Faith restored
Since winter finally hit, I have been finding it more and more frustrating to live my life. I use a wheelchair and have had numerous incidents trying to do everyday things like getting groceries, doing my banking or most recently, getting a haircut. I moved here in September and have since been going to Sailor Bup's to get cleaned up at least once a month. Something I have been unable to do with the poor conditions of the roads and sidewalks.
I have gotten to know the staff at Sailor Bup's and made a comment on Facebook one day on how I haven't been able to stop by recently. I was contacted by Mark, the manager of Sailor Bup's, who offered to drop by my apartment. Three days later he showed up with his gear. I may be frustrated by the weather and the lack of clean-up, but I am constantly amazed by the people in this city. Whether it be someone helping me up a steep hill or travelling to my apartment to cut my hair, this really is the friendliest city in the country and I'm so happy I decided to make it my new home. —Brian, Halifax
GROSS EXAGGERATION, HYPERBOLE AND OUTRIGHT LIES
I started reading Jade Nauss's article "Ableist sales staff can cramp a shopper's style," but had to stop when she wrote about 20 percent of Nova Scotian women having a disability, "the highest percent of any Canadian province" (The City, March 5). I didn't bother reading any further. I'm not going to waste my time reading anything with gross exaggeration, hyperbole and outright lies. I cannot bother to trust that the rest of the article may have had some redeeming feature. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME YOUR PAPER PUBLISHED SUCH STUFF, ANOTHER OF YOUR WRITERS DID THE SAME THING LAST WEEK. It is well-known that we are among the healthiest provinces in Canada, as we have the oldest population in the country. You don't get to these long lifespans by being sick or disabled. If I see any more such untruths in your paper, I will no longer read it. And I'm not alone. —Charles Carey, Halifax
Editor's note: Giving our pen pal Charles Carey the benefit of the doubt, we sought clarifying information not from reporter Jade Nauss but from a disinterested third party. Google's top answer to the question "How many people have a disability in Nova Scotia?" is a page called "Canadians in Context—People with Disabilities," on the website of Employment and Social Development Canada, a federal government department. Citing Statistics Canada information from 2012, the page states "The percentage of Canadians with disabilities was lowest in Nunavut (6.9%) and highest in Nova Scotia (18.8%)." While the page doesn't correlate by both gender and province, and thus doesn't speak specifically to the 20 percent of Nova Scotian women figure Nauss claimed, it does say that across the country more women have disabilities than men, 2.4 percent more. If that 2.4 percent difference holds true for Nova Scotia, and the 18.8 percent stat is an average of men and women, then exactly 20 percent of NS women have disabilities. Even if more extensive research would show the math isn't quite so perfect, we figured it was close enough to answer Carey's concerns, and we let Google go on to other things.
Water we waiting for?
City spokesperson Tiffany Chase points out there are drinking fountains at the Halifax and Woodside ferry terminals, but not Alderney, and she's not sure why (On Patrol, The City by Jacob Boon, February 26). The article suggests "historical momentum" as the explanation.
In fact it's the opposite, as there was a fountain for years at Alderney. The reason why there is none now is because the recent renovation was completed without the installation of a new fountain. Enlightening that apparently there was no followthrough, given that both the Bridge and Alderney terminals were clearly recapitalization projects and should've had water fountains incorporated. —S., Halifax