The province is looking for your input on housing needs as it looks to address a Nova Scotia-wide affordability crisis. The government has launched an online survey, open as of today, to “help identify gaps in current and projected housing requirements”—in other words, to find homes for a population reaching record highs amid a supply […]
City
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Everything you need to know about HRM council’s Sept 29 meeting
Shorter-than-normal council meeting this week as the potentially contentious public hearings all got postponed. Public hearings need a minimum amount of notice given to people who want to attend. A last-minute postponement means that if the public hearings had gone ahead, they wouldn’t have counted, legally speaking. In spite of what you may have read […]
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Nova Scotia budget update highlights province’s class divide
Nova Scotia’s finance minister Allan MacMaster gave a fiscal update to reporters at Province House on Thursday, Sept. 29. The province is facing a higher-than-projected deficit this year, up $48 million. MacMaster says this deficit is due to things like $59 million less from personal income tax (AKA low wages) and cancelling the out of […]
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Watch Dalhousie’s Homecoming party end with police putting out a bonfire
As surely as Dalhousie University warns its students not to have “unsanctioned street parties” at this time of year, hordes of young people wearing Dal shirts gather for the annual Homecoming party in the residential neighbourhood just north of Dal’s Studley campus. HoCo 2022 started on Jennings Street, with public drinking—and urination—happening under the watchful […]
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What we learned from the final Fiona briefing
Thursday, September 29th’s Hurricane Fiona briefing was the last. “We’re now six days out from Hurricane Fiona, the focus here in the provincial coordination centre hasn’t changed,” says Jason Mew of the Emergency Management Office. That focus being clearing trees and debris and getting the power back on. The need for government briefings may be […]
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How to apply for government money after Hurricane Fiona
On Monday, September 26, premier Tim Houston unveiled an assortment of government grants to help those affected by Hurricane Fiona, and the applications for them opened on Thursday. Will getting a $100 cheque two-to-four weeks from now alleviate the misery of several days without electricity? Probably not, but free money is free money—and here’s how […]
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What’s open (and what’s closed) after the storm
With the worst of Hurricane Fiona behind us, the city is in recovery mode. As of Monday afternoon Nova Scotia Power is reporting almost 175,000 customers without power, and there are still many Halifax roads blocked by fallen trees and debris. (Tuesday evening, that NSP number is down to 117,000 customers.) In other words, it’s […]
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How to mark Truth and Reconciliation Day this weekend
Friday, September 30 is the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day. The federal holiday was created last year as a day to honour the Indigenous children who never came home and the survivors of residential schools, and to reflect on the ongoing legacy of the cultural genocide […]
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Dal slides HoCo no-no into warm fuzzy Fiona memo
Dalhousie University president Deep Saini was busy Wednesday morning sending out good vibes and thank yous. In a Twitter thread, he put out a touching message about Dal’s resilience through both storm and plague : “We pulled together through the pandemic, and are pulling together after Fiona. It’s a true characteristic trait of our Dal […]
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Meet one of the workers turning the lights back on in Halifax
Over 100,000 Nova Scotians woke up without power on Tuesday, the fourth day in a row since Hurricane Fiona started shutting things off Friday night. Meanwhile, more than 1,300 power line technicians and forestry techs woke up and hit the streets to continue repairing the grid. “It’s been a very very busy day,” says one […]
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Monday brings money from the province for storm relief
In the wee hours of my third morning without power, I hear the loudest crack of lightning and rumble of thunder maybe in my life. We just can’t catch a break. Later Monday, in an afternoon news conference, Jason Mew of Nova Scotia’s Emergency Management Office says the thunderstorms that rolled across the province this […]
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Hurricane Fiona updates the Sunday after the storm
The sounds of whirring chainsaws and buzzing generators are filling the streets of Halifax as the city recovers from Hurricane Fiona, which made landfall as a post-tropical storm near Canso in the early hours of the morning on Saturday. While writing this story I’m surrounded by the sounds of people chatting and eating a much-needed […]