🗞️ Cops shouldn’t take mental health calls

Ohhhhh Halifax,

As I scanned the news this weekend to find something to share with you, my favourite people, I was having a particularly hard time because I don’t want to send you out into the world to start your week in a place of outrage and anger.

Between the horrific stories of two women being set on fire–one an athlete fresh off the Olympics and the other a teenager at her school in Saskatoon—and that true goon from that shitty band Hedley trying to appeal to Ontario’s highest court to weasel his way out of a “particularly degrading” rape conviction…the news is pretty grim.

But alas, as I was about to give up on journalism altogether, I saw the update on the kittens found in August by a Canada Post letter carrier in a mail drop bin in Halifax with minor injuries. Remember them? The SPCA says they are doing great! They are living their best lives in foster care while they are getting big and strong enough to be adopted out.

I’m already in a tri-cat living situation—which I’m told is the limit—otherwise I would adopt the five-month-old named Letter, who has been diagnosed with “wobbly cat syndrome.” It means he can’t really walk straight and will wobble and, I mean, same.

Letter the wobbly cat has mended my broken spirit today and I hope he helps lift yours too 😽

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: ☀️ 20°

Tomorrow: ☀️ 21°

Next Day: ☀️ 20°

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.

NEWS + OPINION

Cops shouldn’t respond to mental health calls

Wednesday, September 4’s Board of Police Commissioners agenda was weighty: cops for sale, suicide prevention and a report criticizing the police.

At a previous meeting, the Board was supposed to talk about HRP officers working extra duty (i.e. protecting Superstore’s profits while in uniform) and off duty (i.e. working at Superstore), but that got deferred to last week’s meeting. However, it was once again deferred. 

The board then got a presentation from Nancy Saunders and Heather Spidell, two women who are part of the Nova Scotia Moms. This is an advocacy group made up of women who have lost children to suicide, and they’re asking anyone who will listen for some changes that could prevent the tragedy that befell their families. 

They are proposing two legislative changes that would have to come from the province. First, they want to loosen doctor/patient confidentiality rules that harm patients. Second, they want a change to the legislation that requires police officers to wait at hospitals on mental health calls. 

The Coast’s Matt Stickland has more from last week’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting.

🤔 Need To Know

🚔 The commander of the RCMP delivered what he described as a long-overdue apology to the province’s Black residents on Saturday—acknowledging that the force’s past use of street checks did lasting harm to both individuals and communities.

💉 A group that describes vaccine mandates as "dictatorial" has been denied public interest standing in an application for a judicial review of Nova Scotia's COVID-19 rules.

⚖️ A NS school teacher—charged earlier this summer with serious sex offences—has been released from jail after being arrested on the weekend for allegedly breaching her release conditions.

EDUCATION

Bring back elected school boards, says new bill

NDP member of the legislature Suzy Hansen is a former elected Halifax Regional School Board member. She is also a former member of the School Advisory Council—or SAC. She represents the district of Halifax-Needham in the provincial legislature. Of Hansen’s two former roles, the latter position still exists. The former does not.

That’s because English school boards across the province were dissolved in 2018 by the Liberal government of the day, in favour of a single advisory council for each of the seven regional education districts. Hansen says current premier Tim Houston and his Progressive Conservatives have had three years in office to reverse the Liberal decision, but they haven’t.

On Sep. 6—the second day students are back in class—Hansen introduced a private member’s bill—Bill 468—into the provincial legislature. This bill would see public school boards reinstated by September 2025.

The Coast’s education reporter Lauren Phillips has all of the details on Bill 468 and lays out a timeline for the election of members.

🗞️ In Other News

🚒 Union leaders and the family of a firefighter who died while attending the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley are calling on the school's executive director to resign.

😞 Federal public servants returned to the office today where they will now have to work for a minimum of three days a week—begrudgingly.

🏠 The Nova Scotia government wants to extend its 5% cap on rent increases another two years—but the province won’t create an enforcement unit to bolster its tenancy rules and regulations.

🎓 Universities Canada is warning the impact from the federal government’s cap on international students will be “far greater” than what Ottawa aimed for—adding that enrolment is already down 45%.

🚑 A 31-year-old woman was taken to hospital on Friday with what police are calling life-threatening injuries after a car and Halifax Transit bus collided on the Bedford Highway.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 An Evening with Daniel O'Donnel: Daniel O'Donnell is an iconic Irish singer renowned for his illustrious career in the music industry. With a velvety voice and a passion for traditional and country music, he has captivated audiences worldwide. | Sep 9 | 7pm | $101

🗓 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. | Sep 10-Oct 5 | From $33

🗓 Atlantic International Film Festival: Come out and experience this eight-day celebration of film and media from around the world, turning Halifax into an international destination for movie-lovers and filmmakers alike. Discover a variety of regional, national and international films that explore all corners of life, culture, entertainment and the global human experience. | Sep 11-18 |

🗓 Canada's Storytellers—Sharon Easton: When Easton found typewritten pages tucked in the back of her deceased father’s accordion folder, she had no idea she was holding an invitation to the greatest writing adventure of her life. Join Sharon as she discusses her book, Beach Moose and Amber: Finding my Jewish History. | Sep 12 | 6pm | Free

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

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

🛳️➡️ The Atlantic Sail container ship arrives in Halifax from Norfolk at 5:20am and leaves for Hamburg at 4pm.

🛳️➡️ The MSC Levina II container ship arrives in Halifax from Montreal at 6:15am and leaves for London at 5pm.

🛳️➡️ The Carnival Venezia cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 7:30am and leaves for Canadian seas at 5pm.

🛳️➡️ The Zuiderdam cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 10am and leaves for Canadian seas at 6pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🥞 There’s a brand new brunch menu at Stardust Queer Bar and Kitchen! Get in on the action Saturday and Sundays from noon until 3pm.

🍲 When there’s a chill in the air (or rain and wind), the meatloaf from Easy Street Diner never misses: smothered in BBQ sauce, served with market veg and fries or mashed potatoes.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🦤 Graeme Patterson has built a new world of maturing dreams, fears and anxieties that can be experienced in many forms. Up now at the Dalhousie Art Gallery and showing until Nov. 10, Strange Birds is the Sackville, NB artist’s third thematic show. Organized and circulated by the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and Dal AG, curated by Ray Cronin, Strange Birds draws together multiple perspectives to untangle Patterson’s fears of a future flooded land. The Coast’s Lauren Phillips spoke with artist Graeme Patterson about his show that imagines his home washed away by a flood.

🎤 After a successful soft opening last weekend, Halifax’s newest comedy club plans to take it up a notch. Halifax Live, located at 1737 Grafton Street, seeks to be the city’s premiere comedy club, promising to bring in up-and-coming acts from the city as well as favourites from across the country. Their first night saw Kyle Hickey, fresh off his new comedy album Blowing Fire, take the stage in front of an electric crowd. The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer speaks with club operations manager Josh Poulain about their intentions with the new club, and how it hopes to further boost Halifax’s burgeoning comedy scene.

⚖️ Two Canadians are facing dozens of human trafficking charges following a 10-month-long investigation that started in eastern Ontario.

🧸 Health Canada is recalling a pair of children’s plush toys—sold at Winners, HomeSense and Marshalls—due to a choking hazard.

That’s it!

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