Today is International Women's Day, celebrating the social, economic, and cultural achievements of women everywhere. On this day, we can each reflect on the role we play in the pursuit of gender equality.
Our Liberal Caucus is incredibly fortunate to have strong female representation from across Nova Scotia. While much progress has been made, our government remains firmly committed to ensuring women and girls continue shaping the future of our communities, our province, and our society.
Our COVID-19 immunization rollout is on-track and is expanding to include pharmacy clinics and community health providers. Pharmacies in HRM, Shelburne, Port Hawkesbury, and Springhill will be prototype clinics, and will inform changes to vaccine delivery moving forward. Further pharmacy locations are also set to open in April.
In continuing our rollout, healthcare workers who have direct patient contact will soon receive invitations to schedule vaccination appointments. Community-based clinics will start immunizing on March 8. In addition, 13,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will also be administered starting the week of March 15th at 26 locations across the province.
For more information, visit: https://novascotia.ca/news/search/?dept=134
Pre-Primary Roll Out
By this fall, every four-year-old in Nova Scotia will have access to pre-primary. This is, and has been, an incredibly important investment in the future of our youth.
- Pre-primary will be expanded to 48 remaining school communities this Sept. 2020
- Which specific schools will offer pre-primary will be determined by the regional centre for education or CSAP
- This completed expansion will bring the total to 253 school communities across NS offering pre-primary
- Last year (2018-19) more than 4,550 four-year-olds registered for the program
- Busing will also be available to all eligible pre-primary children come this September
- More than 30 sites offer Before and After programs as well
- With a focus on access to transportation this year, government will then look at how to expand the Before and After program
Find the schools near you.. https://www.ednet.ns.ca/pre-primary
Hurricane Dorian - Disaster Financial Assistance Program
September 7, 2019 will be remembered by many as the weather event known as Hurricane Dorian struck our province. The results of the hurricane were felt in both rural and urban communities and varied in strength across the province. Damage resulting from the hurricane also varied across the province. For example: in Halifax the collapse of a crane from one of the construction projects attracted a lot of attention and caused significant damage and loss of property value in the city.
In 2016, a weather event that included extensive flooding, also caused damage in certain parts of the province. As we did then, Government introduced the Disaster Financial Assistance Program to help those who were impacted. This program is designed to help individual property owners, as well as small businesses for uninsured losses.
The SANE Program
More services will soon be provided for Nova Scotians who have experienced sexual assault or abuse. I am pleased to report that those expanded services will be available here in Colchester County. The SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) program supports survivors of sexual assault, and a contract to provide those services has been awarded to VON (Victorian Order of Nurses). VON will work with the NSHA (Nova Scotia Health Authority) to train nurses to deliver the program. These are registered nurses who will have advanced training and expertise so they can provide specialized medical and forensic response.
Colchester Community Workshop
There is something special about the Colchester Community Workshop on Arthur Street in Truro. It is true, they have a great Board of Directors who have guided decision making over the years, and who continue to move the Workshop into the future. Those decisions support and enhance the lives of adults with intellectual disabilities.
The Workshop also has a great network of business leaders and caring individuals throughout Colchester County who provide financial support through charitable donations. These contributions help maintain, enhance and expand the services and opportunities for clients. There is a great network of staff and volunteers who give tirelessly of themselves each and every day to ensure the clients are cared for and supported while at the Workshop or out in the community.
Doctors - 2019 (from Shoreline Journal)
As we continue our investments in Health Care, and in particular in doctor recruitment, there are some facts and some information that it is important for my constituents and all Shoreline readers to know.
Nova Scotia, like all other provinces in Canada, is faced with a shortage of doctors, in particular, in Family Medicine practices. Looking at our province in comparison to all other Canadian provinces, the Canadian Institute for Health Information reports that Nova Scotia has the highest number of doctors per capita in Canada. We are fortunate to be in this position. However, many of those doctors are in specialist areas, in research or in teaching at the Dalhousie Medical School. We need those doctors to be practicing in Family Medicine in our own communities. Our focus continues to be finding a family practice doctor to take over the patient roster when an older doctor retires.
NS Tourism
As the MLA for Colchester North, and in my duties as a provincial cabinet minister, I have been incredibly fortunate to represent my constituents in the legislative assembly.
A recent article by CNN placed Nova Scotia on their list of most desirable places to visit this summe (See CNN List). We know that our province is brimming with unique sights and attractions, scenic trails, plentiful historic sites, and incredible beauty from one corner to the other. However, it is nice to be recognized for something we already know, and the province has worked hard to move Nova Scotia from a vacation haven to a prominent tourism destination. With our population at an all-time high at 966,858, our unemployment rate nearing the lowest rate on record at 6.6 per cent, and more Nova Scotians working full-time than ever before, it instills pride in all of us to say we are Nova Scotians.
We offer no-charge energy assessments and home upgrades to income-qualified homeowners. Know someone we can help? No Child Should Ever Go Hungry
Through Nourish NS, your Nova Scotia Liberal government is expanding the school breakfast program to provide a healthy breakfast to every single student in the province, five days a week.
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