Letter from prison: Why there should be a law against bad lawyers
An editorial about the huge issue of unwarranted plea bargains and convictions of innocent people, written by somebody currently incarcerated somewhere in Atlantic Canada.
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Stop Alton Gas silent auction successful in so many ways
New contributor Jackie Davis attended yesterday’s silent auction/ fundraiser in support of the Alton Gas river protectors. Here is her report.
Neoliberalism 101
Neoliberalism is a word you may well have heard at a rally or read in a newspaper, but what does it mean? Frequent contributor Alex Kronstein on all you ever wanted to know about neoliberalism but were afraid to ask. Turns out you knew its meaning all along.
Divest Dal campout – No more excuses
New contributor and Divest Dal member Laura Cutmore writes on Canada’s longest university campout for fossil fuel divestment, and why Dalhousie can no longer look the other way. Climate, racial, and gender justice are inextricably linked, she writes, and there simply are no more excuses for inaction.
Doing the mental healthcare shuffle in Nova Scotia
Late last week Nova Scotia’s auditor general reported that the province lacks a plan for delivering mental health services to all Nova Scotians, and that standards for wait times aren’t being met. New contributor Jessica Briand has seen it all. “In the last seven years I have seen eight different mental health professionals. I’ve witnessed first-hand the flaws in mental healthcare in Nova Scotia,” she writes.
Lives on welfare: New to poverty
New contributor Fara Spence profiles Ruby, an older woman living with severe arthritis and unable to work she had to turn to Community Services after her husband left her. ““Looking back, I was naive. I always thought Community Services would be…I don’t know, happy to help.”
Unfinished business: the role of colonialism and racism in Nova Scotia’s fishing tensions
New contributor Lori Oliver, who grew up in the Digby area, takes a look at the tensions between white and Mi’kmaq lobster fishers in South West Nova Scotia. The issues go deeper than most newspaper reports suggests, she writes, poverty, racism and colonialism are at the root of the current problems.
Staff person’s harmful comments about trans inmate remain unaddressed
A problematic story in the Chronicle Herald about a staffer’s transphobic comments causes reporter Rebecca Rose to take an in depth look at the harm they cause and and how to counteract them. She also looks at the significant policy changes that triggered the comments, and how these changes came about. But no matter how good the policy changes and staff training, decarceration and community inclusion remain the best solution, advocates say.
The autism research that’s really needed
Frequent contributor Alex Kronstein describes how autistic people, as a community, possess a great deal of truth and knowledge that they’ve figured out by themselves and for themselves. “I know this because I’m autistic myself,” he writes. “Autistic people have plenty of valid knowledge, and we by and large are fed up with non-autistic researchers claiming to have “discovered” this knowledge.”
Social assistance: Caseworkers from heaven and caseworkers from hell
As the stories of Donna and Leslie show, when you are on social assistance your caseworker makes all the difference. It’s very hard when your caseworker is not there for you, writes long time poverty advocate Brenda Thompson. “Just as caseworkers evaluate their clients on an annual basis, clients also must be permitted to evaluate their caseworkers on a regular basis on criteria such as as their treatment of the clients, their knowledge of resources, and their willingness to be true advocates and go to bat for their client.”