Remarks: We called the HDBC (463-2800), and were give the exact spelling: Macdonald, small “dee.” When we mention the conflicting signs, the pat answer of “That’s the city for you” made sense. Until we checked the HDBC website. Who, after all, is the city getting the information from? We spoke to HRM spokesperson John O’Brien. […]
Tim Bousquet
Posted inNews + Opinion
Almost! We almost caught the city with a ripped Canadian flag on Canada Day!
Remarks: Almost! We almost caught the city with a ripped Canadian flag on Canada Day! However, to their credit, the city replaced the flag over the course of our week long investigation, and a brand new flag was flapping at press time. “We know the flag you’re talking about, and it is indeed ours,” said […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
O, Christmas Tree
It’s holiday season column time, so I’m tempted to go off on an anti-consumption rant, dis excessive light displays and bitch about holiday travel—Ho, Ho, Ho! Thankfully, I’ve got a more upbeat story to share—and if you’re into the consumption thing, have I got some suggestions for you. This story starts with the Ecology Action […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City of Angels
Reportedly, Halifax mayor Peter Kelly first met Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa in the studios of radio station WABC in New York City, where Sliwa hosts a talk show. Neither Kelly nor Sliwa returned repeated calls for comment, so there’s no telling what the mayor thought of the radio show. But if shows broadcast live […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Cargo & James Tea, ViewPoint Gallery, re clothing, Mia’s Pizza & Milano’s
A new sign has appeared in a ground-level storefront in the new apartment complex at 1239 Barrington, to announce the yet-to-be-determined opening of a branch of tea chain Cargo & James Tea. The sign also makes a sound point: “Halifax, it’s definitely time for tea!” Well played, Cargo & James…Across the street, the former home […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Dual nature
To call our political leaders “schizophrenic” risks insulting mostly decent people struggling as best they can with tough issues. And I have far too much respect for schizophrenics to do that. But what’s the word to describe city and provincial pols who spew out a bunch of feel-good nonsense about caring for the environment while […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Two steps forward
I’m a glass-half-empty kind of guy,but two recent bits of environmental news threaten to make me uncharacteristically hopeful. Fear not, though: Every ray of sunshine casts a shadow, so I’ll be sure to call attention to the dark. First is the province’s announcement that 1,350 hectares of crown land in the Blue Mountain—Birch Cove Lakes […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Heated debate
Hey you! Yes you, you wine-sipping, art-plotting, outdoor-cafe patronizing, cosmopolitan urbanite! You’re killing the planet. Cut it out, dammit. Yea, sure, we all want to live in an oh-so-sophisticated town, with cool little restaurants and sidewalk cafes, just like Paris in the summer. But you know something? Halifax isn’t Paris and Argyle Street isn’t the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
An organic solution
What’s the definition of “organic?” If you’re like me, you think of “organic” as a series of sustainable agricultural practices—growing food without synthetic chemicals or genetically modified food, and in a way that takes account of the long-term health of the broader environment. But, I’ve discovered, when it comes to fertilizer use in Canada, “organic” […]
Posted inLifestyle
Commonwealth Games Investigation part one: Halifax 2014 big plans
Seven months after Halifax’s Commonwealth Games bid collapsed, there still hasn’t been full disclosure of the records of the Halifax 2014 Bid Society, the non-governmental organization put together to pursue the Commonwealth Games. Neither has there been public discussion of the decision-making process that led to the demise of Halifax’s bid. So how are we […]
Posted inLifestyle
Frequent flying
While detailed financial documents still haven’t yet been made public, I have been able to piece together the broad outline of the Halifax 2014 Bid Society’s international travel, and details of some of the trips, through documents obtained from the provincial government. In March 2006, a group of 11 Halifax 2014 board members and staff […]
Posted inLifestyle
Rating approval
Commonwealth Games supporters repeatedly cited public opinion polls that showed the public was solidly behind the Games effort. Those polls, however, asked incomplete questions and were conducted by a polling firm that has a business relationship with a design company that won nearly half a million dollars in Games-related contracts. Corporate Research Associates is a […]