Nova Scotia will build 264 new long-term care beds and replace nearly 1,300 existing beds across the province, premier Iain Rankin announced Friday. Nova Scotia NDP and PC leaders say this plan falls short of what’s needed to support the public long-term care program—which has nearly 1,300 people waiting for a bed. In a […]
City
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Three crisis shelters taken down four days early by city
Earlier this week, Halifax gave itself a deadline of July 13 to remove all the temporary crisis shelters it knows about on municipal property. And while Tuesday is still four days away, today—Friday—three of these shelters were carted away by city staff. “Now that the city has gone back on its word, we can’t trust […]
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Crisis shelter fire creates a liability issue for HRM
As the debate around temporary crisis shelters in Halifax continues, many councillors and members of the public alike have forgotten that real people live in these tiny “sheds” situated in public parks. “These shelters and tents are not safe or appropriate housing,” said one councillor in a letter to the province on Wednesday. “They have […]
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HRM vows to remove temporary shelters without warning after July 13
On Tuesday, Halifax Regional Municipality released a statement that confirmed it will do what it’s been threatening for weeks—remove temporary shelters located on municipal property. “A deadline date of July 13, 2021 has been given to remove the shelters–failing which, the shelters, and any personal items contained within the shelters, will be removed by the […]
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Premier Iain Rankin owns up to drunk driving charges
Premier Iain Rankin said at a COVID-19 briefing today, July 5, he heard questions were being asked about his history with drunk driving, and he wanted to “tell all Nova Scotians at once” about past incidents that resulted in a DUI conviction. “Before we get into the case numbers I want to address a personal […]
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7 things you need to know from city council
1 Sober centres City council will work on options for developing a sobering centre in Halifax as an alternative to using holding cells for intoxicated people. The motion came from councillor Lindell Smith, who requested a staff report in February on the feasibility of a sobering centre that considers services needed to support unhoused people […]
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The long path to Peace and Friendship Park
When Rebecca Cope was in middle school, she attended Cornwallis Junior High along with her sisters. As a Mi’kmaq woman whose grandmother survived Shubenacadie Residential School, Cope knew even back then how disrespectful the name was. “Were the only Mi’kmaq students at that school the whole time we attended it,” she says. “We were very […]
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What cancelling Canada Day looks like in actions
It’s easy to talk abstractly about cancelling Canada Day—to share tweets and hashtags and Instagram graphics—but more useful to actually take action. The large-scale conversations we’re having about the holiday’s relationship with colonial violence are long overdue: many Indigenous people have been spearheading them for years, and it shouldn’t have taken the discovery of so […]
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Shelters threatened by city hall, supported by citizens
Hundreds of people rallied in downtown Halifax on Sunday afternoon in support of several temporary shelters that the city plans to demolish. Halifax Mutual Aid, a local volunteer group, organized the rally at the city’s old central library on Spring Garden Road. That library has been shut down since 2014, and HMA built several of […]
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Bedford-Halifax ferry idea has new push to float at last
Halifax is moving ahead with a new ferry route after the federal and provincial governments agreed to pay more than $2 million for the project’s initial plans. On Thursday morning, government representatives announced the partnership, which aims to study and begin the plans for a new ferry terminal and route—one that will travel between Mill […]
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16 changes in Phase 2 of Nova Scotia’s reopening plan
Nova Scotia entered the second phase of its COVID reopening plan on Wednesday, June 16, easing lots of the restrictions that were in place during Phase 1. In this new phase, Nova Scotia inches toward larger gathering limits and allowing more businesses to reopen. To help clarify what Nova Scotians can do, The Coast has […]
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Nose piercing and beard trimming are legal services again
After a long lockdown, you can finally ditch the beard trimmer, the drugstore lip wax and any plans for a DIY piercing. Phase 2 of Nova Scotia’s COVID reopening is here, so the professionals who keep you looking sharp underneath your mask are allowed back to work. As of Wednesday, June 16, salons, barbers, piercers […]