One of the housing crisis solutions adopted by Halifax Regional Municipality was to allow secondary and backyard suites. And for a Dartmouth-based social enterprise, there's an opportunity to help on several levels. LakeCity Works has been supporting clients living with mental illness by giving them jobs to create skills and income. And their micro-home project is still moving through the approval process to give an affordable option for housing. Lisa Barkhouse is the Director of Operations for LakeCity Works. She talks about their Urban Cabin fundraiser and the bright future for the 40-year old enterprise.

The leader of one of the main health care unions in Nova Scotia were repeating her call for help in addressing the challenges in Long Term Care this week. Nan McFadgen is the president of CUPE-NS. And she is worried about the impact the impact of low wages and staffing levels are having on workers and the people they care for. McFadgen admits she was frustrated in her appearance in front of the Standing Committee on Health this week. But she is offering guidance and science to back up their calls for higher pay and more time with each resident. And she says it comes down to the willingness of the Progressive Conservative government to make the changes necessary.

As the long-awaited modular units for the people experiencing homelessness on Alderney Drive, a Dartmouth councilor is sharing his thoughts. District 5 representative Sam Austin admits they made mistakes when they tore down the temporary shelters in HRM last summer. And the Dartmouth Centre councilor says they over-promised and under-delivered on their plan. But he says in spite of that, they are making progress and they are still working to correct their mistakes and learn from them.

For most of the pandemic, Nova Scotians have fared quite well with relatively few people contracting COVID 19. But since the end of 2021 and over the past few weeks, we've seen thousands of cases of the Omicron variant. And while it would have been unlikely to know someone personally who had a positive case in the past, all bets are off. Many workplaces are dealing with staff shortages because of the isolation requirements for employees who have tested positive. And that also includes a member of the Multimedia Team at SaltWire. SaltWire Today Host Kate Walker is four days into her quarantine and shares her experience with us in this conversation about shame and stigma and guilt.

It's a small victory for parents and educators who were looking for added protection in Nova Scotia schools. And the delay in reopening after the Christmas break has also made some people happy. But not all. Stacey Rudderham is one of the founders of Nova Scotia Parents for Better Education. She had to post a message to admonish some of the 21-thousand members of their Facebook group because of the comments and personal attacks. She says it's a time to be civil with each other, especially if we disagree, if we want to make it a better working and learning environment.

The Nova Scotia Teacher's Union was pleased to see the province delay the reopening of schools for another week. And there's some optimism that ventilation issues will also be addressed. But today, the New Democrats are urging the province to act on another request. That is, to prioritize teachers and staff for boosters ahead of the start up of in-class learning. Suzy Hansen is a former school board representative and is currently the NDP MLA for Halifax-Needham. She is also the opposition spokesperson for education. And she explains why that, and other ways schools can be made safer for students. She is recovering from COVID19 and that did affect her ability to speak at times during the conversation.

He spent a short six months as Premier after winning the leadership of the Nova Scotia Liberals in 2021. Since then, he's been serving as the leader of the official opposition. Today, Iain Rankin announced he was stepping aside to let someone else take over the party. He says it was the quiet reflection over the holidays with his wife and new daughter that brought him to this decision. And in this conversation, we discuss other political decisions of the past year that in hindsight he doesn't agree with. As well, we talk legislative legacies and the Owl's Head fallout and leadership in politics.

Students in Nova Scotia have gotten an extended holiday break because of the latest COVID variant. It started a week early with staffing challenges because of mandatory quarantining and positive cases. And they decided to push ahead the start date to next Monday, January 10th. But the Nova Scotia Teacher's Union is hoping government will rethink that. President Paul Wozney says they would like to see remote learning put in place until they can make it safer for staff and students. And while Wozney acknowledges there will be some people accusing them of complaining needlessly, he says the evidence backs up their position.

Nova Scotia announced funds to help those Nova Scotians affected by the devastating flooding in late November. And there was also significant damage for parts of Newfoundland and Labrador from the same storm system. A Halifax musician and promoter who had friends affected by flooding earlier in the year in British Columbia prompted him to organize an online concert as a fundraiser. It will be streaming live this weekend with a way for people to donate to help. Robert Campbell describes how this came together with a co-organizer and how people will be able to watch and donate.

More than 82-thousand Nova Scotians are waiting for a primary care provider. And the provincial government has been looking to provide alternate ways to get patients in front of doctors and nurse practitioners. One way is through VirtualCareNS. It is a way to give people free access to online services like prescription renewals, tests and referrals for specialized care. And now the service is being expanded across the province to people who are on the Need a Family Practice Registry. They started going out this week for people in the Central and Eastern Zones. Nova Scotia Health Authority's Nelson Ventura, Innovation Team Manager, and Dr. Tara Sampalli, Senior Scientific Director explain how the made in Nova Scotia solution is being received.