As COVID-19 cases increase in the province, so grows the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s list of “Potential COVID Exposures”—gyms, restaurants, stores and other places visited by someone who later tested positive for the disease. And a longer list of exposure sites means a longer list of people who were at those places and need to […]
Caora McKenna
Caora was City Editor at The Coast, where she wrote about everything from city hall to police and housing issues. She started with The Coast in 2017, when she was the publication’s Copy Editor.
Posted inNews + Opinion
Despite a year of calls to defund the police, council adds $2.7 million to HRP’s budget
If the words of Mike Savage, quoting Joe Biden—”Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget and I’ll tell you what you value”—are true, what does Halifax Regional Council’s approach to police budgeting say? In a year teeming with calls to defund or at least reallocate police money, and in a meeting where […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Are real estate love letters enabling racism in the housing market?
Jillian Robinson was feeling quite confident about the letter she’d written to attach to her bid for a home in Halifax’s red-hot housing market. She chronicled her family of three’s life—an adorable toddler coming up fast on two years old; an American ex-NBA player dad working to turn around the local high school’s basketball record […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Yes, we should share the vaccine
This week I—an able-bodied, healthy, working-from-home individual—have: Attended an in-person pottery class, an in-person violin lesson and an in-person yoga class. I went out for drinks after yoga with a friend, and met another friend for drinks the next night. (It’s been a long week.) I went into the office and worked in a frenzy […]
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Haligonians looking to take action about police power can have their say on April 21
Another cop has killed another Black man in the United States. Daunte Wright’s death is the latest awful reminder for people around the world that traditionally unquestioned police power needs modern interrogation. In Halifax, it’s been two years since a landmark report proved what Black Haligonians had been saying for decades: Police in Halifax do […]
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Halifax has signed up for another review of its police services
Halifax Regional Council has put its weight behind a review of how policing works in this municipality, saying it wants to specifically look at HRM’s two police forces—Halifax Regional Police and the RCMP—and the relationship between the two. But wait, you may say, “I thought HRM was already doing a big review into how policing […]
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Video report: Catch up on Halifax Regional Council’s April 6 meeting
Life in Halifax gets better when more of its citizens know what’s going on. Once you’ve watched this video, you’ll be the most-informed-on-city-hall friend in your friend group, and that’s a good thing. For instance, you can tell your friend to think twice before they litter at Shubie Park—because fines and enforcement are getting heftier. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
What’s coming to regional council this Tuesday, April 5
Council continues to chug forward in the direction of deciding on its budget, and in the meantime is making some decisions around illegal dumping, sidewalk cafe fees, a Framework for Africville and apparently another policing review. Here’s what’s on the agenda this week. Follow along with me over on The Coast’s Instagram Stories to find […]
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Recreating Halifax scenes with “little pieces of Halifax”
Where do your bus transfers end up? Down the spine of a book you’ve been reading since August? In the pocket of that winter coat you hope you don’t need any more this year? Lined up neatly in your wallet? In the crevice between the bus window and the ledge that holds it in place? […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
GameChangers902 is calling on Halifax to light up HRP’s phone lines
On Friday, a video posted by GameChangers902 and Trayvon Clayton showed a Halifax Regional Police officer pointing a loaded firearm at a Black man whose arms were in the air. In the 28-second video the cop is heard saying what HRP has called “unacceptable comments” which sounds like “I will kill you for a fucking […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
HRM’s police oversight board is recruiting two community members
If you think it’s absolutely unacceptable for a Halifax Regional Police officer–one of Halifax’s highest-paid civil servants–to shout something that sounds like “I will fill you full of fucking lead,” or “I will kill you for a fucking laugh” at a Black man whose arms are raised, now’s the time to claim a seat at […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Bike Again’s home up for sale
In early March, when Liberal MP for Halifax Andy Fillmore announced a big federal investment of $400 million in active transportation funding across Canada, he stood in front of Bike Again, the volunteer-run, do-it-yourself bike shop in Halifax’s north end, for his photo-op. The Charles Street bike shop was a fitting backdrop. The federal money […]