Halifax Regional Council has recently approved a slew of developments within the downtown, south end and Quinpool areas of the city. All the developments are either high rises or exceed previously stated limitations on height in the city. The 8-storey development on Wellington Street exceeds the 6-story height limit despite the local outcry. The most […]
Voice of the City
Why Nova Scotia is the perfect place to fight for climate justice
Nova Scotia is a perfect battleground for the fight for climate justice. This place is not characterized by ease or sensationalism. The ways that our gentle hills rise from our 7,400 kilometres of coastline became spectacular to me only after years of reflection. The wealth of plant life that inundates everything only became remarkable when […]
Finding a place and a voice as a queer PoC artist
Iam a white-passing Japanese Canadian queer cis-woman born and raised in the north end. However, I haven’t gotten to live there as a queer adult yet—I left Halifax almost immediately after coming out at 20, during my first year of my BFA at NSCAD. I often feel this leaving as a kind of loss. Yet […]
Why Halifax’s Cornwallis should follow Montreal’s lead on the path to reconciliation
The Mohawk word atateken, meaning “relatives” or, loosely, “brothers and sisters,” suggests equality and fraternity among peoples. Last month it officially replaced British general Jeffrey Amherst’s name on a downtown street sign in Montreal. A sharp commemorative contrast compared to Amherst’s support for infecting his Indigenous enemies with diseased blankets. Meanwhile last month in Nova […]
Halifax’s Sudanese community speaks out in support of pro-democracy protesters and martyrs
The Sudanese community in Halifax has been reeling over the events happening back home. People in Sudan have been calling for a civilian government, and have paid dearly for it. A relative of mine was beaten to death while defending his female peers outside his university campus—he was not even protesting. As part of the […]
The difference between period poverty and universal access for low-income Haligonians
A s the clock approaches 8pm, your long and tedious work day is coming to a close. You can soon head home to help your children with their homework and tuck them into bed. You head to the staff area for your belongings as soon as the clock strikes eight, but on your way you feel […]
Celebrating Oceans Week and the women making waves
As proud Nova Scotians if I asked you what the slogan of our province’s license plate was, without missing a beat I’d expect you to say “Canada’s ocean playground.” From the surfers who face the frigid February waters at Lawrencetown beach, emerging with icicles clinging to their hoods or beards, to the couples who sit […]
Community Health Centres
Improving support for physicians in Nova Scotia is an important component of solving the province’s current healthcare woes. However, the “crisis” is not about physicians. It’s about inadequate health system policies, poor planning and lost opportunities, especially in primary care. Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows that Nova Scotia has the fourth-highest […]
Calling on the federal government to do better for refugee and asylum seekers
T he Liberal government is already gearing up for the fall elections by sending a troubling “tough on immigration” message. This includes both a move to expand the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), as well as anti-refugee measures put forward in budget implementation bill C-97. Thirteen local groups sent an open letter to MP […]
Rugby taught me: My body is good. My body is athletic.
L ast week, the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation announced it was pulling high school rugby, mid-season, with no warning and I’m assuming, without any idea of the uproar it was setting off. The season is back on, under the care of Rugby Nova Scotia, and we’ll have to wait for the summer to see […]
Time for a second look at Alton Gas
L ast week, news came down that we have a new environment minister: Gordon Wilson has replaced Margaret Miller. We welcome a fresh set of eyes on this important file. Minister Wilson arrives at a critical time to do right by Mi’kmaq communities dealing with environmental racism—from Pictou Landing First Nation’s long struggle to make […]
Time for Canada’s own green new deal
We have just 11 years to cut global emissions in half in order to avoid climate catastrophe. Young people like myself are justifiably scared for our futures. This year is critical—and terrifying—as the federal election is under 180 days away. Our prime minister, who was elected mostly by young people on a platform of climate […]

