As I watch my husband buzz around our 110-year-old Halifax house with his tools, I ask: “Why did we decide to stay in Nova Scotia again?”
“There’s always something to fix,” he says.
He’s half-joking, but sometimes this is how we feel. The exhausting battle of constantly trying to improve things. It can feel fruitless, especially when the work is tied up in tricky political or corporate systems that could suddenly shift and nullify years of advancement.
I struggle for words about why we stay in Nova Scotia—not because I don’t know, but because it’s ineffable. Maybe because its beauty is immeasurable and soothing. Maybe because its nature cradles and challenges us. Maybe because the people are honest and quick to laugh. Maybe because the art and culture deepens our human understanding. It’s all of these things.
But last fall, we almost left. I moved to California for four months (without my husband and two young children) to mentor with a startup music company. My goal was to learn enough to bring the knowledge back home and start a business here.
But when my family visited my temporary home in sunny Los Angeles, we seriously considered leaving Nova Scotia for good. After feeling like martyrs in a sea of negativity that resulted after cuts in the 2015 provincial budget and watching dozens of friends leave the province, we asked ourselves what we’re hanging onto.
Yet we stayed in Halifax, partially because we still feel like we can make real change in our communities, but mostly because no matter where we’ve lived, where we’ve travelled, there was always something calling us back here.
There is a positive effect, living in a place where the weather changes every 20 minutes, the economy can be slow and the politics can be frustrating: It makes you significantly more engaged, resilient and resourceful. Those who survive here do it by hard work, innovation and creativity. And the common goal remains: Creating a place where everyone can thrive.
Being part of a small population demands that you be part of the change. When we say “I hate how Halifax always…” or “Nova Scotia is so backward…,” we are shaming us all, as a group. That leads to withdrawal, discouragement, inaction. But when we hold up positive change (even if it may be flawed)—a welcome shift in policy or a moving story—we are pumping energy into all of us. It’s that energy we need to continue to be resourceful, to build, to create a place that we are proud to call home.
Fortunately, when we cannot find enough positive energy in people, we can always walk in the woods, float in the ocean or lift our faces to the sunshine, breathing the clean, salt air. Our land—this beautiful place—is constantly offering us nourishment to push on.
I challenge you to consider why you remain in Nova Scotia and what you can do to make more people stay. And if you want to leave, but can’t, what can YOU do to make this place better? There may be a lot to fix, but when it’s time for the barn-raising, we all need to be there to push.
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Voice of the City is a platform for any and all Halifax individuals to share their diverse opinions and writings. The Coast does not necessarily endorse the views of those published. Our editors reserve the right to alter submissions for clarity, length and style. Want to appear in this section? Submissions can be sent to voice@thecoast.ca.
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This article appears in Jul 7-13, 2016.
I just like being in N.S.I have so many memoies.I spent half my summer on the SouthShore and I remember the smeall of salt water and the Gulls making noise and my Grandfather taking me fishing,always coming home with a fishbox full of Haddock.The other part of summer was in Pictou Landing and I can still smell what it was like in a good way.Had to walk to a spring to get fresh clean water.I remember the green screen door slaming to quickly which my Grandfather didn’t like.I could go on and on but will stop here.Im glad you chose to stay in Halifax.Kindest Regards.John
I’ve said it before I’ll say it again. The problem is that the public sector takes too much. How about asking them what they can do to make a change? Pretty hard when you’re barely able to feed yourself and then get slapped with an $800 jaywalking ticket so that public sector workers can make 75k/year with full benefits and a pension. It can’t just be our meager private sector, which is mostly service industry jobs, that has to go without. We’re already going without. Our ruling class has to make sacrifices too, but they never will, so I’m leaving.
Hi Laura, I am staying in Nova Scotia because people hate me here and call me out in Love the way we bitch all of the time. I am a Make, Do kinda person. I like to put my stuff on lamp posts too. Right now I am doing a sticker campaign for my Comic Character Crab Boy! So as long as the political system is pressuring the marginalized and their work force, I too will be stuck in Nova Scotia, dang those attachment issues. I am pleased to be Doing and dreaming in canada’s ocean…. Construction Site? See ya on the Lamp Posts!
i like it here, except some days, but that would be true anywhere, and in other places i might hate it most days, so ilke it here except some days and so what it can’t always be sunny right? except in san diego, but that is san diego, and that place is bland and predictably happy , and predictably happy creates complacency which is not good in the long run, right? so i like it here except for some days, but when i like it i like it a lot , just like alexander keiths.
I can’t afford my ultra high tuition, my rent goes up every single year and my wage doesn’t, my wife gets abused and underpaid here as a very experienced nurse and is constantly threatened with back to work legislation,no breaks and forced overtime, so why would we want to stay here? The province very deliberately makes 32% of its provincial budget off of my income tax, and this is why young people are leaving. Dislike this all you want, but its the cold hard facts. Other provinces offer cheaper(or free) tuition, higher wages, benefits and respect for nurses, cheaper living costs, MUCH MUCH lower taxes, and much more employment opportunities. I’ve lived in Halifax for 2 years and can’t even find a family doctor.
So here’s the conundrum – I left NS 27 years ago because there was NO work for newly graduated teachers. I moved to BC where I will teach for another five to six years before I retire. The plan all along has been to retire back to NS, as BC, even though I own my house, and have made a rich life, has never felt like home. But is NS home either – is the same as I left it? Not likely. Is it better than I left it? Perhaps. Is it worse? Also a possibility. They say you can never go home, so I truly ponder that saying. It seems as though the province has long suffered from the youth leaving, unable to eke out a life in most chosen paths. After living in Lotusland, will NS be a place that holds my retired heart? Maybe I shouldn’t sell my house in BC, just in case …
Wealth is built over time, it makes no sense to stay here in the private sector making less that $40,000 per year if you can double that in another province. You will be so much further ahead by the time you retire. It is pathetic that politicians are promoting this story, forgetting how many people in Halifax and Nova Scotia are the working poor, working 60 hours a week just to get by. Politicians quickly forget how far the gap is getting between the working poor and middle class. The lowest paid politician in Halifax is $80,000 per year. That is almost twice the average salary of the average wage in Halifax. The taxes here have to come down, once it was 8 percent, then 10, then 13, now 15. Yet not one politician does anything to try and trim than number down. Property taxes are tied to property value, yet I see no politicians trying to address that either. We have serious issues, pretending things are ok is wrong, but that is what some politicians want you to think.
I retired here in Halifax from New York State. I love being near the ocean, have a
great apartment which I would not get back in the States for much more, and have had great medical care.
I could have settled in S. Ontario, but would not find such a friendly, agreeable atmosphere.
Great article. Happy to see more folks who want to help this city/province modernize and get with the times.
We are blessed with an abundance of resources (both people and natural) to make our home the envy of the country. Over the last 6 years since I’ve moved back, I’ve seen progress, more so than ever before. Lots of work to do, but for the first time ever, I’m optimistic.
I hope more folks are motivated by this to do what they can to make the changes needed to make this a tier one city/province.
Nova Scotia is beautiful. I had a great experience studying there for three years. However, there wasn’t gainful employment after graduation, so I had to leave.
I posted this in a different story, but people have to knock it off with the “Why would I stay in Halifax when I can move to City X in a different province and make double my salary?”
Here are the income stats for Canadian cities: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/1…
Halifax incomes are HIGHER than the national average. Haligonians are just so inundated, from the day they’re born, with all these self-loathing stereotypes about how crappy the place is that they’re blind to the reality. Which is that it’s FINE here. Pretty good even.
Guess what, commenters above? Teachers and nurses get shit on in every province, no one feel paid what they’re worth, the cost of living sucks in every city. But only in Halifax do we have the weird lack of worldly perspective to think that everything will be better somewhere else.
Incomes on average are probably higher thanks to the disproportionate amount of gov’t jobs in this sad sack province.
@Cranky
Every single time I mention that Halifax has higher incomes than average, someone says it’s just because of government jobs. To which I say:
A: So what? People are still making the money. Look at the chart I posted and look at Ottawa. It’s one of the few cities with incomes above Halifax’s. Two words: federal government.
B: What you’re saying isn’t true anyway. The proportion of Halifax’s labour force working in the public sector is only marginally higher than the Canadian norm. Halifax has a normal, diverse public and private-sector labour force.
I love Nova Scotia when I was younger I went to Toronto but Nova Scotia seemed to Call me back I have been back here for 15 years but still worked in Ontario maybe I should have come back sooner and got one of those high paying Government jobs then I would have been able to retire with a fat pension and not have to struggle with my small private pension having good Cpp but having Government claw back half is not good and have them also claw back Half of my old age security is not helping so nowI have to try and live below the poverty line soon I will be going to the food bank to help feed’Myself thanks a lot federal and provincial governments.
Yes l came to Nova Scotia as a student, fell in love ,married my maritime sweetheart and never regretted it. After 46 years- yes getting a decent paying wage here is an issue. That is offset by the lower housing costs and the ability to own land by the water with all that is awesome about that. My parents and siblings follwed me here to buy summer cottages. They all envy the lifestyle of Nova Scotia. That being said l had to work overseas for some lengthy period of time to secure a pension. If l had only stayed here yes my senior years would not be so comfortable.
I’m pretty sure the single biggest employer in this province is the Department of National Defense. Might be wrong though. But yeah, more synergy.
largest employer in Nova Scotia is actually the Provincial Government, 2nd is the Federal Gov, 3rd is the City of Halifax, Michelin or NS Power are probably 4th and 5th.
back in 1959 when everyone in Nova Scotia had a decent job, when everyone could afford a car and a house, the sales tax was 3%. If everyone had a decent job, we would not need gov assisted housing, we would not need public transit, there would be no food banks. Look at the big picture. When a politician says “think positive” he is bullshitting you. Look how far this province and city has slipped since 1959. Something needs to change, but nothing is. Makes me sick when I see a group of politicians all volunteering at a food bank. Food banks should not exist !!! In this day and age, nobody should be forced to go to a food bank
@matthew m
The largest employer in Halifax may well be government, but that doesn’t prove that we’re dependent on government jobs to a significantly greater degree than other places.
Guess who the largest employer in Toronto is? The Toronto District School Board. Guess who the second largest is? The government of Ontario. Guess who the third-largest is? The City of Toronto. The top ten also includes the transit commission and the federal goverbment, meaning that five of the top ten employers are public sector.
In almost any jurisdiction you’ll find that government is easily the largest individual employer. That’s not uniquely a Nova Scotia or Halifax thing.
I hear many of you complaining about low wages, high tuition and high? cost of living. I’m born and raised in Nova Scotia and have been back and forth out of the province to many different locations over the past 13 years. While I agree wages may be low, the tuition too high and therefore the cost of living feels high too, but guess what? It’s like that everywhere! I’m currently in Victoria and this is DEFINITELY a place where wages are incredibly low compared to the cost of living. For the average person it has become nearly impossible to live here. The job market is incredibly competitive and the housing costs untouchable. To a degree this was also the case in other places I’ve lived. I think a huge part of the problem is that we buy into the idea that we struggle more than everyone else or that NS is so poor. We perpetuate this problem, instead of coming together and creating positive creative opportunity! NS has alot to offer and maybe it takes experience elsewhere to gain perspective on this. I’ll be moving back to NS happily as soon as I’m finished my degree.
I was born in NS…moved to Ottawa as a teenager with family….and chose to move back to Dartmouth as an adult…..yes, there are challenges here, there are the small town attitudes, and sometimes the negative attitudes towards those who come from away…but….past that is the welcome, the inclusion to events,the fresh seafood, the beaches, the fresh salt air, and the relaxed pace of life, and the interest and caring of neighbours…..the uniqueness of the area…each area of Canada is unique and special…..I love my sea coast !
New NDP Leader, Gary Burrill, is offering a revolutionary change for Nova Scotia–check out his platform. He is a lifelong anti-poverty advocate. Some of his platform so far is bringing back the film tax credit as it was, bringing in a carbon fee and recycling the revenue back to the lower income quintiles up to $32,000 and/or recycling some in this way and putting some into green energy infrastructure, free or reduced tuition, $15 minimum wage, an environmental rights commitment which was published in “The Coast” a couple of months ago. I’m not partisan and am not privy to his exact platform as it is just coming out but see his vision and the fact that he is not a crony politician as the best hope for Nova Scotia.
JereBat, the gap in salaries between the private sector and the public is getting too far apart, one has to come up and one has to come down. NS is in trouble, I advise you to look at Greece and see what is happening there. I was surprised to learn that in Dallas the mayor of Dallas makes half of what the Halifax Mayor does, councillors $20,000 less than Halifax Council, police officers in Dallas are at $40,000 per year, and this city is 3 times the size of Halifax as far as population goes. Halifax or Nova Scotia is a great place to live for some, especially government workers, but many in the private sector are getting worse each year. Lets bring the standard of living down for some and raise it for others so all can live a decent life in Nova Scotia together.
Matthew M,
Anyone who compares Nova Scotia (a sub-jurisdiction of one of the world’s wealthiest countries) to Greece (a horrifically corrupt and indebted country barely holding on to developed-world status) needs to get a perspective check. Greece and Nova Scotia are worlds apart. Even within Canada, the government debt in Ontario and Quebec far exceeds, on a per-capita basis, Nova Scotia’s.
Actually, of all the Canadian provinces currently managing a debt load (most of them) Nova Scotia’s debt has grown the least. In the past decade, Ontario and Quebec have more than doubled their debs. Nova Scotia’s has only grown about 30%. Public-sector expenses are reasonably in control, actually.
News flash! After moving back home from living in South Western Ontario for 18 years, I KNOW we are better off in Nova Scotia than many other areas thought to be more progressive. Wages for average jobs here are climbing, rent is cheaper, electricity is cheaper, home ownership is more affordable, insurance is cheaper, gas and groceries are cheaper, etc. You won’t find many other areas in Canada where the cost of all those neccesities has not climbed astronomically. I make a great full time wage here in Bridgewater at Michelin and pay a lot less in expenses than in Ontario. People may have been correct about the situation here twenty years ago before Nova Scotia began to modernize, but now we are way ahead of many other provinces. If you truly believe you would be better off elsewhere, make that leap of blind faith with no actual research into the situation and see for yourself. You will not be pleasantly surprised! It’s one thing to complain with no experience in the matter, and another to experience it. This is coming from a person who was previously skeptical on the situation, but now I personally know the truth from experience. Plus, my children now get to experience life in a place that is not so contaminated that you don’t swim in a lake with dead fish lining the shores and you can’t eat what you catch when fishing the rivers and streams. Life is MOST DEFINITELY better here!
JereBat, Greece is what it is because of poor government, the same thing can happen here, it has been slowly happening since 1980. Amount owing by provincial and municipal keeps increasing, taxes keep going up, 3 percent, 8 percent, 10 percent, 13 percent, and now 15 percent. You have no clue on what you are talking about. It can be stopped but the standard of living for some, especially gov workers, has to match the private sector tax payers. Does not it bother you to see soup kitchens, food banks, low income housing ? Do you not think people deserve a decent wage to live like the middle class. ?
Actually, Matthew M, municipal debt in Halifax is one of the lowest in Canada. This city has very low debt loads and a financial situation superior to almost any city in the country.
Our provincial debt, as well, is very large, but has grown more slowly over the past decade than the debt of almost any other province, except Alberta, Saskatchewan, and BC. In total terms, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Manitoba have higher debt loads per-resident.
Nova Scotia has, by Canadian standards, low wages and high unemployment, but by global standards we’re among the richest places on Earth. (If Nova Scotia were a European nation, it’d be among the top 20%, economically). Heck, Calgary’s unemployment rate right now is 8.3%. Halifax’s is 5.5%, and Nova Scotia’s is 8.2%. Who looks worse there?
As far as poverty, in Halifax, only 10% of the population lives below the poverty line. Compare that with 12% in Calgary, 15% in Toronto, or 24% in Montreal.
Our deficit to GDP ratio (which is more important than total deficit) is among the best in the country: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/10/08/pr…
We’re not going to become Greece. The comparison is completely baseless.
JereBat, Halifax is only successful because of all the provincial and federal jobs that are here. All these jobs are paid by the private sector and the private sector is broke. The tax payer here is maxed out. The trend cannot continue. Many people can no longer afford a house, we have food banks, soup kitchens. Over 50,000 people work for the province, the rest of the working, many the working poor, cannot support these anymore with the current private sector low wages. Have you driven around lately, seen how bad our roads and bridges are. Stop trying to put a spin on how great the economy is here, you are wrong. Too many people have nothing, living in rooming houses, minimum wage jobs, going to the food bank, soup kitchens. I think you need a wakeup call. The maxed out take payers cannot afford anymore. Look at the sales tax, 3%, 8%, 10%, 13% and now 15%. It does not have to be this way.
This is funny stuff.
I just showed you, earlier in the thread, statistics showing that Halifax’s public sector is about the same as other provincial capitals, size-wise. We’re not dependent on government employment to an extreme degree. Likewise, Haligonians have higher incomes than the national average, in both the public AND private sector.
All those people at food banks? Terrible, terrible. But food-bank usage is lower here than the national average, because Halifax has a SMALLER percentage of residents below the poverty line than most other cities you can name. I’m not saying there aren’t people living in rooming houses or barely getting by. But there are LESS people in that situation than you’d find anywhere else.
As for the sales tax, most provinces have a sales tax, and except for Alberta, they bump the HST, depending on province, from 12 to 15%. No one has a 3% sales tax anymore.
It’s the people, Laura
That’s what makes us stay!
I’ve stayed in Nova Scotia because I can’t afford to move.
That’s LITERALLY the only reason.
Matthew M: Regarding Ontario. I agree with you.
I live in Ontario and we are thinking of moving to NS. We are in our 70’s so don’t have to find work. The taxes in Ontario are out of this world and getting worse. So NS cannot be worse than Ontario. Also, our Hydro is totally outrageous.
Instead of the constant complaining we hear around us we are prepared to do something about it.
I think what she forgot to say was that people stay here because they can afford a nice house and compete in a market with for the most part sub par competitors. NS is not a pleasant place to live in my opinion long term no matter how you look at it. It has some charm in spots but for the most part it is a struggle to find anything to keep a person here
Having been convinced based on several extended visits that Hali was a great place, I would now have to say after 2 years here that I was sold a pile of crud.
Yes, NS is beautiful. Yes, NS is charming. YES, NS is slightly cheaper for hydro, but not so for car gas, and definitely not for food in grocery stores. YES, the farmers markets are great. YES, places like Hubbards, Chester, Mahone Bay, Wolveville, Pictu area and a few small towns are nice, cheaper to live in locales, but good luck finding work.
Everything here is HRM centric. That’s sad. HRM has horrible roads, terrible transit, expensive housing, poor service supports, questionable police abilities, lots of violence for it’s size. But all NS Gov focuses on is HRM. All Savage focuses on is no tax increases. Meanwhile Rome crumbles i.e. roads, bridges, hospitals, jobs….all disappearing.
YES, NS is where I hope to stay. HRM..pffft, no way. Not without drastic improvements which in all honesty are 10 to 15 years away from even getting advanced as ideas from what I can see.
Yep, for me, NS rocks for lot’s of reasons. HRM….sucks. Sorry folks. Not staying in HRM. But I will fight to keep NS growing so small town NS get’s its fair share of the pie.