Yesterday municipal budget season officially kicked off. In the coming weeks, you’ll be hearing a lot more from and about the city’s (about-to-retire) chief administrative officer, Jaques Dubé, and its (unofficial) captain of budget season, chief financial officer Jerry Blackwood, so here’s a bit of an explainer on how the budget process works. It […]
City
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Everything you need to know about Halifax council’s Nov 22 meeting
Budget season kicked off Tuesday in Halifax Regional Municipality with an introduction to the budget’s strategic priorities. This step seems like a very high-level wishy-washy process with very little tangible impact, and it’s not an incorrect assumption to make. However these high-level discussions have a very real impact on how the city’s money (AKA your […]
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Macdonald Bridge bike flyover delayed to 2024
Cyclists travelling the Macdonald Bridge between Halifax and Dartmouth will need to wait two more years for a Halifax-end bikeway flyover that was initially targeted for completion in 2021. In a report submitted to Halifax regional council ahead of Tuesday’s council meeting, HRM project manager Ahmed Allahham notes that delays to the project—which cyclists have […]
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Colorado mass shooting echoes in Halifax
The 3,443 kilometre distance separating Halifax from Colorado Springs felt awfully small on Sunday evening, as about two dozen vigil attendees gathered at the Peace and Friendship Park to mark the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance. As trans people and their allies mourned those lost to transphobic-rooted violence over the years, many couldn’t help but […]
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Your Halifax guide to the FIFA soccer World Cup
When Canada’s men’s national team takes to the soccer pitch against Belgium on Wednesday, Nov. 23, it will make history—not just as the first Canadian men’s side since 1986 to qualify for the world’s largest sporting event, but as the fastest-climbing team in global FIFA rankings in 2021-22. Led by global star Alphonso Davies, a […]
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RCMP leader ridicules officers after Portapique
Say what you like about the Mass Casualty Commission—call it expensive, disrespectful or a let down—you can’t deny there’s a lot to read on the commission website. And at the end of October, another 2,000 or so documents were made public, adding to the pile of statements, decisions, transcripts, foundational documents and such related to […]
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A “perfect storm” of respiratory viruses hits Nova Scotia, putting pressure on the IWK
What some are calling a “tripledemic” of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID, has arrived in Nova Scotia. The flu and RSV are impacting young children (preschool age and below) in particular, leaving the already strained children’s acute care system even more burdened. Across the province, pediatric units are “stretched, stretched, stretched,” Dr. Andrew […]
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Tim Houston flexes legislative power in 2022 fall sitting
Whenever a politician thinks they did something good, something bad, or really anything at all, they then turn to their supporters for adulation. Premier Tim Houston and his PCs are no different than any other political party and—right on queue, as the fall session ended—the party put out its vainglorious propaganda. We’ve made tremendous strides […]
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Nova Scotia-based health startup trials magic mushrooms as PTSD treatment
Nova Scotia’s first clinical trial involving psilocybin—the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms—will receive its first volunteer patients this week. The Windsor-based Halucenex Life Sciences Inc. is trialling the compound for use in treating severe post-traumatic stress. The psychedelic compound production company is banking on the drug’s potential as a breakthrough therapeutic treatment for veterans and […]
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The new Woodside Ferry Terminal is a functional paradise
The Woodside Ferry Terminal has been under construction since 2019, and while it has been open to the public throughout the process, the facelift is finally complete. Before the official unveiling ceremony, which happens this afternoon (Nov. 16), The Coast went to Woodside to check it out. Arriving at the terminal from the street, you’re […]
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Mattea Roach reflects on Jeopardy! as a weird way to become famous
On Friday, Nova Scotia’s Jeopardy! phenom Mattea Roach took their final bow on the Alex Trebek Stage after losing their semi-final game in the Tournament of Champions. Barring a special reunion episode, Roach’s time on the iconic trivia show has come to an end. But you don’t become the fifth-best J! player of all time […]
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Dal president Deep Saini is leaving for McGill
On Monday afternoon, Dalhousie University announced its president and vice-chancellor Deep Saini is leaving to take the helm at McGill. Saini is to part ways with Dalhousie, and its HoCo-related tomfoolery (McGill does not do that sort of thing) on Dec. 31. Saini began his tenure as Dalhousie’s president in January 2020, holding the position through […]