There’s a fascinating way in which movies shape our view of the world. And it’s not in the more common toxic ways most people are familiar with, like romantic comedies teaching generations of men that stalking is the most romantic thing they can do to woo a woman. Nor is it the subtle racism taught […]
Matt Stickland
Matt spent 10 years in the Navy where he deployed to Libya with HMCS Charlottetown and then became a submariner until ‘retiring’ in 2018. In 2019 he completed his Bachelor of Journalism from the University of King’s College. Matt is an almost award winning opinion writer.
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Wanderer Grounds podcast: How to solve HFX Wanderers FC’s winless woes?
Patrice Gheisar is in a pickle: Eight games into the HFX Wanderers FC head coach’s debut Canadian Premier League season, his team has only lost twice—but the club hasn’t managed to find a win, either. At the quarter-mark of the CPL season, Gheisar’s Halifax side sits at the bottom of the league standings, with six […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Grand Parade podcast: How the HRM could have avoided the worst of the Tantallon fire
In this episode of The Grand Parade podcast, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman reflect on the harsh lessons learned from the Tantallon wildfire—including how the HRM was warned about the risks of a scenario like this 20 years ago. Matt educates Martin on as-of-right development, and how it enabled the suburbs around Halifax […]
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Everything you need to know about HRM council’s May 23 meeting
Bit of a shorter summary this week, and a bit late, as keen readers may notice. This is due almost entirely to premier Tim Houston and his Tory government. They continue to insist the striking educational support workers should be happy with starvation wages. Since the workers believe their government jobs should be enough to […]
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The Wanderer Grounds podcast: Trouble for HFX Wanderers FC as winless streak extends to six games
In this episode of The Wanderer Grounds, Coast reporter Matt Stickland is joined by Josh Healey of Halifax soccer blog Wanderers Notebook to diagnose HFX Wanderers FC’s struggles after the club’s 0-3 home defeat to York United FC. (Coast reporter Martin was listed as DNP: Nephews for Saturday’s match.) The two discuss what’s working—and not […]
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A dispatch from the front lines of the class war: The CUPE strike
On May 10, a beautiful Wednesday morning, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees went on strike. The bulk of the striking workers are educational program assistants, but this strike includes all of the support staff for Halifax Regional Centre for Education schools. These EPAs are people—mostly women—who make sure children with disabilities, or […]
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The Grand Parade podcast: Trish Purdy’s Keyser Söze turn, and why Halifax’s car noise bylaw plans are ineffective
In this episode of The Grand Parade podcast, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman wade into the debate about Halifax’s heel-dragging efforts to curb motor vehicle noise—and why, six years after council sought permission from the province to amend the Motor Vehicle Act, nothing is likely to change anytime soon. Even if, by and […]
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Everything you need to know about HRM council’s May 9 meeting
Councillor Trish Purdy demonstrated some ruthless political chops at Tuesday’s HRM council meeting. Purdy has a habit of asking questions that are already answered in the reports given to council prior to meetings. Councillors are expected to read these reports before the meetings. During a debate about selfish idiots making their cars loud, Purdy asked […]
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The Wanderer Grounds podcast: Halifax stays undefeated, but also winless—which one is closer to the truth?
In this episode of The Wanderer Grounds, Coast reporters Matt Stickland and Martin Bauman are joined by Alex Sheppard—a HFX Wanderers FC fan, but also a part of local minor soccer organization Suburban FC. The three talk about the Wanderers’ game over the weekend (a nil-nil draw with Winnipeg’s Valour FC). After the recap, Alex […]
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Slight correction to: HRM lawyers botch legal analysis, delay police reform
It’s time for a bit of a mea culpa. And we need to issue a slight correction to the following story: Related There’s a risk when non-lawyers try to explain the law, and that risk is we may not fully understand what we are saying and may incorrectly explain the legal theory behind a legal […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
HRM lawyers botch legal analysis, delay police reform
Corrections on May 4, After the following article was published, it came to The Coast’s attention that the Police Act does indeed explicitly state that a police board “may give advice or direction, in writing, to the chief officer on any matter within the jurisdiction of the board under this Act, but not to other […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Confused council passes HRM budget with climate tax and carbon subsidies
Weird meeting of HRM council this week, and not just because councillors had to do three meetings in one. The politically weird bit of Tuesday’s meeting is the fact that councillors are unwilling to commit to the actions that will enable their stated goals. We’re talking about parking. This parking debate is long and requires […]