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Chinese immigrants helped build Canada...and the Canadian economy.

But now changes to federal immigration regulations mean a traditional route to Canadian citizenship has been cut off....something that's also affecting the kitchens of local restaurants.

This week on Maritime Magazine, Lisa Roberts brings us the story

At 23, Greg McManus was a new police officer, with a girlfriend, a motorcycle and a job in Amherst, Nova Scotia.

But a serious accident would change his life forever.

Greg spent most of the next two decades fighting to get out of a PEI mental institition.

And fighting for control over his own money.

The CBC's Pat Martel has followed Greg's story for years....on Maritime Magazine he brings us the conclusion.

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Brian Stewart is a well-known, and long-time correspondant for CBC News.

He was the first to bring us the story of famine in Ethiopia in the nineteen eighties, something that changed broadcasting and humanitanian work forever.

Brian also covered the Falklands War among other conflicts, he told us stories from the former Soviet Union, the Middle East - and Margaret Thatcher's England.

During all that he felt his job was always to show how human beings not only fall prey to evil, but how they rise above it.

Brian was in Halifax to speak at the fortieth anniversary gala for the Atlantic School of Theology.

The Atlantic School of Theology was actually born during a time of dramatic change in the way people worship.

That was four decades ago, and the school, which is unique in the world, is celebrating its anniversary this week.

Margaret Sager is the chair of the board of govenors at AST.

With music available a million different ways, on dozens of devices, the House Concert is a throwback to an older - very old - model of entertainment.

Music lovers throw open their doors to friends and strangers...all paying customers....and the artist performs in their living room.

It's an idea that's taken hold in the Maritimes and across Canada, and Shelley Thompson brings us a behind the scenes look at the pros and cons of house concerts.

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When Dr F Clarke Fraser began his medical career, genetics were something you only studied in fruit flies and mice.

The young scientist from Nova Scotia was the first in Canada to bring human medicine and genetics together.

He was also the first to begin counselling families about genetic risks for birth defects.

Now retired at 91, Dr Fraser was recently inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, along with Terry Fox and several other medical luminaries.

Pauline went to visit Dr Fraser at his home in Bear River, near Digby.

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Jewish communities across the region have been shrinking over the last few decades.

It's especially true in Saint John, a city with a long, proud history of Jewish life.

Now the community is looking to an unlikely source for new members...Israel itself.

Freelancer Lorne Daltrop has the story.

(All the music in this story is courtesy of Roman Kekhman.)

It's the not the kind of story that usually makes headlines.

A group of young people in Atlantic Canada in friendly competition for a leadership award.

But one of those young people was Kandace Hagen, a staunch pro-choice activist who pledged to use her award to help more Prince Edward Island women get access to abortions.

PEI is the only Canadian province that does not perform abortions...women have to go off-Island to either Halifax or Frederiction.

A member of the Island's Right to Life association urged people to vote against Hagen, and instead vote for her nearest competitor, who is from New Brunswick.

Here is Ann Marie Thomlins...

Here is an interview with Ann Marie Thomlins.

Listen to this week's show...

Kandace Hagen and Dr Colleen McQuarrie

It's probably won't surprise you to hear there are bullies in the work-place.

What IS surprising are the types of people workplace bullies typically target.

And it may actually shock you to hear how prevalent, costly and dangerous the problem can be.

The CBC's Jerry West speaks to people who have been bullied, people who admit to being a bully, and people who study the phenomenon, and it's effects.

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People who've recovered from cancer know many things are lost to the disease which can never be returned.

This week on Maritime Magazine, meet some people who say sex ISN'T one of them.

The CBC's Julia Cook introduces us to two people, both of them cancer survivors, who talk openly about the road back to intimacy.

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St. Francois New Brunswick used to be a happy community.

Now friends and neighbours, even family members, have stopped speaking to each other.

The CBC's Jacques Poitras tells us how a dispute over chickens is threatening to tear a town apart.

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This week on Maritime Magazine a profile of Clyde Wray, a published poet, theatre director and the voice of a popular nighttime radio show in Saint John.

His story goes from an artistic household in New York, to Vietnam, to being homeless on the streets of America.

In the end it was art that saved him....and it's his incredible voice that leaves such an impression on the people in his adopted community.

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Pauline brings us part two of her documentary... Phoenix Rising.

We re-join a Halifax choir - which includes kids who've lived on the streets - as they get ready for a crucial performance.

It's their first home-town show!

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This week on Maritime Magazine, host Pauline Dakin brings us a story about the power of music to transform lives.

The Phoenix Community choir is made up of kids who've spent time on the streets, along with volunteers and people who work with them.

This past fall, the choir hooked up with another group at Bishop's University in Quebec to play a series of extraordinary shows.

Here is part one of our documentary (part two will air in the New Year)

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Opened in 1921, for many years the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children was the only orphanage in the province that would accept black children.

In fact children from across the region were sent there.

While the Home is a symbol of refuge and community spirit for many people, it's also the target of controversy.

Several dozen people have come forward to say they were abused and neglected by former staff and residents.

The claims have been slowly making their way through the court system for almost a decade.

Our story this week comes from freelance reporter, Bethany Horne.

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Soon the veterans of Canada's Armed Forces will once again gather at public squares and cenotaphs to mark Remembrance Day.

But not all of them will go home when the ceremonies are over.

Many of them don't have a home.

The CBC's Shaina Luck brings us a documentary about how some former veterans are trying to help their brothers-in-arms.

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Jim Lowther, president of V.E.T.S. Canada. Photo: CBC News

Jim Lowther speaking with a homeless veteran. Photo: CBC News

In this episode we run along with Erin Poirer as she crosses the country of Gambia in West Africa.

Born on PEI, Erin usually works as a nurse at a high school in Halifax.

But this past summer she combined her love of running with her passion for Africa...she ran more than 400 kilometres and raised more than $34,000 for a charity that does development work in the Gambia.

She took a tape recorder along to record her impressions, and the stories of the people she met.

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Erin's website

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of Nova Scotia's Two Planks and a Passion Theatre.

For most of that time, audiences and theatre professionals have been making the trek to a gorgeous, but remote spot on the North Mountain, in King's County.

That's where Two Planks' founders - and married couple - Chris O'Neil and Ken Schwartz have their Ross Creek Centre for the Arts.

The CBC's Carmen Klassen visited them there.

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This week we have an unforgettable story about a family from Prince Edward Island who travelled to the South Pacific to help lift a one-hundred and fifty year old curse!

The story comes to us from the CBC's Julia Cook.

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A ho-hum election on PEI got a lot more interesting - and even a little nasty - when the federal government brought the Island's immigration scandal back to the front burner.

This week we looked at how that story played out in town halls and on Twitter.

And we find out what else Islanders across the province are saying in the lead-up to Monday's election.

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Ten years ago the United States closed it's borders after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

When they opened again things had changed dramatically for people who live along Canada's oldest boundary.

The CBC's Jacques Poitras visits the line between New Brunswick and Maine, to find out how the last decade has affected communities whose ties go back centuries.

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Elizabeth Bishop is considered one of the most distinguished American poets of the twentieth century.

What's not so well known is her deep connection to the Maritimes. And the deep connection many people here feel to her.

In her documentary, "Should We Have Stayed At Home, Whereever That May Be.." Carmen Klassen tells us how local Bishop fans and scholars are celebrating her centenary.

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This week Philip Moscovitch takes us on a quest to find a piece of Maritime folklore that hasn't been seen in a century.

Earlier this spring Philip went along on a canoe trip, deep into Nova Scotia's Tobeatic Wilderness Area.

The group was searching for a huge piece of granite that marks the boundaries of four counties. It used to be a common sight, but now no one is entirely sure where it is.

And the group, led by Fredericton's Paul Maybee, hoped to be the first to find the Boundary Rock in at least a generation.

Listen to Boundary Rock

Boundary Rock Photos on Flickr

Micro-finance is the notion of providing small loans to people in developing countries to set themselves up in businesss.

"Micro-research", based on a similar idea, is a new concept developed by two pediatric specialists at the region's largest children's hospital.

Pauline met with Dr Noni MacDonald and Dr Bob Bortolussi to find out more.

Micro-research

Where there are humans...there are rats.

In the Maritimes alone, experts put the rat census at about 50 to 60 thousand, or enough to fill the region's biggest arena six times over!

So even though most of us wish they wouldn't, it's easy to see why rats often show up in our...personal space.

Freelancer Lezlie Lowe goes where few dare to tread in her documentary, Year of the Rat.

Year of the Rat

In Moncton, an ex-federal cabinet minister, a young researcher and an unemployed truck driver are at the centre of an initiative that might just make a difference in the lives of people with mental illness, and no place to live.

The CBC's Vanessa Blanch tells us about the "At Home-Chez Soi" program.

(Please note: this version of the documentary has been altered due to rights issues.)

At Home-Chez Soi

It's hard not to love a massive outdoor summer concert, but in the past five years, government pursuit of these events has left a costly legacy for some taxpayers.

While Moncton seems to have found a winning-formula for big outdoor shows, in Summerside, PEI, city officials claim they were conned into giving more than a million dollars to a California company, for a rock concert that never happened.

And in Halifax, an auditor is expected to report this week on how the mayor and his staff secretly bet millions of taxpayer dollars on money-losing events.

Freelancer Richard Foot explores how cities in our region got caught up in the costly race for the world's biggest entertainers.

Sound and Fury

This week we were saddened to learn that Clifton Stewart passed away at his home in Charlotttetown. He was 91.

Many of you may remember our documentary about Mr Stewart, and his activities during the Second World War.

Mr Stewart was recruited by the British Military for his radio operating skills.

He was one of several hundred allied troops trained at a special covert facility in southern Ontario called Camp X.

It wasn't something he spoke about for many years, but in 2008 he told his story to the CBC's Laura Chapin.

A Man Most Ordinary

It was the biggest health story to hit the airwaves in years...news that an Italian doctor had pioneered what appeared to be a break-through for people with Multiple Sclerosis.

Canadian patients flocked to overseas clinics for the treatment, and pressured their governments to pay for it here. Meanwhile neurologists shook their heads - and asked for more research.

Now, even some of the treatment's initial supporters are backing away.

This week on Maritime Magazine, Dr Jock Murray, one of the country's leading experts on MS, looks at the frenzy surrounding Paolo Zamboni's controversial findings.

Dr Jock Murray

Midwifery is hardly a new practice, but it has never been a part of the public health care system in this region.

Recently all three Maritime provinces have been looking at ways to bring mid-wifery into the mainstream.

The government of Nova Scotia has come closest, enacting legislation to regulate the practice of midwives and bring them under the auspices of district health authorities.

Yet many women in the province say it's a failed experiment, that it's more difficult than ever to deliver their babies with the help of a mid-wife.

Norma Jean Macphee brings us the story.

Mid-Wives

Every year thousands of people arrive in Canada unable to read or write in English.

What many of us don't realize is that a significant number of those immigrants never learned to read or write in their OWN language either.

But a unique program in Halifax is taking a whole new approach towards learning english as second language. And it's garnering attention across the country.

The CBC's Margot Brunelle introduces us to some of the people enrolled in the Halifax program.

Language of the Mind

For Daryl Shand, the noise and bustle of city life was too much, so he moved out of Halifax and into rural Kennetcook, Nova Scotia.

The problem is, Daryl has a mental illness, he can't work, and his therapist is in the city...an hour's drive away.

Freelancer Angele Cano finds out how Daryl is trying to raise money to solve his transportation problems.

And how geography - and poverty - can be huge barriers to people receiving help for mental illness.

Daryl's Day

Maritime Magazine features work from story-tellers of the future, short documentaries from student journalists, about to graduate from the University of King's College in Halifax.

Student Documentaries

In some Maritime communities there are still two kinds of people...those who are "from" here and those who "come from away."

Take Prince Edward Island for example...Islanders are among the most welcoming and friendly of folk.

But many newcomers - or CFAs - say that friendliness only goes so far. Even after having spent years on PEI, they feel isolated and unable to break into community life.

Freelancer Dave Atkinson explores the idea of being "Islanders by Choice."

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Last week federal ministers and Conversative MPs fanned out across the country for photo-ops and funding announcements.

At the same time, the opposition released new ads, and talked openly about voting against the government on two important confidence votes.

It looks like an election is coming.

And if it does, a handful of seats in Atlantic Canada could be the game-changer.

This week we talk to three political watchers about the seats in play, the issues important to the region, and what Maritimers want to hear on the hustings.

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While high profile cases of youth violence make headlines, a group in Halifax has quietly spent the last decade giving young people a place to be heard.

The group is called L.O.V.E. which stands for Leave Out Youth Violence.

It is considered a rare success at helping young people turn their lives around.

Reporter Maggie Rahr spent months getting to know the kids and the leaders at L.O.V.E, to try to find out why it's had such on impact.

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The L.O.V.E website

This week on Maritime Magazine, the story of how a group of fishing guides in Maine convinced the state government to keep a native fish species out of their lucrative waters.

And the effect this has had on what many consider to be an important food source for Atlantic groundfish stocks.

The CBC's Connell Smith brings us the story of the "alewife"...also known as gaspereau in many parts of the Maritimes.

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For four decades the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra has been a training ground - and a stage - for some of the region's most talented young musicians.

But organizers recently hit a sour note with some parents and alumni.

The CBC's Jacques Poitras looks at the controversy surrounding the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra.

When it comes to the end of life, the word 'caregiver' can mean different things.

Sometimes, it's a professional who visits regularly, and helps people stay in their homes as long as possible.

But often "caregiver" is the family member or friend who puts their own life aside to help a loved one through the final passage.

Freelance reporter Janna Graham introduces us to two familes coping with "The Art of Dying."

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Earlier this month, a ten year old girl from Fredericton made international headlines as the youngest person to ever discover a supernova - or exploding star.

Kathyrn Aurora Gray handled herself well with the international press...which isn't that surprising.

In 1995 her father, Paul Gray, was the youngest person to discover a supernova...though he was the ripe old age of 22!

Dave Atkinson tells us about 15 years of astronomy breakthroughs, as seen through one family.

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For many of us, this is the time to leave crowds and noise behind, and hunker down for a quiet holiday with family and close friends.

But in some communities, Christmas Day just wouldn't be the same without the whole town coming together.

On Maritime Magazine this week, freelance broadcaster Philip Moscovitch brings us the story behind Bridgewater, Nova Scotia's Second Annual Community Christmas dinner.

And how organizers discovered the "needy" are not just those who may be short of money.

For years it was seen as Canada's most notorious toxic waste site.

The CBC's Wendy Martin gives us an update.

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According to research conducted in the Maritimes, 10 to 14 per cent of parents experience some form of abuse at the hands of their children.

Usually the parent in question is the mother, and she's usually raising the children alone.

Recently the CBC's Margot Brunelle met several women taking part in a program called Standing Our Ground, run through the Halifax YWCA.

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On the west bank of the Avon river, in Nova Scotia's Hants County, the eighth generation of the Bremner family continues to farm a piece of land that has been in the family since 1763.

The other is about a missing piece of parish history on the North Shore of PEI.

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Veterans from this region and across the country have been speaking out about the treatment they say they're receiving at the hands of Veterans Affairs Canada.

Long delays, overwhelming paperwork, and breaches of personal security are just some of the complaints ex-military personel have been leveling at the agency.

And we hear the story of Second World War vet and his wife who had tp spend their final years apart.

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The CBC's Bob Murphy prepared this look at one soldier's life.

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Suzanne and Anne Plunkett

Suzanne and Neiff Joseph

This week Maritime Magazine celebrates the writings of a woman who was a born storyteller...but whose tales never really made it outside her own family and friends.

Suzanne Plunkett Joseph was from Bridgwater, Nova Scotia. She died recently after a long battle with cancer.

One of her greatest gifts was to see the humour in every situation, a gift for which her family and community were grateful.

In honour of her - and Thanksgiving - Gordon Pinsent reads from her work, titled, "Occasionally Mrs Plunkett."

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This week convicted pedophile Ernest Fenwick MacIntosh was sentenced to four years in prison for crimes he committed in the 1970s.

It's the latest in a case that has dragged on for decades, as his victims sought to have MacIntosh charged, and then extradited back to Canada from India.

On Maritime Magazine reporter Joan Weeks talks to the man who first laid charges against MacIntosh.

And tries to get to the bottom of WHY it took so long for justice to be done in this case.

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Woody Woods is our guide as we meet an African-Nova Scotia family celebrating its 225th anniversary!

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Three decades ago, the town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia was facing the same fate as many Maritime communities.

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The CBC's Melissa Friedman brings us a profile of John on this week's Maritime Magazine..

Freelancer Lezlie Lowe has covered stories about violence against women, but she'd never talked to the other side; she'd never spoken to a man who abused.

Until she met Jason.

Listen to the Documentary here

Here is a link for information about the New Start program.

Join us on the radio - or scroll through the archives here - for some of our favorite shows from this past season.

Have a great summer!

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If you find treasure on land, the rules are pretty clear; hand it all over to the provincial government.

But, if you find treasure under the ocean - at least in Nova Scotian waters - it's a whole other can of worms.

Nova Scotia is the only province with a Treasure Trove Act, orginally written to deal with prospectors hoping to find treasure on Oak Island.

As reporter Stephen Puddicombe tells us, the provincial government is considering whether to change the Act....so he spoke with people for and against the legislation.

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Forget romance and "til death do us part", we all know that weddings are big business.

Very big business.

So why aren't more vendors in the region cashing in on the latest must-haves for trendy couples?

This week one local bride-to-be shows us the gaps in the matrimonial marketplace in the Maritimes.

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If someone started going through your mailbox at home, or peeking through your window as you composed a letter...chances are you'd consider that an invasion of privacy.

But what if someone started reading your personal e-mails?
What if they did it at work?
And what if that person was your boss?

That's what happened to a former employee at the town council office in Nackawic, New Brunswick.
And,the dispute over whether she has a right to be upset over it - has divided the town.

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Our story this week is about a generous man, originally from Prince Edward Island, who devoted his life to helping recent immigrants to Canada.

He helped make possible the reunion of two brothers, using a method of immigrant sponsership called A Group of Five. It's not used much in this region, in fact these individuals came to call themselves "the First Halifax Group of Five."

But the story took years to unfold... and not everyone got to see the happy ending. The CBC's Lisa Roberts brings us her documentary titled, "Maybe God Sent Bernie."

Earlier this year news came out that the body of a 40 year old man, originally from Eritrea, had been found in the woods near Halifax.

Habtom Kibraeb arrived in Nova Scotia as a refugee claimant, after a long and dangerous journey from his homeland.

When he found out Immigration Canada had rejected his claim, and decided to deport him...he committed suicide

A week after his body was found, the CBC's Mary Lynk sat down with friends and advisors to go beyond the headlines, and learn more about Habtom's death.

And his life.

Her documentary is called Habtom's Path.

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The Sisters of St Martha in Antigonish have always been about hospitality and sanctuary.

"The Marthas" as they're known, began more than a century ago, at what was then, St Francis Xavier College.
T
hey acted as the housekeepers and caretakers for the students and priests who went there...eventually expanding their mission beyond the walls of the University.

Now Sister Donna Brady and some of her colleagues at the Marthas are taking on a new mission.

They're giving rank and file Catholics in the area a chance to come together, ask questions, and even challenge the way the Church is handling the current crisis.

Maritime Magazine host Pauline Dakin sat down last week with Sister Donna Brady, who helps run the Bethany Retreat Centre in Antigonish.

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Contact the Marthas Here

Myfanwy Davies' documentary about the wonderful life - and tragic death - of St Thomas University professor John McKendy recently won two prestigious awards.

On May 1, 2010 it was awarded the Dave Rogers Award for Long Feature at the Radio Television News Directors Awards in Saint John.

And on May 8th it won the Atlantic Journalism Gold Award for Feature Writing-Radio.

Here is the story, which first aired in March 2009.

On May the 8th, at the Atlantic Journalism Awards, Bob Murphy and Margot Brunelle received the Gold Award for Enterprise Reporting-Radio for their story about the disappearance of Kimberley McAndrew twenty years ago.

That story first aired on Maritime Magazine last fall. You can hear it again here.

Our congratulations to Myfanwy, Bob and Margot, and thanks for their fine work.

For Jesse Lee Lomax and Dan Robichaud, there was never any question they would have a large family.

And there was never a question the children would be adopted...Jesse Lee decided on that when she was still a teenager.

But the road to international adoption is far from smooth. And it can be particularly rough if you're trying to integrate the only black children for miles around into a small, white, French community.

This week Maritime Magazine brings us the story of a young couple from Bouctouche New Brunswick, and the hurdles they've faced trying to bring their family together.

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Rising sea levels and the eroding coastline in the Maritimes are causing havoc with some of the region's most important hisoric sites.

At Fortress Louisburg in Cape Breton, for example, every new storm surge reveals a time capsule.

This week on Maritime Magazine, reporter Stephen Puddicombe tells us about something called "rescue archeology,"...the measures scientists are taking to ensure our coastal history isn't entirely washed out to sea.

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At 26 years old, Shawn Campbell worked hard, partied hard and did pretty much what he wanted, when he wanted.

Then he got cancer, and everything changed.

Now, 12 years later, Shawn has been through his treatment and recovery.

But he, like thousands of other young cancer survivors, felt abandoned when he finally walked out of the hospital for the last time.

This week Maritime Magazine looks at the issue of after-care for young people with cancer.

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Click here for more information about Dr Miedema's study about young cancer patients.

Fred Ross longs for the light.

He needs it in order to make art.

But the acclaimed New Brunswick artist finds good light hard to come by these days, "trapped" as he is, in a nursing home.

Our documentary about Mr Ross, and his predicament, was produced by the CBC's Mary Lynk and freelance broadcaster, Judith Mackin.

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She is the most famous dog in Nova Scotia and she's been on death row for almost two years.

Brindi is a six-year old shepherd mix from East Chezzetcook, who was seized by animal control in 2008.

Her owner has been fighting to get her back ever since. This week the CBC's Eileen McInnis goes behind the Brindi headlines.

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In honour of Easter we have two stories about finding spiritual fulfillment through the creation of something new.

In one case it's a work of art; in another it's new homes for people who've been waiting for them a long time.

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In some ways it seems as though Bud Ings and Pius Murnaghan were always meant to be friends.

Dr Ings is a well-known author, politician and legendary animal doctor from Prince Edward Island.

Dr Murhaghan is the efficient, respected young veterinarian who took over his practice.

But the similarities between the two men don't end there...and their friendship goes beyond mentor and protege.

Maritime Magazine, in collaboration with Land And Sea, presents a portrait of these two country doctors.

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