Victoria Levack is a self-described blogger as well as a disability and sexuality educator. She also volunteers to help the homeless in Meagher Park on Chebucto Road, which has been dubbed the People's Park. Vicky has issued a plea to Premier Tim Houston for him to do more to help the people experiencing homelessness in HRM. She says with the weather turning colder, people can't wait. And she says there's also an opportunity for others to show empathy and compassion to people who are suffering through the housing crisis.

The 44th Canadian Parliament will be convening for the first time on Monday, November 22nd. This week, Justin Trudeau named the 39 cabinet ministers who will be joining the Government side of the House of Commons. Women make up half of the Liberal front bench and Atlantic Canada is represented with cabinet members from Newfoundland and Labrador, PEI, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Dr. Jeffery Collins is a political scientist at UPEI and he shares his thoughts on the East Coast influence in the Minority House.

Two Nova Scotia women have been speaking up for the voiceless others who have been victims of physical and sexualized violence. Their own personal stories and experiences as nurses brought them together almost three decades ago. It's a journey that has helped them form a group called Persons Against Non-State Torture. They have discussed their work around the world through panel discussions through The United Nations. And Linda MacDonald and Jeanne Sarson have released their own self-published book called Women Unsilenced - Our Refusal to Let Torturer Traffickers Win.

Christopher Enns has been known as a medical cannabis activist in the Halifax area prior to legalization. And now he's been successful acting as his own counsel in a case that speaks to The Charter of Rights and Freedoms . Enns argued his rights were violated when police searched two of his storefronts and seized products in 2019. Enns argued his Garofoli Application in front of Judge Elizabeth Buckle in a Nova Scotia courtroom on Friday, October 22nd, 2021. The motion was to exclude evidence in the case that brought charges against him almost two years ago because of the way police were able to get a search warrant issued. Enns discusses some of the issues he raised and what the decision means to him and his legal situation. The Prosecutor in the case, Len MacKay says once the judge excluded the evidence, and the Crown asked for the charges to be dismissed. They do have 25 business days to launch an appeal, but MacKay offers no comment on what the Crown will do.

The leading cause of disability is Canada is mental illness, affecting one in five. And by the age of 40, about 50 percent of the population will have or have had a mental illness. And since the start of the pandemic, professionals have been working to adapt to new ways of reaching their clients to provide programming and services. It's also affected the ability for these groups to raise money. The 23rd Annual Mosaic for Mental Health is underway. And the fundraising event has also had to do things differently because of the pandemic. Margaret Murray is with the Canadian Mental Health Association as the Branch Co-Manager in Halifax-Dartmouth.

The past 19 months have been difficult for many small businesses in Nova Scotia and across the country. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business suggests as many as one in six businesses may end up closing over the next two years. People are discussing how some entrepreneurs are dealing with the extreme challenges and others with the potential opportunities as the world recovers from the pandemic. Matt Symes is the CEO of Sympli Works. He's also been named as the 2021 Business Person of the Year by the Halifax and Area Chamber of Commerce. In this conversation, he shares his thoughts during Small Business Week and explains the importance of self-reflection.

Since the start of the pandemic, there's been a lot of conversation about physical and mental wellness. And for a Bridgewater man, it's been a journey of self discovery and self healing. And he came to this after setting out on foot from British Columbia 15-months ago when he started walking back to his home province of Nova Scotia. Jeff Fillmore shares his story with me, after I noticed him walking along Highway 103 on Friday, then again on Saturday. That's when I pulled over to find out what he was doing and where he was going.

This week's Speech from the Throne outlined the Progressive Conservative Government's plans and visions for the Legislative Session. But as the opposition parties have pointed out, there's a glaring omission: the housing crisis. It's lead NDP Leader Gary Burrill to call for immediate action and permanent rent control. And he's hoping to get the province to move in that direction and recognize housing as a human right.

Medicinal cannabis has been available in Canada for years. But unlike herbal supplements and vitamins, there's very little chemical analysis being provided to consumers. Dr. Sean Myles is an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Agriculture at Dalhousie University. They teamed up with another research facility in the Netherlands to look into the issue. As they note, unlike other commercial crops, the naming conventions are not scientific and they decided to examine the different strains and their chemical makeup. And they found you can't rely on labels to inform you on what you're consuming.

It was the second Speech from the Throne for Nova Scotians in the past year. This March, it was a road map for the Liberal Government under Iain Rankin. And this time, it was the vision for Premier Tim Houston and his Progressive Conservatives. For his reaction to the document and what was lacking or missing, we speak with the Leader of the Opposition. Iain Rankin discusses health, housing and hope.