[Image-1] One of the province’s biggest private business investments is in hot water, just weeks after being awarded a half-a-million dollar standing offer by the Halifax Regional Municipality. At today’s city council meeting, staff recommended deferring decisions on planning telephone and electronic voting in next year’s municipal and school board elections due to new information HRM […]
Business
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax’s startup scene goes it alone, together
[Image-1] It’s Monday morning and despite the fervour of beeping traffic on Barrington Street, up above, inside Volta Labs, you can hear a pin drop. The space looks empty and devoid of any life, but looks can be deceiving. “Hey, sorry if you were waiting,” says public relations manager Jill Shea. “We’re all in our […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Changing the conversation around women in tech
[Image-1] While Nova Scotia seeks to expand its startup ecosystem with other like-minded folks aiming for achievement, there is a barrier that can keep some from joining in the fun. “We’ve struggled being women in this industry,” says Sarah McLeod, of Vendeve. “This world is men investing in other men, and we’re trying to change […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Whatever happened to the Connaught Pharmacy?
Five years ago, the Connaught Pharmacy on the corner of Chebucto Road and Connaught Street disappeared the same way it existed for decades—silently. For the last few decades of the shop’s existence, its doors were always locked. A large sign reading Connaught Pharmacy in faded green letters was the only indication the building had ever […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Unionized coffee shops grind out a future
[Image-1] Two years ago, baristas leading the push to unionize Halifax coffee shops was the grounds for many a heated discussion. In 2013, both Just Us! and Second Cup were at the centre of unionization battles fuelled by concerns about workplace conditions. Employees at both coffee shops were ultimately successful in unionizing, but two years […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Market Street closed for three weeks because time is a flat circle
[Image-1] Progress, my friends, is an illusion. We pile bricks upon bricks, hoping for a wall. The only Sure Thing in this life is entropy. We delude ourselves into thinking any effort has been made to stave off the oncoming darkness. The Nova Centre remains under construction. Market Street closes for a crane. It’s all […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax: A tale of three entrepreneurial cities
[Image-1] Urban renewal isn’t an easy fight. Just ask the authors of Small Business & The City: The Transformative Potential of Small-Scale Entrepreneurships. Journalist Matt Semansky is one of the three writers behind the new book, which examines how Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax stimulate local businesses and foster growth. A former Coast writer with experience […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Why does Barrington Street remain barren?
[Image-1] In the TD bank at the corner of Spring Garden Road and Birmingham Street, there is a mural-sized photograph of nearby Barrington Street, taken on a warm spring day in 1944. It shows sidewalks crowded with civilians, uniformed CWACs and soldiers on leave. Bright red trolleys roll amongst the cars, flags and awnings hang […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Bus ticket monopoly is a hassle for retailers and riders
[Image-1] Public retailers want to make money for the city by selling bus tickets, but HRM keeps telling them “no.” Michele Gerard has been trying to stock Halifax Transit tickets at her store for four years now. The owner of Morris Street’s Atlantic News says she calls the city every year, hoping they’ve changed their […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The business of bare: Inside Ralph’s Place
She is on hands and knees, naked. Below her a man slumps over his beer bottle. He is nearly alone in the club on this bright afternoon. She crawls towards him, stopping three feet away–as close as the law allows. Her movements are almost languorous, but she lacks the confidence and practice of the other […]
Posted inArts + Music
DOCULA documents a bloody business
Peter Wintonick is troubled by the vampire trend in cinema, and he’s not talking about the Twilight series. Wintonick, the Montreal-based filmmaker behind such acclaimed documentaries as Manufacturing Consent, believes bureaucrats in the private and government sectors are guilty of “sucking the lifeblood” out of documentary filmmaking in Canada. Which is why he happily accepted […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Waterfront Perks reopens
The Perks next to the ferry terminal has either successfully gotten an injunction on its eviction order (see Wednesday’s story: Perks coffee evicted from ferry terminal digs) or has otherwise resolved the conflict with landlord Michel Lindthaler: I received word late last night that the coffee shop will be open its regular hours today, and […]