Mainstreet Halifax

In talks about the Mass Casualty Commission's final report recommendations, Nova Scotia's Justice Minister Brad Johns told reporters that domestic violence is not an epidemic. He has since apologized. We hear reactions from Premier Tim Houston and Anita Stewart, the executive director of the Antigonish Women's Resource Centre and Sexual Assault Services Association.

Mainstreet gets a crash course — a tutorial — on how to safely use e-scooters now that they're back on the streets of Halifax for the 2024 season. Host Jeff Douglas is joined by Max Rastelli, the owner of HFX e-Scooters.

Tuesday's federal budget includes nearly $53 billion in new spending over the next five years with a clear focus on affordability and housing. To help pay for some of that new spending, Ottawa is proposing a hike to the capital gains tax. Moshe Lander, an economics lecturer at Concordia University, joins host Jeff Douglas to explain.

On their website, local musical alt-folk duo Pillow Fite promises to live up to its name by wielding softness and making it sting. Members Art Ross and Aaron Green dropped into the Mainstreet Living Room to perform in a Mainstreet Backseat Traffic Jam.

The Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre will open its doors this weekend for a traditional Mi'kmaw vendor market. The goal is to raise money for summer activities for urban Indigenous children in need. Lisa Robinson, program facilitator with the Mi'kmaq Child Development Centre, joins host Jeff Douglas to explain.

One of nature's wonders is under serious threat. Coral around the world is turning white, and in some cases dying, because of climate change and warming oceans. Host Jeff Douglas is joined by Isabelle Jubinville, a marine biologist with Oceana Canada in Halifax, to talk about why this is happening.

A group called A-15 Action has called on people around the world to block "the arteries of capitalism" in solidarity with Palestinians. Alex Khasnabish, a professor of sociology and anthropology at Mount St. Vincent University, joins guest host Preston Mulligan to talk about this approach to protesting what's happening to people in Gaza and the history of similar attempts to bring about change.

Advocates for victims of sexual assault say only 10 per cent actually report it — but if more people knew about the services sexual assault nurse examiners provide, more victims would come forward to seek help. Cara Steele, who manages the SANEs program at the Avalon Centre in Halifax, offers some insight into what they do.

There appears to be a fair bit of acrimony between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and many of the provinces at the moment — but why is that? Is it that the federal government is down in the polls? Or that it's out of step with Conservative premiers? Mainstreet's Spinbusters Barb Emodi, Michelle Coffin and Chris Lydon join guest host Preston Mulligan to talk it out.

While volunteerism is down across Canada after the COVID-19 pandemic, the North Grove in Dartmouth, N.S., is bucking that trend. Executive director Wendy Fraser joins host Jeff Douglas to talk about how the community hub has seen a record number of volunteer hours put in at its North Dartmouth location.