John Doull, the owner of the wonderful used bookstore on Barrington Street, is circulating a petition asking that the HRM be broken up to “a happier and more human scale. “ There’s zero chance this will happen, but it’ll be interesting to see how many people sign on.
Tim Bousquet
Mudder’s Day
This Saturday on the Common comes a big celebration called “Mudder’s Day.” Halifax’s burgeoning urban ag community was the impetus for the party, but lots of alternative types have jumped on board. There’s a complete explanation of the event here, including a run down of events: Gardening workshops * Noon: Talk by Marjorie Willison (Maritime […]
Tooting our horn
Coast writers Sue Carter Flinn and Lezlie Lowe took top honours at the 27th Atlantic Journalism Awards Saturday night. Carter Flinn won in the Arts & Entertainment Reporting category for her profile of Halifax photographer George Steeves. Lowe won in the Feature Writing category for “Chasing Amy,” her look at the life and death of […]
Middle aged knees
CBC: A Halifax councillor is trying to quell a growing debate over a proposed walking path in the city’s south end. The plan calls for a multi-use trail connecting the Armdale roundabout to Point Pleasant Park. The asphalt pathway would be shared by walkers, joggers, bikers and in-line skaters. Some critics question the cost of […]
We get press releases…
District 14 is presently Sheila Fouger’s district. Fougere is running for mayor in the October elections, and so will leave her seat open. (HALIFAX- May 5, 2008) — Longtime West-end resident Glenn Dodge has thrown his hat in the ring for the District 14 seat on city council and says his personal tie to the […]
Spying on activists
There’s much worthy of comment in this Canadian Press article (the fear of democratic dissent, the equating of public speech with violence, failure to explain the native side of land claims), but perhaps most noteworthy is casual notion that: Direct monitoring of these groups is essential to avert potential disaster… and the acknowledgment that But […]
Outhit wins Bedford byelection
1579 to 1199 Credit a better campaign. Outhit was all over the place, and Christie was nowhere to be seen. This is a victory for the Citizens for Halifax group…
Responsibility
To give an example of what I’m talking about below, consider this statement from MacGillivray, explaining away a $2 million loss at Trade Centre Limited: “Obviously, the business last year was softer than we anticipated,” said MacGillivray, president and CEO of Trade Centre Ltd. “And certainly there’s no question that with tourism issues, with people […]
Incompetence
There are so many things to say about the Trade Centre fiasco that it’s hard to know where to start. But maybe we step back and look at the global picture. There’s obvioulsy an unclear vision and purpose for the Trade Centre; it basically comes down to “let’s give Fred MacGillivray a bunch of money […]
Busted Budget?
Tuesday, regional council adopted a $580 million operating budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year. The police budget was bumped up by $1.5 million ($2.6 million next year) in order to expand the force by 32 officers. Crime stats are notoriously spun, politicized, racialized and, when it comes down to it, utterly meaningless—a talented bureaucrat or […]
Barrington Street news
Reportedly, Torontonian Lou Reznick has purchased the two Barrington Street buildings that until last year housed Sam the Record Man, adding to his other holdings on the street: the Roy Building (the former Dooly’s), 1556 (Attica), 1668 (just to the north of the Granite Brewery) and 1717 (Peepshow Girly Boutique). Since he is the dominant […]
HRM travel budget
During budget deliberations at Tuesday’s council meeting, several councillors suggested zeroing out the travel budget, which would bring about a savings of $928,000—$615,000 for out of town travel plus $313,000 for travel to “conferences and workshops”—for one year. That’s travel for both council members and staff, but it was pointed out that travel for staff’s […]

