Kendall went to one of the information sessions on the social assistance changes and wasn’t impressed. “This being the holiday season, recipients consider this not a real Christmas present from Community Services,” he writes.
Yesterday Community Services announced its full package of changes to income assistance to be implemented on December 27. Unfortunately, inflation ensures that most people will be poorer than they were a year before even after the raise kicks in. It’s a horrible thing.
Sadie Beaton on Bill 213, the Sustainable Development Goals Act. On the Act’s invocation of Netukulimk, Sadie writes: “Would the provincial government consider being accountable to a circle of rights holders and Elders who can advise on the transformational changes that we might need to make in order to truly align with this concept?”
Robin Tress, of the Council of Canadians speaks at Law Amendments about Bill 213, the Sustainable Development Goals Act. She makes some great points, about respecting treaty rights, the tendency of governments to allow corporate interests to frame the discussion, and the nature of true consultations.
Many different groups have challenged Mi’kmaw sovereignty over A’Se’k and the area around it, and for centuries, the Mi’kmaq have resisted and protected their homeland. Historian Colin Osmond describes how today’s Mi’kmaq protectors of A’se’k walk in the footsteps and shadows of generations of Mi’kmaq who have done the same.
Media release: Forty internationally renowned Cuba scholars, policy-makers and policy analysts will gather at Dalhousie University in Halifax this fall to take the measure of “The Cuban Revolution at 60.” All sessions will be open to the public, and free.
Halifax Fire District Chief and Restorative Lead Kevin Reade on the racism he encountered when he joined Halifax Fire as a Black recruit, the Human Rights complaint and the formation of the Association of Black Firefighters, and the challenges and opportunities offered by a restorative justice approach.
Kendall Worth on yet another case where a caseworker doesn’t believe a doctor’s diagnosis and special diet recommendation. Keep in mind that these doctors who write the special notes have gone to school seven or more years of their lives to study to become doctors! Why do we have a system where this needs to happen?
Kendall Worth wrote an open letter explaining why people who are actually on social assistance need to be heard by members of the Standing Committee on Community Services.
The Income Assistance policy manual is brutally clear about when you qualify for dental care when you’re on welfare. Don’t bother looking for help if it doesn’t bleed, hurt, or stop you from getting a job. Preventative care isn’t even mentioned in the manual.