How much death is enough?
We all know what happened in Nova Scotia on April 19 and 20, 2020. The events of those fateful days are etched into our collective consciousness; a stain on our very fabric. A 51 year-old man—in a car he designed himself to look like an RCMP vehicle—went on a murder rampage, killing 22 people and…
Here are your Best of Halifax 2024 winners for Music
Joel Plaskett’s brimming trophy cabinet just got a little fuller. In his 30 years of recording music, the Lunenburg-born rock troubadour has amassed a slew of honours, from East Coast Music Awards to Juno and Polaris Prize nominations to Best of Halifax gold awards. But this year marks a first for the 49-year-old who now…
Here are your Best of Halifax 2024 winners for Shopping + Services
Make that seven Best of Halifax gold awards for Spring Garden Road’s Bookmark. In its 35 years downtown, the indie bookstore has survived a change of ownership, two years of COVID-19 lockdowns and Jeff Bezos’s ever-expanding tentacles to bring Haligonians the latest titles from authors big and small. That’s not a small thing, says manager…
Students end multi-day occupation of Dal admin building
At 8am on Thursday Nov 28, roughly 30 students packed up their signs, blankets, snacks and water and walked out of the Henry Hicks Academic Administration Building on Dalhousie University’s Studley Campus. They had been there for over 40 hours, since a board of governors meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and had decided to leave “on…
Voter turnout dropped by nearly 10% for the 2024 provincial election
Statistics based on the unofficial results from the 2024 general election in Nova Scotia show that voter turnout decreased by nearly 10% from the last election, which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Election NS’s post-election report from 2021, the total voter turnout was 422,712 out of 767,618 eligible voters—55.1%, a minor…
Houston leads PC Party to record-breaking victory in provincial election
The provincial election Tuesday night saw premier Tim Houston and the PC Party win a historic victory, netting them the most seats out of any political party in Nova Scotia’s history. The Progressive Conservative Party gained enough ground to form not just a majority but a supermajority, which requires at least two-thirds of the House…
The Wanderer Grounds podcast: Who’s in and who’s out this Halifax Wanderers offseason?
Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar is not, generally speaking, the type for drastic measures. “Never too high, never too low” has become akin to a mantra at the Canadian Premier League soccer club during his two years at the helm. It will be interesting, then, to see how Gheisar and the Wanderers’ front office…
Student Vote picks new Nova Scotia government
“Thanks for voting,” says Cohen Francis, acknowledging a Grade 4 student who successfully folded their ballot as they’d been shown and tipped it into the voting box. Francis is in Grade 9. On Monday, November 25, his class at the Halifax Independent School led the provincial edition of the Student Vote program for their school.…
Every big show happening in Halifax (and beyond) in December 2024
December is on our doorstep, and with it comes a packed slate of holiday concerts. But that’s far from the only thing coming to town, with enough sweet offerings to fill a Quality Street tin—including shows from Jenn Grant, Reeny, Joel Plaskett and Adam Baldwin. As always, The Coast has you covered with what’s happening.…
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Shop, Savor, and Celebrate at Shopping Under the Stars!
Get ready to kick off the holiday season in style with the Spring Garden Area Business Association’s annual event, Shopping Under the Stars! Mark your calendars for Friday, December 6, from 5 PM to 9 PM. Whether you’re looking to snag the perfect holiday gift, enjoy some winter activities, or simply take in the magical…
How you can vote on election day in Nova Scotia
Provincial election day is finally upon us. Although some are still feeling the fatigue of the recent municipal election and from watching the American election, getting out to vote is still a right worth exercising. With community and advanced polling stations closed as of Saturday, Nov 23, early voting is limited to returning offices…
What have we heard about education and child care this election campaign?
An election no one wanted, called late last month, will bear fruit Nov 26. As reported by the CBC, a recent telephone poll of 800 Nova Scotians from Narrative Research suggests that premier Tim Houston’s Progressive Conservatives have maintained a significant lead throughout the campaign. However, nearly a quarter of those polled are still in…
An incumbent politician speaks about intimate partner violence
As a woman, mother and health critic for the NSNDP, I am writing in response to Liz LeClair’s important article about making intimate partner violence (IPV) a larger issue in this current provincial election. As a caucus of mostly women and gender-diverse people, we in the NDP have been pushing to declare IPV an epidemic…
Birth control screwup and a weird pizza analogy: Takeaways from the second leaders debate
Premier Tim Houston had one message for Nova Scotian voters during CTV Atlantic’s provincial leaders roundtable Thursday night: the plan is working. Criticisms from his fellow party leaders would suggest otherwise. The roundtable itself was messy. While Houston and Liberal leader Zach Churchill fired shots at each other throughout the evening, it was hard…
Premier’s communications director defended Nazi symbols at Freedom Convoy protests
Premier Tim Houston’s communications director is in hot water after an op-ed he wrote last year, defending Nazi symbols at the Freedom Convoy protests, resurfaced. Stephen Moore, who acts as the director of communications for the Office of the Premier and previously held the role during Liberal premier Stephen McNeil’s tenure, wrote an opinion…
Last chance to catch two expansive shows on hip hop at MSVU Art Gallery
Two levels; two deep-dive exhibitions; one price: free. Since Sep 21, the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery has brought together two shows to explore the art of hip hop—the graffiti, the music, the people, the movement—and how it lends itself to groundbreaking forms of archival work and scholarship that honours hip hop’s ongoing 51-plus-year…
Breaking the silence on a Nova Scotia epidemic
Four years ago, the province of Nova Scotia was the site of the largest mass casualty event in Canada’s history. This event was sparked by intimate partner violence, IPV, and ended in the killing of 22 innocent Nova Scotians—including an unborn child. Families and communities were shattered by this event. The then-leader of the opposition,…
HRM council sets committee rosters
During Tuesday’s meeting of council, outside of City Hall the winds were so strong that Barrington’s streetlamps were being vigorously buffeted outside the windows of Halifax Hall. They moshed with the wind for the entirety of council’s hours-long in-camera debate about a motion. The motion—number 17.2, about “INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS”—was moved up to 1 o’clock, so…
Tammy Jakeman’s journey from candidate to pariah and back
On Friday, Nov 8, Tammy Jakeman was canvassing as a New Democratic Party candidate in Eastern Passage for the upcoming provincial election on Nov 26, unaware this was the beginning of a blurry and tumultuous week. “I was having the most amazing conversations” with voters on their doorsteps in her riding, Jakeman tells The Coast.…
Abortion care is a provincial and federal election issue
The topic of abortion rights has entered the provincial political conversation, as Nova Scotia’s NDP have called out the PC Party for allowing a pro-life incumbent to run for their party. The NSNDP has accused incumbent MLA John Lohr of being anti-abortion, citing a 2018 interview he did with RightNow, a right-wing anti-abortion group,…
Training + education = healthy province + less death
In 2002, Nova Scotia became the first province in Canada to establish a specific government body dedicated to preventative healthcare. At that time, it was called the Office of Health Promotion, and its goal was to educate people on ways in which they could adopt a healthier lifestyle and reduce chronic illness and premature deaths.…
City staff say encampments in Point Pleasant not a thing yet
Correction: An earlier version of this story got a few things wrong about the presentation Max Chauvin, HRM director of housing and homelessness, made at the meeting. We incorrectly paraphrased him at two points in the story, the first saying Chauvin criticized federal and provincial government actions around housing at the meeting, the second saying…
All the winners from the 2024 Music Nova Scotia Awards
This year’s Music Nova Scotia Awards celebration was an eventful one. Taking place in Wolfville from Nov 7-10, the annual music and industry awards saw several of Nova Scotia’s greatest musical talents walk away with awards for their incredible work. Hot off his latest single “Landmine,” Daniel James McFadyen came away with three awards,…
NDP promise rent-to-own starter home program if elected
Nova Scotia’s NDP have announced their plans for a rent-to-own starter home program ahead of the provincial election In a press release on Tuesday, Nov 12, NSNDP leader Claudia Chender announced the program, saying it would increase the number of families able to buy their first home by 10% in the first year. While…
How to vote in the provincial election demystified
Correction: A previous version of this article asserted that the lack of online voting was due to an impending Canada Post strike, when in fact it’s because it’s not a part of the provincial voting legislation and was never planned for the 2024 provincial election. We deeply apologize for this error. (Nov 14, 2024) Those…
Halifax climate plan HalifACT ‘at risk’ of failing
Halifax’s new city council had their first regular meeting of Halifax Regional Council on Tuesday, Nov 12, and it was a pretty routine affair. A lot of the discussion this meeting happened in-camera. In the public portions of the meeting, the bulk of the interesting debate was around the climate, specifically the yearly update on…
Marianas Trench hitting up Halifax with Force of Nature tour
Canadian pop-rock legends Marianas Trench will be kicking off their Force of Nature tour with shows Saturday and Sunday Nov 16 and 17 at the Light House Arts Centre in Halifax. Hot off the release of their latest full-length album, Haven, the JUNO Award-winning band is taking their theatrical sound across Canada after finishing…
Scenes from NSCAD student weekend on organizing and art
The student union of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, or SUNSCAD, had planned two days of teach-ins, art-making and discussions focused on student organizing for their art-college peers—to be hosted at their Granville Street Campus last weekend. Their booking to use NSCAD space Nov 2-3 was initially approved. Then, their university president…
Halifax council considered being like ‘petulant children’ to the province
The regularly scheduled council meeting of Tuesday, October 1 flew a little bit under the radar, thanks to it happening during the municipal election campaign. But it was noteworthy as the final meeting of our 2020-elected council, held via Zoom in an unwanted tribute to the first meetings of their term, which were forced onto…
These housing issues are what Nova Scotia’s political parties are focusing on
Housing is at the forefront of many people’s minds as the province faces a shortage while experiencing high rent and purchase prices. It’s no surprise, then, that the NSNDP, Liberals, and the PC Party have announced their plans for housing as election day looms. Following an announcement last week regarding their plan to lower…