[Image-1] It hasn’t been an easy road for Nova Scotia’s NDP. They went from forming the first NDP government in the Atlantic provinces in 2009, to collapsing in 2013, to a six-member caucus and third-place status behind the governing Grits and official opposition Conservatives last year. This weekend New Democrats will gather in Dartmouth to […]
Michael Lightstone
Posted inNews + Opinion
Fighting for status: Canada’s off-reserve aboriginal population
National chief Dwight Dorey of the Ottawa-based Congress of Aboriginal Peoples has been meeting with indigenous men and women across the country, holding consultations regarding the Supreme Court of Canada’s anticipated ruling on whether aboriginals who live off-reserve are Indians under the Constitution Act and therefore entitled to the rights that fall under federal jurisdiction. […]
Posted inArts + Music
The local roots of Canadian jazz
Canada’s rich black heritage and music history are closely linked, and today’s jazz fans have benefited from that strong union of culture and art. Jazz may have been born in New Orleans around the end of the 19th century, but it didn’t take too long before it grew up and headed north, to other US […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Indigenous mental health an overlooked priority
[Image-1] A community agency in Halifax that provides programming to urban aboriginals has identified mental health help for its clients as a priority. But not only is there a gap in service to address that need at the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre on Gottingen Street, the city as a whole is lacking the culturally based […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Slow road to justice for Home for Colored Children residents
Without a media launch, formal announcement or much fanfare at all, the long-awaited $5-million inquiry into past abuse at the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children has begun. But Nova Scotians hoping to find out how a disturbing chapter in the province’s child-welfare history was able to unfold as it did will have to be […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Tony Smith is still looking for the truth
[Image-1] The restorative model of the long-sought public inquiry into decades of abuse at the Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children is designed to answer questions about what went wrong and help with healing for Tony Smith and others who lived at the home. The Coast: What are you hoping to get out of the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Bending towards justice: Nova Scotia’s human rights trials
[Image-1] Many of us have never been the victims of intolerance or persecution—or worse. But other Nova Scotians have unfortunately been subject to civil rights abuses. The history of this province also includes decisive human rights triumphs, and late-hour victories that came decades after the wrongs had taken place. In honour of Human Rights Day […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Police conduct investigators had a banner year in 2015
[Image-1] Nova Scotia’s investigative-oversight agency probing major police incidents has been managing more cases than expected, its annual report says. The report for 2014-15 from the Serious Incident Response Team says 34 new investigations were opened during the year. “SIRT is now handling a workload almost 75 percent greater than originally anticipated,” lawyer Ron MacDonald, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The labours of Danny Cavanagh
[Image-1] Danny Cavanagh used to be head of the provincial branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Now, he’s the president of the much larger Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, the umbrella group for affiliated unions. Why did you decide to run for president? I tend to like to be more of a progressive […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Canada offers refuge, with conditions
[Image-1] It turns out Ottawa’s plan to resettle 25,000 Syrians by December 31 was a lofty goal. A little too lofty. The Trudeau government announced recently about 10,000 Syrians would be brought to Canada by the end of the year. Another 15,000 are to arrive at the end of February. The vast majority of Syrian […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Nova Scotia still far too white
[Image-1] The issue of diversity—more like the lack of it—is a discussion that’s been going on for many years in Nova Scotia, and it keeps prompting the same questions. How do we repair race relations in this province, when they break down? How do we attract more immigrants and help them feel truly welcome here? […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Studying sport in Africville
[Image-1] Russell Field started a research project this year that includes case studies of sports and recreation in the former Africville area of Halifax, and a workers’ gym operated by the One Big Union—a defunct trade union organization in Winnipeg. Field, an assistant professor in the faculty of kinesiology and recreation management at the University […]
