Roundup: Nova Scotian support for Ukraine, 13 more COVID deaths, Mi’kmaw group welcomes language legislation, acclaimed duo to perform in Lunenburg
Photo: Submitted
Plus: Canadian food prices are soaring at record rates — expert Sylvain Charlebois explains your grocery bill
In a show of solidarity as Russia’s war on the country continues, the Ukrainian flag will fly over Halifax’s Macdonald Bridge until autumn.
“We fly a very limited number of flags from our towers,” says Steve Snider, CEO of Halifax Harbour Bridges, in a statement on the organization’s website. “Hanging the flag of another country is not something we would normally consider, but this is a special case … This was a small gesture we could make to support Ukrainian Canadians who are worried about their friends and family. It also serves as a friendly welcome to the 6,000 Ukrainian immigrants who have arrived in Canada since the beginning of the year.”
And many Nova Scotians are volunteering to help those refugees get here and settle in.
Chris Lewis is among the organizers of Pictou County Helping Ukrainians. He and partner Lauralee Pentz have seen their Facebook membership grow to 400 members. “These are Pictou County people who joined the group and saying, ‘We want to help,’” he says. “We are overwhelmed by the community’s support.”
Steve Goodwin reports for the Pictou Advocate.
COVID death toll climbs
COVID-19 has killed 13 more Nova Scotians, but health officials see cause for optimism in the provincial government’s latest epidemiologic summary.
“After several weeks of increases, the data suggests we may have hit the peak of the wave when it comes to new COVID-19 infections,” Dr. Shelley Deeks, Nova Scotia’s deputy chief medical officer of health, says in a press release.
Covering Apr. 12 to 18, the latest government data indicates “a possible stabilization” in the number of known positive tests and the number of cases linked to long-term care outbreaks. However, the same report notes that the government’s own tally of 7,508 lab-confirmed infections during the week “does not represent a true case count in the province and is likely an underestimate.”
Dr. Tara Moriarty, director of an infectious diseases research laboratory and professor at the University of Toronto medical school, says she believes the true count is about 16,000 new cases per day.
So far, COVID has killed 6,210,719 people worldwide, including 38,542 people in Canada and 290 Nova Scotians.
The Food Professor
With Statistics Canada reporting steady increases in food prices, Canadians are thinking a lot more about grocery store economics. Is corporate profiteering to blame? COVID? Supply chain disruptions? The Russian war on Ukraine?
Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, helps people understand what’s really happening on grocery store shelves and what they should (and shouldn’t) worry about.
On The Food Professor podcast, he joins Michael LeBlanc (from The Voice of Retail podcast) to discuss the hot issues in the food, grocery, and restaurant industries.
Check out Unravel Halifax‘s latest Podcast Pick.
Mi’kmaw group welcomes language legislation
Advocates are welcoming recent provincial legislation that will recognize Mi’kmaw as “Nova Scotia’s official first language.”
Blaire Gould is executive director of Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, one of the organizations the province is working with to develop a language revitalization strategy.
“We are seeing language loss in our communities but most importantly we are seeing a language resurgence in communities where youth and community people are actively in pursuit of restoring their language and culture,” Gould says in a press release. “This legislation will help strengthen that.”
Adam McNamara has more for the Reporter.
Acclaimed duo to perform in Lunenburg
Award-winning music duo meagan&amy are slated to perform in Lunenburg on Apr. 29.
Violinist Amy Hillis’s plaudits include the renowned Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, an artistic residency at La Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, the McGill Concerto Competition, and the Sylva Gelber Foundation Music Award.
Meagan Milatzn performs regularly as a collaborative pianist for top international musicians such as Andrew Wan (concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra), Stefan Dohr (principal horn of the Berlin Philharmonic), and cellist Matt Haimovitz.
Gayle Wilson has more for LighthouseNow.
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