Jillian Robinson was feeling quite confident about the letter she’d written to attach to her bid for a home in Halifax’s red-hot housing market. She chronicled her family of three’s life—an adorable toddler coming up fast on two years old; an American ex-NBA player dad working to turn around the local high school’s basketball record […]
Discrimination
Posted inNews + Opinion
The weight of intersectionality
As a university student in Halifax, I walk into a classroom or research lab, looking around eagerly, hoping to see someone who looks like me. I gaze around anxiously, searching to find at least one person who can feel the weight that I’m carrying. I sigh in disappointment, realizing that yet again, I am alone. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Kathy Symington’s discrimination complaint will be heard in full
Sixteen years and 24 hours later, Kathy Symington’s complaint will be heard in full by Nova Scotia’s Human Rights Commission. The news was announced Wednesday by civic advocacy group Equity Watch, which has been fighting on behalf of the firefighter’s gender discrimination case. Equity Watch held a press conference on Tuesday at Province House decrying […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
City hall apologizes for widespread racism within Halifax Transit
Twelve years after the initial complaint was filed, an independent board of inquiry from Nova Scotia’s Human Rights Commission has determined Halifax Transit’s work environment to be abusive and discriminatory. Lynn Connors, chair of the HRC’s board, states in a recently released decision that there is “ample evidence” that “discrimination was ongoing in the workplace.” […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Former firefighter reaches human rights settlement with Halifax
A former Halifax firefighter is expected to receive an apology for the gender discrimination she faced while working at a station in Herring Cove almost 20 years ago. Liane Tessier was granted a hearing from the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission last year, after fighting for nearly a decade to have her case heard. Tessier […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax Pride draws ire over proposed “pinkwashing” motion
[Image-1] It started as a dispute about whether a pro-Israel tourism campaign should be allowed at Halifax Pride. Now, it’s erupted into a debate over freedom of expression and the role of pinkwashing at the festival. A motion at the Halifax Pride society’s annual general meeting on October 5 would remove “pinkwashing” content from future […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Black firefighters enraged
[image-1] Management at the Halifax Fire Department has again failed to properly address racist behaviour, say black firefighters. Last month, a black firefighter assigned to Station 50 on Hammonds Plain Road picked up a clipboard with the daily checklist for fire truck inspection, and discovered a racist and sexist “poem” written on the back of the clipboard. The firefighter immediately reported the incident to superiors but management did not issue a condemnation of the incident until after the Halifax Association of Black Fire Fighters complained. The week delay angers the HABFF, as an immediate and public management condemnation of racist
Posted inNews + Opinion
Seven human rights complaints involve HRM or its employees
Last week constable Charles Bruce, who is black, filed a complaint against the Halifax Police Department with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. In the complaint, Bruce alleges that he was passed over for promotion on account of his race. Bruce’s complaint is just the latest to arise in the ranks of HRM. Sergeant Robyn […]