Last fall, photographer Kyle Cunjak and his friends were swarmed while they walked in Halifax’s north end, and Cunjak was stabbed. In hopes of coming to terms with the attack, his photos of his injuries— which required hospitalization and subsequent plastic surgery—were featured in an art show last month. He’s making progress with his health, […]
longreads
Posted inNews + Opinion
To Gaza with love
OTTAWA – 1977-1990 I come from a Zionist household. I learn from an early age that anti-Semitism is always on the rise, that another Holocaust is always just around the corner and that no matter what, Israel is always right. That’s a lot for a kid to handle. Twice a week, after regular school, I […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Clucked up
Irene, queen of the north end, is blissfully unaware of the ruckus she is causing for her owner Fred Connors. As the Araucana hen rolls in the dirt outside her cedar chicken coop, platinum-haired Connors looks on, speckled eggs in hand. “Just like people who raise pets enjoy tending to their pets, I enjoy tending […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Power Ballot
“I don’t know what difference it will make. I feel like I don’t know shit,” says a young man on a skateboard in Millefiore Clarkes’ film, Democracy Needs You. By the end of the four-minute clip, the same young man, sporting sunglasses and a green cap, says, grinning, “I probably will vote after this just […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Manufactured Slum
“There’s a lot of quiet desperation in this neighbourhood,” says Kees Zwanenburg. The priest of Holy Trinity Emmanuel church, Zwanenburg’s one of the most qualified to gauge the state of the souls who live in the north end of Dartmouth. Just a stone’s throw from the church is Victoria Road, and across that busy thoroughfare […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Nova Scotia’s green power failure
Oh, those were giddy times back on March 17, 2007, when the legislature unanimously passed the Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act, and officials made a bold announcement: Not only would Nova Scotia be the world leader in environmental stewardship, but by including the word “prosperity” right in the title, they told us we’d get […]
Posted inLifestyle
Knocked out
Boxing’s on the defensive. The art of pugilism is taking a beating at the hands of mixed martial arts. Ultimate fighting has marketing clout, heavy-hitting hype. Another potential blow to the sweet science comes from the very games being played here. The 2011 Canada Games mark the 40th anniversary—and final appearance, for the foreseeable future—of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Convention Centre Tower Play
On Tuesday, February 26, 2008, Nova Scotia conquered Wall Street. That morning a chartered plane left Halifax International for New York City. On board were eight passengers—premier Rodney MacDonald, chief of staff Bob Chisholm, communications director Wade Keller and minister of economic development Angus MacIsaac. From Nova Scotia Business Inc., the province’s economic development agency, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The poverty machine
Fathom Billard, a single mother of two in her 30s, may be poor, but she’s also a fighter. “I just got tired of being pushed around,” she says, explaining her decision to defend herself in court against a high-interest loan company that claimed she owed it more than $2,000. “You can’t get blood from a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The refugees next door
There’s one phrase you need to know to understand this story. “No mushkila.” The “no” you’ve already got. It’s English. “Mushkila” ? That’s Arabic for “problem.” No mushkila = no problem. And Yihya Naief says it all the time, because it’s part English and part Arabic and quite funny. Just like Yihya, a 29-year-old Palestinian […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Citizen Leslie
January 2009 Sensible is the word that drifts to mind when describing how Megan Leslie looks, waiting in the upper foyer of the House of Commons. Wide-legged brown slacks. A slightly electric-blue shirt. Brown tweed jacket. Sturdy leather boots. Definitely one of us. One of us is how our generation of newly engaged cynics described […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Blow job
There are ironies everywhere if you notice them. Like the Dutch windmills on June MacDonald’s yellow tablecloth. MacDonald, a 64-year-old retired school teacher with twinkling eyes and good-humoured determination, has been fighting for more than a year against the installation of windmills near her home in Baileys Brook, Pictou County. But they’re nothing like the […]