To the people who write “Loves” to the city of Halifax. They’re all like, “I miss you…I never knew what I had.” You might as well be writing to an inanimate doorknob. Nobody cares about your woes. SHUT UP! This place sucks. There are no jobs. The taxes are too high. Nobody can afford to live. Shut your pie hole. You’re out west making big money while drilling into the earth’s core and ruining the land. Nobody back here is earning shit. Enjoy your wads of cash and shut up. You should BE so lucky. And donairs aren’t that great, unless you enjoy machine gun shitting all night. —Jobless, penniless, and a free colonic with every donair
This article appears in Jun 15-21, 2017.
The winds of Toronto smog are beckoning to you, OP. Now spread your tiny wings and fly away to the big city where your every dream will be fulfilled. Low taxes, low rents, no crime, $15 minimum wage, donairs made of angel wings – it’ll be such a soothing balm on your bitterness.
P.S. I love this gnarly old province – you’re never more than 70 km away from the ocean – how cool is that?!
I have a job and can afford to live pretty comfortably. I know a lot of people like me. This place has some problems, but it isn’t any worse than anywhere else. It’s a nice place to live, overall. Lots of green space and the ocean is cool. On the other hand, rent and groceries are expensive and the minimum wage is low. Real estate is much cheaper than in bigger Canadian cities, but you can make more money in Toronto or Calgary for doing similar jobs, so maybe that accounts for price differences somewhat. Calgary really sucked the soul out of me when I lived there, and Toronto is vast and daunting to me. I’m much happier here. I could probably live in Montreal or Vancouver and have a good life, but Vancouver is far from family and my husband doesn’t speak French so Montreal would be tricky, job-wise. There are always trade-offs. Remember, OP: Wherever you go, there you are.