Around the world, people have been awakened to the police’s unnecessary and incessant violence against Black people. It is inspiring seeing white and brown folks hold up placards and protest systemic racism alongside Black people. But while we’re protesting systemic racism, let’s remember something that’s often discriminated against yet often overlooked. Something so tiny, yet […]
Opinion
Posted inNews + Opinion
Thank you, Halifax. You should feel proud.
Beauty, it is said, is in the eye of the beholder. July is pride month, a time when we usually behold the beauty and excitement of up to 120,000 Haligonians sharing in the celebration and joy that is the annual Pride Parade. Understandably not this year, so I thought this article would be my small […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax hosts Day of Rage in protest against West Bank annexation
On July 1, Palestinian land, identity and culture will once again be threatened with brute force by Israel through the planned annexation of the West Bank. The annexation, slated to take place this Wednesday, has been widely condemned by the international community. “Acquisition of territory by force has no place in 2020 and must have […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
No extension for eviction ban puts Halifax’s renters at risk
Renters in Halifax are getting a bad deal. Elected officials neglect them, vacancy rates favour their landlords and worldwide crises expose their vulnerability. It’s time to put that to an end. Forty percent of Haligonians rent–10 percent higher than the national average. Yet, somehow, even the direst of circumstances–a literal pandemic–isn’t enough to inspire elected […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Cliff Robinson is one of Halifax’s essential workers—COVID or no COVID
On my way to work one morning during the pandemic, I had to pick up some naloxone kits for the hotel that is providing transitional housing to people reentering the community from provincial correctional facilities. I was walking down Cornwallis Street and I saw the friendly and familiar face of Cliff Robinson, standing outside of our local […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
MDMA likely laced with fentanyl leads to overdose and death in Halifax
The city of Halifax mourns this week after the fatal overdose of 15-year-old Miya Harris. It’s believed Harris’ overdose was caused by MDMA (AKA Molly) laced with fentanyl—two drugs that should never go together. Harris’ death was preventable: the downstream result of the criminalization of drugs which leads to increased uncertainty of the current drug market […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Canada should require more than a Grade 12 education for police and RCMP officers
The RCMP is in the midst of conducting a criminal investigation of the country’s deadliest mass shooting, which began in Portapique, Nova Scotia April 18, 2020. Several questions have been raised about the force’s handling of the 13-hour rampage but also whether police acted appropriately on previous serious complaints about the gunman, including domestic abuse allegations […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Ocean’s Week Halifax kicks off online
As if it was preordained, the United Nations theme for World Oceans Week 2020 is “Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean”. While the UN likely chose this theme to highlight the new and exciting ocean technologies that are changing the way scientists understand the ocean (including underwater sampling gliders captained by Dalhousie University here in the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Nova Scotians are still dying from the overdose crisis
Just as Nova Scotia tries its best to contain COVID, and Canada’s largest mass killing in recent history leaves 22 people dead from an unimaginable act of violence, there are other tragedies that have been swept under the rug amid the chaos. Canada’s overdose crisis continues to claim the lives of our neighbours and friends—on […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Call it by its name: Misogynist violence
Nova Scotians are spending the weekend with heavy hearts as they mourn the loss of 22 innocent people in one of the worst mass shootings in our country’s history. Yet along with this sorrow, feminist activists in Nova Scotia and across the country are also feeling outraged because women and girls in this province continue […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Voice of The City: Abuse and violence thrive in isolation and silence
The first person to die from a COVID-19-related death in Nova Scotia was not someone who contracted the virus. It was a woman murdered by her abusive male partner, whom she was forced into isolation with due to social distancing measures. In early April, Stephen Beckett was arrested at his home in Hammonds Plains and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
For those incarcerated with their babies, COVID-19 puts two generations in peril
Yesterday, we heard two prisoners at the Nova Institution federal prison for women in Truro were awaiting results on COVID-19 tests. Fortunately, by early afternoon, it appeared both were negative— spared for now from being added to a list that’s being compiled by Justin Piche at University of Ottawa. Piche is tracking positive coronavirus cases in […]