Patrick Watson w/Rural Alberta Advantage, Yukon Blonde, Dance Movie Saturday, October 21, 7pm Forum MPC, 2901 Windsor Street $40 adv/$50 doors After releasing music as a band for close to 15 years, Patrick Watson is finally coming to Halifax. “I can’t believe we haven’t played Halifax yet, this is ridiculous. I can’t believe it’s finally […]
Canada 150
Posted inNews + Opinion
Over 150 years of absolute bullshit
Happy birthday, Canada, you tired old fart! Tomorrow television anchors, bored mayors and jingoistic revellers from coast-to-coast will enrobe themselves in scarlet and bathe in maple syrup like a deleted scene from Riverdale. The country’s 150th celebration will be a party unlike any other—a national celebration befitting of Canadian heroes like Bono and the cast […]
Posted inArts + Music
Review: Raven Davis’ The De-Celebration of Canada 150
The De-Celebration of Canada 150 Artist talk July 11, 12pm To July 15 Khyber Centre for the Arts 1880 Hollis Street Raven Davis doesn’t pull any punches. With a practice fusing art and activism, the last few years have seen the 2-Spirit Anishinaabe artist dancing on a Canadian flag splattered in red paint, bringing racist […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
I ended up celebrating: My first year as a Canadian
People stood in the doorway, the hallways and, of course, the kitchen. Dozens of eyes and smiles greeted my sister and I with warmth and a touch of understanding. It was a party to celebrate our one-year anniversary in Canada. More than two dozen refugee sponsors were there—people who had been working hard to help […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A Creation Story
Today I’m going to tell you a creation story. Many of you have heard them before, or at the very least have heard of them. We tell stories to pass on our knowledge, teach lessons and morals. This story is going to be a bit different than any story you might have heard before. It’s […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Truth, then reconciliation
Acknowledging we are on Mi’kmaw territory is planting the seed of reconciliation in Nova Scotia. Last week the Halifax Regional School Board voted to include an acknowledgement during morning announcements that schools sit on Mi’kmaw land, and in October the department of Education and Early Childhood Development will introduce treaty history into Nova Scotia’s education […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A trans-Canada tale
Forty years after the Canadian Human Rights Act was passed by parliament, transgender individuals are finally protected by the document. At least three different incarnations of a Canadian trans rights bill have been drafted in the last 12 years, and now the most recent one has passed. Bill C-16 will amend the Human Rights Act, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Our people refuse to be broken
When I was a kid, I used to play “Indian.” I would put a feather in my hair, wear whatever fringed leather jacket my mother had kicking around from the ’80s and I would run around war-whooping outside. When I was a teenager, I dressed up as Pocahontas for Halloween. When I was in my […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Four ways to NOT celebrate Canada 150
By now we’ve all heard that this Saturday will be a big party, with the Common in particular being a hotbed of house music and crowd navigating thanks to deadmau5’ appearance. But what if you don’t want to don your best red-and-white for an event that can feel like a celebration of settlers and colonization? […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
All your Canada Day fireworks questions answered
UPDATE Friday, June 30: So far Halifax is one for two on pre-Canada Day fireworks. Last night’s light show as part of the “Kids Extravaganza” at Bedford Days went off fine, but tonight’s fireworks by Lake Banook for the EPIC Dartmouth triathlon have fizzled. (It’s not the rain, which is clearing, but the low cloud […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Solidarity Halifax is exposing Canada 150
The idea that Canada began 150 years ago is just one side of the narrative. Solidarity Halifax is standing with the Indigenous community in challenging that narrative through its Expose 150 event. “I think it’s really important for people to recognize the full historical context of the celebration,” says Chelsea Fougere, convener of Solidarity Halifax’s […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
De-celebrating Canada 150
I’m sitting in Cornwallis Park feeling useless. However, that’s not the best way to begin: focusing on my own feelings when I want to tell you about a powerful performance piece by Indigenous artist Raven Davis. Did I mention that I am a white person, a settler, a guest on these unceded Mi’kmaq lands? Davis […]