Thinking Out Loud with Sheldon MacLeod

There's a new option for people with physical or intellectual disabilities looking to get around Halifax Regional Municipality. HRM has entered into a three year contract to provide accessible taxi services available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In March, council unanimously approved a staff recommendation to fund Extra Care Taxi to help support higher costs of offering the service that has...

There's a pretty good chance Monday will be business as usual for anyone who doesn't work for most people. Both the federal and Nova Scotia governments have proclaimed September 19th a holiday to commemorate the funeral service of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Government employees will have the day off and schools and daycares in Nova Scotia will be closed. But they've left it up to individual busi...

Students and staff are back in class for almost a week now, and some of the long standing concerns are still top of mind. Ryan Lutes was elected president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) earlier this year. And he says he's concerned with air quality issues in some Nova Scotia classrooms. It's something that has been raised by the previous executive dating back to March of 2020 in the earl...

It's the end of an era with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. And now her son, King Charles III is the head of state in Canada. Our constitutional monarchy has been an ongoing area of study by Nathan Tidridge. He is an author and educator who has been studying and writing about our history, and the Crown's relationship with Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Tidridge answers some of the questions peop...

September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day. It's an initiative to foster understanding of suicide prevention and promotes the message that death by suicide are preventable. On September 8th, the Canadian Mental Health Association Nova Scotia Division (CMHA NS) is urging those who identify as male to talk about the mental health issues and challenges. And Thursday evening, there will be a virtu...

Scientists like to point out that correlation is not causation. One thing may not be causing or influencing the other just because they are connected in some way. In our current housing crunch, a group representing landlords says the housing crunch in Nova Scotia can be blamed by the rent cap. Kevin Russell says a rental increase to just 2 percent a year has had a big impact because inflation is r...

A doctor for every Nova Scotian. Fixing health care. Promises that will take more than just political will to become reality. This week, the Progressive Conservative Government announced more virtual care for patients who don't have a primary health provider. But will it make a difference? Doctor Leisha Hawker is the head of Doctors Nova Scotia, the association representing physicians in the provi...

Politicians from all parties are decrying the verbal attack against Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. But this is not just an issue affecting politics in Canada. Dr. Robert Huish is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University. He reacts to the video for the first time in this conversation that also reflects on the global impact of fo...

More restaurants opened than closed during the height of the pandemic. And that was thanks in large part to government grants and loans for restaurant owners. But there's a real fear that many won't survive long enough to pay back that money at the end of 2023. Gordon Stewart is the Executive Director of the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia. He says increased food and operational costs are ea...

The Federal Government says the country has recovered 115% of the jobs lost during the pandemic. And in recent months, many businesses in the region have been facing a shortage of workers. It's affecting food service, retail and even transportation and construction industries. Carla Qualtrough is the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. She recently was in the re...

Union leadership say there's been a huge change in the way the Progressive Conservative government is been dealing with labour groups. And when Tim Houston announced a significant wage hike for Personal Care Workers, he stirred optimism in other health care sectors. But there's still work to be done. A recent agreement was reached with support services represented by three different unions includi...

Over the last 50 years, the Ecology Action Centre (EAC) has been about action, activism, education and change. And they have been effective in shaping government policy and regulation when it comes to our environment. Recently, the Nova Scotia Government announced its plan to address climate change and the greenhouse gas emission targets without imposing a carbon tax on residents. The Premier call...

From Stephen McNeil, to Iain Rankin and now on to Tim Houston. The final progress report has been issued by the Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Commission. The document released in 2021 contained 17 recommendations and 60 meaningful actions. Close to 50 are considered complete or substantially complete. Dr. Ren Thomas is Associate Professor, Dalhousie University School of Planning. She also was the...

Tim Houston is the eleventh premier to find himself in Bruce MacKinnon's cross-hairs. Since becoming a full time editorial cartoonist in 1986, he's been winning awards with his evocative and entertaining commentary on life in Nova Scotia. And while some people are easier to capture than others, MacKinnon always has his ink-stained fingers on the pulse of the story of the day. In this conversation,...

Theresa Babb says she's probably the exact kind of patient a newly opened private health clinic is looking for. She was one of the many thousands of Nova Scotians who have gone to an emergency department only to leave without being seen. And she says she could afford the fees for a monthly membership and for the consultation with a nurse. But she says it's not likely something she'll ever do again...

One year in and there's still a honeymoon for the Progressive Conservative government. Polling firm Narrative Research says six in ten Nova Scotians are satisfied with what Tim Houston is doing. CEO Margaret Brigley breaks down the quarterly results on government satisfaction, voting intentions and who people would prefer to be Premier of the province.

School starts in Nova Scotia in just three weeks, and some parents are asking about the plan. The province is currently in the midst of a very high hazard index according to COVID-19 Resources Canada. NDP Education spokesperson Suzy Hansen has seven school aged children. And the MLA for Halifax Needham says she's worried because one of them is imuno-compromised. And Hansen is asking the Tim Housto...

He's camped out in front of City Hall to protest a lack of protection for the province's forests. He's held a hunger strike in front of Province House over what he calls "ecocide". And now, Jacob Fillmore has a bicycle lock around his neck, attached to a piece of forestry equipment in Dartmouth. The 26-year old activist is in Eisner Cove, trying to prevent clear cutting of an forest that supporter...

As a society we've been able to shed some of the stigma surrounding mental health and wellness in our communities. But that work is far from over. There are men and women who work as emergency responders who may be struggling who also may not be comfortable talking about it with friends and family. And managing the work-related trauma in their lives can be a daunting task. There's a group working...

It was a headline that received a lot of reaction. "Convicted murderer sent to Restorative Justice for first time in Nova Scotia" offers up more questions than answers. The article was based on a recommendation by a Supreme Court Judge who also was quick to note this is about parole ineligibility, not about avoiding consequences. Professor Jennifer Llewellyn is the Chair in Restorative Justice wit...

We've all read or heard about people who are displaced by a fire or other serious emergency situation and the Red Cross is called in to help. And in many cases, people find family or friends to stay with for the long term. But what happens in those first few hours? And how is the current tourism season and accommodation crunch affecting the work of these first responders? Bill Lawlor is the direct...

Clear cutting has started on a parcel of land in Dartmouth that a group of residents has been trying to protect. Bill Zebedee is the President of a group called Save Our Southdale Wetland Society. They are also the same people involved in the Protect Eisner Cove Wetland. And Zebedee says he's started the process to appeal the permission granted to allow for wetland to be infilled as the housing de...

Since the start of August, Halifax Transit has had to cancel dozens of trips because of a shortage of drivers. And the president of the union representing workers says it's going to get worse if things don't change. Shane O'Leary with Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 508 says it's one thing to hold a recruitment campaign to try and bolster the numbers of operators. But he says there's little...

A cancer diagnosis kept him from his goal of working 50 years on the radio. But only by a few months. Rick Howe grew up with a passion for broadcasting and reporting. And he's gathered a lot of stories in the 49 years in the business. He's taken time between his ongoing treatments to write his memoir "Behind the Mic Five Deacades Covering the News in the Maritimes" (Pottersfield Press). He also wr...

Cranes have become a prominent feature across the Halifax skyline over the last decade. And as more and more developments take place, more and more older buildings are being torn down to make room. And according to a recent report, high levels of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are released up-front by high rise construction, developments, and demolitions. Buildings for the Climate Crisis – A Hali...