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Friday marked the end of the fall legislative sitting. I was pleased to see a housing plan emerge after a great deal of advocacy from my colleagues and the community. There is so much more to be done, but further investment and protecting residents from mass eviction in the midst of a housing crisis, and a recognition that housing is a human right, are a needed start.
We also pushed for and received ministerial commitments to close the loophole around street checks and to end the racist practice of birth alerts. Crucially, our amendment to Bill 57 to create a panel to examine environmental racism was accepted and is now law.
I was also proud that my colleagues called Bill 19, The Owls Head Act for debate and ultimately to a vote. This bill strengthens the rules around ecologically protected areas and would require public consultation where a government tries to de-list an area that is pending protection. The bill was defeated, and every government MLA in the House voted against it, causing us to question how they truly feel about protecting ecologically vulnerable areas. See this saveowlshead.org post for a synopsis.
Among other legislation passed:
- amendments to the Motor Vehicle Act to help improve road safety
- amendments to the Cannabis Control Act to clarify the standard of reasonableness required to search a place or vehicle
- amendments to the Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act to support Nova Scotia Aquaculture Review Board operations
- amendments to the Police Act to allow the Serious Incident Response Team to conduct investigations or provide oversight of policing in another province
- new legislation called the Protecting Access to Health Services Act to protect patients, health-service providers and staff of healthcare facilities from protests by establishing a 50-metre bubble area
- legislation under the Tourism Nova Scotia Dissolution Act to transition Tourism Nova Scotia from a Crown corporation to a division of the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage.
The government has also announced it is working on legislation for next spring:
- to create a Children and Youth Commission that will protect and advance the rights, interests and viewpoints of children and youth - news release
- to define and address racism, in collaboration with all parties - Global News piece
- to enshrine Mi'kmaw as Nova Scotia's first language. - news release
Bill 57 - Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act
A major milestone this sitting was the introduction and passage of Bill 57 - Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act.
A long Law Amendments Committee meeting on Monday afternoon extended into the evening. Nova Scotians provided their feedback on a number of Acts, but by far the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act drew the largest crowd and strongest feedback from the community.
MLA Hansen was victorious in bringing an amendment to Bill 57 that addresses environmental racism. It was one of two amendments out of 32 proposed on the bill--many directly proposed by environmental experts and NGOs--that were accepted and will be added to the new Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act. We are very pleased with this outcome.
Booster Doses
Nova Scotia will begin to administer COVID-19 booster doses to more eligible groups by the end of November. The Province will accept all five recommendations announced on October 29 by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). This includes offering boosters to people with a higher risk of serious COVID-19 illness or decreased protection since vaccination.
NACI recommended that booster doses be offered at least six months after the primary series is completed. Groups who will be eligible for a booster dose in Nova Scotia include:
- anyone 80 and older, followed by anyone ages 70 to 79
- adult frontline healthcare workers who were double vaccinated with an interval of less than 28 days between their first and second doses
- people who received two doses of the AstraZeneca Vaxzevria/COVISHIELD vaccine or one dose of Janssen vaccine
More information will be announced once booking for booster doses opens.
History of booster dose availability in Nova Scotia:
- booster doses for people living in long-term care and other congregate settings that provide care for seniors became available October 25
- third doses for moderately to severely immunocompromised people or people who are taking medications that substantially suppress their immune system became available October 4
- people who are required to travel for work to a country that does not recognize a mixed vaccine series may be eligible for a third dose to meet entry requirements or to avoid isolation
Vaccine Mandate Report
Employers are required to collect and report vaccination rates as part of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, announced September 29th.
Under the mandate, all employees are required to have at least a first dose of vaccine by November 30, with a requirement to show proof of full vaccination 70 days after their first dose. Those who are partially vaccinated may be subjected to other health and safety measures, including testing. Those who do not have a first dose by November 30 will be placed on unpaid administrative leave.
As of November 4, between 50-90% of employees in key sectors have provided proof of vaccination. Of those who responded, most are fully vaccinated:
- Nova Scotia Health Authority: 91%
- IWK Health Centre: 99%
- Long-term care: 93%
- Home care: 89%
- Education: 97%
- Emergency Health Services: 99%
High-Dose Flu Vaccine
I've had many inquiries regarding the availability of high-dose flu vaccines for seniors. Unfortunately, Nova Scotia doesn't publicly fund the high-dose flu vaccine.
PANS has compiled a list of pharmacies, whether they ordered the high-dose flu vaccine and the process by which they are administering it to the community. You can view that here.
The few available doses are available only to the pharmacies that decide to order them in. Every pharmacy is different in the way they decide to give out the vaccines, please do contact us if you have an issue locating one.
Thank you to all of you who have been in touch through the recent session, please reach out if there is anything our office can help you with.
Kind regards,
Claudia
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Traffic Safety Act
Nova Scotians can now provide feedback on proposed regulations defining the offences and mandatory suspensions under the Traffic Safety Act. These regulations also specify the penalties and fines associated with each offence. More info here.
Review the draft regulations and send your comments by email to tsa@novascotia.ca. The deadline to submit your feedback is Monday, 29 November 2021.
Lyme Disease
Nova Scotians who get bitten by a tick can now go to their local pharmacy to assess the need for treatment to help prevent Lyme disease. The cost of the assessment will be covered by the government, effective immediately.
Nova Scotians who had a tick bite previously had to go to a physician or nurse practitioner to get a provincially covered assessment, but pharmacists can now assess and determine whether a preventive antibiotic is appropriate. The assessment would include:
- whether the tick bite was from a black-legged tick
- whether the tick was removed in the previous 72 hours
- whether the tick was attached for at least 36 hours.
If the antibiotic treatment - a single dose of doxycycline - is prescribed, the patient would pay for the medication by their usual method.
The treatment is only recommended if it can be administered within a 72-hour window after the tick is removed. If there are any symptoms of Lyme disease, such as a rash at the bite site, people need to see a doctor or nurse practitioner for other treatment options.
Despite cooler temperatures, ticks are still around in Nova Scotia. They remain active until the temperature is consistently below 4°C. More information is available on Tick Safety and Lyme Disease in Nova Scotia.
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Recently constituents have been inquiring about petitions in the Legislature. A petition is a citizen’s direct plea to the Crown for relief from a grievance. A citizen who signs a petition is a “petitioner”.
The main effect of petitioning the House is calling attention to a local grievance and publicly recording the citizens’ request for relief from the Crown. Consequently, the openness and transparency of petitioning also mean that the name and address of every individual citizen who signs the petition becomes public.
There is no debate on petitions presented to the House during the Daily Routine. A lone petition, without a motion, cannot prompt a debate. Yet as part of the legislative record, a petition can still resurface in the House later. Technically, an accepted petition may form the subject of a separate, subsequent motion during the Session (e.g., to refer the Petition to a Committee). Any MLA may also reference the petition during debate(s) relevant to the grievance raised or relief sought in the petition.
Although all citizens possess the fundamental democratic right to petition the Crown, no unelected Nova Scotian enjoys the right to appear personally in the House of Assembly. In our representative democracy, elected legislators are therefore tasked with presenting petitions on behalf of their constituents.
Three-Step Procedure for Petitions:
A petition cannot be accepted by the House of Assembly unless it is “in order”: the petition must comply with the current Rules and Forms of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (‘the Rules’). The Rules do not permit electronic/online petitions.
Petitioning the Crown through the House of Assembly involves the following three steps:
Step 1: Constituents Prepare Petition
The House of Assembly does not have a standard form for petitions. A sample template is available from the Clerk’s Office (find one here).
For a petition to be accepted by the House, the form and content of the petition must first comply with the following requirements:
- Prepared on Physical Paper, with Handwritten Local Signatures
- Appropriately Addressed to Legislature or Executive
- Contain A Prayer for Relief
- Within Provincial Jurisdiction
- And Endorsed (Signed) by MLA
1. Prepared on Physical Paper, with Handwritten Local Signatures
Physical Paper: The petition must be prepared and presented on physical, hard paper, and the undersigned names must be handwritten.
- Photocopies are out-of-order
- Online petitions or e-petitions are out-of-order
- No print-outs from Internet-generated petitions (e.g., change.org)
Local Signatures: The petition must be handwritten with the name and addresses of at least one natural person (a human being) who resides in the affected area.
- The geographic scope of a petition may encompass multiple electoral districts
- Corporations and businesses cannot sign
- A petitioner cannot sign on behalf of someone else
- A mailing address is not strictly required
- at minimum, each petitioner should provide sufficient information to link their place of residence to the electoral district covered by the petition, such as:
- postal code (by itself) or
- community name (e.g., Sydney River)
- municipality name (e.g., Cape Breton Regional Municipality)
2. Appropriately Addressed to Legislature or Executive
The petition must be appropriately addressed to any one of the following officials or entities:
- A Minister of the Crown or the Premier of Nova Scotia
- Use only the title of the portfolio or office, not the personal name or the Minister (e.g., The Premier of Nova Scotia, not Premier Houston/ Tim Houston)
- Ensure the Department name is correct: see Executive Council Act, RSNS 1989, c 155.
- The House of Assembly or the Legislature; or
- The Government of Nova Scotia; or
- The Executive Council of Nova Scotia
Petitions addressed to an individual MLA, to a municipality, board, organization, tribunal, court, administrative bodies/offices, etc. are all out-of-order.
3. Contain a “prayer for relief” on EVERY single page
The first page and every page bearing a signature must contain a “prayer for relief”
- A prayer for relief is a legal term for seeking a remedy - not a religious plea
- A remedy is a request to take an action or refrain from taking an action
- Expressing an opinion or criticism (i.e., the road is rough and dirty) is not a prayer for relief
- The prayer for relief must be framed clearly as a direct request
- E.g., to fix a specific problem, to undo a previous decision, or to stop a discrete event from happening
- The prayer for relief must use respectful, moderate words – insulting, inflammatory, or otherwise unparliamentary language cannot be accepted
4. Within Provincial Jurisdiction
The Legislature must have lawmaking jurisdiction over the grievance.
- The grievance – i.e., the issue or problem underlying the petition – must fall within the Province’s legislative jurisdiction under the Constitution
- E.g., petitions to reform the Criminal Code are out-of-order: criminal law is the exclusive jurisdiction of Federal Parliament
- If the grievance involves an issue that is currently under litigation in the courts, the petition cannot be accepted
- If addressed to a specific Minister or involving a single Department, the grievance must fall within the Minister’s portfolio / Department’s statutory scheme
5. Affixed with MLA’s Signature (Signed) by MLA
For the House to accept a petition, it must bear the signature of the MLA who represents the affected area.
- Affixing their signature does not signify MLA support for the grievance raised, nor does it signify advocacy for the relief sought
- Rather, the MLA signature only confirms that they have agreed to submit the petition as the elected representative for the affected area and that they are answerable for any inappropriate content
- The MLA signature must be affixed somewhere outside / other than a signature line for petitioners – the best location is on the front page
Step 2: MLA Submits Petition to the House
Once the MLA has received a completed petition from their constituent(s) either directly to the Clerk's Office or in the chamber during the Daily Routine.
The Clerk’s Office examines the filed petition to ensure it complies with the form and content prescribed by the Rules and explained under Step 1 above.
If the petition does not comply, the Clerk’s Office will explain what must be revised before the House can accept the petition. The MLA can then follow up with the petitioner(s), who may then revise the petition at their convenience.
Step 3: Petition is Recorded and Transmitted
Once the House accepts a valid petition, it becomes a permanent part of the legislative record. Petitions are recorded by the Clerk’s Office in the Journals and Proceedings of the House of Assembly. Any person may ask to read or receive a copy of the complete petition by contacting the Clerk’s Office.
The Clerk’s Office forwards petitions to the addressee (i.e., the Minister(s) responsible and/or the Executive Council).
Unlike some other Canadian jurisdictions, the Rules do not explicitly obligate the addressee to publicly respond to the petition in the House. Although there is no explicit obligation to do so, when the addressee is an individual Ministers or Executive Council, the addressee may choose to respond orally during Statements by Ministers. Alternatively, a Minister or the Government House Leader may table a written response to the petition under the “Tabling Reports, Regulations, and Other Papers” item of business during the Daily Routine.
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The Salvation Army Christmas Assistance 2021
The Salvation Army Maritime Division provides Christmas assistance, such as toys and food support, for children and families in need.
Registration Deadline: December 6
Applications and more info can be found here.
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HomeFirst Theatre & YWCA Halifax Stained Glass Raffle Fundraiser
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HomeFirst Theatre is honoured to support the work of the YWCA’s December 6th Foundation in a joint fundraiser raffle of SHATTERED, an original stained glass inspired by the memory of the fourteen women lost in the École Polytechnique Massacre on December 6th, 1989.
Tickets are one for $5.00, or three for $10.00.
Tickets are now on sale; the draw date is December 7th.
About the YWCA’s December 6th Foundation
The YWCA’s December 6th Foundation provides non-interest bearing microloans of up to $500 for housing-related costs for women transitioning out of abusive relationships. 50% of ticket sales from the raffle will be donated to this fund.
About SHATTERED
Heather Elms-Wood is a stained glass artist living in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Each of the fourteen panels within SHATTERED contains a fracture, a metaphor for the pain that reverberated throughout Canada following the loss of the fourteen victims of the École Polytechnique Massacre.
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The Starfish Top 25 Under 25 Environmentalists
Nominations are open!
To recognize the devotion of many youth environmentalists, the Top 25 Program celebrates and rewards these young environmentalists creating positive change in their community by sharing their story through a national platform. Applications close November 20th, 11:59PM EST. Visit this link to nominate a youth environmentalist today!
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Volunteers Needed
The Christ Church Food Bank is in need of drivers on Wednesday mornings for delivery to their shut-in clients.
If you would like to help, please email Christine for more information at choehne@eastlink.ca.
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