Voice of the City

In the last quarter of 2013, only two Canadian provinces didn’t lose residents to other regions. Alberta was the big gainer, welcoming 5,663 new residents to Wild Rose Country’s parallel-universe economy. The runner-up was—wait for it—Nova Scotia. Two thousand four hundred and sixty-five people left and 2,736 arrived, for a net gain of 271 newcomers. […]

Throughout the history of sex worker activism, those who support rights and safety for sex workers have had to push back against feminists who seek to make their careers off of sex workers’s backs. Anti-porn academic Gail Dines is in Halifax this week, speaking at a conference– Emergent Learning–that you, too, can attend for $300. The […]

At the end of March, over 200 people met at the Lord Nelson hotel in the midst of a late winter storm to talk about lobster. For two days, harvesters, processors, shippers, buyers and policy makers discussed recommendations from the Maritime Lobster Panel, intent on transforming the industry at what was called the Lobster Value […]

I have been a registered nurse for just under a year, and over the last 10 years I have been an inpatient at Halifax area hospitals for twice that time. I have not been at the bedside long enough to have forgotten what it’s like to be in the bed. At the end of many […]

[imahe-1] I wish I could tell you who I am, and where I grew up, but I can’t. Not without risking my safety, or that of my family. The threat was clear, you see. It was right there on a utility pole, in black and white: the silhouette of a woman beating a small child, […]

When I wrote “Saying Farewell to Nova Scotia” last December, I didn’t think it was going to be us. And yet—my fiancee and I are moving to Ottawa on June 1. For posterity’s sake, I am going to outline how we got here. We are a two-career household—mine fluid and hers specialized. Being fulfilled in our […]

We had an hour to kill. None of the trendy microbreweries were quiet enough to have a real conversation. My friend wasn’t hungry; I couldn’t stomach more coffee. I suggested the library. “Like, hang out there? At the library?” Her laugh implied I was silly, naïve, or both. I’ve spent most of my life hanging […]

Just to be clear, it’s Paddy, not Patty. In the nine years I have lived in Halifax, I have tried–and failed–to vanquish St. Patty. I telephone grocery stores about clover masquerading as shamrock. I stalk Twitter like a banshee, howling at hapless Haligonians. I explain to everyone in a leprechaun hat that they actually wore […]

I heard the news while driving down Trollope Street by Citadel High. I had to pay especially careful attention, because crater-like potholes were everywhere. I had just driven from Barrington Street and the downtown zone was somewhat reminiscent of war-torn Beirut. There were more empty storefronts than I can recall in a lifetime. Meanwhile the […]

The false idol of the “young professional” is worshipped by politicians, property developers, boutique entrepreneurs and practically anyone else in this city with a profit to make or an axe to grind. As a bearded, artsy, intellectual thirty-something with a “young family” and an allegedly professional job, I think we need to set the record […]

The voice is I and I. I and I meaning the voice is in us all to equalize. To harmonize. To totalize. The voice is alive. Word is Bond says the voice so speak with righteousness. The voice is dub, soul, reggae, hip-hop, drum and synthesizer. The voice is Word Sound Power swag and style. […]