[Image-1] I am here to initiate change for the city I love, the City of Halifax. I am here as part of a wider group of people, such as Gerry Post and Gus Reed, to help shape the tone and form our beloved city takes in the future. This winter I became “The Asshole With […]
Voice of the City
Posted inNews + Opinion
Group homes won’t ruin your neighbourhood, Dartmouth
Councillor Darren Fisher of Harbourview-Burnside-Dartmouth East recently caused a controversy which caught my attention on Twitter. Acting on behalf of local residents who had concerns about the number of group homes in their neighbourhood—while admitting he didn’t know specific numbers—Fisher said: “It’d be the same if a small neighbourhood had one convenience store, they’re fine […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Saving our cities and ourselves from the automobile
Anybody who has waited far too long on a street corner for the privilege of boarding a lurching, overcrowded bus, or wrestled luggage onto subways and shuttles to get to a big city airport, knows that transit on this continent tends to be underfunded, ill-maintained and ill-planned. Given the opportunity, who wouldn’t drive? Hopping in […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Why you’re going to love clear garbage bags
[Image-1] Clear garbage bags are coming to Halifax on August 1, and you know what? You are going to love it. No. Really. In 2010, my partner and I moved to Coldbrook, Nova Scotia, where the clear bag policy was already in place. The thing is, I didn’t know about this before we moved. At […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Pride, I love you but you’re bringing me down
Halifax kicks off its 28th annual Pride festival this week, and while many of my queer sidekicks are giddy with shirtless, crotch-pulsing enthusiasm, I am not among them. I remember well my first official Halifax pride. Twas the summer of 2009, and I had just come out—publicly, in the pages of Frank, no less—three months […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Scenes from growing up gay in small-town Nova Scotia
[Image-1] In the opening scene two fairly fit, athletic, working-class boys from New Glasgow (but it can be any small town in Nova Scotia) are caught holding hands out in the local park by a group of local toughs, and are accused of being “faggots”. The group of boys are furiously homophobic. They set upon […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The Coast needs to do better
[Image-1] Last week, the Coast published an article by Michael Wood, entitled “Why I celebrate Canada Day with all my heart.” This article was in response to Killa Atencio’s article, “Why I choose not to celebrate Canada Day.” The Coast offers Halifax great event listings, horoscopes and sometimes supports important investigative journalism. But there is […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Why I celebrate Canada Day with all my heart
[Image-1] This letter was submitted in response to the June 25 Voice of the City by Killa Atencio (“Why I can’t celebrate Canada Day”). With the author’s permission, it has been edited for length. Dear Killa, I am upset by your recent article in The Coast. It contains many negative assumptions and bears an accusatory […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Going surfing on donair sauce, from Montreal to Halifax
I don’t know how I ended up thinking that a 22-hour train ride could be fun, or even somehow humanly possible. I was blissfully ignorant when I boarded my train from Montreal to Halifax on June 21. My editor at Urbania magazine had sent me to the Maritimes to investigate this seemingly cool alternative newspaper, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Why I choose not to celebrate Canada Day
[Image-1] Barbecues, fireworks, lots of beer and red and white all over the city. That’s what I see on Canada Day. Even when I’m not looking, I can hear the “Oh, Canada” chants from a kilometre away. But what are you really celebrating? Reflect on that for a minute. Patriotism? Pride? Freedom? Or maybe you […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
CBC, please fire Randy Bachman
[Image-1] During The Coast’s recent (June 10) Halifax Poll, it was asked who should be fired at the CBC now that Evan Solomon is gone. I was struck by the fact that musician/radio host Randy Bachman was not included in the poll. This disappoints me and (I suspect) many others in The Coast’s poll vicinity. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Ex-offenders taking control of their lives, one step at a time
[Image-1] The 7th Step Society is a nation-wide program designed to help the incorrigible and recidivist offender change his/her behavior and attitude, creating a new self-identity by using a basic self-help philosophy. These individuals are typically “career” criminals who commit multiple crimes and have problems with both entering society from prison and maintaining their freedom. […]
