Ambulance NB is not free if you are from out-of-province
Before Christmas I was visiting in New Brunswick and needed an ambulance for a midnight trip to the hospital.
My heart almost did a flip when a $650 bill for ambulance services came a month later.
If I had been traveling in a province that didn’t have reciprocal medicare coverage, the bill could have been more than $10,000. Continue reading
Martell Builders Green Homes in Moncton, sell like hotcakes
CBC is reporting that new home construction is down 9% for the Cornwall, Charlottetown and Stratford region.
Summerside however is booming with 32% increase in new home construction.
The problem lies squarely on the shoulders of the municipal governments and greedy developers who are not in sync with the market. Summerside is experiencing growth because they are addressing the growth segment of the market. Continue reading
Taj Mahal Trio (photo Park Theatre, Cranston RI)
Joe Murphy and the Water Street Blues Band – Ramblin Woman video
Joe Murphy at Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, Fredericton (photo Stephen Pate)
Levon Helm wows Fredericton Harvest Blues Festival
Buddy Guy opens Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings hit New Brunswick
The Canadian super group of Tom Wilson, Stephen Fearing and Colin Linden are playing a three night stand in a trio of New Brunswick spots.
The band is promoting their new release Kings and Queens, a joint venture with some of the best female singers in the business.
This is Blackie and the Rodeo Kings third trip to New Brunswick since 2004.
For details see below.
I first saw Blackie and the Rodeo Kings at the Horseshoe in Toronto for their annual Christmas show which also featured Bruce Cockburn.
It was one of the best shows I’ve seen rating up there in my memory with Daniel Lanois, another great Canadian talent.
The talent these guys have is amazing. They have a tremendous stage presence putting on a show worth seeing.
Will I travel to NB to see these guys? You bet. Continue reading
image - Savannah Yellow Cab (not the cab in the story)
This is a true story that happened last week. We have been asked to change the names and locations to protect the cabbie. You will understand why.
Yep.
I’m sitting in my cab at Mall around Walmart yesterday morning [Friday] about 8:15 when this guy and girl can running over to my cab with a whole cart load of stuff, 42 inch LCD TV, computer and a bunch of other stuff.
I opened the back of my cab, put everything in, then they said they wanted to go to amhurst.
They said how much and I said $80.00. They said “Lets go.” Continue reading
The Caledon Institute has presented a proposal, Caledon Basic Income Plan, to overhaul Canada’s patchwork and failing system of social supports for working age Canadians who are severely disabled and living in poverty.
The new system would prevent the abject poverty that afflicts Canadians with disabilities where a single adult in New Brunswick is subsisting on roughly $8,000 a year, which is less than half of the LICO (Low Income Cut-Off).
This poverty exists despite the billions being spent at the Federal and Provincial levels.
The proposal is comprehensive but not a system that purposes major increases in social spending.
Instead it proposes to use the existing systems, like the Income Tax Act and Canada Pension Disability Benefit, to streamline and reorganize benefits making them more effective in eliminating poverty for working age Canadians with severe disabilities. Continue reading