The mother of a nine-year-old boy says packaging that depicts highly potent cannabis as a "treat" led her son and several classmates at a Halifax school to consume them and become violently ill earlier this week.

Three neat rows of tiny shelters, each with a bright blue, lockable door, are up and occupied in a quiet Halifax suburb as the provincial government gradually rolls out what it is touting as an important part of its solution to homelessness.

Nova Scotia's information commissioner says the province's rejection of her appeal for more staff will leave citizen requests to access government documents languishing in a years-long waitlist.