Haunted houses, fake limbs planted in soil, a scary head dripping with blood. I felt like I was in the scene of a horror movie as I walked down my street in Halifax. I had seen similar images and tropes on screen, but this time, it was real. It was my first Halloween in Canada […]
Opinionated
Posted inNews + Opinion
What happened to Santina Rao in a Halifax Walmart should never happen again
The Hyde Inquiry. The Wortley Report. The Fraser and Gardner trials. Constable Joseph Farrow’s assault charge. Indigenous, Black, people of colour, trans and nonbinary people have been calling this out forever, but the outrageous violence Santina Rao experienced at the hands of police last week has to be the last straw for Halifax’s tolerance of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Clinic 554 has institution status in Canada’s abortion access history—why the changes it propelled shouldn’t spell its demise.
T he only non-hospital based surgical abortion clinic in the Maritimes is in financial trouble. Unlike other provinces and territories, New Brunswick has a clause in its provincial Medical Services Payment Act (Regulation 84-20, Schedule 2 a. 1) specifically prohibiting public payment for abortion “unless the abortion is performed in a hospital facility.” Ten thousand […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
What is the biggest determinant of achievement in education?
What is the biggest determinate of a quality education? Is it teachers, or is it something far beyond the reach of teachers? What are the factors that continue to keep the achievement gap a seething sea of despair? I’ll start here and tell you that it comes down to economics, plain and simple. We may […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Ramadan supports unavailable for prisoners in Burnside
Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar, a religiously significant month for Muslims, because it is during the Month of Ramadan that the Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammed (PBUH). For 1,440 years, Muslims around the world have experienced Ramadan as a time to reconnect with the creator. The most special […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Are there really any Shannon Park stadium stans out there?
Stadium-bashing has evolved into a far more popular and fun sport around here than football ever will be. The flames of public ridicule and horror are amply fanned by the announcement of some eye-watering costs to be taxpayer-funded, followed by the protracted absence of any firm business proposal from Maritime Football. The latest: Shannon Park’s […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Cogswell’s flyovers and flyby consulting
As soon as early fall, those much-loathed suspended highways could come crashing down amid applauding crowds. God knows where all the traffic will go whilst we await Cogswell to be reborn from the rubble, but with all those great new public spaces and viewpoints this is a story about people winning over traffic, right? Back […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Making the case for Black spaces
No, it’s not segregation. Neither is it reverse racism which, by the way, is not a thing. The need for Black people to have their own spaces is, in a word, healing. It’s been almost 54 years since the end of Jim Crow and whether it’s Gucci or Halloween, we are still trying to convince […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Racism persists amidst Nova Scotia’s school systems
I’m among those who cherish poetry as the highest literary genre. So, I was delighted to discover, after moving to Halifax from BC, The Door of My Heart, a poetry collection by Maxine Tynes. A beloved African Nova Scotian educator and writer, Tynes died from complications of post-polio syndrome in 2011. I never met her. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
No more booty smooshing: A vow of celibacy in 2019
Declaring a year of celibacy feels ominous. Like I am punishing myself for not tidying up my life so I took away my toys…except I still have my toys. I haven’t lost my mind. I’m just trying something new. No sex, for a year. Can I even do this? This year for Valentine’s Day, instead […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
When will Dalhousie learn?
Within the last six years, you’ve probably heard Dalhousie boasting about strategic priority 5.2. This directive urges the university to “Foster a collegial culture grounded in diversity and inclusiveness.” The fact that this is not strategic priority number one tells you a lot about Dal’s priorities and foreshadows the climate of the campus. Many of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Doing less means more for city streets
Transport diversity? Just cram more into our streets! Add a transit priority route, cycle lanes, more space for pedestrians. But we’ll need to keep everyone happy by maintaining plenty of room for traffic—including those precious dedicated turning lanes—and oodles of on-street parking fit for a fleet of Yukon XLs. All of this and more for […]