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.
Reporter Kendall Worth meets up with Marie and Alice, two women on social assistance who dream about the day when they can afford to live somewhere where during the summer months they can have a BBQ out on their back decks or on their balconies. “Summertime is the most socially isolated time of year for the both of us, because of lack of funds to do things and the extra time spent by our lonesome,” they tell him.
Yesterday afternoon Dr. Jamie Livingston presented to the members of the Subcommittee to Define Defunding the Police. ” I believe that the majority of crisis calls in Halifax can and should be diverted to non-police-involved teams, ideally led by trained peer support workers since health professionals possess coercive powers that may replicate police-like approaches.”
People on income assistance feel that if they had been in a relationship of some sort during the pandemic it would have made a world of difference in their lives. One obstacle is right in the Community Services policy manual, writes Kendall Worth.
Patricia Neves of Inclusion Nova Scotia explains why she opposes Bill C-7, the terrible law that views a person’s disability as a reason to terminate life and essentially equates disability to suffering.
Making involuntary movements, fidgeting, and talking to yourself are the kinds of things that draw the public’s attention, and next thing you know there’s police or security asking you to leave, writes Kendall Worth. That’s not fair.
sb. smith on Bill C-7: “This shameful bill, when it comes to the disabled community, it is an example of why it is increasingly necessary for financially-privileged (and especially white, financially-privileged) disabled people to confront and be forthcoming about their wealth and social status.”
In order to co-locate medical services, the Nova Scotia Health Authority is moving mental health and addictions services from three downtown Dartmouth locations to a new location in the Portland Hills subdivision. Dartmouth North MLA Susan Leblanc is worried that this will make in-person access way too difficult for residents of her riding.
When income assistance recipients ask how soon they can expect to receive the COVID vaccine, the answer they get is, “Oh, maybe by July, August, or September. Income assistance recipients are saying that they have been isolated from their social contacts long enough, but if we have to prepare for these extra few months then we got no choice.
Kendall Worth thinks about how people on income assistance with part time employment can benefit from unions and how perhaps people on income assistance could even form a union of their own.