Group files court challenge to Nova Scotia’s personal health information law | CBC News

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A group of individuals and the non-profit Nova Scotia Civil Liberties Association are asking the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to quash recent changes to a law that give the province greater access to personal health records. “We have serious concerns about the constitutionality of what’s happened,” said James Manson, a lawyer representing the groups, in an interview on CBC Radio’s Information Morning. The application to the court argues that parts of Nova Scotia’s Personal Health Information Act and corresponding regulations infringe on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Read full…

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Nova Scotia Power customers to foot $24M in storm recovery costs | CBC News

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Nova Scotia Power customers will see rates go up next year to pay for the utility’s cost of dealing with storms in 2023. In a newly released decision from the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, Nova Scotia Power got the green light to charge ratepayers $24 million starting in January 2025 through a mechanism called the storm cost-recovery rider. According to the board, the impact on rates will vary depending on the customer, but on average, rates will rise about 1.4 per cent. There were six storms in 2023 that…

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Cape Breton woman makes one-of-a-kind pens from reclaimed wood | CTV News

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A wood turner in Cape Breton makes handcrafted pens from reclaimed wood, and offers customers one-of-a-kind keepsakes. Fay Wambolt is the owner of Full Circle Wood Turning. She says the local, repurposed wood is what makes her pens unique. Wambolt said she has wood from Sydney Steel, Holy Angels High School, Senator Mongomery’s house in Prince Edward Island and church pews from decommissioned churches in Cape Breton. Some samples come from further abroad, including a piece from a bog in Ukraine that is more than 5,400 years old. Read full…

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Nova Scotia health data at risk due to ineffective cybersecurity: report | Global News

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Nova Scotia doesn’t provide effective cybersecurity for its digital health networks, and as a result is exposed to unnecessary risk, says a new report by the province’s auditor general. Kim Adair’s report published Tuesday found a lack of accountability and collaboration between the three government entities that oversee the system: the health department, the cybersecurity and digital solutions department, and Nova Scotia’s health authority. Read full story here: Nova Scotia health data at risk due to ineffective cybersecurity: report | Global News

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EV chargers draw customers to local businesses, study suggests | CBC News

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The gasoline-powered car has spawned a whole universe of businesses around it — especially the gas station, a place where drivers can fill up, pick up a coffee and buy a lottery ticket.  What happens to that ecosystem in a world of electric vehicles? A new study published in Nature Communications from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests electric vehicle charging stations open up their own world of possibilities. Read full story here: EV chargers draw customers to local businesses, study suggests | CBC News

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Federal loan to shield Nova Scotia Power customers from 19 per cent rate hike | CTV News

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HALIFAX – The Canadian government have offered a $500 million loan to Nova Scotia Power(opens in a new tab) and the provincial government that will not only help green the power grid and meet greenhouse gas targets, but also avoid the impact of a 19 per cent rate hike for Nova Scotia Power customers next year. Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson was in Halifax Monday to make the announcement and said the $500 million loan addresses an energy shortfall due to significant and unexpected delays in…

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PwC plans to track employees’ location while at work. Is this practice legal in Canada? | CTV News

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The COVID-19 pandemic shook up everyday life in many ways, including making work from home more common. As the COVID threat has receded from its pandemic peak, life has largely returned to normal around the world, including in Canada. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is one of the many employers that are moving towards getting staff to spend more time in the office. After the global accounting giant recently announced plans to enforce its back-to-office policy(opens in a new tab) by tracking employees in the U.K., one employment lawyer explains the situation with…

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N.S. Power fined $1M for again failing to meet performance standards | CBC News

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Nova Scotia Power is facing a $1.25-million penalty for failing to meet its 2023 performance standards. The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board announced the fine in a written decision released Monday morning. The board noted that Nova Scotia Power has taken some steps to improve service reliability for its customers, but overall it said progress “has been lagging.” “More needs to be done and with greater urgency,” the board said. Read full story here: N.S. Power fined $1M for again failing to meet performance standards | CBC News

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How to use Google’s Dark Web Report to find out where your data has been leaked | Mashable

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“Dark Web Report” is about to be free for everyone, and, yes, you should care. The title may make this feature sound like some unappealing podcast, but it’s actually a handy Google security tool that everyone should try. Previously exclusive to those who pay for Google One — the paid service that launched around the time Google began suddenly telling everyone their cloud storage was full — Dark Web Report is rolling out to (basically) all free Google Account holders at some point this month (as of this writing). In…

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Canada’s digital services tax is here. How could it affect you? | Global News

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The Digital Services Tax is now in effect. Foreign tech giants must now pay a three per cent levy on revenue from Canadian users, retroactive to 2022, after the federal government enacted the measure with an order-in-council on June 28. Many of those large companies are based in the United States and the American government and business communities on both sides of the border have called for Ottawa to stop the measure. Read full story here: Canada’s digital services tax is here. How could it affect you? | Global News

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