Kendall Worth on yesterday’s police evictions: Many of the people who got evicted have nowhere to go. Here in Halifax and in other parts of Nova Scotia housing is not affordable. Sources tell me that even the prices of rooms in rooming houses are going up.
A rally at Victoria Park in downtown Halifax drew at least 300 people angry enough about the potential sale of Owls Head Provincial Park to sacrifice part of a beautiful summer Saturday. Passing cars and buses honking in support provided a steady background chorus throughout the event.
Stephen Wentzell profiles NDP candidate Julie Melanson, who knows a thing or two about rebuilding from the ground up. She’s done just that through her recovery, and now she’s eager to do the heavy lifting for her constituency.
Last week journalist Stephen Wentzell sat down with Gary Burrill, the leader of the provincial NDP, to have a wide-ranging conversation about issues dear to the Nova Scotia Advocate’s heart, things like the climate crisis and the threat to biodiversity, the sale of Owls Head Provincial Park, poverty and social assistance, housing and rent control, healthcare and many other issues
Inclusionary zoning allows a municipality to mandate a certain percentage of affordable housing in new developments. With an affordable housing crisis growing more urgent by the day, why don’t we use this tool in Nova Scotia? Stephen Wentzell investigates.
Rent control and the provincial paid sick leave program both have built-in end dates and are likely to end fairly soon., says Gary Burrill, the leader of the provincial NDP. The Liberals never wanted these programs in the first place, says Burrill.
Yesterday afternoon the Dalhousie Board of Governors voted in favour of a three percent tuition increase and an $1473 increase in international student differential fees. This comes an hour after students rallied to freeze fees. The tuition increase works out to an extra $243 for arts students and $276 for science students.
There is a substantial wage and benefits gap between Early Childhood Educators employed by child care centres and those who work at the provincial pre-primary program. At a press conference hosted by Nova Scotia NDP MLA Claudia Chender, early childhood educators explained why this is not only unfair, it’s also creating all kinds of problems for child care centres throughout the province.
Gary Burrill: “The cancellation of the fall session of the House means that a whole series of legislative proposals, including those we in the NDP have ready to bring forward — from paid sick leave, to permanent rent control, to the establishment of a cross-sector, multi-Party Economic Recovery Task Force in Nova Scotia — will not at this time see the legislative light of day.”
The Nova Scotia NDP is calling for an immediate moratorium on all harvests equivalent to clearcutting in the entire province. We talk with Lands and Forestry critic Lisa Roberts.