Nova Scotia’s new Electricity Plan Implementation Act and policies will intentionally leave the province at the back of the pack for climate mitigation and pollution reduction. This is unacceptable. Premier McNeil stated recently that Nova Scotia’s coal reduction plans are based on ideas of future mega projects—Gull Island in Newfoundland and tidal power projects that […]
Voice of the City
Posted inNews + Opinion
Everything you need to know to be a school board member
[Image-1] What do you think? Mayor? Councillor? Or maybe you secretly long to be a school board member. If so, the following is for you. Speaking personally, it’s been a fantastic experience being a school board member. I’ve loved it. I’ve hated it. And most days I fall somewhere in between. It’s an honour and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
An Irish citizen’s notes on Halifax
[Image-1] “If you think this snow is bad, you should have seen it last year!” were some of the first words I was greeted with upon landing at Halifax on December 29, 2015. Shrugging on my shiny new ski jacket (Irish weather rarely calls for such extreme attire) I joined the queue for the sprinkling […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Stronger access to information needed in Nova Scotia
[Image-1] Nova Scotians are not known for their “right to know” activism. We might march in the streets to remember veterans or to protest moose culls and school closures but typically we do not march in the streets demanding transparency and accountability from our local and provincial governments. But Nova Scotians file more access to […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Mental illness and African Nova Scotian communities
[Image-1] From the 1960s on down, many labels have been placed on African Nova Scotians who exhibited differing behaviors. These labels include “learning disabled,” “crazy,” “animalistic,” et cetera. One could venture to say most psychologists and psychiatrists in the province of Nova Scotia have little or no understanding of the lives, culture, heritage, lineage and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
It’s time this government got back to work and fixed Nova Scotia’s film industry
[Image-1] The making of films in Nova Scotia has been a part of the artistic and business landscape since 1913 when Evangeline, one of Canada’s very first films, was shot here. Thousands of Nova Scotians have been employed in this industry over the years. They and their families were a vital part of the Nova Scotia […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
How long is someone labelled a Come From Away?
[Image-1] We were looking for a metaphor that would make it more understandable for others to comprehend what immigrants are going through in the beginning, and we came up with this: Imagine that you came into a shiny prom, pleasant yet unfamiliar music is played and all dancers are arranged in pairs or groups. They […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
I believe Lucy because I know what it’s like
[Image-1] Yesterday at work, one my co-workers was talking about the Ghomeshi case. This trial is about Ghomeshi’s alleged actions. Not about what three women did before they went the courts. But he mentioned that he didn’t understand why Lucy Decoutere and the other women who have so far testified in the case stayed in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Food for thought, Scotian-style
[Image-1] “Scotian” food is hearty, delicious and made with soul. As the earliest black settlers to Nova Scotia, our ancestors overcame unmeasurable hardships to survive and thrive. Along with our resourcefulness we also brought our knack for southern cooking, or what is commonly known as “soul food,” and meshed it with what the land and […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Minister is “colour-blind” to environmental racism
[Image-1] I was struck last week by Nova Scotia’s new environment minister Margaret Miller’s response to Coast editor Jacob Boon’s question about the legacy of environmental racism in this province and how Nova Scotia can better protect marginalized communities. Her response that the province does not have to “look at any segment or any part […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Why some of us aren’t thrilled about IKEA’s return to Halifax
[Image-1] IKEA’s arrival in Halifax promises jobs, which, in a province and city with high unemployment, is appealing. But what sort of jobs? Perhaps because of its socialistic Scandinavian roots, IKEA is a bit kinder than its retail competitors in terms of wages and working conditions. For instance, IKEA prides itself on a relatively generous […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The future of weather
[Image-2] “The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.” —Patrick Young, American author Folks, a “cold front” isn’t just a between-the-sheets phenomenon, and thermocline isn’t just another fun word to spell with Alphagetti. And even the TV […]
