Latest news with #NovaScotiaGovernment
CTV News
6 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Premier gives Halifax council Morris Street deadline
Premier gives Halifax council Morris Street deadline Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says his government 'will be forced to act' if Halifax council does not reverse its Morris Street decision.
CTV News
07-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Three new health homes opening in the Halifax area
Three new health homes in HRM – including the Hobsons Lake Health Home in Beechville, which opened recently – are expected to take on more than 20,000 patients. (Source: Province of Nova Scotia) More than 20,000 people from the Need a Family Practice Registry will have access to a health-care provider as three new health homes open in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). The Nova Scotia government says health homes provide patients with access to a comprehensive care team of health-care professionals. The Hobsons Lake Health Home opened last month in Beechville and has the capacity for about 8,600 patients. The location currently has a family physician, nurse practitioner and a family practice nurse, with plans to increase staffing to: six physicians three family practice nurses two nurse practitioners one full-time and one part-time licensed practical nurse The Citadel Health Home in downtown Halifax and the Needham Health Home in Halifax's north end are expected to be fully operational by October, according to a news release from the Nova Scotia government. Once operational Citadel will have the capacity for about 6,000 patients, four physicians, one nurse practitioner, three family practice nurses and one licensed practical nurse. Needham will have the capacity for about 8,600 patients, six physicians, one nurse practitioner, three family practice nurses and one licensed practical nurse. 'We continue to build and strengthen health homes across the province, so patients have access to comprehensive primary healthcare in their communities,' said Adegoke Fadare, MLA for Clayton Park West, on behalf of Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson. 'These health homes will have a significant impact on further reducing the number of people waiting on the Need a Family Practice Registry.' Over time, the government plans to include clerical support and allied health professionals such as physiotherapists, social workers or dietitians at the three health homes. 'The development of health homes across Central Zone is a key part of our strategy to strengthen access to primary care and reduce the number of people waiting for a provider,' said Kolten MacDonell, director of Primary Health Care for Central Zone, Nova Scotia Health. 'These clinics will not only connect more than 20,000 people from the Need a Family Practice Registry with a primary care team, but also support long-term system transformation through multidisciplinary staffing, improved co-ordination, and a focus on patient-centred care.' For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CBC
18-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Opposition MLAs worry N.S. government is shelving environmental racism report
Opposition MLAs are concerned the Nova Scotia government could be shelving a report on environmental racism after senior Public Works officials told a committee on Wednesday that they have not seen that report or its recommendations a year after it was completed. In March, Deputy Premier Barb Adams said during question period that the report and its recommendations "are being used by all government departments." "This is an entire government approach in order to deal with the issues that the panel wanted to be addressed," Adams said at the time. "All government is reviewing those projects and working on the recommendations." But during a meeting of the legislature's public accounts committee on Wednesday to discuss an auditor general's report on contaminated sites, Public Works deputy minister Paul LaFleche and other senior officials said the report has not been shared with them. LaFleche later told reporters he would ensure staff in his department familiarize themselves with it. Public Works is responsible for dealing with the findings of reports and, when it comes to contaminated sites, cleaning them up and containing them, he said. "If something needs to be done by our department, we will be doing it," LaFleche said. Liberal MLA Iain Rankin said it's hard to explain why LaFleche and other officials would not have seen the report by now and he's left to conclude that the government is worried about the findings. "They're not being transparent," he told reporters. "That tells me that they're not putting a high priority on rectifying the issue of environmental racism … I think you could say it's been shelved." Minister won't say if she's read recommendations NDP MLA Lisa Lachance said it's disappointing that the report is not being made public and equally concerning that it's not been shared more broadly within the highest ranks of the government. "We all know the stories from Boat Harbour, from Africville from Shelburne," Lachance told reporters. A former dump was located in Shelburne next to a historic Black community in the 1940s, leading to ongoing concerns about health risks and effects. Africville is the former historic Black community in Halifax's north end that was denied municipal services and eventually expropriated by the city to make way for construction of the MacKay Bridge. Boat Harbour, a former tidal estuary next to Pictou Landing First Nation, was converted to a treatment lagoon for pulp mill waste after the community was misled by government and company officials of the day about the potential impacts. A former Liberal government, with all-party support, forced its closure in 2020 and a cleanup process has since been initiated. The creation of the panel and its report was the result of an NDP amendment to a piece of major environmental legislation from the Progressive Conservative government in 2022. The province received the report from the panel in June of 2024. Last month, Justice Minister Becky Druhan, who is also responsible for the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism, refused to say if she's read it and her department later said the report and its recommendations were never intended to be made public. The government has not made African Nova Scotian Affairs Minister Twila Grosse available to take questions on the matter.
CTV News
12-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
NS sees little interest for uranium exploration
Atlantic Watch Nova Scotia has received no bids for uranium exploration in the province yet.
CBC
10-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
N.S. government prepares engagement table on gender-based violence
A new engagement group on gender-based violence is intended to bring together subject matter experts, people with lived experience and front-line workers as the Nova Scotia government seeks progress on an issue the legislature declared an epidemic last year. Justice Minister Becky Druhan, who is leading the work, said the approach is based on a similar engagement group used to focus on child care when she was education minister. "It has proven to be a very effective way to ensure that sector and community has real, significant and meaningful input into government work," she said in an interview. Druhan said applications will open soon for up to 25 spots. The group's terms of reference and priorities will be finalized soon and then made public. The minister expects the first meeting to happen in the fall and for subsequent meetings at least once every three months. Bringing together insights and knowledge Although the government appreciates the work the sector is doing, Druhan said officials have also heard feedback that there needs to be a way to "knit together the insights and understanding and knowledge of first voices, of families and survivors and those who work on the front line" with the work the government is doing or planning. During the last meeting of the legislature's standing committee on health, the Liberals put forward a motion to create such a roundtable. A vote had been scheduled for Wednesday's committee meeting. In a news release, the party welcomed Druhan's announcement. "When we listen to the people doing this difficult work every day, and to those directly impacted, we can create better policies that save lives," Liberal MLA Iain Rankin said in the release. "I want to thank the presenters who supported the motion last month. Their insights helped build momentum for this important step. I'm hopeful that this initiative leads to real, coordinated action that helps those who need it most." Despite the Liberal motion, Druhan said the idea of an engagement table was something government officials had previously discussed with people connected to the sector. Must lead to change NDP Leader Claudia Chender said in a statement that the new group would only be successful if it leads to change. "We know what the problems are — and we know what must be done. The recommendations from the Mass Casualty Commission, the Lionel Desmond inquiry, and the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls — all provide us with a path forward. Now we need to do the work." For Chender, stable core funding for organizations that work to address and prevent gender-based violence would be a good first step. After tabling its budget earlier this year, the Progressive Conservatives announced additional funding for transition houses amid concerns there was not enough money being directed at the issue. That new money came after seven women were killed in Nova Scotia in less than five months whose deaths were connected to their male partners.
