Happy Friday Halifax,

We made it through another one!

Just wanted to take this time to remind you that new Nova Scotia car seat regulations go into effect on Monday. From then on, children will need be in a rear-facing car seat until they are two years old and weigh more than 22 pounds, and then in a front-facing car seat until they are four years old and more than 40 pounds.

Research conducted in Nova Scotia by Dalhousie University and IWK Health's Child Safety Link assessed 1,005 child passengers in 2024. It found that 81% of car seats and booster seats had at least one use or installation error.

That finding matters because simply owning a car seat does not guarantee that a child is adequately protected. Common problems include loose harnesses, improperly secured seats and moving children to the next stage too soon.

This change brings legislation closer to current safety evidence. Car-seat design has evolved, and many modern seats allow children to remain rear-facing and harnessed longer than older models did. According to the IWK, the regulations reflect that capability and the evidence supporting extended use of protective restraints.

If you hate hearing about my personal life, stop reading now…

This issue is particularly close to my heart because my late mum, Margi Lawrence, spear-headed a campaign in the 1980’s to mandate the use of car seats for children called ‘Buckle Up Baby’. It was revolutionary for its time and guess who the model baby was for the campaign? Yup, this cutie!

Have a safe and restful weekend!

Love and light!

– Jules

📷 @editorjulesl

Today: 🌧️ 10°

Tomorrow: 🌧️ 11°

Next Day: 🌤️ 8°

7-day forecast

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

The Liberal government says it will table legislation in the fall to indefinitely exclude people who solely suffer from mental illness from medical assistance in dying.

The central issue is this: with many terminal illnesses, it’s way easier for doctors to tell if a disease is irreversible (aka terminal). With mental illness, determining whether someone’s suffering is actually permanent—or whether they could still improve—is much harder.

That said, psychiatrists, disability advocates, and people with lived experience argue that excluding mental illness can deny autonomy to people whose psychiatric suffering is severe and genuinely treatment-resistant.

We asked for your thoughts on this controversial issue: Should medically assisted death be legal for people whose only underlying condition is a severe, treatment-resistant psychological disorder?

Here are the official poll results and some of our favourite responses.

🏛️ Tim Houston is defending his decision to change his stance on when data centres might be considered for approval to operate in the province—in June he said data centres wouldn’t receive approval until the province could supply their considerable energy demands.

💸 The federal government is set to announce a $100M commitment toward developing offshore wind energy in Nova Scotia in the hope of attracting private investment to projects like the province’s Wind West plan.

🛋️ What if your therapist isn't the right fit? That's okay! Finding the right connection matters. Explore your options and book a consultation with us today.*

✍️ Tickets added for national author event series Conversations in Trust hosted by Writers' Trust of Canada! Thursday October 22, Halifax Central Library. Free ticket registration.*

📋 Seniors and their families are using this readiness organizer to help keep daily life going when someone needs to step in at short notice.*

*Sponsored Post

Find your new favourite author at AfterWords, Sunday November 1 to Sunday November 8.

More than fifty writers come together in venues around Halifax for on-stage interviews and conversations, readings, workshops, parties, and more. Have brunch with Donna Morrissey and Amanda Peters at The Carleton, explore the imaginary worlds created by a dozen Kid Lit authors at Kids’ Day/Journée jeunesse, hear Vivek Shraya, Kai Cheng Thom, Robert J. Sawyer, Ruth Ozeki, Patrick deWitt and more in conversation.

Plus, poetry with Sina Queyras, Sue Goyette, Kaie Kellough, Jennifer LoveGrove and more. And explore the history of Black families in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with Thandiwe McCarthy and Aquakultre.

Tickets are on sale now.

⚡ A new report shows that Nova Scotia Power has once again failed to meet all of its performance standards especially for power outages and customer service—but the utility’s performance in 2025 improved over the previous year, so the Nova Scotia Energy Board (NSEB) opted not to punish NSP for its shortcomings.

📍 A municipal committee is recommending the building that once housed the Halifax Alehouse should be added to the heritage property registry—the bar closed in 2024 after a bouncer employed by the Alehouse killed a patron in the early hours of Christmas Eve 2022.

✅ Nova Scotia Liberal leadership candidate Becky Druhan is pitching ideas she says could serve as a foundation for the party’s next general election platform—but she’s also making clear that what she released Wednesday is not a finished product.

🎣 Ottawa and the four Atlantic provinces are extending a multimillion-dollar fund aimed at supporting the region’s fish and seafood sector amid global economic headwinds—Ottawa will provide 60% of the cash while NS, NB, P.E.I. and NL will contribute the rest.

Live close to shopping, parks, the Canada Games Centre, library and major bus routes.

Student-friendly and conveniently located, Bayers Park Apartments offer exceptional value.

Now leasing 1 & 2 bedroom apartments. Don't wait!

Bayers Park I & II
📍 6969 & 6971 Bayers Road
📞 Call MD at (902) 701-7344

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

🗓 Roger Mooking - SoundBites: Don’t miss Roger Mooking's first solo exhibition in Atlantic Canada, bringing together visual art, moving image, music, and text in an immersive exploration of creativity, memory, and the rhythms of contemporary life. Drawing inspiration from the sampling traditions of Hip-Hop, Mooking recontextualizes reproductions of his own artworks to create a dynamic multidisciplinary environment. | Sept 10 - Nov 8 |

🗓 Women of the Fur Trade: Set in eighteen hundred and something-something, somewhere upon the banks of a Reddish River in Treaty One Territory, three very different women with a preference for 21st century slang find themselves stuck in a fort having tea and sharing their views on life, love, and Louis Riel. | Sept 22 - Oct 11 | From $29 | 

🗓 Dracula - A Comedy of Terrors: This is Dracula like you've never seen before. An irreverent, Mel Brooks inspired romp, this 90 minute comedy is laugh out loud funny. Full of wordplay, rapid fire anything-goes pop culture references, this is gothic horror reimagined. | Sept 29 - Oct 25 | From $35 | 

🗓 Alderney Landing's Bluenose Ghosts Festival: This annual festival returns with an all-new haunted house created in collaboration with East Coast Scares. Known for producing some of the region’s most highly anticipated haunted attractions, East Coast Scares brings a fresh concept and design to the haunted house every year. | Oct 4-31 | 

🗓 Nocturne - Art at Night: This free annual event transforms streets, waterfronts, galleries, storefronts, and public spaces into a city-wide showcase of art, featuring installations, projections, performances, and interactive works by local, national, and international artists. Guided by the 2026 theme,“Embodied City,” Nocturne invites visitors to explore art in unexpected places while discovering new ways of experiencing the urban landscape. | Oct 15 - 18 | 

🗓 Frenchy's - The Thrift Musical: The hilarious new musical comedy about finding yourself—at a fraction of the retail cost! The iconic Maritime thrift store is hitting the stage in a brand-new musical comedy, written by award-winning playwright David Craig and composer John Roby. | Oct 16 - Nov 1 | $35 |

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

➡️ The Algoma Integrity bulk carrier departed Halifax for Baltimore at 8am.

🚢➡️ The Seven Seas Splendor cruise vessel arrives in Halifax at 8:30am and departs at 4:30pm.

🚢➡️ The Atlantic Sea container vessel arrives in Halifax from Norfolk at 9:20am and departs for Liverpool at 11pm.

🚢➡️ The Zim Iberia container vessel arrives in Halifax from Valencia at 11:20am and departs for New York at 6pm.

🚢 The Algoma East Coast tanker arrives in Halifax from Saint John at 4:40pm.

➡️ The Nolhan Ava container vessel departs Halifax for Argentia at 4:30pm.

➡️ The Oceanex Sanderling container vessel departs Halifax for St. John’s at 6pm.

➡️ The Star Pride cruise vessel departs Halifax at 11pm.

➡️ The Algoscotia tanker departs Halifax for Sydney, Cape Breton at 11pm.

CMHA Halifax-Dartmouth’s Annual Art Exhibition & Sale takes place October 15-27 in The Craig Gallery, Alderney Landing. Over 1200 colourful artworks by 400+ artists are for sale online for $35 each, plus silent auction bidding at www.cmhahalifaxdartmouth.ca. Proceeds support Social Connection Programs for adults living with mental illness.

🎃 Oh my gourd! Fall is pouring at Stubborn Goat with Pumpkin Ale on tap this month! Grab a pint and get cozy!

*sponsored

🏥 Olivia LeBlanc was only 14 when she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.It was during the pandemic. The Upper Tantallon teen was in pain. An appointment at a medical clinic led to a referral to a gastroenterologist at the IWK hospital. She had a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer speaks with medical science student Olivia LeBlanc about her personal experience with IBD.

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