Edward Cornwallis is coming down off his pedestal, at least for a while. Halifax Regional Council voted Tuesday to remove the controversial bronze statue of the city’s founder and place it into temporary storage. There it will remain until a more permanent solution can be agreed upon in the spirit of truth and reconciliation. “We […]
Racism
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Mi’kmaq Chiefs call for immediate removal of Cornwallis statue
The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs will no longer work with city hall on a solution to how Halifax commemorates its problematic founder, Edward Cornwallis. According to a press release sent out Friday afternoon, the Chiefs unanimously agree that the process to form the joint historical committee has “taken far too long and have […]
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Who checks the street checkers?
It was just about this time last year that Halifax Regional Police released a decade’s worth of statistical data on the use of street checks. In the 12 months since the department has repeatedly shown it has a long way to go to combat racial bias both real and perceived in its policing. But while […]
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We didn’t start the (garbage) fire
Lorne Grabher, Jacques Dubé, Jamie Baillie walks away Street check data, Jimmy Melvin, rockets in Canso Robert Bjerke, Lady Drive Her, Sea Bridge floating on the water Cheryl Blossom, Donkin mine, Whitman says “negro” Saltwire buys out Transcon, women march on Washington Moonlight beats out La La Land, Matthew, Bill and Jad are canned David […]
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Rebuilding trust in Beechville
Armco Capital has a lot of work ahead if it wants to earn back the trust of Beechville residents for the company’s new subdivision. Helping ease the tensions built up from 200 years of false promises and racist planning decisions is Joachim Stroink, the former MLA who made national headlines in 2013 after posing for […]
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The intentional ignorance of Halifax police street checks
We’ve been here before, many times. On Monday night, Black community members packed into a room at the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church to discuss street checks and racial profiling with researchers from the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. The community meeting was one of a series of three “Starting the Conversation” sessions conducted this week […]
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United against hate
Halifax United 2017 Saturday November 18, 12-5pm Halifax Forum Bingo Hall, 2901 Windsor Street Comment sections and social media have made Halifax feel like a cesspool of hatred as of late. Outrage over a Halifax Pop Explosion show and a Facebook post from months ago are a couple of the causes of conflict, spurring accusations […]
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Masuma Khan isn’t letting Dal off the hook after complaint withdrawal
And then the glare of public attention around the whole Masuma Khan discipline case got to be too much for Dalhousie University. The school’s vice provost, Arig al Shaibah, this afternoon posted an “Important message” formally announcing that the complaint against Khan has been withdrawn. The full message is here, but the bottom line comes […]
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David Hendsbee surprised Halifax didn’t use a red tarp to cover Cornwallis statue
Days after calling Indigenous protestors “hotheads on the warpath,” Halifax Regional councillor David Hendsbee privately joked with his council colleagues about smoking a “peace pipe” and expressed surprise that the tarp the municipality used to cover the statue of Cornwallis wasn’t red. The comments were made this past summer after hundreds of protesters gathered in […]
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Discrimination: a part of Dalhousie’s heritage
Dalhousie has a long history of discriminating against those who are not in power. Since its inception as an institution, its function has been to reproduce the existing power structure in the society. I write this in response to the cases of Masuma Khan and Kati George-Jim. After Facebook comments around Canada 150 declaring “white […]
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Dal to students: It’s not about white fragility or reverse racism
Adding to whatever homework they received in classes today, Monday afternoon Dal students were emailed a 900-word memo about white fragility and the Code of Student Conduct. The email came from the university’s vice-provost for student affairs, Arig al Shaibah, who just a week ago sent a similar note responding to the homecoming street party. But unlike […]
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Dalhousie faculty pen letter in support of Masuma Khan
Professors, students and staff at Dalhousie law are speaking out in support of Masuma Khan, as hate speech and violent threats against the student leader flood in. Since The Coast first reported on Khan’s case last Thursday, the story—and a firestorm of response—has broken open across the country. The vice-president academic and external for the […]