🗞️ A fresh new face for downtown Halifax

Good morning Halifax,

Our girl got a glow up, do you like the new look?!

When it comes to our provincial government, a huge part of my self-care routine is setting my “expectation bar” in literal hell, otherwise I’ll just be wandering around the city in a combination of confusion and abject rage all day and that seems…dangerous.

Because the bar is so low, very little that they do shocks me anymore, but alas, somehow, somehow, they’ve pulled it off.

Last week, a woman named Nicole McDonald—who uses a wheelchair—travelled to Truro to attend the Provincial Volunteer Awards. An avid activist and volunteer, she was to be recognized with an award for her work with Inclusion Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Association for Community Living. 

But when she was called up to receive her award, McDonald had to accept it on the floor because organizers had not made the venue accessible for her 😡.

Making matters more frustrating is the fact that the Houston government made a commitment to create an accessible province for persons with disabilities by 2030, and now we’re like just kidding! 

Don’t worry. For their part, the province says they aren’t just “normal” sorry, they’re “deeply” sorry.

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌤️ 18°

Tomorrow: ☀️ 18°

Next Day: 🌤️ 19°

7-day forecast

🚗 Driving, biking or busing today? Check out the current traffic conditions and ongoing road closures.

💨 Here is Halifax’s Air Quality Index and the smoke report.

HALIFAX VOTES 2024

Waye Mason’s mayoral bid means a fresh face on council for downtown Halifax

The only thing we can say for sure about District 7 is that it’s going to have a new councillor after the Oct. 19 election day. With the area’s longtime councillor Waye Mason running for mayor, the race for the Halifax South Downtown seat on council is wide open. And it needs a politician who’s up for a challenge.

The district has a wide range of residential communities, from students living around the universities, to the wealthiest parts of the south end, to unhoused people tenting in parks. That means on top of the needs most of us are familiar with—affordable housing, better transit and transportation, and doing something about homelessness—there are also the needs of the world’s 1% to consider, which come to light every now and again in some hall of fame community council meetings.

Six candidates are vying for the council job. They are William Breckenridge, Cathy Cervin, Andrea Hilchie-Pye, Aodhan P. Murphy, Peter Sonnichsen and Laura White. It’s fine if the names don’t mean much to you, because that’s what we’re here for.

The Coast’s Matt Stickland has your voting guide to the race for District 7.

🤔 Need To Know

⛴️ Northumberland Ferries Limited says ferry service between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island won’t resume for at least another two weeks, as both of its vessels continue to undergo repairs.

🏠 Less than half of the 200 Pallet brand self-contained shelters Nova Scotia bought a year ago for unhoused people are open to residents—the province says 80 of the insulated, 70-square-foot fibreglass shelters are ready for use.

🎭 Last chance to see Neptune Theatre's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This engaging imaginative romp closes October 5. Tickets start at $33.*

🩺 The Nova Scotia government is working on an agreement to create a provincial travel nurse program—a move that would reduce the reliance on private companies and respond to a long-standing call by the nurses' union.

🚲 Traffic sucks, avoid it! Join Nocturne’s group bike rides and park FREE at the Bike Valet, October 19, 6 PM–midnight at the Halifax Central Library!*

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY AFTERWORDS LITERARY FESTIVAL

Book Your Time at AfterWords

More than fifty writers will bring their stories and ideas to audiences in Halifax at the sixth annual AfterWords Literary Festival. See Heather O’Neill, Tanya Talaga, MG Vassanji, Lisa Moore, Sue Goyette, Caroline Adderson, Marie-Louise Gay, Joshua Whitehead and more, November 2-10. Tickets are on sale. Book yours now!

NEWS + OPINION

Truth, reconciliation and sport this Mi’kmaq History Month

October is Mi’kmaq History Month across Mi’kma’ki—the land of the Mi’kmaq—which includes all of present-day Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, central and eastern New Brunswick, the Gaspé Peninsula and Newfoundland. 

This is an opportunity to celebrate the living history, culture and traditions of the Mi’kmaq, who have lived here for over 11,000 years, and to deepen the work of truth and reconciliation through ongoing education. One way to do that? Get to know the history and ongoing legacy of the Mi’kmaq in sports.

This year’s Mi’kmaq History Month poster honours “food and its significance in Mi’kmaw culture,” available here. The Mi’kmaq History Month Committee will be releasing videos exploring the Mi’kmaw phrase “Mijipjewey Na Mawa’luksi’k, (Food Gathers Us Together)” during October. 

Last year, the 2023 Mi’kmaw History Month poster and videos celebrated sports and games that their website writes “are crucial for teaching young ones how to hear, how to see and how to move.” The Mi’kmaq History Month Committee’s video page says, “sports and games have grown Mi’kmaw ways of knowing and being [and] are crucial for teaching young ones how to hear, how to see and how to move.”

The Coast’s Lauren Phillips has more on a new video that connects sports and healing.

🗞️ In Other News

💗 Following changes to improve access to provincial adoption records, a group of siblings met their long-lost brother who was put up for adoption at birth—he was 20km away all along.

🏥 The Government of PEI has contributed $2 million to the IWK Foundation to ensure world-class emergency care for children, youth and families throughout the Maritimes.

🏦 John Risley—one of Nova Scotia's most wealthy businessmen—is locked in a massive income tax battle with the Canada Revenue Agency that spans two decades and includes a sprawling seaside mansion, a high-performance dressage horse operation and three luxury yachts.

🌡️ As the effects of climate change intensify, museums across Nova Scotia are having to consider how to preserve the province’s past from future threats.

🗓️ Things To Do

Looking for something to do this week? Check out these Coast picks:

🗓LAST CHANCE! The Laramie Project Presented by Dartmouth Players: The Laramie Project focuses on the aftermath of the murder of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay student who was brutally attacked, tied to a fence, and left to die. The Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie, Wyoming, to interview residents about how the tragedy impacted the town. These are the real stories from people at the heart of one of the U.S.'s most infamous anti-gay hate crimes. | Closes Oct 5 |  7:30pm | $17

🗓 LAST CHANCE! A Midsummer Night's Dream Presented by Neptune Theatre: Set against the seedy underbelly of Prohibition, this show is sexy, gritty and dark. The scene is set with a secret pre-show, burlesque performers and a secret Speakeasy, and you will never look at the Fairies, Lovers and Mechanicals the same way again. Think Moulin Rouge meets Shakespeare. | Closes Oct 5 | From $33

🗓 Annual Sealight Skylight Festival: This is a celebration of the sciences and the arts with a focus on the area’s naturally occurring ocean bioluminescence and dark night sky. The family friendly festival brings together live music, workshops, displays and a candle-lit procession, guiding guests down to the waterfront to engage with the ocean bioluminescence. | Oct 5 | 2pm   

🗓Foreign Radical Theatre: Foreign Radical invites 30 participants into an intriguing theatrical game that explores security, profiling, freedom of expression and privacy in the age of cybersurveillance. Mobile throughout the performance, the participants collaborate, compete, investigate, debate and spy on each other. | Oct 4-6 | From $15

Have an event to share? Let us know at [email protected].

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The One Aquila container ship leaves Halifax for New York at 4am.

🛳️ The One Owl container ship arrives in Halifax from New York at 10:45am.

➡️ The Titus vehicle carrier leaves Halifax for Bremerhaven at 11:30am.

🛳️ The Atlantic Sun container ship arrives in Halifax from Norfolk at 3:20pm.

🛳️➡️ The Jewel of the Seas cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 7am and leaves for Canadian seas at 4pm.

🛳️➡️ The Atlantic Sail container ship arrives in Halifax from Liverpool at 5:20am and leaves for New York at 5pm.

➡️ The East Coast oil tanker leaves Halifax for Saint John at 5pm.

➡️ The Gotland general cargo ship leaves Halifax for Villagarcia at 6pm.

➡️ The Seabourn Quest cruise ship leaves Halifax for Canadian seas at 6pm.

🛳️➡️ The MSC Sagitta III container ship arrives in Halifax from Porgreso at 11:15am and  leaves for Montreal at 11pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🐟 Perfection on a plate is the Seared Trout Amandine at Café Lunette: fresh local trout, lemon, new potatoes, haricots vert, almonds.

🎂 New cake alert! Celebrate something (or nothing) with the Vanilla Bean Chocolate Cake at Layers Cupcakes: vanilla bean cake filled with layers of chocolate buttercream and a middle layer of chocolate ganache, covered in chocolate buttercream and a sprinkle edge.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🧡 Mi’kmaw History Month officially began yesterday, and the committee organizing events across the province has announced the theme it wishes to celebrate this year—food. Whether it be sharing it with friends and family around the table, or the ways in which we grow, obtain and preserve it, food has a special place in Mi’kmaw culture. For more on Mi’kmaw History Month resources and events, visit the official website.

🗳️ District 6 includes the Burnside Industrial Park, Shubie Park and many of Dartmouth’s famed thousand lakes. This district now has more lakes as it’s poached Topsail Lake and a large swath of Cole Harbour around Mount Edward, which used to be part of District 3. In District 6, both candidates answered The Coast’s questionnaire and performed well, so check out what they had to say.

🏠 New regulations on short-term rentals, including Airbnbs, are now in effect across Nova Scotia—the housing minister says the system will help the growing housing crisis.

That’s it!

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