Context Beyond The Headlines

April 18th, 2020, the residents of the small town of Portapique, Nova Scotia, went to sleep that night, not knowing they would wake up to complete mayhem in the middle of the night. Many heard gunshots and saw flames billowing in the night sky. An anonymous alert by the RCMP left many not knowing what was going on. By 11:26 a.m. on April 19th, 23 people were dead, and three people were injured. The man responsible for it all was shot and killed by the police. So many questions remain. How did the shooter get away with this? Why didn't the RCMP warn residents sooner? How could a civilian be dressed as an RCMP officer and drive a replica car and leave so much carnage behind? The Mass Casualty Commission, an inquiry into the actions that took place, found that the RCMP failed to protect the people of Portapique and the surrounding area that day, leaving several neighboring communities destroyed forever. This week on Context, host Maggie John takes us on location to unpack the God story beyond this headline.

   Most interprovincial migrants come from Ontario. Between July 1st, 2021, and June 30th, 2022 over 14,000 more people came to Nova Scotia from other provinces or territories than left the area itself. A report from Scotiabank says pandemic restriction severity, housing affordability, and telework adoption all appear to have influenced the trend.

 Context travels to Nova Scotia to discover why so many people are making such a big step. YouTuber/Vlogger Reggie from the Road talks about why he moved East to Nova Scotia and found a place to park his beloved trailer. He calls it “Fort Nova.” 

We also check in with a couple initially from Ontario who made the big decision to move East, for many reasons, including how COVID affected people and how they acted towards others in society.

Context is on the road as Maggie John travels to Nova Scotia to speak with Isaac Saney, a historian in African Studies at Dalhousie University. We’ll also get a tour of the historic Africville Museum. The original community of Africville was established in the 1700s. As you’ll hear today the museum is a replica of Seaview United Baptist Church - the core of the community, which was razed to the ground in the late 60s and early 70s.

We’ll also hear from two amazing Canadians, the Honourable Mayann Francis who was the first black Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, and the first black MLA in Nova Scotia, Yvonne Atwell. Maggie also sits down with Vanessa Fells -- an 8th-generation Canadian who has spoken at the United Nations about legislation and policy regarding African Canadians.

Today on Context: Canada’s Forgotten Pioneers How African Nova Scotians have contributed to the history of Canada.

Join us Wednesdays at 9:30 am/pm on YESTV or YouTube.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is calling it a crisis in our country.

After years of campaigns dispelling the stigma around mental health, we are now facing a shortage of mental health care support, with some wait lists a year-long leaving many Canadians with nowhere to turn for help.

Fewer than 1 in 3 Canadians with mental illness can access care.

The pandemic has put pressure on a system that was already fragile.

In a poll conducted by Angus Reid in partnership with the CBC, 54 percent of Canadians felt their mental health had worsened during the past two years.

The Canadian Mental Health Association found that the pandemic made the patchwork system of care more visible.

And while the gov't has committed $50 million to support mental health distress centers, an open letter written by 65 national health associations to Federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett is calling on Ottawa to respond to the crisis with an election promise of $4.5 billion towards mental health services.

Today on Context Mental Health, A Nation in Crisis.