- The Coast
- Posts
- 🗞️ HRM's X-it
🗞️ HRM's X-it
Plus, federal Liberals maintain lead over Conservatives by five points, Halifax man pleads guilty to killing his mother in fit of rage and council approves 2025/26 municipal budget.
Julie Lawrence
April 09, 2025
Good morning!
Two stories collided today to simultaneously make all of my dreams come true and then totally dash them.
First, I find out that the CGI wolves from Game of Thrones are now real wolves and they are so cute. You read that correctly. Dire wolves—an extinct species—have resurfaced with the help of a biology research company based in North Texas.
They extracted DNA from two fossils as well as 20 edits of the genetic code of a grey wolf—yes, just like they did in Jurassic Park!—to bring the species out of extinction. In a press release, the company revealed the successful birth of three dire wolves, sharing the major milestone and celebrating the world’s first successfully “de-extincted” animal.
Just look! LOOK!
@time The #direwolf is no longer #extinct: Meet Remus, the first dire wolf to exist in over 10,000 years.
But THEN, just as I made the decision that I must have one no matter the cost, Hope Swinimer—the founder and director of Hope for Wildlife in Seaforth—issued a warning that keeping exotic animals is a big decision that requires a lot of thought and planning.
Apparently a lot of people get them, find out they aren’t what they expected and just….set them free. Which seems irresponsible, even for me, and can really mess with the local ecosystem. Swinimer says, “They buy these exotic pets and maybe not getting 100% prepared for what they’re getting in for and then they decide to let them go in the wild world.”
I guess impulse buying a recently un-extinct wolf cub might be biting off more than I can chew because apparently they do grow up eventually and you can’t just release them into a forest (magical or otherwise) when they start scratching your walls and howling at the moon all night.
Much to consider,
– Julie
🌡️ Traffic & Weather
Today: 🌨️ 3°
Tomorrow: ☀️ 7°
Next Day: 🌤️ 9°
🚗 Driving, biking or busing today? Check out the current traffic conditions and ongoing road closures.
CITY HALL
City council making moves
📸 Credit: Coast Illustration
City hall was moving and shaking with big decisions on Tuesday.
After weeks of humming and hawing and much discussion, council has approved the 2025/26 municipal budget. The budget includes municipal operations, Regional Council-approved priority initiatives and investments to purchase, construct and rehabilitate municipal assets. Basically, all of the costs associated with running (and hopefully growing) Halifax.
In addition, Council also voted to phase out X—the artist formerly known as Twitter—accounts officially used by the municipality, citing concerns over perceived toxicity on the site and the owner’s close relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.
🤔 Need To Know
🇨🇦 The federal Liberals’ advantage over the Conservatives remains at five points on Day 17 of the federal election campaign—a three-day rolling sample by Nanos Research ending April 7 has the Liberals at 43% over the Conservatives who are at 38% nationally.
⛽ The Nova Scotia Energy Board invoked the interrupter clause at midnight, dropping fuel prices across the province—the price of a litre of self-serve gasoline has fallen by 6.2 cents to 143.1.
☀️ Solar is a chance to win prizes worth up to $16,600! 5-month racking installation or you get paid! Save with the most trusted solar company.*
🍗 CALLING ALL WING LOVERS - Halifax's best Wing night is at The Pint on Argyle Street every Wednesday — 50% off wings, 28 sauces, $4.50 all draught beer (Happy Hour 4-6 PM).*
🤣 The Gay AF Comedy Tour hits Halifax Live one night only! Queer comedy icons Robert Watson, Ava Val & Dylan Mahaney bring big laughs April 11!*
🛏️ Pillow Fite! Clare Belford! Freya Milliken & more, are coming to OutFest 2025 (April 21 - 27th). Grab your tickets now & don't miss out!*
*Sponsored Post
SPONSORED BY CANADIAN MUSEUM OF IMMIGRATION AT PIER 21
FREE Film Screening
Don't miss out on this exclusive FREE film screening of We Will Be Brave at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 on Sunday, April 13th as part of the Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival Pre-Gala Opening.
This documentary film screening will include an audience talkback with Toronto guests and local experts, and will also feature a live musical performance!
In partnership with Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival, Story Money Impact, Roots of Hope and Nurturing Strong African Nova Scotian Families / Strengthening Black Fathers.
🗞️ In Other News
⚖️ A 41-year-old Halifax man pleaded guilty on Monday to second-degree murder after he admitted to attacking his mother in a “fit of rage” last fall.
👁️🗨️ A national legal group has apologized and begun an internal review after facing widespread criticism from outside groups and within its own ranks for cancelling a speech by Tareq Hadhad—owner of the Nova Scotia confectioner Peace by Chocolate.
📷 Nova Scotia welcomed fewer visitors in 2024 than it did the year before, but tourism revenues increased by 10% to $3.5 billion—visitors from other parts of Atlantic Canada made up the biggest percentage of tourists, followed by Ontario, which represented 29%.
🔐 The province’s new information and privacy commissioner is David Nurse—a lawyer who has worked in private practice and for the Nova Scotia and Northwest Territories governments.
🚒 For the third time in less than two weeks, crews have put out a fire at the abandoned St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School on Maitland Street—teams put out a fire on the second floor of the building on March 26 and returned four days later to extinguish two fires on the third floor.
SPONSORED BY HALIFAX BURGER BASH
Burgers, Beer & the Best Time of the Year!
It’s back! The Coast’s Halifax Burger Bash presented with Garrison Brewing is serving up 10 days of epic burger creations across the city from April 3-12. With 150+ burgers to try, the only question is—where are you starting? Grab your crew and start your Burger Bash journey! 🍔➡ www.burgerbash.ca
🗓️ Things To Do
Looking for something to do this week? Check out these Coast picks:
🗓 The Gay AF Comedy Tour: It’s the big Queer comedy tour that's pooping rainbows all over Canada, hosted by Canadian Comedy Award-winner Robert Watson and headlined by trans standup sensation Ava Val! With credits on Just For Laughs, CBC Comedy, OutTV, Sirius XM, Halifax Comedy Festival and more, expect a night of Quality Queer Comedy. | April 11 | 8pm | $32 |
🗓 Stars Set Yourself on Fire Tour: The Canadian indie pop/rock band based in Montreal, Quebec has been rocking stages since 2000. Now they are bringing their Set Yourself on Fire anniversary tour to the Light House Arts Centre. | April 11 | 8pm | $61 |
🗓 Nelly With Ja Rule and Special Guest: Nelly and Ja Rule are collaborating for the "Where The Party At Tour" in 2025, a world tour celebrating Nelly's 25th anniversary of his debut album Country Grammar. Ja Rule will be joining Nelly on the tour, along with other special guests like Eve, St. Lunatics, Fabolous, Chingy, and in Halifax, Jermaine Dupri. | April 11 | 8pm | From $63 |
Have an event to share? Let us know at [email protected].
⚓️ What’s In The Harbour
🚢➡️ The Zim Iberia container ship arrives in Halifax from Valencia, Spain at 5:20am and leaves for New York at 6pm.
🍴 Where To Eat & Drink
🐟 The Nova Scotia Hodge Podge at Drift is a timeless classic with a modern twist: butter-braised halibut cheek, mussels, Matane shrimp, Nova Scotia scallops, littleneck clams, salt cod brandade croquette, green beans, new potatoes, carrots, buttered leeks, dill cream.
🧁 There are two new cupcake flavours in the case this week at Layers Cupcakes: The Fluffernutter (chocolate caked filled with peanut butter swirled fluff, piped with peanut butter cream cheese buttercream) and banana chocolate chip Nutella (banana chocolate chip cake filled with Nutella, piped with Nutella cream cheese buttercream).
👀 In Case You Missed It
💜 Nova Scotia is in the middle of a crisis—and we’ll say it over and over until everyone believes it. Since Oct. 18, seven women and one man have been killed in incidents of intimate-partner violence. The epidemic of gender-based violence combined with the increasingly polarizing political landscape has made the conversation about women’s rights more heated than ever. This means that the words ‘sexism’ and ‘misogyny’ have officially entered the mainstream. The Coast’s Julie Lawrence spoke with acclaimed professor of philosophy at Cornell University and one of the foremost thinkers and writers on misogyny—Kate Manne—about her book Down Girl and the difference between sexism and misogyny.
🏆 The 2025 Imbibe Cocktail Event filled the Light House Art Centre with the brightest and smokiest cocktail creations, produced by some of Nova Scotia's most skilled and talented bartenders. Bartenders showcase their skills to a panel of judges to be awarded the Judges' Choice Award. The Coast team has the winners for you.
That’s it!
Thanks for reading The Coast Daily today.
If you found something useful, consider forwarding this newsletter to another Haligonian.
And before you go, let us know:
What did you think of today's newsletter? |
Reply