Thinking Out Loud with Sheldon MacLeod

Saying it was always part of the dream, Souls Harbour Rescue is opening their 5th location in Nova Scotia. The home to benefit women and single moms with their children is in rural Halifax Regional Municipality. The exact location is confidential. In the 10 years since opening a shelter for homeless men in Halifax, they've expanded to cover Bridgewater and Truro and now along the Eastern Shore. CE...

As part of a multi-year plan, the Nova Scotia government says it will add 264 new beds in Central Zone and replace 1,298 beds at 14 nursing homes and three residential care facilities across the province. They say the first project is expected to be finished by 2026-2027. And that's not good enough according to the MLA for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage. Barbara Adams is a physiotherapist by trainin...

It was a tough week politically for Iain Rankin, and the week's not over yet. Some people are angry at the media for continuing to ask questions about the way the Nova Scotia Premier disclosed his drinking and driving conviction from almost 20 years ago. What impact will this have on the Liberal Leader's chances in a summer election campaign and potentially on voter turnout. Dr. Lori Turnbull is a...

Nova Scotia's Auditor General has nine recommendations for the government in her report on the Implementation of Pre-Primary in 2017. The program was a campaign promise by Stephen McNeil and his Liberal Party ahead of the provincial election that year. Kim Adair-MacPherson says she has concerns with the way it was put into action saying there wasn't enough of a plan four years ago. What lessons ar...

Halifax Regional Municipality issued a statement today on the plan to remove temporary shelters from Municipal property in a weeks time. These crisis shelters were erected by a group of volunteers known as Halifax Mutual Aid (HMA). When the first ones went up, the group said it was taking action because the municipality was taking too long. First I spoke with spokesperson Campbell McClintock, a vo...

On the same day Premier Iain Rankin was thanking Nova Scotia health care workers for helping administer 1-million vaccine doses, workers are voting to strike. To find out what is happening with the relationship with the Liberal government and these employees, I spoke with two guests. The first is NDP Leader Gary Burrill. The second is NSGEU President Jason MacLean.

Fiona Kirkpatrick Parsons is willing to be the kind of resource that helps bring us closer to reconciling our past, present and future. She is a Cree woman who is on a path to help Canadians become better allies to Indigenous peoples. She took some time before July 1st to come up with an image that helps reflect the way she and others are feeling around Canada and the Residential School legacy. We...

A ceremony and commemorative event is being held at 1pm on July 1st in Halifax. It will begin in the south end of the city in a space that was recently renamed Peace and Friendship Park. The two organizers of the event say it's a way to honour those who were recently found in unmarked graves at the sites of former Residential Schools across the country. Trevor Labrador and Caitlyn Moore share some...

It's being called a step towards the dismantling of systemic anti-black racism in Canada. on Monday, Motion 83 was adopted by the Canadian Senate to recognize August 1st as Emancipation Day in this country. Nova Scotia Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard discusses why the date is significant, and why it's important for reparations and reconciliation with African Canadians. In 2018 she introduced a privat...

There have already been more than 2-thousand online surveys filled out by people who want to discuss defunding the police in HRM. And there's still an opportunity to have your say up until June 30th. El Jones is the Chair of the subcommittee to define defunding the police for the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners. We discuss the current climate for having these conversations and the need for a...

An apparent stumble from Premier Iain Rankin turned out to be less of a political hit because of the actions of a (now) former Progressive Conservative MLA. From the border restrictions to the highway blockade and the ouster of Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, it was quite a week in politics. And I had the chance to sit down and dissect it with Chronicle Herald political reporter Francis (Frank) Campbel...

A virtual forum on Thursday evening is the latest episode in a series called Speak Truth to Power at Dalhousie University. The organizers pulled this discussion together after the announcement of the remains of 215 Indigenous children were found at a former Residential School in Kamloops. The discussion is called "They Found Us and We Are Coming Home: The Truth about Residential Schools". It is ev...

There's been frustration and confusion over border restrictions in the Atlantic bubble. And for one PEI politician, it's past time for the four premiers to coordinate. As Gord McNeilly says, we've all been following the rules and now we should have rules that are easy to follow.

The power was out for a while Tuesday morning in Dartmouth. And the reliability of the grid has brought consistent complaints over the last few years. So has the promise by political parties to do something about high rates and the lack of competition. Claudia Chender is the NDP Energy spokesperson as well as the MLA for Dartmouth South. Here's what she has to say about the politics of power.

On National Indigenous People's day, a ceremony was held in the South End of Halifax to rededicate Peace and Friendship Park. It was a recommendation to honour Mi'kmaq heritage on a spot that had been named for the British founder of Halifax. Lawyer and Mi'kmaq language specialist Jarvis Googoo, says treaty education is important. And he shares his thoughts on cancelling Canada day as we work towa...

Ken Gordon died in an accident on the side of Highway 103 in March of 2017. In the months following his passing, his then 10-year old son had asked what they were going to do with his clothes. That's when Matthew and his mother Lorna started a campaign to help others in need. And that has turned into clothes for people fighting addictions through Salvation Army and a bi-weekly support group in Tan...

Darren Hudson is a world-champion log roller and a professional lumberjack. Recently he found three abandoned baby crows while he was working in Shelburne County. He's now rehabilitating them and he's found they are keen to learn how to log roll with him at his property in Barrington.

A recent opinion poll by Narrative Research has the Iain Rankin and the Liberals ahead by a significant amount. Whether or not this turns into a majority government for the new premier is another discussion. And that is what I had with Dr. Lori Turnbull a political scientist with Dalhousie University and with Dr. Tom Urbaniak, Professor of Political Science at Cape Breton University.

Year end numbers back up the narrative that Nova Scotians were consuming more alcohol and cannabis during the pandemic. Beverly Ware is a spokesperson with the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation. She discusses the impact on local producers with the growth of the craft beer, wine, spirits and cannabis industries in the province. She also talks about the messaging behind the responsible consumption prog...

On June 12th, the group representing physicians in Nova Scotia elected a new executive and Dr. Heather Johnson was installed as president. We discuss the challenges the pandemic has presented along with the benefits and downsides of virtual care. And we also talk about the 65-thousand Nova Scotians still in need of a family doctor.

May was Lyme Disease Awareness month. And just because we've flipped the calendar, we can't let our guard down against ticks and tick-borne illness. Donna Lugar has been educating Nova Scotians about the disease for almost as far back as she was diagnosed with it. Today, the Government of Canada released a new video on how to safely remove a tick, a project Donna helped with.

A recent obituary on SaltWire.com highlighted one man's last wishes to have his remains donated to science. Every year, there are about 150 families who see their loved ones taking part in a program that dates back to the 19th Century. Robert Sandeski is the manager of the Human Body Donation Program at Dalhousie University. He explains the origins, the process, presumed organ donation and why thi...

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency are about to take delivery of their newest piece of equipment, a Canadian-built Firestorm 36 fire boat. An operation review in 2018 recommended the purchase of a new piece of equipment to help with firefighting and rescue work on the water and along the shore. The 36-foot aluminum craft comes in at a cost of about 1.25 million dollars and has a 30-year life expe...

Earlier this year, Halifax Public Libraries acquired a controversial book called Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. The Library Board decided to keep the book on its shelves, in spite of protests from the LGBTQ+ community. Dartmouth mom, Reverend Kim Curlett speaks about her son Miles and his journey of awakening. And we also hear from Floyd Blaikie, a board member...

He was known across Atlantic Canada for his weekly gas price predictions. But he was also a passionate politician and an ardent hockey fan. It was a shock to learn over the weekend that George Murphy had passed away, at the age of 58. He spoke with Sheldon back in March about how predicting fuel prices became his hobby and his passion, in part because an oil executive told him it was none of his b...