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HALIFAX – As Nova Scotia politicians make their fall election promises, Julie Leggett is urging them to commit to helping people on income assistance stay cool during heat waves.

The resident of New Glasgow, N.S., recently won an appeal board decision granting her a $450 reimbursement for an air conditioner, and she’s hoping the victory will become a wider policy in the Department of Community Services.

The 44-year-old bought the air conditioner with a loan from a friend this summer because she couldn’t face another stretch of weeks during which the heat increased her chronic pain and added complications to her multiple sclerosis.

However, the Department of Community Services refused to pay for the unit, leading her to make her case before the Assistance Appeal Board.

In an Oct. 22 ruling, board member Wanda MacDonald agreed with Leggett that the medical conditions she experiences are made worse by the blasts of high heat that can sweep across the province in July and August.

Air conditioners are not explicitly on a list of “special needs” that people on income assistance in the province are eligible for, according to an email from the department.

However, MacDonald noted in her written ruling that Leggett had provided medical information showing how heat could worsen her chronic pain and other health conditions. The adjudicator concluded Leggett met the regulation’s criteria that the item requested — the air conditioner — “is essential for health.”

“The appeal is granted,” wrote the board member. “The department will provide funding to reimburse the appellant for the portable air conditioner as a one-time special need.”

Leggett said in an interview that while she appreciates the decision, she’s hoping for a policy change in which people living in apartments on income assistance can obtain air conditioning without having to fight through similar appeal processes.

She said that for people like her — living on about $1,300 a month in disability income assistance — the cost of purchasing an air conditioner is beyond reach.

“It is a need of every human being, whether they have a disability or health condition or not,” she said.

She added that if the government continues to resist providing cooling to people on income assistance, it will result in the province having to cover the costs of emergency transport and of medical conditions made worse by extreme heat.

The decision noted that, “since borrowing the money to purchase an air conditioner, the appellant (Leggett’s) health has improved.”

On the provincial election campaign, two of the main parties’ leaders said they supported Leggett’s request for the policy change, while Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston, whose party is far ahead in recent polls, said he would consider it if re-elected Nov. 26.

Houston told reporters on Nov. 5, “through the Department of Community Services, there are different programs for cellphones, there’s additional money for medical conditions and dietary requirements. That (air conditioning) would be something … we should look at and we’d be happy to look at that.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said in an email, “What happened to Julie Leggett is unacceptable. She should not have had to fight the government over this, but we are glad she won her case.”

“The NDP has previously called for air conditioning in long-term care and government-owned seniors buildings.”

Zach Churchill, leader of the Liberal Party, told reporters last week, “those things (air conditioning) should be made available for them, particularly if it is an issue of life and death or a major health issue in a period of intense heat or cold,” he said.

Vince Calderhead, a lawyer who has represented people in appeals before the board, said in an email its findings are not binding for other cases, but can have an influence.

“Should a similar case arise, the department wouldn’t be bound by the decision though it ought to give it due consideration in its administration of the legislation,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.

GREENHILL, N.S. – Police in Nova Scotia’s Pictou County say human remains were found in a burned vehicle over the weekend.

RCMP say the incident is considered suspicious and they are investigating.

Around 2 p.m. Saturday, police received a report of an abandoned, burned vehicle in the community of Greenhill, and officers found human remains inside.

RCMP Const. Dominic Laflamme says there is no evidence to suggest any risk to the public.

The investigation is in its initial stages, and Laflamme says no further information is available at this time.

Police are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact the Pictou County District RCMP.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Hundreds lined the streets at the National War Memorial in downtown St. John’s on Monday, bowing their heads as a cannon blast signalled the start of two minutes of silence to honour the country’s departed veterans.

David Moore was in awe at the sheer size of the crowd. His father fought in the Second World War with the 166th Newfoundland Field Regiment and later in the Korean War, and Moore lays a wreath for him every year at the city’s Remembrance Day ceremony.

Moore, 77, said his father never spoke about his time in the military. “And he never went to any of the ceremonies,” he said in an interview. “I tried to talk him into it, but he didn’t go to the legions, and he never, ever mentioned it to any of us … he never even wore his medals.”

Moore wondered if the massive crowd in St. John’s on Monday, and the newly refurbished National War Memorial monument, would have changed the mind of his father, who died of cancer at the age of 60.

The ceremony was the first to take place alongside the tomb of an unknown Newfoundland Regiment soldier who died in battle in France during the First World War and was reinterred at the National War Memorial earlier this year.

Morgan MacDonald, the sculptor who made the bronze forget-me-not flowers decorating the soldier’s tomb, attended Monday’s events in part to honour his great-grandfather, who also fought with the Newfoundland Regiment.

“It’s an incredibly special and moving thing to be entrusted with,” MacDonald said about being asked to create the flowers.” Just to be selected to do that is a very special thing for my family, and my brothers and my parents, just to know that I had that small role to play in this whole ceremony, which is so important to the people of the province.”

In Halifax, a few hundred people gathered around the downtown cenotaph in rain and high winds, many in raincoats or carrying umbrellas. The event began with a ceremonial smudging from Mi’kmaq elder Marlene Companion.

Joanne Geddes, district commander of the Nova Scotia and Nunavut legions, said she was touched that many Nova Scotians braved the stormy weather to pay their respects.

Hearing the bands play and the cannons ring out gave her chills, Geddes said.

“I get goosebumps. I well up. It’s emotional in a good way, in a sad way,” she said. “It just warms the heart to know that people will still come out to honour and pay tribute to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and to those that are still serving.”

Remembrance Day events were also held in Charlottetown, in front of Province House, and in Fredericton, at the downtown cenotaph.

In St. John’s, Moore laid a green wreath bearing his father’s name at the foot of the National War Memorial, before its towering bronze statue of a woman holding aloft a flaming torch. He then stood straight, looked up at the statue and raised his hand to his head in a firm salute.

“It’s very important to do this and continue to do it as long as I can,” he said. “Not only for my father … but for all those men and women who served and those who gave their lives. It’s an important day for all of us. I’ve yet to miss one … and I’ll do it as long as I can.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2024.

— With files from Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax

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