Tim Blades addresses protesters in front of the Nova Scotia Legislature on Tuesday February 27, on behalf of the Child Support Clawback Action Group he co-chairs. “Single parents are still being forced to interact with an abusive ex due to the child support clawback policy.”
Kendall Worth is a tireless anti-poverty activist who lives with disabilities and tries to make ends meet on income assistance. This is the speech he delivered yesterday afternoon on the occasion of the Nova Scotia Rise Up rally at Province House.
Delilah Saunders writes about the pain and emotional labour involved in speaking in public about her murdered sister Loretta and other missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. “My problem lies with the for-profit multi-billion-dollar industries/universities that penny pinch when a speaker provides expertise when their pricey textbooks fail to do so.”
Meet Sophia (not her real name), who lives with a painful illness, raises a son who lives with developmental disabilities, and does all that on a $156 monthly personal allowance, after rent and power bills are paid, and an arrears to Community Services is dealt with. Please let that sink in. $156 per month. At the bottom of the story we tell you what you can do to help change this.
Budget pressures force public libraries in Cumberland County to reduce hours. Expect more announcements like this as the government is slowly squeezing public libraries in rural Nova Scotia, just to save a couple of pennies, really. To quote the Cumberland County deputy chief librarian Chantelle Taylor, ““We offer this precious little jewel of a service, it does pretty good with the little money it gets, and nobody seems to recognize this fantastic thing.”
Gottingen Street, one of Halifax main thoroughfares, used to extend into the far North End. But in 1981 Halifax Council voted that the northern segment of Gottingen Street, beyond the Young Street intersection, now be called Novalea Drive. The reasons behind that decision were tainted by racism and prejudice, and a survey of residents’ opinions conducted by the City purposely excluded most residents who lived along the street. Maybe it’s time to make things right again.
Kendall Worth on the challenges and rewards of Valentine’s Day for people on low incomes and income assistance. The problem is mostly with a lack of money, and also stigma. However, love conquers all when we get creative.