The majority of Monday’s HRM executive committee meeting was devoted to trying to make municipal elections more fair. The debate started with a seemingly innocuous request from councillor Paul Russell to remove the word “spouse” from the municipal elections bylaw. After a prolonged debate, this item was deferred and will come back to this committee […]
City
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s $100 million police headquarters pipe dream
On Wednesday, Sept. 20, the HRM’s Board of Police Commissioners met. Since last year’s police budget consultation process went so poorly, the city is starting police budget discussions early this year. At Wednesday’s meeting, the board was supposed to get a presentation on next year’s proposed budget, but new acting Halifax Regional Police chief Don […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
How Halifax spent $11 million on fencing
Wednesday morning, the HRM’s audit and finance committee met to find out just how dire the city’s financial situation is. City staff told the committee that first quarter reporting shows Halifax is expecting to be out approximately $20 million due to climate change—and a municipal public service that’s incapable of dealing with climate emergencies. So […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Fixed-term leases that let Nova Scotia landlords avoid rent cap rules are popular and legal, but are they fair?
When Bridget moved into her north end Halifax apartment in late 2020, she thought it would be her final long-term stop until she could afford a home of her own. She settled in over the next three years. Living close to Fort Needham Park, with its wooded trails and views of the Narrows, she could […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s student climate strike is happening, rain or shine or hurricane
A singularly-named weather event is blasting towards Halifax/K’jipuktuk as if in dialogue with this year’s annual School Strike 4 Climate rally. Our rapidly changing climate, which recently thrashed Nova Scotia with record-breaking weather events, is once again sticking its outraged hand in the air at this year’s climate strike. Though Hurricane Lee will not arrive in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Will Halifax’s trees survive the next hurricane?
Hurricane Lee, almost assuredly, will not hit Halifax with the same oomph of last year’s Hurricane Fiona, but it could still bring enough wind, rain and surf through the Maritimes over the weekend to stir up memories. Winds are forecasted to gust between 60 to 90 km/h throughout the HRM and much of Nova Scotia […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Everything you need to know about HRM council’s Sept. 12, 2023 meeting
On Sept 12, 2023, Halifax council decided not to go ahead with putting an encampment on the Common. Councillors briefly considered treating the housing crisis like the immediate and ongoing emergency it is. But ultimately their decision was underwhelming. Related There’s not much more to be written on this that hasn’t already been said before, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Everything you need to know about the 2023 Prismatic Festival
Celebrate Indigenous artists and Canadian artists of colour at the annual Prismatic Festival as they challenge barriers with their creative projects under a national spotlight. This year’s lineup includes works in theatre, dance, music, film, visual arts, media arts and more. Here’s everything you need to know before attending the festival. What is the official […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
More tents coming to Halifax parks
The start of Tuesday’s city council meeting was spicy. Councillors came in hot. Councillors like Tim Outhit, Sam Austin and Lisa Blackburn were all visibly upset about the growing scale of human suffering that’s being caused by government inaction on housing. Council got an update about just how badly Haligonians are being failed by all […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Jagmeet Singh says he’ll deliver affordable housing. So why isn’t he using the full weight of his powers?
One would think, for all of Jagmeet Singh’s self-touted years of martial arts training, the federal NDP leader would know a thing or two about leverage. The concept is central to the Brazilian jiu-jitsu the 44-year-old Singh practices: It’s how a smaller force can exert its will over a larger opponent. It’s also how a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax police chief Dan Kinsella is retiring
Halifax Regional Police chief Dan Kinsella is retiring at the age of 57. The move—announced right before Thursday’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting—comes four years into Kinsella’s reign as the city’s top cop, and his last day will be Sept. 15. It’s a bit of an unexpected and abrupt exit for Kinsella, but if Chadwick […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Julius Caesar meets Van Halen in Halifax Harbour this week—sort of
Van Halen was a little before my time. David Lee Roth had already left the metal band for the first of his three stints before I emerged from the womb, not a hair on my head to compete with their mop-tops. Sammy Hagar was just in the middle of his first run as lead vocalist—a […]
