ARICHAT - An in-depth look at Richmond Municipal Council's potential role in restoring stability to local volunteer fire departments and an interview with a recent hire by the Seniors Take Action Coalition highlight this week's episode of TELILE 24/7. 

We open at 1:01 with a recap of Richmond councillors' vote on a long-delayed policy regarding COVID-19 vaccination requirements for municipal employees. In the works for several weeks, the policy was ultimately defeated 4-0 at the March 21 regular meeting of Richmond Municipal Council. Speaking to TELILE 24/7 host Adam Cooke after the meeting, Warden Amanda Mombourquette expressed optimism that the municipality can function without a specific vaccination policy for the time being, and added that the draft policy can return to the table for a future vote if required at a later stage of the pandemic. 

At 3:06, we'll examine another issue connected to the COVID-19 pandemic: the participation of community residents in council committees via virtual meetings. Nova Scotia's Municipal Government Act currently prohibits the use of telephones in such meetings, but several councillors have noted that poor wireless service in parts of Richmond County is hampering council committee members' ability to participate in this fashion. Warden Mombourquette urged these committee members to continue their service while the municipality lobbies with the provincial government and the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities to get some leeway in this regard. 

An extensive examination of the struggles facing multiple volunteer fire departments in Richmond County gets under way at 6:32, as council grapples with requests made to take a greater role in fire department governance following issues raised within the L'Ardoise and Isle Madame departments, including the latter's loss of its chief following a squabble between its executive and its board of directors earlier this winter. While the Municipal Government Act prevents municipalities from taking a governance role in this regard, council has agreed to bring the issue back to its municipal Fire Services Committee this spring in the hopes of finding some answers. 

Also on TELILE 24/7 this week:

19:27 - Host Adam Cooke interviews Claire Doyle, the new Community Connector for the Seniors Take Action Coalition, about her post's objectives and the coalition's new petition campaign against proposed electricity-rate increases announced earlier this winter by Nova Scotia Power. 

34:12 - Richmond council discusses the administration of its recently-approved Age-Friendly Grant from the provincial government, and decides to reach out to the Dr. William B. Kingston Memorial Health Centre in L'Ardoise to carry it out.

39:05 - Richmond council offers verbal support to the Strait-Richmond Housing Matters Coalition to set up a not-for-profit organization to help the coalition carry out its affordable-housing mandates in Richmond County and Port Hawkesbury. 

41:26 - Warden Mombourquette reacts to council voting to provide $10,000 to a new community cooperative attempting to set up a fitness center at the former Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation building in St. Peter's. 

45:15 - We wrap up this week's show with additional footage from Richmond District One Councillor Shawn Samson's recent open house and year-in-review at Centre La Picasse in Petit de Grat.