When we talk about housing affordability the focus is usually on home ownership and high housing costs. Less discussed is the affordability crisis faced by the third of Canadian households (4.7 million families) who rent their homes. This paper looks at the extent of the problem by determining the hourly…
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The urgency of the global climate crisis could not be more obvious than in India right now, where a 50ºC heatwave is causing “heavy casualties” both directly through heat-related deaths and indirectly through water and food shortages. Canadians have been spared that kind of heat so far, but it’s little…
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A wise person once said to me, as we watched a local organization slowly spiral out of existence, “You know it’s over when they’re counting the pencils in the drawers.” That stuck with me. So did the next piece of wisdom: “That’s why you don’t let accountants run everything.” (For…
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That 55-cent increase to the minimum wage on April 1st undoubtedly felt like an April fools’ joke to some of the province’s lowest paid workers. Nova Scotia still has the lowest minimum wage in the country for inexperienced workers, and for experienced workers it has only just slightly surpassed its…
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The performance of the Nova Scotia economy is a mixed bag. After years of little or no employment growth, the labour market improved marginally in 2018. Overall employment increased by 2.1%, and the unemployment rate decreased from 8.2% to 6.9%, still significantly higher than the national rate of 5.8%. These…
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A cross-country scan of the state of public primary and secondary education in Canada for November 2018. View the story Menu British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba Ontario Nova Scotia Our Schools | Our Selves November 2018 Edited by Erika Shaker As part of its new digital format, Our Schools /…
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By Lesley Frank Next week marks the end of the school year and for some families the end of supports that are only available to their children in school, including breakfast. Families should have access to family-centred income and services provided without stigma for all. To reduce poverty requires leadership…
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There is an urgency for our government to use fiscal policy to promote a different kind of economic growth that no longer sacrifices the environment, our natural resources, or quality of life for the many. But this is not what the Nova Scotia Budget 2018-19 has done. Ultimately, our fiscal health depends on…
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On Monday morning, there is a rally planned to try and save the South Shore Community Midwives, one of Nova Scotia’s rural midwifery programs. The program has been suspended for three weeks and its long term survival is in question. The current crisis presents an opportunity to rethink the program’s…
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The annual child and family poverty report card, published in partnership with Campaign 2000, is a reminder of how broken our social contract is, and of the urgency to fix it. What values should be prioritized and what rights should be upheld? Weaving together a strong social contract and building…
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