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The Coast | News, events, restaurants, concerts and Burger Week for Halifax, Nova Scotia
Home of the Best of Halifax Reader's Choice Awards, the award-winning independent newspaper covers the Halifax news, politics, events, concerts, movies, restaurants, and nightlife scene.
What difference does it make? I ditched you because you’re an asshole and a user. Not to mention the lousiest lover I’ve ever had in my life. Not for any other reason that you drummed up in your pea brain. —I’m Not The Asshole, You Are
Heather and Alex Stephen took the road less travelled to wind up at small business ownership. The couple—she’s a former World Cup bobsleigh competitor from Edmonton, he’s a St. FX basketball alumnus—made the move from Toronto to Lower Sackville three years ago seeking a more subdued, outdoorsy life, and now they’re gearing up to open…
Anishinaabe economist and writer Winona LaDuke identifies two types of economies, grounded in different ways of seeing. Speaking in Vancouver recently, she characterized one as an “extreme extractive economy” fed by exploitation of people and nature. The second is a “regenerative economy” based on an understanding of the land and our relationship to it. We…
I haven’t been in the dating game for five years and what a rude awakening—times have changed!! I feel like I am drowning in a hopeless pit of Haligonian men who can’t even commit to a date let alone a relationship! It’s so disheartening that this is the state of our society. Apparently even in…
To the wonderful girl reading Tears of Salt at the Starbucks on Spring Garden (March 7) who looked up at me and had the most beautiful smile and playful eyes as I found a spot to work. Maybe you’d let me buy you a coffee sometime. —Guy With The Blue Frames
International Women’s Day Craft Fair and Panel Discussion Thursday March 8, 5-9pm Timber Lounge, 2712 Agricola Street $2/PWYC Avalon Sexual Assault Centre and Ladies Beer League are teaming up to make bars safer for women. “Alcohol is the most commonly used substance to facilitate sexual assault,” says Dee Dooley, regional capacity co-ordinator at Avalon. “Bar…
Why can’t women see a beautiful well put together woman and compliment her? Are you that insecure? Why do you go out of your way to be nasty? She is not looking at your man nor does she want him! Stop giving stink eye and say wow you look good, or I like your dress.…
Nimbus Publishing and Vagrant Press are moving their offices and with the new, improved digs (3660 Strawberry Hill Street) comes an added bonus. A coffee shop! In partnership with the publishers, Joe Tinney—partner of Nimbus/Vagrant GM Terrilee Bulger—will open Open Book Coffee sometime in May. After a 30-year career as a flight attendant allowed him…
Your friendly neighbourhood, all-caps-tweeting pharmacy is on the move. The north end’s beloved Scotia Pharmacy (2151 Gottingen Street) announced it’ll be making the very short jaunt across the street and moving into the MacDonald Building (2131 Gottingen Street—where the home of chicken delight, The “No Name” Cafe, was for 24 years). “It’s a smaller spot,”…
Nostalgia reigned supreme in the most satisfying way at the Scotiabank Centre last night, as late 90s/00s CanCon stalwarts—and one-time public snipers—Matthew Good and Our Lady Peace held a full and enthusiastic crowd close for a combined two-and-a-half hours. A jovial Good, last seen in Halifax singing on his back from the bar of the…
You think I’m exotic because I look different. I’m not a snake, a tiger or some sort of foliage. I hurt, I cry and feel pain just like anyone. If you ever see me again, just remember I am as good or better than the next person you will ask out. I am me, not…
An electrical fault is to blame for the tragic fire that claimed the lives of a 58-year-old Lower Sackville man and his 11-year-old granddaughter. Halifax Fire and Emergency chief Ken Steubing told reporters at a news briefing Monday afternoon the fire started early Saturday morning in the duplex’s basement. Although authorities have not released the names…
Please, for the love whomever you may pray to, pick up your dog shit! If you can’t do it nine out of 10 times, you shouldn’t be a pet owner. I know you can get caught short without a bag and the guilt of your dog’s shit on the side of the road eats away…
The ink is finally dry on the Halifax Convention Centre’s lease, nearly three months after its doors first opened. Substantial completion has been reached on the $169-million downtown project and the keys have officially been turned over to the province. “Reaching substantial completion with this massive project is a milestone,” writes Transportation and Infrastructure minister Lloyd Hines…
Why is is it a crime if I don’t choose to tell you my personal life? I am private and wish to remain that way, I don’t know you, you are not my friend. I’ve tried to change the subject and not make my personal life your business. You are too inquisitive! Am I that…
Theatre Nova Scotia has announced the nominees for the annual Merritt Awards, which celebrate excellence in local theatre. Heist’s Princess Rules, 2b Theatre’s Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story and Two Planks and a Passion’s Nothing Less!, all original musicals, top the list. The Merritt Awards will be handed out on Monday, March 26 at…
I’m a member of a union. I do not support the teachers or the nurses unions. At negotiation time they say it’s not about the money. Well, it certainly was about the money for several decades up to now which is why every other aspect of those public institutions and the people they serve are…
This is the best part of my day. We used to work across the hall from each other. You’re beautiful and I don’t think you’re happy, but I know you are when we have those 10 minutes. You’re an incredible woman and I hope you know I’m not too young for you. —Dress Shirts Under…
In 1962, 18-year-old Peter Fechter was shot and killed by East German border guards while trying to cross into West Berlin. Jordan Tannahill’s 2014 play imagines the last hour of Fechter’s life as he lay dying from a gunshot wound at the Berlin Wall, reliving the decisions that brought him to this moment. Peter Sarty…
First Hedley, now Nelly? What the fuck is up with Halifax continuously booking sex offenders? Jesus, have some pride and book a group who doesn’t touch women against their will. Or book a group that’s still relevant in 2018 at least. Last time I heard Nelly or Hedley was at a middle school dance 10…
I came across some old photos of you from your semester abroad and I was momentarily 25 years old again, missing you desperately even though you weren’t technically mine to miss. —Almost 28
Motorcyclists: Have you ever heard the axiom,”Big noise = little penis”? It’s amazing how one person making a shitload of noise can turn a nice demeanour into some mental sludge that just won’t purge. It’s bad enough all the ambulances have to drive through the centre of the city to get to their destination, the…
The Nova Scotia Teachers Union is backing down from its threat to strike, following the introduction Thursday of the province’s new Education Reform Act. The legislation will dissolve Nova Scotia’s seven English-language school boards, and remove principals and vice-principals from the NSTU. But those administrators will be allowed to join a new association still affiliated…
It’ll look different, but the cost should stay the same. Service Nova Scotia announced Thursday that Enterprise Registry Solutions has been awarded the 10-year, $7.1-million contract to modernize the Registry of Joint Stocks. The Dublin, Ireland-based Enterprise is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saskatchewan’s Information Services Corporation, which has an exclusive agreement to administer that province’s corporate and…
As Paris Fashion Week continues and the Oscars’ red carpet gets ready to unroll Sunday, Halifax has its own luxe happenings to hit up: The Halifax Black Film Festival returns—bringing Cory Bowles’ Black Cop with it—while the Chebucto Symphony Orchestra delivers sweet Viennese sound and, at The Craig Gallery, the power of doodling finally gets…
In the fall of 2016, armed with only a $95 budget, a few social media accounts and a passion for public education, Halifax-raised mom Jennifer Raven beat out incumbent Steve Warburton for the South Shore/Bedford seat on the Halifax Regional School Board. “It was kind of a dare,” Raven recalls. “I’m a single mom. I’m…
Moonwake w/Aquakultre, Loveland Thursday, March 1, 9pm The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street $10 For musician Braden Nelson, some of the most exciting sounds can emerge when people find themselves outside of their musical comfort zone. That was one of the premises behind his Asymmetry EP, which saw Nelson asking singers from a variety of genres…
Halifax Black Film Festival March 2-4 The Rape of Recy Taylor screening Friday March 2, The Spatz Theatre, 1855 Trollope Street, 6pm $20 halifaxblackfilm.com “Recy Taylor spoke up and called what happened to her what it was—she was not embarrassed by it, she was not ashamed, she was horrified,” says the documentary filmmaker Nancy Buirski.…
The Cumberland-South seat where PC party leader Jamie Baillie once sat is now vacant. But as MLAs prepare to return to Province House, in the wake of the #MeToo movement, what else—if anything—has changed? The Coast reached out to every MLA in the province directly, asking them to share their views on sexual harassment and…
I was 18 years old the first time I drank—three years older than Tina Fontaine was when she was killed. It was at a party in university held in my residence dorm. It was one of those parties where the house leaders mix together a big vat of mystery booze in a plastic garbage can…
Shift Conference Wednesday, February 28-Saturday, March 3 Dalhousie School of Planning 5410 Spring Garden Road free dalhousieplanningconference.webs.com The form and structure of cities is changing. It has to change for environmental, economic, equity and health reasons. New technology is enabling the change. Around the globe the cities we want to live in, work in, invest…
Women Making Waves March 2-3 Lord Nelson Hotel, 1515 South Park Street A spotlight conversation with Tracey Deer March 3, 10:45am $11-$15 womenmakingwaves.ca Tracey Deer takes issue with the idea that stories from minority voices are niche. On the contrary: “The more specific you are and the more diverse and the more interesting, the better,”…
We live in a world where it’s only too easy to feel undervalued and underpaid. A key distinction between the “wanters” and the “doers” is, well, the verb itself. Those who “want” spend their time planning, wishing on stars and moving silently. Those who “do” aren’t very different – they dream, they wish, they shuffle…
Emily-Rose Smegal began her journey working in architecture and interior design. With success came getting locked into the Toronto cycle: Commute, work, go to bed, repeat. Plus she was travelling for six months of the year. Though this seemed glamorous and fulfilling, Smegal wanted a life outside of airports. She wasn’t enriching the lives of…
NSCC stands a-loan Congrats to my university peers on the recent promise of complete loan forgiveness, though there is still no student loan relief in sight for NSCC grads. The press release from Labour and Advanced Education minister Labi Kousoulis stated: “We are committed to helping students pursue their post-secondary education and move into the…
Jasmine Boudreau was nervous to return to school at age 25. When her peers were getting going in their careers, she’d be starting over. But her fear of being out of touch was immediately silenced when she started her classes at Université Sainte-Anne. She felt right at home. Boudreau had always found the idea of…
Andrew Lipsit spent one year as a math teacher, but he knew before long that teaching wasn’t right for him. After deciding to switch paths, he sought career counselling to narrow down his best path. Considering his math and business background, advice he got was to try out accounting. He was able to secure a…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Pisces (Feb 19-Mar 20) As you make appointments in the coming months, you could re-use calendars from 2007 and 2001. During those years, all the dates fell on the same days of the week as they do in 2018. On the other hand, Pisces, please don’t try to learn the same lessons you…
The non-profit sector is all about connecting you to your community, but if you’re not willing to persevere, the work can be a struggle. Understanding the complexity of the sector and the diligence required is the first key step to succeeding within it. There’s high reward within the industry, but that comes with high complexity,…
Aaron Sanford grew up watching movies and playing video games. She considered digital media a large part of her culture and who she was. Yet instead of pursuing her dream career in the digital arts, she spent years working in customer service. However, once Sanford participated in Katimavik – a non-profit organization offering young adults…
Physiotherapy was Wendy Jardine’s first profession, and though she still works in the field four days a week, she saw the opportunity to increase her accreditations by adding osteopathy to her practice through the Collège d’Études Osthéopathiques (CEO — Osteopathic Studies). One of the perks of the part-time Osteopathy Manual Practice Diploma at the CEO…
Michael Horne has always dreamed of a career that made him feel like he was making a difference in his community, and he found it with early childhood education. With training from NSCECE — the Nova Scotia College of Early Childhood Education — he has been working in the field for three years, and is…
It was always a dream for Dr. Diana Li and Dr. Franklyn Chen to take their medical practise to a higher level by opening a college. After completing their PhDs in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine and working in the field for over 30 years, they knew it was time. “When you’re practicing, you can…
When Marie Christianson was still in high school, ICT Northumberland College had come to speak to her school about its massage therapy program. Although she ended up pursuing an undergraduate degree in small business and entrepreneurship at Saint Mary’s University right after high school, she never stopped thinking about massage therapy and the option of this…
Do you have your sights set on going to university? Do you want to bolster your educational qualifications to meet university admission requirements? Saint Mary’s University is committed to lifelong learning, welcoming individuals looking for opportunities to connect with university and pursue their goals of academic success. The Studio for Teaching and Learning is home…
Nationally, most jobs are going to see an increase in position openings from 6,000 to 20,000 between now and the year 2020. Globally, these numbers are even higher, raising students’ hopes that they’ll leave their post-secondary institutions with high-salary positions in order to pay off their student loans. Not only that, but students are seeing…
When you’re looking for work, where you’re looking plays a big role. The Nova Scotian economy isn’t one single engine so much as it is a team of five different horses, all running in the same direction. And those horses are geographical areas of Nova Scotia. As the province’s official immigration website — novascotiaimmigration.com —…
Sometimes it’s hard to stay positive when work and school are concerned. But no matter how tough it gets, be assured: Your city isn’t out to get you, and your degree can pay off. Making progress is hard to do alone, which is why people talk so much about the value of connections when they…
Kanngi Mahajan enrolled in her MSc Computing and Data Analytics Program at Saint Mary’s University as one of the youngest people in her class. Moving to Halifax from India, she felt nervous about her transition, but within the first few steps into her class, she was comforted by the environment around her at SMU. “I…
Between media awareness, political and social activism, and changes in university mandates, we are seeing a strengthening of discourses on people speaking out about the production of social injustice. But there’s something missing. University mandates and policies are talking the talk with language around diversity and inclusion but how does this translate into meaningful engagements?…
Mike Cyr’s entrepreneurial curiosity sparked in his high school years. He would search the internet looking for market trends, investigating what consumers might want and need, and then test the leading ideas. He began buying and selling smartphones, and with this success, he never stopped searching for the next business opportunity. Cyr’s first serious business…
Quinten Bennett’s heart has always been in the culinary industry. For as long as he can remember he’s had his hands in one project or another, including some of his earlier memories of baking and decorating cakes with his mom. So when the Nova Scotia Apprenticeship Agency’s Serve It Up! program came to Bennett’s high…
In accordance with the Language Schools Act of 2013, teachers of English as a second language in Nova Scotia are required to have an undergraduate degree and a recognized English language teaching qualification. With TESL Canada ceasing operations last year, and the uncertainty of who will step in to oversee and accredit English language teaching…
Q I recently stumbled on an Instagram account of a young woman who’s a “knife play” enthusiast. I consider myself sex-positive, but I must say I was disturbed by the images. I was also shocked that I didn’t know this was a thing! But of course it’s a thing cuz everything is a thing, right?…
Hope Scheller spent her undergraduate years at Cape Breton University, researching technologies to enhance cancer treatment with the intention of later pursuing a career in the medical field. But there was a little voice inside of her that struggled to reconcile her love of science with her strong attraction to the artistic world. With Dalhousie…
OBEY’s back to make your May long weekend wildly, wonderfully weird with sonic stylings like your ears have never heard before. The four-day sound and music fest boasts uber-dancable Kudro beats courtesy of Portugal’s Nídia, emotional catharsis with the energy-cleansing rhythms of duo ONO and classical lute playing by Chinese literati-inspired Liu Fang. Rounding out…
