STRAIT AREA - The newest edition of TELILE 24/7 features an interview with a first-term MLA in Tim Houston's new PC government about the recently-completed fall legislature session, as well as field reports from St. Peter's, Arichat and Port Hawkesbury that cover everything from the state of long term care facilities in Nova Scotia to a snapshot of the local business community. 

We kick things off at 1:53 with a report on two Richmond County information pickets that were held as part of Day of Action held on November 30 by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to draw awareness to the difficulties currently facing long-term care workers. According to union local representatives who oversee workers at St. Anne's Community and Nursing Care Centre in Arichat and the Richmond Villa in St. Peter's, CUPE is demanding a 10 per cent wage increase, shorter shifts for workers, and guaranteed vacation time to stem the tide of burnout and frustration that is currently plaguing the employees at these facilities. 

At 8:09, first-term Richmond MLA Trevor Boudreau reflects on his first-ever legislature session as part of Tim Houston's new Progressive Conservative majority government. The former Port Hawkesbury town councillor, who was first elected this past August, is confident that Strait Area residents' concerns on such issues as physician recruitment and affordable housing are being heard by the Houston government, including fellow Strait Area MLAs and cabinet ministers Michelle Thompson (Health), Allan MacMaster (Finance) and Greg Morrow (Agriculture). 

And we wrap up the show at 30:25 with a feature on the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce's first Fall Business Awards Dinner in two years, which took place on November 30 at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre. Along with the handing out of hardware, the local business community took stock of its successes during the difficult pandemic era, as chamber members spoke with cautious optimism about their prospects for the coming Christmas shopping season and a New Year that could feature dramatic impacts from COVID-19's newly-discovered Omicron variant.