Nova Scotians tune in on election night to learn two things: Who won, and who are the sore losers. Darrell Dexter was a smart loser, delivering the best speech of the night, a gracious amalgam of congratulations to the winners, and thanks and condolences for his followers, upbeat but laced with sadness he could not hide. Perhaps the worst thing about the crushing defeat meted out to the NDP is the suboptimal quality of the survivors. I heard both both N-Dips and Tories Tuesday night predict Sterling Belliveau will bolt to the Liberals who, if they are smart, will not take him. DPR,...

09 October, 2013

Further evidence, if more were needed, that God is a New Democrat: No sooner did I put up the first part of my Things the NDP Did Wrong post than I was laid low by a chest cold that obliterated deep thought.* Here, finally, is Part Two of What the Dippers Did Wrong, to be followed, more swiftly I hope, by a two-part Things They Did Right. 4.  Tone deaf to rural NS Four years ago, Nova Scotia's New Democratic Party formed its first ever provincial government by adding an historic sweep of the rural mainland to its traditional Metro stranglehold. From the...

15 September, 2013

The Nova Scotia Department of Community Services, which was unceremoniously stripped of responsibility for addiction recovery centres earlier this month, has quietly removed from its website its much criticized review of Cape Breton's Talbot House Recovery Centre. An electronic search failed to turn up a copy of the "report" — hatchet job would be a more accurate descriptor — anywhere on the gov.ns.ca website. Removal of the error-riddled document, and publication of the Talbot Board's point-by-point refutation, had been persistently sought by the beleaguered recovery center. As recently as July, Minister Denise Peterson-Rafuse insisted she stood by the review, saying it  it...

30 October, 2012

In a tacit acknowledgement that Community Services bolloxed the crisis it brought on at Cape Breton's Talbot House Recovery Centre, the province has stripped the department of responsibility for all five addiction recovery centres in Nova Scotia. From now on, provincial funding, service agreements, and oversight will fall under the Department of Health and Wellness. [caption id="attachment_11009" align="alignleft" width="200"] Peterson-Rafuse[/caption] The decision comes just in time for Health to assume responsibility for evaluating a proposal from Talbot House to restore provincial funding it received as Cape Breton's only addiction recovery centre. That avoids the sticky problem of having Community Services officials, with...

19 October, 2012

Former Talbot House resident Greg Carter writes: I'm writing in response to the department of community services' refusal to meet with the board and at least let them reopen. After all, the allegations against Fr. Paul Abbass were unfounded and in my opinion malicious. I spent 18 months at talbot house and never once felt or saw any inappropriate behaivior on any of the staff's part. The staff and Fr. Paul always acted with professionalism and care for the residents. Once my stay was over, I was able to come out to the house for a little work during the back shift,...

13 August, 2012

On Wednesday, the Department of Community Services made good on Minister Denise Peterson-Rafuse's vindictive plan to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to replace the residential addiction treatment services so ably provided by the Talbot House Recovery Centre for the last half century. Those services came screeching to a halt last February, after a biased and incompetent "organizational review" by the department's  director of family and youth services, Marika Lathem, lent temporary credence to what turned out to be false charges of sexual misconduct against the home's executive director. Peterson-Rafuse and her officials are variously quoted as saying the Talbot House Society is welcome to...

02 August, 2012

Sydney Mines native John Hugh Edwards is a life-long New Democrat, the kind of party stalwart who mans phones during election campaigns, works polls on voting day, and faithfully attends NDP rallies and conventions. Twice, the longtime St. Francis Xavier extension worker ran as the party's federal candidate in Cape Breton - The Sydneys, mounting a respectable challenge to Liberal MP Mark Eyking. Don't miss his letter to the Cape Breton Post about Community Services Minister Denise Peterson-Rafuse's treatment of Talbot House: For decades, the staff and volunteers at Talbot House have provided Cape Breton with incredible service to those among us...

24 July, 2012

The background: On June 11, Community Services Minister Denise Peterson-Rafuse agreed to suspend her department's tender call to replace the addiction services formerly provided by Cape Breton's Talbot House Recovery Centre, and pledged to personally lead direct negotiations with Talbot's board for a new contract to deliver those services. Just 25 days later, without holding a single meeting with the board, Peterson-Rafuse told Talbot House she would not meet with them after all, and would instead proceed with the tender call. Talbot's board chair, Sydney psychologist John Gainer, issued the following statement Wednesday: The Board of Directors of Talbot House was informed in a letter dated...

19 July, 2012

For four months this spring, Community Services Minister Denise-Peterson Rafuse blindly defended her department's slandering of an innocent priest, and its incompetent intervention into the operation of Talbot House, a much-admired, 53-year-old community-built addiction recovery center forced to close after the department engineered the removal of its executive director on specious grounds. Then in June, when she finally deigned to meet with the Cape Breton institution's board of directors, she had a momentary and welcome change of heart. As I wrote then: Contrary to expectations expressed here Monday, today’s meeting between Community Services Minister Denise Peterson-Rafuse and the Directors of Talbot...

18 July, 2012

Contrary to expectations expressed here Monday, today's meeting between Community Services Minister Denise Peterson-Rafuse and the Directors of Talbot House brought the two sides closer together, and may lead to the reopening of Talbot House under the leadership of a vindicated Fr. Paul Abbass. Peterson-Rafuse, persistently criticized here over the last two months, took a crucial step back from the brink. For now at least, she has cancelled her department's plan to issue a tender for the addiction recovery services formerly provided by Talbot House. The two sides will negotiate terms for Talbot's reopening with government funding. The Cape Breton Post's...

12 June, 2012
Show more
Loading...