🗞️ A monster of our own making

Good morning, Halifax!

Earlier this week, I said I hoped to be proven wrong regarding my fears of funding for the province’s 2SLGBTQIA+ Action Plan and wider queer initiatives taking place across Nova Scotia.

My hopes have indeed come true. I will accept my defeat with a smile on my face.

On Thursday, the provincial government announced the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Impact Grant program, offering community-based organizations grants up to $25,000 for projects in their communities. The total amount put into this program is $150,000. The Office of Equity and Anti-Racism will review grant applications alongside a cross-government committee.

This is genuinely wonderful news. I am very happy to see that more steps are being taken to build up 2SLGTBQIA+ organizations doing vital work in their communities. While I am still waiting to see if the government can talk more about how much money will go towards its own goals in the Action Plan, this is a great first step.

Props to the staff at the Office of Equity and Anti-Racism for making this happen. When I chat with my friends who work in different government roles, the conversation often drifts toward how hard it can be to actually see progress. I hope the folks at this provincial department feel the hope they deserve to feel after this announcement.

Best,

– B

📷 @creamy_yet_smooth

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌨️ -2°

Tomorrow: ☀️ -13°

Next Day: 🌤️ -11°

7-day forecast

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

OPINION

Nova Scotia’s culture of silence is deadly

This past week, Lisa Banfield (the former spouse of mass shooter Gabriel Wortman) gave a series of public interviews ahead of the release of her book, First Survivor: Life with Canada’s Deadliest Mass Shooter. In it, she recounts decades of psychological and physical violence. What Banfield describes aligns with what experts call coercive control and intimate partner violence (IPV): sustained abuse that systematically erodes autonomy, safety, and a sense of self.

The threats to harm her family if she left him, the degrading psychological abuse, the gaslighting, the assaults—these were not isolated incidents but entrenched patterns in their relationship. This is how abuse works: not as a single act of violence, but as a slow, cumulative process that traps survivors through fear, dependency, and erosion over time.

Opinion writer Liz LeClair talks about Lisa Banfield and the cultural of violence that has taken shape across Nova Scotia.

🤔 Need To Know

🏥 Nova Scotia Health’s leadership are warning provincial legislators that the current rate of spending is not sustainable—an auditor general report shows healthcare operating expenses rose to $7.7 billion in 2024-25.

✈️ Porter Airlines has announced its crew base in Halifax will be closing this May—they are also shutting down another crew base in Thunder Bay, impacting around 60 employees across both cities.

⚖️ A 16-year-old who faced charges of terrorism and possessing child exploitation material has had the terrorism charges dropped by the Crown—the prosecutor says there was not enough evidence to support those counts, which were brought due to a formerly alleged connection to the online terrorist group 764.

🎶 Join Joy Bullen and the Museum on February 6th for an evening of music, heritage, identity and storytelling. Experience the magic live—get your tickets now!*

*Sponsored Post

🗞️ In Other News

🚓 Atlantic First Nations chiefs are calling for a meeting with the federal government after two Indigenous men were shot and killed by RCMP in separate incidents over the last two weeks—one of the men was from Sipekne’katik First Nation, who triggered an emergency alert last week.

🚨 Halifax RCMP are warning the public about impaired drivers after four separate arrests in less than a week—one incident includes an 80-year-old Waverley man who was found with open alcohol in his vehicle.

🍩 Vandal Doughnuts in Halifax will be shutting down all of its locations—the owner took to social media to explain that business has been tough.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Halifax Mooseheads vs Sherbrooke: The hometown heroes take on Le Phoénix de Sherbrooke at the Scotiabank Centre. | Jan. 23 | 7PM | $27.25+|

🗓 Sip n’ Shuck: World-renowned oysters, seafood and Nova Scotian wines, spirits, beer and cider, all at one delicious event at the Westin Hotel. | Jan. 23 | 7PM | $142.50 |

🗓 Yuk Yuks Halifax presents Scott MacLean: Blunt and honest Scott MacLean will leave you laughing at this comedy show hosted by Ian Black and featuring Mike Lynch. | Jan. 23-24 | 8PM | $25.00+|

🗓 Marking the Spot: A workshop on how to research older buildings and what it means to register a historical property. No registration required and everyone is welcome. Taking place at the Bedford Public Library. | Jan. 24 | 10:30AM |

🗓 Mark Fewer & Mathieu Gaudet: Pianist Mathieu Gaudet and violinist Mark Fewer join forces for a captivating program highlighting two centuries on musical brilliance, including Beethoven’s “Spring Sonata”, Chris Paul Harman’s “After Clementi” and the world premiere of Gaudet’s own composition, “Prelude, Ballad and Dance”. | Jan. 24 | 10:30AM | $30+|

🗓 Sunday Soundbath with Rezound: Rezound presents an immersive Ambient Soundbath in the spectacular acoustic of St. David's in downtown Halifax. Rezound uses voice, instruments, and electronics to explore harmony and expression, in a resonant candlelit space against the backdrop of projection visuals. | Jan. 25 | 7PM | PWYC |

🗓 Halifax Mooseheads vs Drummondville: The hometown heroes take on Le Phoénix de Sherbrooke at the Scotiabank Centre. | Jan. 25 | 3PM | $27.25+|

🗓 Jeremy Vaughan Ocean Island River Forest: Nova Scotia’s Jeremy Vaughan presents his new collection of work at the Prow Gallery. | Jan. 22-Feb. 13 |

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

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The MSC Yang R container vessel departed Halifax for Montreal at 1:30am.

➡️ The APL Esplanade container vessel departs Halifax for New York at 5am.

🚢 The Algoma East Coast tanker arrives in Halifax from Saint John at 3:40pm.

🚢 The Few BPS tanker arrives in Halifax from Baton Rouge at 4:30pm.

➡️ The Nolhan Ava container vessel departs Halifax for St Pierre at 8pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🍦 A taste of heaven in a cup—or cone! Try Churned’s Cherry Swirl and Brownie Bits, gluten-free and available in scoops or pints.

☕ 2 Doors Down Dartmouth is asking an essential question: does iced coffee taste better in summer or winter? Try their Barhand’s Iced Mocha Latte and find out. Made with J.D. Shore Spirits rum cream, creme de cacao, galliano and espresso.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🛍️ One of the greatest aspects of living in Halifax is the sheer number of amenities available. Need a haircut? There are plenty of barbershops or stylists to call. Time to get your tires changed? Several auto body shops will book you in. Need a place to work out? You can find a gym that's right for you. Standing tall above all the options Halifax has to offer are our readers' choices for the best of the best in our Shopping + Services category for The Best of Halifax 2026. You told us your favourite clothing stores, tattoo artists, nail techs, comic shops, and so much more. Now, all the results for our Shopping + Services category are available on our Best of Halifax webpage. Stay tuned for our final category release, Food + Drink, on Jan. 27.

🚗 Halifax ranks as the third-worst city for traffic congestion in Canada according to data from geolocation company TomTom for the second year in a row—it falls only behind Vancouver and Toronto.

🚨 A 33-year-old woman is being charged after allegedly stealing a vehicle and colliding with two police vehicles, plus another vehicle at a stop light—Nirica West faces breaking and entering, motor vehicle theft, flight from police and dangerous operation of a conveyance, amongst other charges.

That’s it!

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