Thinking Out Loud with Sheldon MacLeod

It was called to help let people in Halifax Regional Municipality know what was happening with the homeless encampments in HRM -- specifically in Meagher Park. People living there have been given notice to vacate, but so far about five have refused. The reaction to some of the information has been critical of the plan to include police to once again step in to enforce municipal bylaws. Councillors...

Nova Scotians haven't had to pay a carbon tax because of an earlier push to incorporate renewable energy into the grid. We've had a cap and trade program for industrial polluters as a means of dealing with carbon since 2019. And that has kept us from paying extra at the pumps. But that agreement expires in December and the Nova Scotia Environment Minister has yet to announce what the plan is. But...

After 56 days of testimony, the Mass Casualty Commission is on a three week break. Senior RCMP leadership from Nova Scotia highlighted the past week's testimony, including an emotional apology from Chief Superintendent Darren Campbell. Lawyer Adam Rodgers has been posting his analysis and review of the proceedings on his YouTube Channel, The Rogers Brief. He shares his thoughts on the testimony th...

Postponing a major capital project now will only cost us more in the long run if it's ever built. That's the financial reality of making a decision like that in the midst of high inflation and increasing construction costs according to Moshe Lander. The Dalhousie and Concordia Economics Professor says the economics of postponing expenditures is based on an incorrect assumption about what will happ...

Its a rare summer sitting at the Nova Scotia Legislature, recalled to vote down a proposed pay hike for MLA's. The new leaders of the opposition parties are getting an opportunity to be in front of the media when it's usually an off season politically. Dr. Lori Turnbull is a political scientist with Dalhousie University. She weighs in on that, the premier taking a pay cut, and the partisan wrangli...

Kendra Coombes is at her home with her newborn in Scotchtown, recovering from a cesarean section earlier in July. The Cape Breton Centre-Whitney Pier representative was hoping to be able to attend the summer sitting of the house virtually. A similar accommodation was made earlier this summer for a committee appearance after her doctor recommended against the five-hour drive to Halifax. A poll was...

Road safety may be a shared responsibility, but the level of responsibility is different for the different road users. That's the message one safe street advocate is trying to get out to the public on social media. Martyn Williams recently wrote a piece for the Chronicle Herald asking "How many more people have to be injured or killed on Halifax Streets?" This was in response to a well-known cycli...

Legislation has been introduced to recognize Mi'kmaw as Nova Scotia's first language. It was proclaimed at a ceremony on July 17, 2022 in Potlotek First Nation. Grand Chief Norman Sylliboy noted "The governments of the past attacked us through our language when our children were punished for speaking it, but despite all of the efforts to destroy it, our language is still here and we are still here...

It may be wishful thinking if public health officials go to reinstate COVID precautions if the pandemic worsens. Polling firm, Angus Reid Institute (ARI) released the results of three surveys this week. They show a waning concern about the next wave, getting boosters, or returning to mask mandates or vaccine passports. And this is happening as immunocompromised and at risk Canadians continue to wo...

You may have heard of Code Red for a fire emergency or Code Blue for a life threatening one. But for the Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville, they have something called Team Lavender. It's a coordinated response team that is tasked with addressing the spiritual, emotional and psychological needs of health care workers. It's something that has gained quite a bit of uptake during the COVID-19 pand...

A foundational document filed today at the Mass Casualty Commission hearing is titled "Perpetrator's Financial Misdealings". It describes the "perpetrator’s banking activity, corporate dealings, real estate acquisitions, improper billing practices, association with drugs and organized criminal activity, as well as his planning of a potential fraud in relation to the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Prog...

"Dementia is sad but there can be gifts" says Paul DeAdder in a post he made during Halifax Pride. He shared how he had painted himself into a rainbow corner before coming out to his mother in 1990. And by his own account, it was "awkward, ungraceful and brutal" and didn't go over well. And for years there was a wedge between himself and his mother, Marilyn. But after a diagnosis of dementia, and...

They may be considered the forgotten generation of our time. And it only got worse after the pandemic was declared and people were forces to isolate. And a simple act of kindness was the spark of an idea that has grown into a group called We Are Young (WAY). On the group's website they explain that in 2014, "Katie Mahoney was nominated to do an act of kindness for someone in her community. She cho...

One in ten Nova Scotians don't have a family doctor as the wait list has grown to over 100-thousand. Emergency Rooms are at and sometimes over their capacity. And the health care system is described as being in crisis with workers facing burnout from the pandemic and from chronic under staffing. While the Nova Scotia government works to make more seats for nursing students and other more long-term...

He was a man with a short temper and a long history of violence. And we're learning more about the patterns of behaviour of the man who went on to kill 22 Nova Scotians more than two years ago. Today we heard from the woman who spent 19-years as his common law partner. Excerpts of audio recordings and video re-enactments were played to the Mass Casualty Committee today giving us our first glimpse...

He's been an MLA since 2010 and spent eight years in government with the Liberal Party under Stephen McNeil and then Iain Rankin. Zach Churchill has served as a cabinet minister in Education, Health and Natural Resources among other portfolios. Over the weekend, the Yarmouth MLA was chosen to be the new leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party. And while he was quick to congratulate the other candi...

Sure there were stories that were shared among their families, but not in the history books or in their classrooms. This past weekend, the Canadian Government offered an official apology to the members of the No. 2 Construction Battalion and their descendants. Justin Trudeau offered those words on behalf of the country for the 'overt racism' endured by the members of Canada's first all Black Regim...

Ron James has been on the road almost non-stop since the lock downs have ended and people started going to live events again. And the road is where Ron James feels most alive. And at times a bit lonely. The author of the best-selling memoir All Over the Map has been taking his sold-out Back Where I Belong Tour back to the stages across Canada. And on July 16th, the comedy icon will be taking the s...

After a two year hiatus, people are being invited to once again gather and watch films together at the Halifax Public Gardens. FIN Outdoor has announced this will be the Summer of Sarah Polley. Produced by FIN Atlantic International Film Festival people are invited to watch movies outside on the four Friday evenings of July. This summer celebrates Canadian icon Sarah Polley; author, activist, accl...

There are some troubling trends when it comes to agriculture in Nova Scotia. The number of farms is declining at a quicker rate than in the rest of Canada. Nova Scotia has the oldest farm operators with more than two-thirds over the age of 55. And even though it's growing, Statistics Canada says only 8% of farms reported a succession plan. Richard Hennigar is in his 70's and is a third generation...

"The pandemic is not over. But Nova Scotians have the tools and resources to make the right decisions to keep each other safe." That's the quote from Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang on lifting most of the COVID-19 restrictions as of July 6th, 2022. And with the reporting of data shifting to monthly updates, many Nova Scotians will be left to decide how much risk there is in their...

No parent should ever have to think about losing a child, let alone losing them to a violent crime. For Dale Adams, she's had to wrestle with that reality. Later this month, it will have been three years since Tristan Reece was fatally shot in Halifax. Last month, Kaz Henry Cox was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years for first-degree murder. Yet Adams says she has f...

The story this week said: "Halifax regional council is calling on the provincial and federal governments to provide a livable basic income for all." And they will be sending letters to the provincial and federal governments to call for an unconditional, basic income guarantee (BIG). HRM isn't the only Canadian city that is pushing for a regular income for any adults whose annual earnings are below...

This week, unionized health care workers got together in key locations for something called the "fight for fairness". And one location was especially relevant; Shelburne. Nan McFadgen is the President of CUPE Nova Scotia, representing around 19-thousand public service sector members, including staff at Roseway Manor. The long-term care facility that used to be operated by three municipal units may...

In Canada, there are no specific laws about abortion and supporters say that's the way it should be. The procedure in this country is completely decriminalized and as one recent article stated it is health care and is no more governed by criminal law than knee surgery or intravenous antibiotics. A 2020 report from feminist lawyers Jennifer Taylor and Julianne Stevenson called "The Legal Framework...