Dykelands and agricultural areas are seen in the Bay of Fundy, which faces significant threats from climate change. Retaining a focus on the public interest will be essential to preserving its long-term health.
(Elson Ian Nyl Ebreo Galang/NSERC ResNet)
With the recent scrapping of Nova Scotia’s Coastal Protection Act, the future of Canada’s iconic Bay of Fundy now rests in the hands of private interests, with potentially significant consequences.
An image shows the firearms found in the car driven by Gabriel Wortman, the perpetrator of the April 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia that left 22 people dead. It was shown at the Mass Casualty Commission inquiry.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Over the past year, Ottawa has had a mixed record in implementing the Mass Casualty Commission’s firearm recommendations. Some provinces, however, have sought to limit implementation.
A motorist stops to survey the damage to a washed-out roadway near McKay Section, N.S. on July 23, 2023. A long procession of intense thunderstorms dumped record amounts of rain across a wide swath of Nova Scotia, causing flash flooding, road washouts and power outages.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
Public concerns for real estate value, and a focus on the self, make flood risk maps unpopular. However, these concerns should not dissuade governments from providing resources we can all trust.
The Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, in Dartmouth, N.S. The Nova Scotia Supreme Court recently ruled that the use of lockdowns to address staff shortages at provincial jails is unlawful.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Dembeck
As seas rise, it is clear that traditional coastal defence approaches are unable to keep pace. Nature-based solutions offer considerable potential to protect coasts, people and biodiversity.
The oceans are rapidly warming and Canada’s marine protections must be able to adapt quickly to meet these changes.
(Brittany Griffin, Unsplash)
As oceans warm, Canada’s marine protections system looks woefully inadequate. New monitoring systems and flexible governance can help Canada protect the areas most likely to have the greatest impact.
Hurricane Lee became the busy 2023 hurricane season’s first Category 5 storm and one of the most intense hurricanes on record in the Atlantic Ocean.
(NOAA via AP)
Can Hurricane Fiona give us a hint about what future climate change might bring to Eastern Canada? Unravelling this question could lie in understanding ancient storm records.
Halifax’s Cogswell Street Interchange, built in 1969, is being redeveloped into a mixed-use residential district.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
African Nova Scotians have historically suffered the negative consequences of urban redevelopment. New projects in Halifax must involve genuine engagement with racialized communities.
Food insecurity can impact both a mother’s ability or decision to breastfeed, and also the ability to purchase baby formula.
(Shutterstock)
Low-income mothers with infants are struggling with food insecurity, which can lead to long-term health impacts for both mothers and children.
School-community partnerships are empowering children and youth to lead projects like landscaping a new Tranquility Garden in Northport, N.S., in 2020.
(UpLift Partnership)
Involving youth in promoting health in schools can catalyze students’ ability to bring about positive change. On International Youth Day and year round, more adults could lift up youth voices.
Being in a legal grey area means sex workers are at a disadvantage when they have been the victim of a crime or defrauded.
(Shutterstock)
If sex workers have to pay taxes and have all the other burdens of business and employment, then surely their contracts must be honoured as well.
The Mass Casualty Commission has released its final report on the mass murder that happened in rural Nova Scotia in April 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
The mass casualty commission report into the Nova Scotia mass murders outlines the perpetrator’s history of sexual abuse toward sex workers and what should be done to prevent it from happening again.
Friends, family and supporters of the victims of the mass killings in rural Nova Scotia in 2020 react at the release of the final report of the Mass Casualty Commission inquiry in Truro, N.S.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s apology to Black soldiers who served in the First World War was a good first step, but real action is needed to address racism in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Locating early learning programs in schools provides stable programming infrastructure and allows for potential collaborations between early childhood educators and teachers.
(Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)
Evacuations can save lives, as in the case of post-tropical cyclone Fiona. As more frequent extreme weather events are set to occur, it is important to have evacuation plans in place.
A tree knocked down by post-tropical storm Fiona leans against a house in Sydney, N.S.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Vaughan Merchant
Hurricane Fiona is the most devastating storm to hit Atlantic Canada. International collaboration between ocean measurement institutions is necessary to help efficiently plan responses to hurricanes.
A Canadian flag waves in the high winds in Dartmouth, N.S. on Sept. 24, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Hurricanes don’t usually maintain high wind speeds as they make their way toward Atlantic Canada. But ocean warming may be linked to the increasing intensity of storms like Fiona.
RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki testifies at the Mass Casualty Commission inquiry on Aug. 23, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Discussions of political interference are largely misdirected because they distract from the necessary and warranted criticisms of the RCMP’s mishandling of the mass shooting.
Reconsidering the rules of the game may help prevent concussions and other injuries.
(John Woods/Rugby Canada)
Girls’ rugby is a sport with higher than expected concussion rates. As the sport grows in popularity, preventing concussions is more effective than treating them.