CBC Maritimes

The Lennox Island First Nation's foray into lobster processing is being received on PEI with hope and questions

The Lennox Island First Nation on Prince Edward Island is making a bold play to get into the lobster processing business.
Minigoo Fisheries Inc. is the first lobster processing facility to be wholly-owned and operated by a First Nation in Atlantic Canada.
Given the turmoil in the lobster industry and the depressed prices lobstermen have been receiving for their catch, you might wonder about the venture's chances of success. But Chief Darlene Bernard told why she's confident about its prospects - despite questions about whether it's legal to build a processing plant  .

Is the price of dairy products reasonable in Canada ?
Based on two interviews earlier this week, the answer appears to depend on whether you're a member of the restaurant and foodservices industry or the dairy industry.
Maritime Noon's producer Deb Woolway joined me to read the emails we received in response - from Barb Somerville, a dairy farmer from Juniper in western New Brunswick and Dermot Monaghan of Kingston, Nova Scotia.

Imagine your budget for a year.
Now tack on an extra 1000 to 5000 dollars in expenses.  
That's the financial burden parents of disabled children face - even after receiving assistance from public programs and tax supplements.  
Last month, a report on those extraordinary costs was published in the latest issue of Canadian Public Policy (see below). It suggested that governments should expand some existing programs to include families with disabled children and increase the amount of assistance they receive.  
But with all public programs and agencies feeling the pinch of the economic down-turn is it realistic for the government to expand or start new programs ?  
Our question: Are governments doing enough to support parents of children with disabilities ?
Our guests were Randy Dickinson, a long time disability advocate in New Brunswick, who also worked for 24 years as Executive Director of the Premier's Council on the Status of Disabled Persons, and Dr. Shelley Phipps,  a Professor in the Department of Economics at Dalhousie University. She's also  co-author of the study mentioned above : "The Economic Cost of Caring for Children with Disabilities in Canada", which appeared in the latest issue of Canadian Public Policy. To read the study, click here.