(NB-Primary-Care-Waitlist)
Horizon Health C-E-O Margaret Melanson acknowledged that New Brunswick’s health-care system is under more strain since 40-thousand people over the last year have been added to the primary care provider wait-list.
In front of a legislative committee yesterday, Melanson answered M-L-A’s questions on the state of health care within the anglophone health network.
About a third of New Brunswickers, about 238-thousand patients, are now waiting to be attached to a nurse practitioner or family doctor.
Melanson said she was encouraged by the number of collaborative care teams being established and says under Horizon’s jurisdiction, seven care teams are now operational with 13 more in development.
(CTVÂ News)
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(NB-Climate-Assessment)
The government of New Brunswick’s first ever climate assessment says flooding and wildfires pose the most significant dangers to residents in the province.
Released today, the report focuses on five areas of impact: public health and safety, the natural environment, community, economic activities and lifestyle, and physical infrastructure.
It cites hotter summers and milder winters as concerns and notes that, even with efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, climate shifts are expected to intensify in the coming decades.
It recommends that the province undertake further exploration of climate change, develop adaptive planning, and increase collaboration with all levels of government, First Nations, researchers and industry.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NB-Minimum-Wage)
The minimum wage in New Brunswick is increasing to 15-dollars and 90-cents per hour on April 1st.
That’s a 25-cent increase from the current rate of 15-dollars and 65-cents.
The provincial government says five per cent of all employees in New Brunswick were paid the minimum wage last year.
Figures from the Retail Council of Canada show New Brunswick had the third-lowest minimum wage in the country as of October 1st, ahead of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NS-River-Carbon)
A Nova Scotia-based company has accomplished a milestone by earning carbon credits for its work using rivers to store carbon dioxide.
CarbonRun took a process known as river liming, or adding crushed limestone to rivers, and proved that it can capture carbon at a large scale.
The firm’s co-founder Shannon Sterling says these are the world’s first carbon credits issued for a river project.
CarbonRun’s project is set to remove over 55-thousand tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere between 2025 and 2029.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NS-Hate-Incident)
Mounties in Nova Scotia are seeking witnesses from an alleged hate-motivated incident directed toward a youth refereeing hockey in Halifax last week.
In a Facebook post, R-C-M-P say the incident happened at the Eastern Shore Community Centre Arena on February 6th between 7-40 p-m and 8-00 p-m.
No further details were released.
Investigators say anyone with information can contact the R-C-M-P or Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NL-Speeding-Tickets)
The provincial government is in the process of distributing eight-thousand speed camera tickets worth just over three-million dollars.
In a statement, Government Services Minister Mike Goosney says ticketing through the program was paused on September 25th due to the Canada Post labour dispute.
He says tickets were not created or served last fall to avoid the risk of missing legislated timelines, but violations were still captured.
With the postal dispute over, Goosney says the government is resuming the process of creating and serving tickets, which will be done in a phased approach.
(VOCM)
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(NL-Officer-Assault)
A 35-year-old woman has been arrested and charged after allegedly pushing and throwing a cup of coffee at police officers.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary say it was investigating a unrelated situation at an emergency shelter in St. John’s last night.
A staff member approached an officer to report that a woman was causing issues and refusing to leave.
Upon approaching the woman, the accused tried to douse officers with coffee and then pushed one member of the constabulary.
(VOCM)
