Gasoline and diesel prices both decreased overnight in Nova Scotia.

Gas prices decreased by 3.1 cents per litre, putting the minimum pump price for regular self-serve gas at 160.2 cents per litre locally.

Diesel prices decreased by 2.5 cents per litre, leaving the minimum price for diesel at 203.8 cents per litre in the local area.

 

 

Premier Tim Houston says he will consider adopting a set calendar of working days for the spring and fall sessions.

His comment came after a fall session where the opposition used delay tactics after the government extended work hours to push through its agenda.

Opposition Liberal Leader Zach Churchill says he’d like to see a rule that limits a government’s use of extended hours to emergency or special situations.

Government house leader Kim Masland says she would like to start considering potential changes soon but is not committing to any reforms by the spring sitting.

 

 

Canada’s opioid addiction crisis is being examined in the Nova Scotia Legislature this week.

Politicians of every stripe have risen to share personal stories about their struggles with this notorious class of drugs.

 

 

Nova Scotia’s volunteer firefighters and volunteer members of ground search-and-rescue teams will soon have access to a new mental health phone line.

These volunteers and their families will have access to counselling by mental health clinicians 24 hours a day, seven days a week, starting next month.

The clinicians will offer a range of services, including personal and family counselling, stress management, nutrition support and more.

The services are similar to those offered through employee and family assistance programs for career first responders.

 

 

The Nova Scotia Teachers Union has released results of a survey of its membership on the effects of an ongoing shortage of teachers in the province.

The union poll completed by one-thousand 936 members last month, indicates that 70 per cent of teachers have lost marking and preparation time to cover for absent colleagues since 2022.

Eighty-one per cent of teachers say they’ve felt pressure to attend school while feeling sick, or cancel medical appointments, because of a lack of teachers.

Union president Ryan Lutes says the province needs to address the situation, adding that the union has been calling for a teacher recruitment strategy and increased pay for substitute teachers.

 

 

In sports,

The Grand Slam of Curling event continues at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.

 

In the Maritime Junior Hockey League, the Pictou County Weeks Crushers are in Truro tonight.