CBHT - Monday, May 27, 2024 - 05:00 p.m. (ET) - Segment #1

I love the flavours going through there. And the textures are terrific. The whole cherries I think that was brave but it's really delicious. Not the best thing you've ever made but the flavours are really good. -Hmm. Worth all the calories. Yay. [Paul] Thank you. Well done, Laura. -Thanks, you too. -Well done, Laura. Thank you. That is so clever, Peter. And so complicated. The overall look is quite effective 'cause you've got a nice shine on all of them. And it's set beautifully. Sponge and the mousse are gorgeous. Really nice. I just wanna see what one of the other one's like. Let's go for the chocolate one. It has pistachio mousse and a raspberry sponge. Works beautifully. Can I ask that you try the final one? It's my favourite. So that's pistachio cake, chocolate mousse, raspberry glaze. Like a sort of friand cake. Oh, that one quite disappoints me. -Oh, no. -Only joking. [Laughs] [Prue] I love them all. [Paul] I think they're very clever. -Well executed. -Thank you. -Well done. -Well done. Smashed it. -Well done, Peter. -Well done, Peter. Um, well it doesn't look great, does it? No, not my finest I'm afraid. The mousse hasn't quite set here. [Paul] And the bottom is collapsing with the weight as it's melting as well. But before it melts too much let's have a quick look. That for me tastes more like raspberry than it does cherry. I think it's the outside with the raspberry on it. -Yeah. -'Cause I love the flavour. These do feel like panna cotta. It's really odd. It's actually quite stodgy and bouncy. [Paul] It's got too much gelatin in. It's like a rubber ball. Yeah. It's a shame. To be honest I'm really disappointed, Hermine. I am too. Because you are so good at patisserie and this is-- by your standards it's a failure. Well it's time for me to tell you who has been star baker this week. There are a couple of candidates but this week's star baker is... ..Peter. Well done, Peter. That leaves me with the horrible job of announcing the baker who will be leaving us. It's especially hard because the person who's leaving us is not gonna get to the final and you've all been so fantastic to get this far. But sadly there can only be three. So the person who is leaving us... ..is Hermine. Ah. It's been a pleasure. It has been a pleasure. [Hermine] I'm disappointed 'cause, uh, I didn't want to leave. -I'm so sorry. -It's alright. I'm so sorry. [Hermine] I believe everything has a reason and it was the right time for me. [ ]

[ ] >> Announcer: this is cbc nova scotia news. [ ] >> Amy: tonight, electric shock. Nonprofits and nova scotia report a big spike in demand for help with power bills. >> Tom: from the ashes. Trees burned and last year's wildfire find new life at a young lumberyard. >> Reporter: indicate written community comes together to honor two police officers who lost their lives to cancer. >> Ryan: southerly wind increasing tonight with periods of rain ruling and throughout the day on tuesday and the risk of a rumble of thunder. Your full forecast is coming up. [ ] >> Tom: good evening. As the cost-of-living continues to push people to their limits, many nova scotia and his are struggling to pay their power bills. Community organizations say the demand for help with power bills is surging. >> Amy: and people's debt with nova scotia power is higher than ever. These groups are giving out more money just to help keep people's lights on. >> Reporter: we know power rates have gone up but it is hitting some people harder than others. Nonprofits across the province say they are seeing more people who need help with power bills and higher arrears than in years past. With the cost of food, rent and gas rising, they are worried about how people will keep up. >> We do have people who live in their homes without power for months because their bill is so high and they can't afford to get it reconnected. >> Reporter: she says her organization is doing -- using diversion funding that is supposed to help people get ahead just to keep their heads above water. Other nonprofits are echoing this with their own data painting a bleak picture. According to the south shore open doors association, its clients have more than double the power arrears compared to the same time last year and in halifax it is one of the same story. They have provided more funding towards power bills this year than all of 2023. They are providing almost double last year's monthly average. When I asked nova scotia power, they say disconnections aren't rising. 2023 was just over the average of 3,000 per year. They don't disconnect power over the winter but a spokesperson says the first two weeks of may, 137 households were disconnected and that is normal. The average amount of arrears is $600 community organization says this is because they are stepping in. >> It definitely makes a difference but it is not a long-term solution. >> Reporter: the province says they are helping nonprofits do this work. With almost $1 million a year in divergence funding and a 500,000-dollar payment last fall. The government's rebate programs will help hundreds of thousands of nova scotia and his this year with the nonprofit workers are helping them pay their power bills every day and hoping for a plan to make those bills lower. >> Tom: it nova scotia rcmp are putting the finishing touches on the apology they will be offering the province's black communities this fall. The apology is for street checks. A controversial policy that has been banned in nova scotia because it was found to disproportionately target members of the africa nova scotia and community. Members of that community were six times more likely to be subject to a street to check. >> I was surprised and disappointed and I felt some personal shame as well because from the period of about 2011 until 2013 I was the operations officer down in halifax working with halifax regional police and so we were encouraging street checks and we were tracking street checks. >> Tom: we will hear more about the plant apologies for the use of street checks in our newsmaker interview just after 6:30 pm. [ ] >> Amy: it has been one year since I wildfire swept through parts of the area destroying more than 150 homes. The fast-moving fire also wiped out thousands of trees in the suburban area. Some of those have now been removed that they just may return one day in a different form. Ally thompson brings us that story.

>> I was happy to be able to clear those trees where people relived that trauma every single time they would go to and from their community. >> The good news for this is these trees are being harvested. They are being processed and they are having a second life and someone's home. >> I understand what they are going through. As a biologist and ecologist, I also see the incredible pace of forest renewal that ensues after a fire. >> It has been a year since a wildfire swept through the area destroying 10051 homes in its path but there is a less talked about casualty of the fast-moving fire, thousands of trees. Many of those have now been cleared. For some it has been cathartic but others say they should have been left alone. >> Reporter: this is part of life at forest kids early learning in hammond's plane but it wasn't possible until recently. The trail to their outdoor classroom has been littered with burnt trees, blown over by high winds. Having many of those trees cleared away means little feet can march down the path once again. >> You cortes at a good time. We are kind of getting used to it now. If he asked me couple months ago I probably would be crying right now but we are getting used to it or track she is one of many property owners working with a group of organizations to have burnt trees cleared from their lands. Matt will it has been spearheading the effort. He says many people didn't have insurance coverage for landscaping. He says the fire was intense enough to kill the softwood trees but it only burnt the outer layer. The outside is still perfect for lumber. >> We targeted the softwood, they are the trees who will blow over and they are the trees, they certainly won't survive and then have a really good end use. They are literally going back into the homes that are being rebuilt into the community. >> Reporter: the lumber from these trees will likely help rebuild homes here because the mills they are heading to sell their products locally. It is not hard to pick out which trees came from the area. The 200-year-old male has tweaked its scanning and sorting technology to figure out which has a scorched outer shell given that is not normally an imperfection they deal with. >> We have two auto owners of the mill here who say we are landowners too. If our forests built -- burnt on lands that we owned, we would want to help clean up and get the forest started. The majority of the forest we managed was not so much here but we did donate, you know, six figures worth of lumber to the fire efforts in shelburne to rebuild the houses down there. >> Reporter: the mill is compensating people bigger lots for their trees. Somewhat smaller lots are having trees cleared at no charge but others didn't have enough to softwood to take part in the project or their lots were inaccessible for the machinery. He says there is another benefit to clearing these trees, removing fuel for any future fires that may come through. >> If you can imagine that he had a garden that was growing and you didn't we jury garden and all the weeds are coming up and it was very thick and if if the fire went through that, there's more fuel there the fire would be more intense. >> Reporter: it is a claim that is disputed by this woman who has dedicated her life to forest ecology. >> It is not aiding forest ecology. The forest recovers on its own. >> Reporter: she says she would have left the trees be. She says forests renew at an incredible pace following a wildfire. The charred stumps provide purchase for birds and habitat for other wildlife. She says once an area is burned it is unlikely to reburn because the fuel such as twigs, needles and leaves have already been burnt up. >> We are a finger of land sticking out into the atlantic ocean so it is very moist air, it is often rather cool and damp, lots of rain so we have an amazing dk cycle. We need to retain forest cover and we need to not think that thinning the floyd forest or salvaging the forest is aiding anything but the mill. Almost like telling a burn victim they need a vigorous massage. No, you need a period of healing and great care. >> Reporter: whatever the best practices are, the priority for some residents is to be rid of the scorched trees so they can heal without the daily reminder of what happens. >> The good news for this is

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