[Image-1] The municipality maintains over 220 buildings, but HRM employees who make more than minimum wage only clean seven of them. Mark Cunningham, president of the Civic Workers Union (CUPE 108) says that’s not right. “It’s terrible work. It’s unjust that HRM as an employer would employ, even through third-party contractors, so many minimum-wage workers […]
Jacob Boon
Posted inNews + Opinion
City council tackles food deserts and feral cats
[Image-1] Pay-to-spay A five-year pilot project will kick off later this year to help reduce HRM’s feral cat overpopulation. “This has come a long way since we started [with] Tuxedo Stan and the Tuxedo Party in 2012,” said councillor Stephen Adams. The $50,000-a-year program was developed in consultation with Halifax’s ‘Domestic and Feral Cat Committee,’ […]
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Conservative leadership debate coming to Halifax
[Image-1] Thirteen of the candidates vying to lead the federal Conservative Party will debate each other next weekend in Halifax. According to a press release from the PC party, Chris Alexander, Maxime Bernier, Steven Blaney, Michael Chong, Kellie Leitch, Pierre Lemieux, Kevin O’Leary, Erin O’Toole, Rick Peterson, Lisa Raitt, Andrew Saxton, Andrew Scheer and Brad […]
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Brampton delays Halifax council’s pay raise
[Image-1] Nearly three months after they were supposed to take effect, the new salaries of HRM’s city councillors and mayor have yet to be determined—and we have Brampton to blame. Every year, city hall calculates the salaries of councillors and the mayor through a complicated formula that combines compensation figures from several other comparable cities […]
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Councillor not pleased municipal money spent on Trudeau’s town hall
[Image-1] Eight hundred bucks isn’t a lot of money, but one Halifax councillor says it’s still more than the municipality should have spent on Justin Trudeau’s town hall. According to the mayor’s office, HRM covered $800 in room rental costs for Monday night’s evening with Trudeau, while the Prime Minister’s Office handled the remaining bill for […]
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Halifax faces $119-million lawsuit over Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes
[Image-1] Just when you thought the battle over Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes was over… The Annapolis Group gave notice on Tuesday that it will soon begin legal proceedings against the Halifax Regional Municipality, claiming that HRM has “effectively expropriated” its property and in return is seeking $119 million in damages. The lawsuit comes from city council’s […]
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The Chronicle Herald heads back to the bargaining table
[Image-1] The Halifax Typographical Union and managers at the Chronicle Herald are heading back to the bargaining table, just in time for the one-year anniversary of the newspaper’s strike. In light of the upcoming talks, a five-day hearing for an unfair labour complaint put forth by the union has now been adjourned until February 6. […]
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Let us love you: The Coast’s Sex+Dating survey
[Image-1] We want details, Halifax. The holidays are over and Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, which means it’s once again time for The Coast’s annual Sex+Dating survey. Every year we ask everyone in HRM to share their deepest desires, sweetest memories and kinkiest fantasies. Last year over 900 of you delivered on all […]
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Get the lead out
[Image-1] There’s no question lead service lines in Halifax constitute a public health problem, says Graham Gagnon, a professor at Dalhousie University’s Centre for Water Resource Studies. But figuring out a solution to that problem isn’t so cut-and-dried. Halifax Water has been working since 2013 on a plan to replace HRM’s lead service lines (LSLs)—the […]
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Gloria McCluskey is back, baby
[Image-1] Gloria McCluskey isn’t letting retirement slow her down. The former Dartmouth Centre councillor is now association chair for the newly created Destination Dartmouth association, which a press release says was formed “to promote Dartmouth’s identity, preserve its heritage and encourage the development of a healthy and inclusive community.” “We’re also advocating for the establishment […]
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Halifax barbershop shows support for Donald Trump
[Image-1] It’s pretty funny, says the owner of Bennett’s Barbershop. But not everyone’s laughing. For the last month Leroy Bennett has had a Donald Trump election sign hanging in the window of his Almon Street barber shop. “I put it in the front window just to piss people off,” says Bennett, a self-described “shit-disturber.” The […]
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Halifax police will keep using street checks
[Image-1] With no research on its effectiveness, and facing strong evidence that black people are overwhelmingly targeted, Halifax Regional Police still aren’t interested in suspending the practice of “street checks.” The idea for a moratorium on the controversial tactic was made by Sylvia Parris—the lone African-Nova Scotian representative on Halifax’s Board of Police Commissioners—during a […]