Nova Scotia’s PC government rolled out its first capital spending plan yesterday, and it comes with a $1.58 billion price tag. Yes, that’s billion with a bee, the highest in provincial history. The plan includes ramped-up spending on health facilities and hospital infrastructure. Missing from the list of major infrastructure projects for 2022-2023 is affordable […]
Lyndsay Armstrong
Lyndsay was a city reporter covering all things Halifax, health and COVID-19. She is a data journalist who has covered provincial politics for allNovaScotia.com and represented Nova Scotia in a national investigation into lead in drinking water with the Toronto Star and Global.
Posted inNews + Opinion
Nova Scotia now has almost no COVID rules, but masks are still mandatory in schools
At one minute after midnight this morning, Monday, March 21, Nova Scotia removed almost all of its COVID-19 restrictions. Yesterday, it was illegal for more than 25 people to hang out together indoors; today there is no gathering limit. Last week, people in line at the grocery store had to stand two metres apart; today […]
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Nova Scotia’s first day hospital for mental health set to open in Halifax
Halifax will soon be home to the province’s first mental health day hospital, which will offer intensive care for 10 patients at a time. The day hospital, which will be located within the Abbie J Lane Memorial Building, near the corner of Summer Street and Jubilee Road on the QEII Health Sciences Centre campus, is […]
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Nova Scotia’s infertility emergency
When Aimee MacDonald and her wife Allison MacLennan were going through the years-long process of getting pregnant with assisted reproductive therapy, they decided to keep it quiet. “This was a journey that we took alone, no one really knew we were doing this,” MacDonald says. There were a number of reasons for keeping the experience […]
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What to expect when the Portapique Mass Casualty Commission public proceedings begin this week
The public part of the Mass Casualty Commission—the expensive, slow-moving inquiry into what happened when a gunman dressed as an RCMP officer shot and killed 22 Nova Scotians in April 2020—starts Tuesday, February 22. That’s four months later than first planned. The joint federal and provincial commission will open public proceedings tomorrow at 9:30am at […]
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Gaps in OBGYN care in Nova Scotia: “The medical system just isn’t structured to help”
It was midnight, about 12 hours into her visit to the emergency department at the QEII, and still 24-year-old Ariel McTavish hadn’t seen a doctor. She had contemplated leaving; the wait wasn’t just long, it was terribly uncomfortable. She was cold, wearing just a johnny shirt. She was vomiting into a bag. She was there […]
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A Valentine for Nova Scotians as COVID restrictions will be eased February 14
Nova Scotia’s three-phase reopening plan begins Valentine’s Day, with expanded capacity at restaurants, bars, salons and stores. The gathering limit will be bumped from 10 people to 25, and festivals, performances, and arts and culture events can go ahead with 50 percent of a venue’s capacity. “It’s time to change our perspective and our approach. […]
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New affordable units coming and a housing minister apology
Twenty new affordable housing units will be built in next year in Eastern Shore and Dartmouth, the province, HRM and the federal government announced Friday. Following the announcement, provincial housing minister John Lohr apologized for using the word “ghetto” when talking about affordable housing Thursday. “I want to make an unequivocal apology,” minister Lohr said. […]
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Restrictions extended to Feb 14 as NS reports its 30th COVID death this month
The province reported the deaths of three Nova Scotians due to COVID-19 today, marking 25 reported deaths in the last two weeks. Chief medical officer of health Robert Strang said these deaths are “unfortunate,” but he remains confident in Nova Scotia’s current public health protections. “I don’t mean to diminish it at all. Those are […]
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New Dartmouth addictions centre opens Jan 25
A new addictions centre in Dartmouth will offer recovery, withdrawal and harm reduction support beginning Jan 25. The Alderney Drive centre is the first of four of these addiction support sites planned in last year’s budget. The other three recovery centres will be built in Truro, Cape Breton and Halifax over the next two years. […]
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No need for contact tracing in schools, says Doctor Strang
Chief medical officer of health Robert Strang said Wednesday that COVID contact tracing in schools is disruptive and offers “no added value.” On the same day, Nova Scotia Health announced it will no longer release exposure notifications. The move away public COVID notices isn’t sitting well with everyone. Doctor Strang acknowledged that people have had […]
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Halifax engineer questions province’s $1,250+ HEPA filter purchase
A Halifax engineer, who did his own minor ventilation upgrade to his childrens’ HRM school due to COVID concerns in summer 2020, said the province likely paid too much for the new HEPA filters. The province plans to have these $1,250 (plus tax) units installed in 71 schools before in-person class resumes Monday. The filters, […]