Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives are attempting to shift from crisis control to re-unifying at the Party’s annual general meeting in Halifax this weekend. When the ballrooms and hotel blocks were booked, Jamie Baillie was slated to deliver the keynote address—a role traditionally performed by the Party leader. Instead, Baillie was the subject of the weekend’s […]
Maggie Rahr
Posted inNews + Opinion
Peter Stoffer apologizes for behaviour, denies any wrongdoing
Peter Stoffer is the latest name in a growing list of current and former Canadian politicians denying accusations of sexual harassment, while simultaneously apologizing for any wrongdoing. In an awkward press conference Friday morning in the frigid cold outside Pier 21, Stoffer spoke for about six minutes about his history with the party, his volunteerism and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
New trial ordered for cab driver Bassam al-Rawi
The Halifax taxi driver acquitted on all charges of sexually assaulting an intoxicated passenger in the back of his cab will face a new trial. A decision released Wednesday by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal found that Judge Gregory Lenehan “misdirected himself as to the legal meaning of consent” in his ruling last March. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
BDSM defense will bolster protection of abusive men, says advocate
As soon as she became aware of the Christopher Garnier trial, Laura says a familiar feeling began to sink in. “Here we go again,” she says. “Here’s another person using BDSM to cover up abuse.” A Dartmouth member of the BDSM-embracing Society of Bastet, Laura (not her real name) says the narrative playing out over […]
Posted inArts + Music
Lido Pimienta returns to Halifax
The 2017 Polaris Prize winner Lido Pimienta is back in town tonight, six weeks after her Halifax Pop Explosion show—during which she made her standard request for women of colour to move to the front, followed by white women and then men—became national news due to some audience members’ reactions. Pimienta is here as a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Putting trials on trial
The urgent and vivid public discourse surrounding rape culture has perhaps never been so ubiquitous. The stampede of coverage in the wake of a (seemingly nonstop) list of allegations of sexual misconduct against powerful men in media, entertainment and government is not slowing down—if anything it seems to be gaining more traction all the time. […]
Posted inArts + Music
Lisa LeBlanc, the star
Lisa LeBlanc w/Quiet Parade Saturday November 4, 8pm The Seahorse Tavern, 2037 Gottingen Street $15 Lisa LeBlanc’s been thinking a lot about high school lately. After all, it is autumn, the season of nostalgia. Walking through curling fallen leaves back in her hometown, just last week, she found herself back in the garages of her […]
Posted inLifestyle
I hated cats (until I got some)
I fucking hate cats. I’ve been suspicious of them as long as I can remember. What other creature bores into you—with not only contempt, but satisfaction—as it licks its own junk? What other animal slinks its warm little body up against you, only to plunge its curling blades into your unsuspecting flesh the minute you […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Dalhousie faculty pen letter in support of Masuma Khan
Professors, students and staff at Dalhousie law are speaking out in support of Masuma Khan, as hate speech and violent threats against the student leader flood in. Since The Coast first reported on Khan’s case last Thursday, the story—and a firestorm of response—has broken open across the country. The vice-president academic and external for the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Racism reversal pits Dalhousie University against student leader
A battle over the notion of reverse racism in student politics is unfolding at Dalhousie University. Student union member Masuma Khan is now facing discipline from the university after calls to remove her from her elected position over comments posted on Facebook in the lead up to Canada 150. In the social media post, Khan, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Donald Marshall decision and Digby’s lobster wars
A debate over illegal fishing has reached a boiling point in southwest Nova Scotia. Amidst accusations from non-Indigenous fishers about black market lobster sales, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs is calling on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to finally clarify the policy surrounding a legal case nearly 20 years old. Mi’kmaw fishers […]