I've heard a lot of politicians make promises and offer apologies over the years. But this is one of the first times where action came so quickly. In opposition, Tim Houston was in favour of fixed date elections and other policies. And this week he appointed Dwayne Provo to the role of associate deputy minister for the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs. And there are other promises to keep too Mister Premier.

The Speech from the Throne is the government's opportunity to share its vision for the upcoming legislative session. And there's a lot of hope and optimism about the future for addressing the health care issues facing the province. Hope is good. But it's not enough.

For the past 20 months, holiday and family gatherings have been impacted and limited by social bubbles and physical distancing. And now that we're getting closer to living our lives with fewer restrictions, there's a lot to look forward to and to be thankful for.

It's hard to escape the impact a global pandemic has had on our daily lives. There are other things happening that aren't about passports, vaccines and case numbers. Right?

3.5-Billion users around the world were affected by the six hour outage of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp on Monday, October 4th. And it also affected Facebook's bottom line with Mark Zuckerberg losing about 7-billion dollars. This is happening just as a former company executive is sounding the alarm on how dangerous social media is, and how it all comes down to the trolls.

Some people are erroneously claiming they are being discriminated against because they don't want to get the COVID-19 vaccination. And while most of us don't have to be told to be kind by Doctor Strang, it's likely a tough ask of these Facebook epidemiologists and social media constitutional experts.

Public health officials and political leaders have been calling this now a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Starting Monday, you will need to show you've had both shots to be able to do non-essential things in Nova Scotia as part of a modified Phase Five. By the end of November, vaccines will be mandatory for some workers in the province. And it's clear patience is running out for conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers and their excuses. And I'm fine with that.

The Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre has been working for a year to prepare for the next three days of activity on the Halifax Waterfront. They are recognizing Orange Shirt Day, Treaty Day and a Family Day. It's being called an opportunity to share Mi'kmaq culture as we continue on the journey to reconcile the impact of the Residential schools. And on this inaugural National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, we should all listen and learn.

One of the many things I've learned over the decades, is that the opposition parties are always more likely to accept an invitation to an interview than the government. But it's always been important to be respectful and decent when speaking truth to power, and to those who want to gain that power.

Up until today, the only information being disclosed on COVID-19 cases in Nova Scotia schools has been coming from a group of volunteers. Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education has been urging government to include affected schools on its list of exposure sites. And now that government has agreed to at least disclose how many schools are impacted, there's the other issues of masks in classrooms and what will happen when we move into the next phase of reopening.