There is a large circular platform in front of the North Branch Memorial Library on Gottingen Street. For the past year, it has looked conspicuously vacant; like a stage without any actors, or a pedestal with nothing to support. Which is basically what it’s been. Since its installation in the spring of 2006, the platform […]
Michael Fleury
Sister act
In 1982, Halifax set out on a journey of mutual appreciation with an adoring sister city in Japan. Separated by a mere 10,000 kilometres (give or take), Halifax and Hakodate were obviously siblings separated at birth—both are port towns, both have distinctive star-shaped birthmarks (ours is called the Citadel; theirs is Goryokaku Fort)… But, like […]
Our racist house?
The Nova Scotia legislature isn’t the most diverse assembly on the planet—perhaps not surprisingly, the vast majority of seats belong to white dudes. Of the 52 MLAs currently sitting, only nine are women. And then there’s Percy Paris. When the rookie MLA for Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank was elected last June, he was the only African-Nova […]
Divas on ice
Last year, the Pep Bro Divas—a group of six women all living in the north end—set out to build a community rink near the George Dixon Centre just off of Gottingen Street. Although it was their first attempt at such a project, and some of the Divas had never skated before in their lives, the […]
The fix is in
It’s 2007, we’re fixing Halifax, and it seemed as good a time as any to check in on one of our favourite disappointments from 2006, the sprawling abyss (slash parking lot) on the corner of Spring Garden and Queen. As you may or may not recall, the lot was discussed last spring in a series […]
Hali facts
We shopped. We voted. We fell off of skateboards and shared dirty little secrets. Two thousand six was an eventful year in Halifax, one that would be impossible to condense onto one page of blurbs. But here goes. Khyburned The year began with a cruel blow to Halifax’s artistic community: The Khyber Club, a long-standing […]
Classes dismissed?
Last week, we gave you an update on the talks between Saint Mary’s University administration and the Saint Mary’s University Faculty Union, as the two sides try to negotiate a new collective agreement and avoid a labour dispute that could potentially disrupt classes at the university. Meanwhile, nervous students get to drown their fears in […]
Un-Common ideas
Just over two months since Halifax hosted the Rolling Stones on the Common, the city released a report outlining costs, benefits, spin-offs and the lessons it learned from the big show. If you believe the numbers that are presented in the report, the concert was an unqualified success. In the run-up to the show, the […]
Loss of faculties
John Chisholm has a busy winter ahead of him, and he’d like to keep it that way. The third-year Saint Mary’s University student is trying to fast-track his marketing degree. To do that, Chisholm is taking six classes in the coming winter semester. Technically, it’s an overloaded schedule, but if all goes according to plan, […]
From the mouth of the north end
Ayo Aladejebi is helping to give a voice to youth living in the north end—just so long as they can get over their nerves about public speaking. Aladejebi helped to organize a special presentation being given tonight at the North Branch Library by a group of “five or six” young people who live in the […]
Ill communication
Urban planning. Civic engagement. Public consultation. All perfectly good words that, when combined, become very unappealing concepts very quickly—especially in Halifax. At least, that seems to be the problem facing HRMbyDESIGN, a broad planning project that aims to direct growth and development in the city. This week, HRMbyDESIGN will begin its second phase of public […]
Daniel, our (award winning) brother
Major congratulations are in order for one of Halifax’s favourite adopted sons, Daniel MacIvor, who won a Governor General’s Literary Award on Tuesday. MacIvor was recognized in the drama category for his work entitled, I Still Love You, a collection of plays that MacIvor wrote between 1991 and 2006. The Cape Breton-born playwright has been […]

