These women are travelling through rural N.S. fixing bikes and breaking stereotypes
CBC
Simone Mutabazi has been travelling across the province this summer fixing bicycles for people who can't easily access repair shops.
She works as a co-ordinator for The Pop-Up Bike Hub, a project funded by the Ecology Action Centre that caters its services to people of all ages living in rural areas.
Mutabazi describes it as "a mobile cargo trailer that acts as a bike repair space on wheels."
"Our main goal is providing access to bike repairs and tune-ups for people, because a lot of bike shops in the province are located in a few concentrated areas," she said.
Mutabazi and her team, which includes interns Annabelle Valiant Fraser and Grace Robinson, work on the bikes free of charge.
"I started with zero experience before the program started, and I feel very proud to learn how to fix a bike. We want to promote this to everyone. If I can learn it, anybody can," she said with a laugh.
The project began in 2020 as a collaboration with an organization called Bike Again that teaches youth how to repair bicycles. That organization is also affiliated with the Ecology Action Centre, which is funded through public grants and donations.
Fraser and Robinson joined the bike hub through the Clean Foundation, a Dartmouth-based environmental charity. Part of the appeal is helping break down gender stereotypes, as well as promoting active transportation and recycling.
"Anyone can fix bikes. It's seen as a male dominated thing and hard to get into but it's not that difficult." Fraser said. "Being able to support girls and lift them up to show them that they can do everything that boys can do is something I'll think about for a long time."
The trailer houses all the organization's tools and supplies, like recycled tires, brake levers, shifters and even donated bikes. Fraser and Robinson rely on scrap bicycles for parts and shelve them for future use.
The team recently travelled to the Sipekne'katik First Nation and Acadia First Nation, and spends a significant amount of time visiting other communities in the Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq.
While visiting Millbrook First Nation, Fraser was approached by a child who thanked the team because he couldn't afford to fix his bike.
"It's nice to see those barriers dissolving because we're there," she said.
The project has helped repair nearly 2,000 bikes so far, including 215 and counting this year. They also help supply youth with safety essentials like helmets, lights and locks.
The amount of money it takes for people to earn a living wage has increased across the province, according to a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company "will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke," where the business's major facilities are based.
A Winnipegger is warning others about an intricate scam she says she almost fell for.
Fort William First Nation is opposing a planned redevelopment of the Ontario Power Generation's (OPG) 117 year old Kakabeka Falls Generating Station, which is located in their traditional territory.
A building that sits at the corner of Sussex Street and Brunswick Avenue has had many lives over the last century — being a church, a school and offices. Now it's set to become housing, at a time when the city sorely needs it.
A Waterloo, Ont., elementary school principal will be sentenced in the new year after pleading guilty to child sexual exploitation charges following a joint investigation that involved the London, Toronto and Waterloo police services.
Students at UPEI have let their student union know what they want from the province this fiscal year, and those priorities are reflected in a 2024-2025 advocacy document brought to the legislature on Wednesday.
Larger communities in the N.W.T. will soon see a boost in their territorial funding to maintain infrastructure and deliver services — like water and waste management — but the increase still falls short of what communities need.
The toxic drug crisis has taken more than 47,000 lives in Canada since 2016 and the synthetic opioid fentanyl has become a household name. But now, what's believed to be an even more potent class of synthetic drugs is showing up in drug busts across the country: nitazenes.
The Liberal government and the NDP have agreed to introduce a two-month GST vacation on certain items before the holiday season, Radio-Canada has learned.
Veterinarians are warning Londoners to make sure their dogs are vaccinated and keeping clean after a deadly virus outbreak was declared in London this week.