Latest news with #Halifax-area
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
No solution in sight for N.S. workers owed thousands of dollars by former employer
Despite rulings in their favour from the Nova Scotia Labour Standards Division, two Halifax-area workers have not been paid the thousands of dollars in unpaid wages and other pay that have been deemed owed to them by their former employer. Andrew Lam has the story.
Toronto Star
16-05-2025
- Health
- Toronto Star
N.S. health minister admits ‘growing pains' with new free parking policy at hospitals
HALIFAX - The health authority in Nova Scotia says it is seeking the power to issue $500 tickets to unauthorized vehicles that take advantage of free parking at hospitals. Nova Scotia Health emailed Halifax-area hospital staff today to say it is working to preserve spaces for patients, visitors, and authorized staff. The message comes a day after Health Minister Michelle Thompson acknowledged 'growing pains' as hospitals adjust to the province's new free parking policy that took effect May 1. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The health authority says that until it can ticket drivers it will issue warnings to unauthorized vehicles, and offer 175 additional free on-site parking spaces to staff at the Halifax Infirmary and Victoria General Hospital. Unions at both hospitals and the IWK Health Centre have voiced concern about a lack of spots when employees show up for work. The health authority says the Halifax Infirmary and Victoria General hospital together need almost 4,000 more parking spaces than are currently available to meet peak demand. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.
CBC
01-05-2025
- Science
- CBC
Once labelled a 'cheating machine,' AI cautiously embraced in Halifax schools
Social Sharing Three students huddle around a computer in a classroom at Eric Graves Memorial Junior High in Dartmouth, N.S., as David Waugh gestures to an AI-generated image of a sweatshirt created for a home ec assignment. It's a scene relatively new in Halifax-area classrooms as teachers like Waugh begin to embrace the growing technology while weighing the ethics of using chatbots and other AI tools to shape young minds. "The issue is that going forward, it's going to be here anyways," said Waugh. "So we need to figure out how to adapt to it." To that end, the Halifax Regional Centre for Education has developed guidelines on the use of AI — artificial intelligence — in the classroom based on input from teachers in the district. Their stated aim is "to ensure that AI technologies are integrated into education for both students and teachers in an ethical, safe, and inclusive manner." That includes things like not putting personal information into AI tools, monitoring students so they aren't exposed to harmful content, and disclosing when artificial intelligence has been used for school projects. A change in attitude Waugh said the guidelines come at a time when perceptions of AI use among teachers are shifting, noting "attitudes have changed massively" in the past couple of years. He pointed to ChatGPT, a generative AI chatbot with a seemingly unending list of functions, from mimicking human conversations to drafting emails to writing computer code. Waugh said ChatGPT was once considered "the cheating machine," but educators have begun to see the advantages of using AI for fact-checking or research, for example. In one Halifax classroom, AI was used to generate images based on students' poetry. Another factor in AI's adoption has been the need to educate students on its responsible use amid concerns about the loss of critical thinking skills, said Waugh. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, suggests on its website that students use the tool for academic "grunt work," like formatting citations in an essay, freeing up time for the creative process. Waugh's students are adapting to the change, using the technology in their classwork. James Hathaway, a Grade 7 student, said using AI lets him focus on his academic strengths. "I find it very useful," he said. "For example, I'm not very good at drawing, so having image generation is a very big win." He said it's a good thing that the limitations of the technology, such as illegible words in images, mean he still has to be critical of what it produces. School boards and universities around the world have had mixed reactions to the use of AI. While some encourage its use, others have considered bans or blocked AI apps on school devices out of concern over plagiarism and misinformation. Chris Cocek, a member of the technology integration team for the Halifax school district, said that's not the way forward. "We can't ignore that artificial intelligence is here. It's quickly embedded itself within our society at large," said Cocek, whose team trains teachers on how to use AI responsibly. "We need to have these conversations with our students so that they're informed users." Necessary in a changing world Johanathan Woodworth teaches about technology integration in Mount Saint Vincent University's faculty of education. He believes the potential benefits of AI for education are very high, but so are the risks, even beyond the classroom. The best possible outcome of AI use in schools, said Woodworth, is increasing students' productivity while allowing educators to highlight the human qualities that set them apart from AI. Taking advantage of technology mustn't come at the expense of the "human element" in classrooms, he said. "Teachers have to be open-minded about integrating these tools, but also teachers have to be taught how to integrate these tools, how to critically analyze these tools." He said the same goes for students. "If we don't, people are just going to take the easy way out," he said.
CBC
19-04-2025
- CBC
Sofyan Boalag provoked his own stabbing, attorney general says in court filings
Social Sharing A serial rapist who says he was left permanently disabled by a prison attack was the author of his own misfortune, according to a statement of defence filed by the Attorney General of Canada in federal court. Sofyan Boalag, whose spree of sexual assaults terrorized St. John's in 2012, is suing the federal government. He's alleging staff at a federal prison failed to protect him from a stabbing in February 2023, which left him unable to walk for the rest of his life. In a statement of defence, however, the feds say Boalag brought it on himself. Among the particulars of his "contributory negligence," the statement of defence claims: "[Boalag] failed to inform the [prison staff] of any risks to his personal safety," "He provoked the other inmate involved in the incident," "He failed to take reasonable steps to avoid the incident," "He failed to keep a proper lookout," "He failed to ensure his own safety," "He conducted himself in a reckless manner." The filing also claims Boalag got the date wrong in his statement of claim — saying the incident happened on Feb. 12, 2023, nine days after the date referenced in Boalag's filings. It also denied Boalag's claim that he'll never walk again, and put the onus on him to prove it. Boalag was convicted of raping two women and a 15-year-old girl in Newfoundland during the summer and fall of 2012. There were six complainants in total, with women describing how he choked them unconscious and threatened them with a knife on city streets in the early hours of the morning. He was convicted in 2016, and declared a dangerous offender by the courts — resulting in an indeterminate prison sentence. He was at the Atlantic Institution in Renous, N.B., at the time of the incident, but has since been moved to a prison in Ontario. Boalag says he was attacked from behind, failed by staff According to Boalag's lawsuit, filed by Halifax-area lawyer Laura Neilan, the inmates were released from their cells to line up for medication. Boalag says a man came up behind him, and he didn't see the attack coming. He says correctional officers failed to intervene in a timely fashion, leaving him vulnerable to multiple stabs from a "sharp weapon." The lawsuit claims the attacker was a man with "pre-indicators of violence" toward Boalag. It alleges prison staff failed to prevent weapons from entering the facility, failed to search inmates before allowing them to line up, and ignored internal policy by letting multiple inmates out of their cells at the same time. In its statement of defence, lawyers for the attorney general deny the claims, saying "at all times material it provided adequate supervision of inmates, including [Boalag]." They also say Boalag received "reasonable, necessary and adequate" medical assistance. They're asking a judge to dismiss his claim with costs awarded to the federal government. The statements made by Boalag and the attorney general have not yet been tested in court.
CBC
27-03-2025
- CBC
Halifax-area man, 74, convicted of sex crimes after abusing daughter over 3 decades
A Nova Scotia judge has convicted a 74-year-old Halifax-area man of a number of sex offences for abusing his daughter over three decades, beginning when she was a young teenager and lasting until her late 40s. Provincial court Judge Elizabeth Buckle issued her decision Wednesday, rejecting the denials of the father, calling some of his explanations "completely implausible" and "entirely unbelievable," and ruling that the woman did not consent to the sex. "Over the years, he groomed her and manipulated her, exerted coercive control over her by virtue of the father-daughter relationship and their financial interdependence," the judge said. The victim was in the Halifax courtroom for Buckle's decision, which came following a trial where both she and her father testified. The woman was supported by two family members, including her mother who grasped her hand as the judge found the man guilty. The victim's name is banned from publication. In order to protect her identity, CBC News is not naming her father. History of abuse The woman testified the sexual assaults began when she was a young teenager and the family lived together in a Halifax-area home. They ended for a period in her 20s when her mother left over her husband's gambling problem and the daughter went to live with her. A few years later, however, she moved out over her mother's insistence that she pay rent and asked to stay at her father's apartment. Buckle said the woman testified she thought her father "might have changed." Things were fine for the first year. But then the abuse began again, lasting for nearly two decades until she finally left her father's apartment and later spoke with Halifax police. Buckle said the man's personality was described as akin to Jekyll and Hyde, where he would be sweet and kind in one moment and then nasty in another. In one incident, his daughter said he grabbed her by the throat until she nearly passed out. His possessive behaviour with the victim, the judge said, suggested jealousy rather than the conduct of a father toward a daughter. After she moved out, he repeatedly tried to contact her by phone, sent her numerous texts and emails, and showed up at her work. "He repeatedly said he couldn't live without her, he couldn't let her go," Buckle said. Judge doesn't believe denials The man testified there was never any sexual contact with his daughter and he denied taking explicit photos of her, telling the court she "lives in a dream world and is a compulsive liar," according to the judge. Buckle said she had major concerns with his credibility. While no photos were found on his phone, he suggested to police following his arrest that there could be images on it. During fingerprinting, he said his daughter had "looked up online that once you're 16 years old, a daughter could consent to sex with a parent," according to an officer. The woman, Buckle said, initially told her father no, but eventually stopped protesting and "gave in." In later years, the judge said, "the sexual activity with her father was merely an acceptance of the inevitable born out of the history of their relationship." Senior prosecutor Carla Ball said in an interview following the conviction that the victim has been through a "long and grueling process." As an example of the father's hold, he got her to sign a sworn affidavit as the trial approached, asking that the prosecution be dropped. "Manipulation and control plays a factor into why people don't report until much later in their lives," Ball said outside the courtroom. "There's lots of reasons, including shame, embarrassment, lots of reasons why people hold off on reporting." Buckle found the man guilty of criminal harassment, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, incest and a number of breaches of his release order. He is in custody and will be sentenced at a later date. The man was acquitted of witness intimidation. He was found not guilty of some sexual offence counts due to the wording of the charge or because the victim was not under the age of 14 during the dates outlined in the charge.
