Students most vulnerable when administrations “rush to judgment” on speech issues
David Robinson is the executive director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), a group that advocates for more than 70,000 teachers, librarians, researchers and other academic staff at 125 universities and colleges across Canada, including academic workers at Halifax’s six universities. The CAUT is a defender of academic freedom and investigates instances of…
First in workplace violence, last to the table
Stop me when you disagree: Workplace violence is not appropriate. Disproportionate workplace violence is not appropriate. Those being disproportionately harmed should be included in a discussion about ways to address and prevent workplace violence. Those deciding on appropriate witnesses to include in the conversation about violence in public schools showed their disagreement with that last…
Your Guide to KANA’TA: Canada Day 2024
Canada’s birthday is right around the corner and this year, the celebrations are going to look a little different by design. According to HRM, this year’s Canada Day program was developed in close collaboration with Indigenous communities and is bursting with programming that honours the traditions of the Mi’kmaw Nation and celebrates pan-Indigenous communities that…
The Great Boomsky’s secret story finally told in new book
There once lived a man in Truro who worked as a red cap at the train station. While he may have been unassuming to most, if he encountered the right passenger, this man would suddenly become a never-ending box of tricks. He would pull out sleight of hands that would leave some of the…
Teachers need guidance in tackling school violence
The report from auditor general Kim Adair on school violence made clear three key messages. First, there is an inadequate focus on preventing and addressing violence in schools. Second, the government does not know the full extent of violence in schools due to a lack of data collection. And finally, that educators are not adequately…
Fixed-term lease legislation remains a nightmare for renters in Halifax
Catherine Chase didn’t expect she would have to pick up her life and move by the end of August. Chase rents a two-bedroom apartment at Prince Edward Estates, owned and managed by Flex Development. She moved in during 2021, and at the time signed a fixed-term lease with the company. This type of lease…
Embracing Mi’kmaw concept of reciprocal learning on National Indigenous Peoples Day
National Indigenous Peoples Day, as it’s known today, is celebrated annually on June 21 in Canada. In 1996, Governor General of Canada, Roméo LeBlanc, issued a proclamation declaring the recognition of this day, then known as National Aboriginal Day. However, there’s a third name for June 21: “Freedom Day.” LeBlanc was coining a day of…
Halifax downgrades road safety framework
On Wednesday, June 19, Halifax’s Transportation Standing Committee met and watered down the city’s Strategic Road Safety Framework. During the debate, the HRM’s newly promoted executive director of Public Works, Lucas Pitts, told councillors that this new plan was an upgrade because it was a “systems-level approach” to road safety. When debating the new framework…
Steel Cut Oats rocking and raging on ‘Top Autonomy’ EP
For a band that started on a whim two years ago and consists of members with little prior experience, Steel Cut Oats is going strong. In their short time as a band, the indie rock five-piece have released two EPs. Their first was in 2022 titled At the Eleventh Hour, which was named Rock…
City staff go rogue, ignore council’s instructions
There was an item added to Tuesday’s council meeting and it was a bit of a stinker. As reported by the CBC there’s nowhere for the poop in septic tanks to go anymore. The one place close to the HRM in Hants no longer has space to accept everyone’s feces so now septic companies will…
The municipal election is coming up—do you know your boundaries?
Municipal elections are coming up fast. All one has to do is look at the number of politicians announcing their run for mayor to see just how quickly the city is gearing up for election season. However, some residents may be voting for different councillors in different districts than before. In January, electoral boundaries in…
Bodycams are coming to Halifax
After a few years of research city staff and the cops have figured out what is required for Halifax Regional Police to get body worn cameras. Body worn cameras are coming to Halifax with the RCMP and thanks to the direction given to police from the Board of Police Commissioners, the Halifax Regional Police are…
Mi’kmaw educator shares history, language and culture on X for Indigenous History Month
It all started with Mi’kmaw History Month in 2016. Jarvis Googoo had shared a piece of Mi’kmaw trivia each day that October. On the final day, Oct. 31–his birthday–Googoo shared a story on X, then known as Twitter, about his experience attending his cousin’s high school graduation in his home community of We’koqma’q in Unama’ki/Cape…
Neon Dreams get personal on upcoming album, ‘The Good, The True And The Beautiful’
Neon Dreams is no stranger to songs that touch on personal aspects of the Halifax duo’s lives. Some of their biggest hits have been introspective on the part of their creators. However, vocalist Frank Kadillac says their upcoming record The Good, The True And The Beautiful touches on his experiences like never before, inspired…
HRM cuts independent experts from policy making
Halifax’s city council is trying to modernize governance in the HRM. For those who have never really thought about how your government actually functions to shape your life, one main way legislative change happens is through the work of committees. In very general terms the role of a committee or board is to read a…
More support for students at encampment from senate, faculty and alum
Since May 12, support for the encampment on Dalhousie’s front lawn organized by the coalition Students for the Liberation of Palestine-Kjipuktuk(Halifax)–or SLPK–has continued to grow as its space has expanded with tents, teach-ins, banners and gardens. Although it flanks the steps at Dal, the SLPK represents students from five universities across Halifax: the Nova Scotia…
Wonder Women converge on Halifax
With men in powerful positions running amok, if ever we needed a superhero to swoop in and save the world, it’d be now. Luckily, there were over 800 of them crammed inside the Halifax Convention Centre on Friday. They wore different disguises—stilettos, blazers, wide rimmed glasses—and went by different aliases—communications manager, non-profit director, family lawyer—but…
Gig for Gaza raising awareness and funds for Palestinian charities
With the ongoing crisis in Palestine, some may be wondering how they can help. The organizers of Gig for Gaza have found a way. On June 20 at the Marquee Ballroom, a concert will be held featuring several well-known Nova Scotian artists, all to raise money for relief efforts in Palestine through the Palestine…
HRM messes up paperwork, bullies old man
In a part of Dartmouth that will soon be known as Port Wallace there’s a guy who runs a construction company. The company in question was founded by his father in the 1970s and when his father died the son continued on with his father’s business. The son is now a man in his 60s…
Learning from the land with the Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre
A class of Grade 5 students from Truro Elementary wondrously inspected replica Mi’kmaq artifacts and practised firing arrows in a small clearing surrounded by trees. To Mi’kmaq educator Gerald Gloade, this is how children should learn about their culture and history. The class had come out to the Mi’kmawey Debert Interpretive Trail on Tuesday afternoon…
School violence is up, reporting is weak, majority of teachers at ‘high risk’ of harm, finds audit
In the past seven years, schools across the province have reported a 60% increase in violence. What’s more, weaknesses in what is reported are making it impossible for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development–EECD–to know the full extent of violence in schools. That’s according to the latest from Nova Scotia’s auditor general, Kim…
Everyseeker Festival bringing diverse musical acts to the stage June 13-16
The Everyseeker festival has just about everything you could classify as music, and that’s no exaggeration. Formerly known as the Obey Convention, Everyseeker will see performances throughout Halifax from some of the most creative, genre-bending acts across the country, with half of their lineup being local artists. There is guaranteed to be something for…
Green Arm Band Initiative reminds us that referees are human beings
The other day I was at The Gap and I saw the most disturbing thing. The teenage sales associate was being followed around by this middle-aged man, and—as she tried to do her job—he was correcting her, even yelling at her. He was berating her at every turn. She folded a stack of t-shirts and…
NSCAD student union to consider fall tuition strike if disclosure and divestment calls not met
The student encampment for Palestinian liberation continues in Halifax, despite recent police crackdowns at other Canadian university encampments like York University in Ontario and McGill University in Quebec. The student movement across the world calls on their university administrations to disclose and divest financial ties to Israel’s occupation of and war on Gaza. Students from…
Clever Hopes meditates on memories in sophomore album, ‘New Kind of Familiar’
On the first Clever Hopes album, singer-songwriter Andrew Shaver walked listeners through a tumultuous break-up and how he navigated that period of his life. Shaver’s sophomore release, New Kind of Familiar, sees the Dartmouth-based folk rocker delving further into his own life and how far he’s come since 2022’s Artefact. He has a wife, a…
Political failure continues to cause homelessness
One of the single best sport tournaments in the world is the English Football Association Challenge Cup. The FA Cup is a domestic tournament to find out who the best team in England is. This year, as in most years, that title has gone to one of the teams in England’s highest league, Manchester United.…
North End Bikeway Corridor may not be enough for experienced cyclists
Steve MacKay has been cycling in the city for the last 15 years. As construction on the North End Bikeway Corridor continues—the city’s project to create a safe route for cyclists from the north end to downtown—MacKay has chosen to remain on his route through Agricola Street. “There’s not enough there to bring me…
Healthy Relationships for Youth Program teaches students to stop violence before it occurs
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to confirm that there is something very amiss in HRM schools. The threat of violence seems to be looming like a dank fog. Ongoing bomb threats and fear of violence has led many teens to go as far as arming themselves. Just last week, students staged a walkout, waving…
“We don’t feel safe,” read students’ posters at walkout Friday morning
Students at Astral Drive Junior High in Cole Harbour walked out of class Friday morning to protest feeling unsafe, following a recent violent altercation that happened between students in a washroom on Tuesday, May 28. The school was placed in a hold and secure that afternoon while the injured student, Claire Kelly, was removed and…