Access to affordable housing is an increasingly important issue across Canada, including here at home.

Over the past few months, we've been working to help establish and support community groups that will focus on solving our region's unique housing needs in Pictou County, Antigonish, and the Eastern Shore.

Big plans are in the works to restore the vessel to working order. The renewed vessel will not only be seen along the waterfront, but will have the capacity to carry up to 50 passengers for short trips locally, and it will take part in Tall Ships events in the region.

Congratulations to Candid Brewing Company on tonight’s Grand Opening!

It’s exciting to see new businesses opening up during this pandemic in our communities.

If you’re in Antigonish tonight, pop over to support a local business and enjoy a great beer from the community as part of their Oktoberfest celebration!

Thank you to Pictou Landing First Nation for hosting a beautiful ceremony in advance of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.

This is Omar. He is an awesome kid - I met him with his family when they arrived as part of the effort to take in 25,000 Syrian refugees beginning in 2015.

Omar wanted to save up for a Nintendo Switch, so he started a lemonade stand. His mom told him about another boy about his age that she knows from Syria who needs surgery after being diagnosed with throat cancer.

Access to housing remains a barrier for far too many people in our communities.

I've been spending a lot of time meeting with groups about affordable housing in our region, and have helped advance important projects in the area I represent.

Canada hits another vaccination milestone - we now have a higher percentage of fully vaccinated people than the United States.

Everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. Yet, far too many members of our community struggle with finding a place to live.

It's been just weeks since the bodies of 215 Indigenous children were found on the grounds of a former Residential School in Kamloops.

Today, we have learned that hundreds more have been discovered on the site of the former Marieval Residential School in Saskatchewan by the Cowessess First Nation.

Everyone deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. The reality is that for far too many people, housing remains out of reach.

This problem is exacerbated for many Indigenous communities because the rules that govern land use on reserves preclude Indigenous peoples from getting a mortgage or owning property in the communities where they were born and raised. This is just one example of systemic racism in Canada and it must be addressed.