It's not always the most wonderful time of the year for everyone. And with the holidays approaching, there are a few things you can do to reduce some of the pressures and stresses according to Doctor Simon Sherry. He is a professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University and a clinical psychologist at CRUX Psychology. And as he points out, a lot of the pressure comes from unrealistic expectations and harmful upward social comparisons. He also weighs in on the reality of heading into our second Christmas of the pandemic with the recent restrictions being implemented because of the Omicron variant. And he wants people to be respectful of the rules, but move forward and live their lives based on their values and not on fear and anxiety.

There are several news stories circulating on the immediate future of the shelter at the Mi'kmaw Friendship Centre. Some are focusing on the increased demand for services and the challenges of meeting their core goal of helping the urban indigenous population. Other stories are looking at the expiring lease agreement, lack of secure funding for 2022 and allegations from workers who have applied to become unionized. Brendan Maguire is the Liberal MLA for Halifax Atlantic. He's the party's Poverty and Homelessness Critic but he was also Municipal Affairs Minister in Iain Rankin's short lived government. Maguire has spoken openly about his own experience being homeless and the missed opportunities of his own recent time in government. He also offers his thoughts on stigma and what each of us can do to help.

Halifax Mutual Aid (HMA) describes itself as a group of people committed to taking action against homelessness by building small crisis shelters for those who need them. They also acknowledge these shelters are not a solution to the housing crisis. And recently, they've launched a fundraising initiative called a Gingerbread Story Kit. It's a way to build your family's understanding of the housing crisis with a kid-friendly baking kit. Campbell McClintock is spokesperson with HMA and he discusses the fundraiser, the booklet and the efforts of Halifax Regional Municipality and the Catholic Church to help the homeless.

Researchers at Dalhousie University have surveyed 165 owners from around the world about their dogs to discover how many words their pets respond to. Dr. Sophie Jacques is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. She teamed up with a colleague who also is a dog trainer. Their recent report was published in Applied Animal Behaviour Science and it identifies which breeds are more receptive and what influences outcomes. Why does this matter? As a child psychologist, Dr. Jacques is interested in the similarities and difference between vocabulary growth in babies and dogs. And she says it could help in training service animals, something that could cost upwards of $30-thousand.

Nova Scotians elected a government last summer in part because of the promises to fix health care in this province. And there has been a lot of work already to identify and make a plan to address some of the long-standing issues. This week, the Minister of Seniors and Long-Term-Care announced $57 million to support current and future workers and to open more beds. Susan MacDougall is the Chair of the Board of the Nursing Homes of Nova Scotia Association. She's optimistic, but realistic on what effect these announcements will make.

Nova Scotia's Auditor General gave the province a passing grade for it's financial reporting during the pandemic. But there were questions raised by Kim Adair about measuring the effectiveness of COVID-19 spending and industries that may not recover. The other unanswered question was about the province's long-term economic recovery plan. And those are also some of the questions being asked by the opposition. Lisa Lachance is the NDP Finance Spokesperson who is also wondering if the Houston government will be consulting with Nova Scotians about that plan.

It's a bit of a setback for the operations of the majority of Canada's CH-148 helicopters. All but two of the long-awaited Sea King replacements have been taken out of service because of cracks recently found in the tail sections of the aircraft. The exact cause of these stress fractures isn't clear, but one Defence analyst says in some ways this shows the maintenance and inspection processes are working. Former Naval Commander Ken Hansen also says this is likely something the manufacturer Sikorsky will want to help fix, given they have been looking to sell this model of helicopter to other countries.

It has been 32 years since the murder of 14 young women at Polytechnique Montréal. This act of violent misogyny led Parliament to designate December 6th as The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Erica Kelly is a fourth year engineer student at Dalhousie. She is also the VP Logistics for the Women in Engineering Society. That group is hosting their annual ceremony of remembrance and resilience to remember the women who lost their lives that day.

Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

It's one of the certainties for all of us but it's not something we talk about often, or ever. And when Stephanie Purcell's father was diagnosed with a rare cancer in February of 2019, they decided to celebrate the time he had left with love and gratitude. Stephanie has written about her family's experience and what she calls the gift of Medical Assistance in Dying. And she opens up about why she wanted others to know what they went through so that we could all start celebrating life and the people we care for while they're still here.

Canada and other countries are introducing new travel restrictions and testing requirements with the arrival of the new COVID variant Omicron. And with the potential for more variants, we're going to have to expect more snap travel restrictions, vaccine passports, cross border testing in the foreseeable future. Doctor Robert Huish is a professor at the Department of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University. He's not convinced these decisions are being made for the right reasons. And he discusses the issues of trust between the public, the World Health Organization, governments and public health authorities.