🗞️ Mayoral debate debrief

Hey Halifax,

I want to do a little social experiment this morning. I’m going to tell you something and then I challenge you to tell five other people today—starting with your parents—and we’ll see if we can change the world. Ready? Do not give people money when they call you on the phone and ask for it. Ever. ☎️

Halifax RCMP are investigating a new phone scam involving two timeless classics: Amazon and someone impersonating a police officer. 

A resident of Lawrencetown got a call from someone claiming to be a security person from Amazon, saying something squirrely was going on with their account. They were then transferred to another person, who said they were police investigating unusual activity. The person was ordered to withdraw money and give it to the “undercover” police officer who picked it up at their house.

Guys! We gotta protect each other. There is literally never a time when it’s a good idea to give someone from the phone money. Even (and especially) if it’s your Scientologist uncle that needs to be bailed out of jail. Again.

Just people helping people.

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: ☀️ 29°

Tomorrow: ☁️ 23°

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.

CITY

How the mayor’s race looks with a month to go

The municipal election is up and running, and on Monday September 17 we had our first relatively major event: A mayor’s debate put on by The Art of City Building conference. For some practical reasons, the number of candidates invited to debate was limited to three out of the 16 registered, and for some incumbency reasons, they were the three people currently holding public office. Conference attendees and anyone with an internet connection could watch a trio of welterweight politicians throw mistimed punches in fast, furious, two-minute rounds.  

Andy Fillmore, who at the start of the month resigned as member of parliament for Halifax, struck hard and fast, delivering swift knockout blows to anyone with a general understanding of municipal governance and capable of rational thought. Waye Mason, the current city councillor of District 7, landed consistent policy body blows with methodical ministerial mutterings, but it’s hard to say if it was enough to sway any decisions. Pam Lovelace, sitting councillor for District 13, fired some haymakers over the top and landed one or two solid hits on things like watershed management. 

But fear not! As the best of what we’ve had already was trotted out on stage for an afternoon of political theatre, a majority of Halifax’s 80 municipal candidates have filled out The Coast’s candidate questionnaire, and there seem to be some promising rookies in the bunch. 

Coast City Hall reporter Matt Stickland recaps where things stand after the debate and hands out the coveted “chilling effect on democracy award” to one of the mayoral contenders.

🤔 Need To Know

🚔 Nova Scotia’s justice minister has released a set of 39 standards for all police services in the province—including the RCMP—in response to recommendations made by the commission of inquiry that investigated the mass shooting in April, 2020.

🇨🇦 Explore A History Exposed: The Enslavement of Black People in Canada, a new myth-busting exhibition that reveals a history many Canadians don’t know about.*

💗 Two Halifax seniors who were living in a tent have moved into an apartment thanks to a volunteer street navigator and financial help from some kind strangers.

💰 Feed Nova Scotia’s fall 50/50 is back! Buy your tickets before October 16 to help support food banks, meal programs and shelters across Nova Scotia.*

🏢 Some Halifax-area landlords are defending their use of fixed-term leases as necessary to recoup costs under Nova Scotia's rent cap—despite criticism the leases help property owners skirt the rules.

*Sponsored Post

ARTS + CULTURE

Special free screening tonight of Jason Buxton’s award-winning film Sharp Corner

It’s the last day of the 44th annual Atlantic International Film Festival and to celebrate, the fest is holding a special screening of this year’s winner for Best Atlantic Feature

Nova Scotia filmmaker Jason Buxton, best known for 2012’s Blackbird, premiered Sharp Corner at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month and had presented it earlier at AIFF. But after it won two major awards, tonight’s free screening was added. This thriller follows a man intent on saving car collision victims who continually crash after taking a sharp turn near his house, and the effect his actions have on him and his family.

Buxton’s film will be shown at the Park Lane Cineplex at 5:15pm tonight, helping close out the festival. He will also be sticking around for a follow-up Q&A. Tickets can be found here—and when this newsletter was put to bed last night, tickets were still available.

The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer has more on all of the award winners for the 2024 Atlantic International Film Festival.

🗞️ In Other News

🚨 Halifax police believe that a 16-year-old boy who disappeared more than two years ago was murdered—human remains have been found that are believed to be those of Devon Marsman.

🏘️ A new pallet shelter community will be located on Thomas Raddall Drive—near the Canada Games Centre.

🎓 St. Francis Xavier University has announced Mila Mulroney—widow of former prime minister Brian Mulroney—is joining the university as its 11th chancellor.

🤝 Federal cabinet ministers are threatening to pull an offer of $325M to protect a vital land link between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick unless the two provinces agree to share costs.

🗞️ Atlantic International Film Festival

DAY 8—PREVIEW

It’s the last day of the Atlantic International Film Festival, and while we’re sad to see it go, we still have time to catch a film or two from local and international creators. Closing out the festival is Anora, a new film from American director Sean Baker, playing at 7pm in theatre eight. The movie follows Ani (Mikey Madison), a Russian-American sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch on a whim, only to have his parents travel to America to have the marriage annulled.

Tickets can be purchased here.

SPONSORED BY NEPTUNE THEATRE

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Love, magic, and mistaken identities are set anew in this reimagined comedic tale.

Mischief and mayhem ensue when four young lovers run away to the forest, and find themselves tangled in a war between the Fairy King & Queen. Set against the seedy underbelly of Prohibition, this show is debaucherously hysterical.

On stage at Neptune Theatre until October 5. Tickets start at $33.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Penderecki String Quartet—The Music Room Chamber Players Series: One of Canada's finest chamber ensembles, the Penderecki Quartet is making its first appearance in Nova Scotia since 2010. They bring us a mix of classics and Canadian works, including a late work of Murray Schafer's, written as the composer grappled with the onset of dementia. | Sep 18 |  7:30pm | $35

🗓 Comedy Records Presents K Trevor Wilson and Friends: The Letterkenny star performs at Spatz Theatre for one night only, featuring the self-proclaimed Man Mountain of Comedy hosting a showcase with some of Canada’s top comedians. | Sep 20 |  8pm | From $40.25

🗓 The Australian Pink Floyd Show: Having sold over five million tickets to concerts that have taken place in 35 countries, The Australian Pink Floyd Show is hailed as the  biggest and most spectacular Pink Floyd tribute on the planet. | Sep 20 | 7:30pm | $58.50

🗓 Exhibition—East of East Atlantic Hip Hop Archive: This exhibition that delves into the rich history of hip hop culture in the Atlantic Provinces dating back to the 1980s. Curated by founder Michael McGuire, it showcases a selection of digital and physical items from an archive of over 2,100 recordings, 400 posters and 9 hours of video, along with 850 CDs, 165 cassettes and 280 vinyl records. | Sep 21-Nov 23  

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

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The One Cygnus container ship leaves Halifax for Singapore at 11:30am.

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

🛳️➡️ The Liberty of the Seas cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 8:30am and leaves for Canadian seas at 5pm.

🛳️➡️ The Crystal Serenity cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 8am and leaves for Canadian seas at 6pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🐟 There’s a new addition to the A Frite brunch and dinner menu, and it’s Fish Cakes: sweet potato and salt cod fish cakes, southern baked chickpeas, back bacon, poached egg.

🌮 You don’t want to miss out on the Buffalo Tinga Chicken Nachos at Antojo Tacos + Tequila: Buffalo tinga chicken, green onion ranch crema, cilantro, candied jalapenos, cheese and chips.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🫢 NDAs are routinely silencing people around the province—in almost all sectors of work. And that silence is causing long-term trauma to those people (statistically women are impacted at a four times greater rate) as they carry the secrets of what happened to them and, in that silence, the guilt of allowing perpetrators to go on to harm others. The Coast’s Julie Lawrence spoke with Can’t Buy My Silence co-founder, Dr. Julie MacFarlane, and Halifax-based trauma therapist Kristina Fifield about a new public training session that aims to raise awareness of the misuse of non-disclosure agreements and their consequences.

🗳️ In October, Haligonians will go to the polls to elect a new council. The Coast’s voting guide will be out prior to advance polls opening on October 8, but in order to know if our vetting process is right for you and your vote, you need to know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. So, without further ado, check out Matt Stickland’s guide to how to choose a candidate in Halifax’s 2024 municipal election.

That’s it!

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