When author and activist Joan Kuyek moved to Sudbury, Ontario, she noticed unusual surroundings. “I couldn’t believe the city when we first came in. I mean, at that point it was black rocks everywhere,” she says by phone from Ottawa. The landscape had been burnt by a hundred years of smelting in North America’s richest […]
Environment
Posted inNews + Opinion
Undermined in the Town of Westville
On September 30, in the town Westville, Nova Scotia—155 kilometres from Halifax—town councillor Lynn MacDonald surprised even herself when she put forward a motion to take back a proposal for exploratory coal mining on town land. She was effectively squashing a proposal that she had brought to council with a motion of support nearly a […]
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Suzuki says: ‘Vote for climate solutions’
Although the only discussion now should be about solutions and how to implement them quickly, some people in and out of the political sphere still refuse to accept the massive amounts of evidence for human-caused global heating and the need to address it. Politicians are finally talking about climate change. How could they not? In […]
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How Halifax composts 50,000 tonnes of material a year.
H alifax has been composting since before it was cool, way back in 1998. These days, the municipality composts about 50,000 tonnes of compost every year—almost twice as much as it recycles. That’s about 100 tonnes a day, or the equivalent of 13,000 curb-side green carts. The Miller Waste facility, on Gloria McCluskey Avenue in […]
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How the federal parties are campaigning for the climate
On September 27, the last Friday of the month, 10,000 Haligonians marched through the streets of Halifax calling on politicians to act on climate change. Walking down Spring Garden road there were Haligonians of all ages, from babies to grandparents, channelling their inner Greta and asking for their government to act. The air was electric […]
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A guide to finding Nova Scotia’s best fall foliage
Autumn is arguably the most visually stunning season of the year in Nova Scotia. Our landscape of rolling hills and valleys, blanketed by deciduous and evergreen trees, makes a spectacular canvas for the change to unfold. Maple, birch, oak, beech and ash create a rich pallet, with hues ranging from vibrant crimson and near-fuschia to […]
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Tackling climate change means purging privilege from politics
Our national political arena often seems dominated by unproductive partisan potshots and misplaced accountability, with corporate interests prioritized over people’s. Behind the noisy partisan sniping, a quiet majority—70 to 75 percent of Canadians—is largely disengaged from politics, according to McAllister Opinion Research. It’s not that people don’t care about climate change, affordability, equity and creating […]
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“Less silence, more science”—photos from Halifax’s climate strike
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Province’s feet-dragging on endangered species has landed it in court.
Against the backdrop of a week marked by international climate conversations and action, a group of Nova Scotians who care about the natural environment and keeping it protected took the province’s minister of lands and forestry to court over what the group says is a failure to uphold the Nova Scotia’s Endangered Species Act. Bob […]
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Thousands of Halifax climate strikers demand action
Generations flooded the streets of Halifax as thousands of Nova Scotians united on Friday afternoon to call out government inaction and make their voices heard. The main event of K’jipuktuk- Halifax Sept Climate Action Week, strikers marched throughout the city and died-in at Nova Scotia Power before reaching their final destination: City Hall. “I feel […]
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The K’jipuktuk-Halifax Week of Climate Action kicks off with interfaith gathering and climate action rally
Hundreds of Haligonians gathered at Grand Parade Square on Friday to mourn the destruction caused by climate change and request government action. “The planet is in crisis, there is no planet B and unless we take that seriously then our home is gone,” said David Walmark, an attendee of the rally. “Everybody can do their […]
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David Suzuki, Stephen Lewis and Catherine Martin on putting the climate first
A few days before the Halifax stop of their Climate First Tour, renowned scientist and author David Suzuki and Stephen Lewis, humanitarian and former ambassador for Canada to the United Nations, spoke with me over the phone from Vancouver. While we were speaking, millions of people around the world were striking for climate action, inspired […]
