Town and County Grapple With Employee Vaccination Policies as Restrictions Ease

STRAIT AREA - With COVID-19 restrictions rapidly easing this week in Nova Scotia and all restrictions set to disappear on March 21, Strait Area municipal governments are struggling with the question of whether vaccination policies for municipal employees should be altered or dropped altogether. 

This week's TELILE 24/7 tackles the issue at the 1:21 mark, as we see Richmond County councillors deciding to issue a notice of motion to pass an employee vaccination policy at their next regular meeting on March 21 but pledging to consult with their solicitors and members of the general public before that meeting arises. At the same time, Port Hawkesbury officials will investigate the possibility of ending their own vaccination policy, while examining whether or not the town can return to public meetings or a public-virtual hybrid after holding virtual meetings during the previous three months. 

At 10:13, we present a special report on road and street improvements through Port Hawkesbury, particularly the Destination Reeves Street initiative launched as a provincial pilot project three years ago. The province has offered to join forces with the town on cost-sharing for a survey of Port Hawkesbury residents and business owners on the effectiveness of the Reeves Street lane re-alignment. However, some town councillors are calling for a further traffic study to be conducted this summer to better reflect the true traffic volumes making their way through the town, before the project is considered to be concluded. 

Also on this week's show:

15:41 - Guysborough-Tracadie MLA and Nova Scotia Agriculture Minister Greg Morrow makes his first interview appearance on TELILE 24/7 since his victory in this past August's provincial election.

31:58 - Richmond Municipal Council continues to investigate whether it can provide emergency funding to the Dr. WIlliam B. Kingston Memorial Health Centre in L'Ardoise. 

36:04 - The Liberal MLA for Preston, Angela Simmonds, explains why she's running for the Nova Scotia Liberal Party leadership and how she hopes to lead the party back to power. 

55:20 - Richmond councillors are examining the possibility of installing French-English street signs around the county, to complement those that are already available in Mi'kmaq and Gaelic.