🗞️ New art show reimagines climate change solutions

Oh, hi Halifax,

Want to feel extra lazy this morning?

Halifax’s own Sydney Pickrem just qualified for her THIRD Olympics! How many Olympics have YOU qualified for?! (I really hope Ellie Black isn’t reading this…)

The 27-year-old made her Olympic debut in Rio in 2016 and then went on to win a bronze medal in the women’s 4x1000m medley relay at Tokyo 2020, swimming breaststroke in both heats and the final. Individually she was a finalist in the 200m IM, finishing sixth for the second time.

The Coast will keep you posted on all the Halifax athletes heading to Paris this summer so we can cheer them on.

Hope your day goes…swimmingly! (I couldn’t help myself)

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: ☀️27°

Tomorrow: 🌤️ 23°

Next Day: ☁️ 24°

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.

ARTS + CULTURE

New art show—’The Icehouse Architect’—envisions individual and collective responsibility in mitigating climate change

As you enter the Blue Building Gallery for Krista Leigh-Davis’ new show—The Icehouse Architect—the space feels cold but beautiful, just like you’d imagine the north to be. Crisp, white and sparkling. There is an undeniable sense of magic to it that sparks wonder and mystery.

The gallery itself becomes a speculative future where remnants of a once-frozen world serve as the foundation for a new mythology. But there’s also a profound sadness to it which comes with the acute awareness that it could all…go away.

Through video and sculptural works, Davis tells a fragmented story of both past attempts to monitor and mitigate ice loss, as well as a newly discovered method to rebuild ice structures post-melt. 

The Coast’s Julie Lawrence caught up with Davis in the Blue Building Gallery to talk more about her inspiration for the show and what she hopes people take away from the experience.

🤔 Need To Know

🐈 The future of local vet clinics might be at risk as big corporations continue to buy them up—raising questions about price, choice and quality of care.

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CITY COUNCIL

Council gets preview of new provincial transportation plan

There’s an uncomfortable truth that we live with in Halifax and that truth is that we built our city wrong. In 2022, the provincial government formed a crown corporation called the Joint Regional Transportation Authority (JRTA) and they’ve been tasked with fixing transportation in the province. 

In their update to council, the JRTA staff explained that this plan will be put to the provincial government in November of this year. Even though there are no details yet we know that the JRTA is acutely aware of all of the issues with car first transportation planning. From the physical inefficiency—demonstrated last Thursday where traffic stood still for a few hours because a handful of drivers had a bad day—to the environmental issues, like transportation being 32% of Nova Scotia’s greenhouse gas emissions and car tires being most of the microplastics in our oceans which is leading to heart failures and strokes. 

Councillor Sam Austin focused on past mistakes in transportation saying that we’ve essentially been on a transportation junk food diet for the past 70 years. We know junk food. We like junk food. We’re going to fight tooth and nail to keep our junk food diet. He wanted to know what the JRTA was planning to wean us of our self destructive transportation diet. 

We won’t know for sure until November when the plan is finished, but Mark Peck, the president of the JRTA was very clear: cars are important, but they are fundamentally unsustainable. He and the JRTA team view their work as a planning document that will fundamentally shift the future of Nova Scotia’s transportation to a more reliable mix of cars, buses, ferries, bikes, scooters and maybe even trains. 

While it’s always prudent to temper expectations when it comes to politics, there is reason to allow a seed of optimism to germinate and take root.

🗞️ In Other News

🏛️ Voters in Pictou West are headed to the polls Tuesday in a riding that voted decisively Tory in the 2021 provincial election. Premier Tim Houston called the byelection on May 21 after House Speaker Karla MacFarlane retired.

🎒 Some parents in HRM say there wasn’t enough consultation before changes were made to the grade levels at four different schools to address capacity issues. One parent says her 10-year-old now has to go to school with junior high students.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Jeremy Vaughan Keji - Nature Is My Bliss: This art exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to experience the park’s stunning vistas through the eyes of Jeremy Vaughan, who has been inspired by its pristine lakes and rich cultural heritage for many years. The exhibit not only celebrates the park’s natural wonders but also highlights the importance of conservation and the role art plays in preserving these landscapes for future generations. | May 23-June 14

🗓 Garrison Beer Release Party: The Carleton is hosting a very special event to celebrate the release of a brand new beer from Garrison Brewing Co. featuring Houblon Duke25 Hops from Phyl La Ferrier’s family farm in St. Edourad, Quebec. Be the first sample it while rocking out to classic outlaw country tunes by Desperado Band. | May 24 |  8pm | $23 

🗓 Hot Pot - An All Asian Variety Showcase: Celebrate Asian Heritage month with this all-Asian cast with talents based in various spicy performing art disciplines, from drag to pole dancing to burlesque. The show features a mix of returning and new performances. | May 25 |  6-8pm and 9-11pm | From $26.89

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 3am.

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

🛳️➡️ The CMA CGM Zephyr arrives in Halifax from Tanger-Med at 4:45am and  leaves for New York at 10pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🐟🍸 The Bicycle Thief has a must try for seafood lovers. The seared local scallops have a crunchy panko crust in a vibrant Yuzu beurre blanc with a sprinkle of toasted almonds. Pair it with their Allegro cocktail: Maker’s Mark bourbon, yellow chartreuse, Rooibos peach tea, pollinated honey and a twist of lemon.

👀 In Case You Missed It

📖 Looking for a time-travelling romance set in Halifax during the ‘90s? Mexico-based author Rocío Castillo has you covered. Castillo’s latest book, Forward Rewind, follows a woman named Elaine Connors in the year 2021. After renting an office in Halifax, she discovers a secret door allowing her to travel to the past. The Coast's Brendyn Creamer spoke to Castillo about her new book and what inspired her to set it in Halifax.

🛣️ HRM’s new Strategic Road “Safety” Framework was back in front of the Active Transit Advisory Committee on Thursday evening as traffic stood at a standstill around HRM. The Coast’s Matt Stickland dispels  the myths of traffic engineers and breaks down the fatal flaws in the new road safety framework point by point.

That’s it!

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