A so-called Freedom Rally for Citadel Hill this weekend has been cancelled. Organizers are in part blaming the on-line harassment and other threats for their decision to cancel it under duress. This happened before the province announced it had been granted an injunction by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia stopping anti-vaccine and anti-public health order protests, effective immediately. We spoke about Protesting and public shaming during a provincial lock down with Dalhousie Professor Dr. Robe...
May 14, 2021•19 min
Earlier this week the Nova Scotia Teacher's Union warned of cuts to teaching positions in HRM High Schools. I was able to speak with one of the teachers who was told she is "surplus" at the end of this term. I also sat down with Journalist Stuart Peddle to discuss the story that was published on SaltWire.com.
May 13, 2021•18 min
A radio station in Truro has stirred up a friendly competition between businesses using their signs. We chat with Mitch and Lauren from Big Dog about why they think it took off so quickly. And Music Columnist Eric Alper joins the conversation about the Rock & Roll of Fame's Class of 2021.
May 12, 2021•23 min
Nova Scotia found a way to resume jury trials and protect the participants in a time of a pandemic. But it's still illegal for people to discuss the deliberations of a jury, even if it's with a mental health professional. And that's one of the things the Canadian Juries Commission is looking to have changed.
May 11, 2021•19 min
It's the second year in a row that National Nursing week is happening in the midst of a global pandemic. And with spiking numbers of cases in our third wave in Nova Scotia, Nursing Union President Janet Hazelton discusses PPE, pandemic fatigue and resiliance and mental health.
May 10, 2021•16 min
NACI (The National Advisory Committee on Immunization) and Nova Scotia's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Strang are sending mixed messages about "preferred vaccines" and the risks of waiting for "the right one". That and the topic of herd immunity are subjects we take up with Doctor Rod Russell, a viral immunologist at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador.
May 07, 2021•17 min
SaltWire journalist Chris Lambie is reporting on a story looking at the Mass Casualty Commission and the business card from RCMP Chief Superintendent John Robin. He showed up at the door of a witness to the Onslow-Belmont Firehall shooting on April 19th of 2020. What is written on that card suggests he is working with the Independent review in the mass killing in Portapique is now raising some troubling questions.
May 06, 2021•13 min
After months of debate and deliberation, Halifax Regional Municipality has passed its 1-Billion-dollar budget. What does Mayor Mike Savage have to say about the second pandemic spending plan, the money collected on behalf of the province, and who he would most like to have on his own podcast, Mike Drop?
May 05, 2021•21 min
Earlier this year, Ottawa labelled a Canadian Western Chauvinist Organization a terrorist entity. This week the Proud Boys, as they were known, announced they were officially dissolving. But that doesn't mean its members won't be disavowing their far right leanings. Dr. Ajay Parasram is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University.
May 04, 2021•13 min
In mid-February we learned of of Bass River resident April George who died waiting for medical assistance. Medical First Responders were not called because of on-going COVID-19 protocols. In the weeks following, Nova Scotians were told the 26-hundred Firefighters were were trained as MFR's would be given safety equipment and a COVID-19 Vaccine as they were brought back into service. Daniel Gaudet is President of the Fire Services Association of Nova Scotia and he wants to know why this still has...
May 03, 2021•10 min
Description - The Nova Scotia government announced this week that regulated child-care centres and licensed Family Home Child Care Agencies will remain open during the province-wide shutdown. But there are still questions about adequate access to personal protective equipment and safety according to CUPE Nova Scotia President Nan McFadgen.
Apr 30, 2021•9 min
How are schools and childcare centres positioned for the possible extension of the two week circuit-breaker? I had the chance to speak to this with the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. The Honourable Derek Mombourquette joined me from his office in Sydney.
Apr 29, 2021•12 min
For the first time since the 2020 March Break that lasted all year, schools are closed province-wide. This is a two week circuit breaker according to the Premier and Dr. Strang, but the case load will dictate if it's longer than that. Paul Wozney is the President of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and we discuss the new minister, the new premier and how the Federal Government is now invested in education.
Apr 28, 2021•14 min
Over the last few days the number of positive cases of Coronavirus have hit new daily records. And the numbers could even double before the public health circuit breaker makes an impact. Infectious Disease expert Dr. Lisa Barrett says these are trailing indicators of past behaviour and it points to the
Apr 27, 2021•18 min
The pandemic has grounded most musical artists and they've had to turn to a virtual space to reach an audience. For one performer with a passion for planes, it's an opportunity to pay it forward by donating his flight simulator to the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum.
Apr 26, 2021•16 min
It's almost always easier to save money than to create more of it. And it's always easier to save energy than it is to find greener ways to produce it. And that's what Ben Grieder does as an Energy Coordinator and Energy Efficiency planner with the Ecology Action Center.
Apr 23, 2021•10 min
Since the start of the pandemic, an Eastern Shore woman has been pitching in to help clean up the shorelines across Nova Scotia. And the granddaughter of a fisherman says that industry generates a lot of waste that ends up on our beaches. But not all of it goes to the trash because some of it becomes art.
Apr 22, 2021•13 min
The only opposition Member of Parliament in Nova Scotia weighs in on the Liberal Government's budget, the roll-out of COVID vaccines in Nova Scotia and we touch on some of the other stories in the news today.
Apr 21, 2021•13 min
There was budget news on two fronts on Monday. Chrystia Freeland presented the federal budget, the first since the Liberal Minority government came to power in 2019. And Nova Scotia's provincial budget was passed in the Legislature, the first for new premier Iain Rankin. Dalhousie Political Scientist Dr. Lori Turnbull shares her thoughts on the post-pandemic spending plans and potential for two elections this year.
Apr 20, 2021•15 min
As it comes down to the final five, Andrew Al-Khouri and Andy Hay are still competing in CTV's Masterchef Canada Season 7 - Back to Win. They discuss Sunday night's episode and the friendship and rivalry they've cooked up as the two Nova Scotia contestants attempt to win the title and 100-thousand dollar prize. (NOTE: Some potential Episode 9 spoilers ahead)
Apr 19, 2021•18 min
Dalhousie University is receiving more than 1-million dollars to fund a three-year project led by Professor Afua Cooper. She describes her 30 year effort to bring Black studies to Canadian Universities an upward battle. We discuss that and the Nova Scotia Government's bill to recognize August 1st as Emancipation Day.
Apr 16, 2021•15 min
How likely are you to get your vaccine when it's offered? If you are like most Maritimers, you're probably anxiously waiting for it. We discuss the survey results from Narrative Research on how likely people are to take any and all vaccines including AstraZeneca.
Apr 15, 2021•8 min
This week, the Red Cross in Atlantic Canada announced they had distributed or committed all 6.2 million dollars collected through the Stronger Together Nova Scotia Fund. That was the campaign launched after the horrific murders across the province in April of 2020. Bill Lawler is the Atlantic Director for the Red Cross and he describes the compassion and contributions that came through the fund.
Apr 14, 2021•16 min
A student from the Annapolis Valley was recently suspended for sharing a picture of a t-shirt promoting rape culture. Even though that has since been reversed, it raises the issues around the way women and girls are treated when they bring issues like this forward. Martha Paynter recently wrote about this, and she discusses what lessons we should take from it in this conversation.
Apr 13, 2021•12 min
Free mental health services are being offered to people who have been affected by the events in Portapique one year ago. Alec Stratford Executive Director of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers and Serena Lewis, a social worker are both advocating for grief literacy. They join Sheldon for a conversation about the topic.
Apr 12, 2021•14 min
The Emergency Management and Health Protection Acts are the laws that gives government power to declare a state of emergency in a pandemic. And while we've been under that declaration for more than a year, Ontario has only enacted three States of Emergency during the pandemic. Lawyer, democracy advisor and former MLA Kevin Deveaux explains the differences, good and bad.
Apr 09, 2021•15 min
An independent report on the integrated policing model in Halifax Regional Municipality is now in the works after a motion from Councillor Tony Mancini. The District 6 representative says it's been 25 years since the model was implemented because of amalgamation. He also discusses the issues of police checks, the Portapique Massacre, Black Lives Matter and the "defund" movement.
Apr 08, 2021•13 min
Our lives have changed over the last year because of the pandemic with more of us working from home. And that has led to an increase in reports of people seeing coyotes in the Hammonds Plains area, the Walsh Court neighbourhood near St. Margaret's Bay Road and Chocolate Lake, and the Old Sambro Road. What does the national media director with the Nature Conservancy of Canada say about the balance between preserving nature and staying safe?
Apr 07, 2021•15 min
Anna Shoub makes world-famous handmade, bespoke hats in a room of her home in the seaside town of Lunenburg. She's concerned with the campaign encouraging entrepreneurs to move their home-based businesses to Nova Scotia. The challenge is what she describes as our 'whimsical property tax rules'. As she points out, they aren't applied equitably and that's created a culture of ask for forgiveness, and keep hidden from the people who enforce the rules.
Apr 06, 2021•12 min
A new study being released this month is taking a look at how food is classified as processed or unprocessed. And Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Senior Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab says it's complex and we all need to educate ourselves on some of the misconceptions.
Apr 05, 2021•9 min
