Though I’m reluctant to “air my dirty laundry in public,” to quote my grandmother, I do so in hopes it may help in some way to ameliorate others’ circumstances. The facts are brief and similar across the board. Much of my backstory is in the documentary My Week on Welfare by Jackie Torrens and Jessica […]
Opinion
Posted inNews + Opinion
‘We are seeing the beginnings of the era of climate barbarism’
Do you feel encouraged by talk of the Green New Deal? I feel a tremendous excitement and a sense of relief, that we are finally talking about solutions on the scale of the crisis we face. That we’re not talking about a little carbon tax or a cap and trade scheme as a silver bullet. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Letters to the editor, September 19, 2019
Vote the climate The mess made by my generation and those before me has fallen to the generation that includes people who are too young to vote. Even without the voting privilege, they have decided to do what we could not—protest. They are doing so with a mass student strike. And I hope it brings […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
When sexual violence keeps making headlines, how can we support each other?
In September 2017 I gave birth to my son. In October #metoo went viral and was all over social media feeds and news reports after a decade in the making—since Tarana Burke, a Bronx-based civil rights activist, coined the phrase in 2006. It made for a difficult October. I was postpartum, breastfeeding around the clock […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Letters to the editor, September 12, 2019
Trudeau and TB There is growing fear in the development community that after years of advocating for full international funding to support the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, the Trudeau Liberals are planning to abandon it. This is deeply concerning because Canada has long been at the bottom of spending out of all […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Speaking for The Coast
In Superman’s origin story, his father is Jor-El, the greatest scientist on the planet Krypton. Through his research, Jor-El comes to believe Krypton is doomed, but the other scientists laugh at his prediction and refuse to take action to save the citizens. Only baby Superman is spared, thanks to his parents sending him away in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
What Halifax can learn from shootings in El Paso
Since last month’s mass shooting in El Paso, Latinxs throughout the US say they no longer feel safe. The shooting, which killed 22 people and injured another 24, was driven by racism and xenophobia against the Latinx community. The shooting speaks to a troubling resurgence of white supremacist violence in the US, fueled by Trump. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Letters to the editor, August 29, 2019
Housing reality I cannot believe HRM city planners are supporting new developments that do not have parking spaces included, such as the building approved for 2440 Agricola Street (“6 Halifax developments you should know about,” City story by Catherine Turnbull, August 15). This is supposed to be “a move towards more bike- and walking-focused mobility,” […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Young people are fired up for the federal election
T his year, for the first time since the baby boomers, youth and students are the largest voting block in Canada. All over the country young people are pushing back against the narrative that we are apolitical. Many young people like myself are becoming increasingly involved in politics and are actively organizing around issues that […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
OPS opposition and government inaction in Halifax’s addiction services
I am a white, privileged, female physician who has never injected drugs. I serve some of the most vulnerable people in our city. I care deeply about their safety, dignity and well-being. Before medicine, I worked in the downtown east side of Vancouver, and in my early years of practice I served Calgary’s inner-city as the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Letters to the editor, August 22, 2019
Developing hubris When developer Alex Halef of the BANC Group discusses citizen opposition to the latest proposed development on Wellington Street, he insults the residents of HRM who are opposed to that building and other developments (“6 Halifax developments you should know about,” City story by Catherine Turnbull, August 15). Halef thinks opposition to developments […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Letters to the editor, August 15, 2019
Building on greed Angela Capobianco’s comments on development and preservation in the HRM are astute and germane (“Dear Halifax developers: be more creative,” Voice of The City, August 1). But it’s also relevant to recognize the mechanism by which projects (for example, 27-storey towers in the south end) are spawned. It does not begin with […]
