While municipalities reliably test the quality of water delivered through the utilities they manage, rural residents who rely on wells are on their own, reports new contributor Fazeela Jiwa. Now a new organization, Rural Water Watch Association (RWW), will respond to rural community members’ calls to test their water quality, addressing concerns about living close to toxic sites like landfills or incinerators.
In Nova Scotia, when you apply for social assistance you had better have some money set aside, because this is going to cost you. It’s a logistical nightmare as well. Brenda Thompson takes a close look at all that is required, and she does the math. Remember, people who apply for social assistance tend to be broke. That’s why they are applying….
Video reporter Jodi Brown visits the mother of a terminally ill six-year old son, who was kicked of social assistance and told to repay over $30,000 in payments Community Services claims she should not have received. The mother is denying the allegations and fighting her case in court. Meanwhile the family can’t make ends meet and is facing eviction.
Frequent contributor Lara Lewis sits down with talented actress Michelle Raine, to talk about It’s A Girl , a play she developed for the Halifax Fringe Festival, how she would like to take her work into the schools, and all kinds of other matters.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls has encountered lots of obstacles, some of them self-inflicted. Here Delilah Saunders, sister of Loretta, explains why she continues to support the initiative. “My family and I will be in Halifax this coming October to testify and if it is delayed, then we’ll have to wait. I welcome delays and hiccups in the process if it means the Inquiry is done right and honours the Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and transgender loved ones we’ve lost.”
We revisit the story of Mike Foley, the single father pursued by Community Services and the RCMP for fraud charges that advocates consider dubious. After months of inaction Foley received another phone call from the RCMP informing him that the investigation of ‘fraud’ is on again. Meanwhile, a terrified Foley and daughter Ashley continue to get by with very little money and no medications.
In his introduction to disability arts Alex Kronstein tackled what disability arts is. In this follow up we will take a look at some examples of disability art from Nova Scotia, elsewhere in Canada and the world to provide inspiration for a stronger disability arts scene in Atlantic Canada.
New contributor Lucy MacDonald knows all about homelessness and living in shelters. Community Services is actually fostering homelessness rather than solving it with is impractical rules and inadequate shelter allowances, she says.
Caring for a child is work, but society doesn’t seem to see it that way. “Single parents on welfare are often portrayed as lazy or ‘getting a free ride’; as though their children effortlessly raise themselves,” writes new contributor Lenore Hemming. “It’s interesting that our society only views child care as valuable if it is someone else’s child.”
Disability arts is about how being a disabled artist influences what they create. In this first of two articles Alex Kronstein surveys the landscape of disability arts, and offers up some samples, including a stunning video. It is all about resistance, affirmation, and pride.