Louise Riley, Jill Provost and Nan McFadgen

Bursary announcement a step in the right direction for continuing care assistant recruitment in Nova Scotia

CUPE Nova Scotia representatives are encouraged by the return of a bursary program for continuing care assistants announced by the Minister of Health and Wellness in Kentville today. The bursary program is a partnership between the provincial and federal governments and will provide a total of $460,000. The bursary will cover $4,000 for tuition and books for students in the Continuing Care Assistant program offered through the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) and Université Sainte-Anne. The current cost of the program at the NSCC is $6,700 for tuition, books and other fees. “We’re optimistic that this bursary will help with the serious recruitment issues and staff shortages we have been experiencing in the long term care sector,” says Louise Riley, chairperson of the CUPE NS Long Term Care Coordinating Committee. “We also hope this measure will lead to an increase in the hours of personal care per resident per day. … Read more…

Media advisory P3 highway 104

RFP for Highway 104 twinning project kept secret

The president of CUPE Nova Scotia, Nan McFadgen, is appalled that the Department of Transportation has blocked the union’s application to view the Request for Proposals for the Highway 104 (Sutherlands River to Antigonish) twinning project. “Our researcher was told he would receive a redacted RFP for which we would have to pay around $1100,” says McFadgen. “Our deposit was cashed in April, and we told residents in Pictou County at a community town hall in June that we would release the information, which should have been public in the first place. Now the government has pulled the plug on our request.” CUPE received a letter from Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Deputy Minister Paul LeFleche this week stating that the RFP would not be released, based on exemptions in the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. “This lack of transparency is one more example of why P3 highways are a bad idea,” says McFadgen. … Read more…

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