🗞️ "Pride belongs to us" say Pro-Palestine protesters

Hi Halifax,

Am I in a fever dream or some sort of fugue state, or did the Canadian women’s soccer team get caught cheating via drone at the Olympics?

In one of the truly most bonkers turn of events, two unaccredited Team Canada staff—an analyst and an assistant coach—have been sent home from the Olympics after they were caught recording Team New Zealand’s practice with a drone!

I’m perplexed as to what kind of classified information they were hoping to attain by capturing video-only aerial footage of a practice. Have you ever watched a soccer practice? It’s passing the ball around a bunch of times trying to find different ways to score on a net.  It’s not a “secret” strategy. I know, I’ve participated in roughly <consults calculator> 5,000 of them in my lifetime.

This is just CHEATING! I already thought Team Canada would be slightly cursed by once again wearing fashion stylings founded by a misogynist scum bag but it seems that sinister energy has crept into the coaching staff too.

This is such a bad look and I know it’s not the players’ fault, but they are lucky to still be in the tournament IMO. I hate it.

But I love you, so have a great day!

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌤️ 22°

Tomorrow: 🌤️ 22°

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.

NEWS + OPINION

‘Pride belongs to us’: Pro-Palestine protest organizer speaks on parade demonstration

Since the Halifax Pride Parade on June 20, news outlets have reported that a group of pro-Palestine protesters demonstrated during the event.

While some call this a hijacking of a day meant to celebrate the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, others see it as standing in solidarity with people who, like many in the queer community, are faced with the full brunt of someone else’s hatred.

Even Premier Tim Houston is reported as not having attended the parade due to a tip from the RCMP. Guillaume Tremblay, a spokesperson for the RCMP, told CityNews that the advice provided was based on “current international events and local disruptions such as protests.”

One such protest caused Toronto’s Pride Parade to come to a halt on June 30, ending early due to a demonstration by pro-Palestinian protesters near the end of the parade. Organizers later cited public safety concerns as their reason for cancelling the remainder of the event.

The stance taken by Halifax Pride? While they did not respond to a request for comment before publication, a post on their website from July 5 indicates they stand in solidarity with pro-Palestine protesters and their cause.

“Halifax Pride has recently reaffirmed our commitment to solidarity with the Palestinian Liberation movement condemning the genocide of Palestinian people and ongoing military occupation of their land,” reads the statement from the website weeks before the Pride Parade. “There is no 2SLGBTQIA+ liberation without liberation for all.”

The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer spoke with protest organizer and Canadian Federation of Students Nova Scotia chairperson Alexina St. Pierre-Farrow on why they demonstrated during the Pride Parade.

🤔 Need To Know

🗳️ Halifax residents are being encouraged to make sure they are registered to vote ahead of this fall’s election by verifying they are on the elector’s list by visiting the website.

🪲 Another tick-borne illness—anaplasmosis—is on the rise in the province. A research scientist says the symptoms are “flu-like”.

🎭 Support4Culture proudly supports Nova Scotian arts, culture, and heritage. From the Highland Village Museum to Neptune Theatre, see the impact Support4Culture makes here.*

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY ART GALLERY OF NOVA SCOTIA

The Unexpected Awaits at the AGNS

It’s time to kick the conventional this summer at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia! With two exciting new exhibitions Mitchell Wiebe: VampSites, an attention-grabbing fun house of optical effects, hidden illusions, and pop culture references, and Denyse Thomasos: just beyond, a career retrospective that shows how she challenged the limits of abstraction painting, the AGNS is a must-see this summer.

Plus everyone’s favourites are still on view including Maud Lewis, Kent Monkman, and more!

Open 7-days a week 10am-5pm and free admission all day on Thursdays this summer until 9pm. The unexpected awaits so plan your visit to the AGNS today.

CITY

NEW EPISODE: HFX Votes 2024

The HFX Votes 2024 series is in the process of wrapping up, with three episodes recorded yesterday to be released over the next few days. Up first is an interview with Céo Gaudet, a former member of the Regional Watersheds Advisory Board. 

For a little bit of history, the RWAB had a predecessor, the Dartmouth Lakes Advisory Board, which started in the 1970s. At the time, there was a lot of development going on and very few, if any, environmental assessments of procedures. But what was noticeable was the increase in silt in Dartmouth Lakes. 

So, the city of Dartmouth helped form this board, which was filled out with scientific, environmental, and local experts and organizations. Once formed, the board advised Dartmouth’s city council and the city of Dartmouth listened. 

In the intervening years, the city has professionalized its bureaucracy and added some in-house environmental assessments to the development agreement process. This led to the city trying to disband the RWAB last council term, but councillors voted to keep it because they deemed independent oversight as important. Now, thanks to some provincial legislation, the RWAB is gone for good.

In this episode, Matt and Céo take a deep dive into what the city of Halifax has lost in losing its independent environmental oversight. Just an administrative note: We got sidetracked, so Céo never finished explaining the issues with blue-green algae. When plants and/or blue-green algae die, they fall to the bottom and decompose. That takes up a lot of oxygen and makes the lake anoxic, which kills other lake life, like the eels mentioned.

🎧 Listen now 

🗞️ In Other News

⚖️ A sentencing hearing began Wednesday for the youth—now 16—charged in a knife attack at Charles P. Allen high school in March 2023.

🌊 Emily Churchill—A N.S. nurse—says she “doesn’t think of herself as a hero” after running into the ocean to save a 12-year-old girl who ended up getting caught in a rip current.

🌽 More than 30 local markets across the province are participating in Nova Scotia Farmers Market Week—an event that kicked off at the Tantallon Village Farmers Market.

🏍️ A police informant whose testimony helped put Dean Daniel Kelsie behind bars says last week's decision to release the former Hells Angels hitman on day parole is a mistake—saying “he will kill again”.

🚨 A father is grieving his son and calling for corrections reform as the death toll in N.S. jails continues to mount.

👀 RCMP in Wolfville are investigating multiple incidents where a man was looking into bedroom windows of females in the area.

🎒 ForestKids—an early childhood school in Hammonds Plains— has begun rebuilding its property after losing it all in the wildfires. Since that time, they have been using portable classrooms to continue helping their students.

🍕 Halifax’s Pizza Corner is looking different after the closure of Pizza Girls. The restaurant taking its place brings a new flavour to Pizza Corner— while honouring its legacy.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Live Music with Carrie Matheson: The lovely Carrie Matheson will be playing at Bulwark Cider House. Her enthusiastic style will fill the air with an unforgettable show. | July 25 | 7pm | Free

🗓 Stonebrother Live: Get ready to unleash your inner headbanger because Stonebrother is coming to rock your world. It’s gonna be loud and it’s gonna be wild. Don’t miss out on an epic rock show! | July 26 | 8pm | $5

🗓 Oceans of Pride Dance Party: Featuring a concert-level JBL VTX sound system, club lighting and upgraded lasers, this is one night of dance and house music you won't want to miss! Headlining this nautical-themed event will be, for the first time to Atlantic Canada, Billboard chart-topping superstar DJ/producer Joe Gauthreaux (NYC)! DJ Aris (Halifax) will open for this very special night of vocals and beats. | July 26 | 9:30pm | From $35

🗓 Dinostories in Halifax: The Villains Theatre is returning to Halifax for a special presentation of Dinostories: 3 Prehistoric Fairy Tales, performed and written by Noella Murphy and Dan Bray, with original music by Justin Gregg and Ranke de Vries! Join us at Point Pleasant Park for this hilarious family musical! | July 27 | 1pm | Pay what you can

🗓 LatinFax Festival 2024: Celebrate Latin heritage and recognize the remarkable contributions of the Latino community to Canadian culture, including music, dance and food. | July 27 | 5pm | Free

🗓 Halifax Beatlemania: Travel through time, from early Ed Sullivan to Let it be, you’ll get all the hits. Experience this live Beatles show through all eras of their career, performed on stage by The Liverpool 4 with the same high energy, impeccable musicianship, showmanship, fun, and humour. | July 27 | 8pm | $38.47

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

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The Algoma Verity bulk carrier leaves Halifax for Tampa at 12:30am.

🛳️➡️ The EF Ava container ship arrives in Halifax from Portland at 8:15am and leaves for Reykjavik at 3:59pm.

🛳️➡️ The Grande Sierra Leone container ship arrives in Halifax from Gioia Tauro at 5:56am and leaves for Baltimore at 5pm.

🛳️➡️ The Seamaster container ship arrives in Halifax from New York at 6:20am and  leaves for Kingston at 10pm. 

🛳️➡️ The Liberty of the Seas cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 7:30am and  leaves for Canadian seas at 6pm.

🛳️➡️ The MSC Annick container ship arrives in Halifax from Sines at 11:15am and leaves for Montreal at 11pm.

🛳️ The Augusta Luna cargo ship arrives in Halifax from Moa at 5:30pm.

🛳️ The CB Pacific oil tanker arrives in Halifax from Albany at 6:40pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🧁 Satisfy that sweet tooth with one (or all) of the special new flavours this week at Layers Cupcakes: espresso Skor cheesecake, ube dulce de leche and/or blueberry almond tart.

🌮 TACOS! It’s Taco Tuesday every Tuesday at Kai Brady’s: choose from ahi tuna, steak, pulled pork, chicken, fish, bang bang or cauliflower.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🖼️ Two years ago Thursday, “some asshole broke into the Halifax Public Gardens and vandalized trees.” The mystery of who did this is an unsolved whodunit. Artists Miranda Bellamy and Amanda Fauteux were in the gardens in the immediate aftermath of the vandalism. With the help of city staff, they took photographs of the injured trees without their bandages on. These are now part of their show, Collective, at the Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) Art Gallery. The Coast’s Lauren Phillips spoke with the artists about their show and the artist talk taking place this Saturday.

🏠 Nova Scotia’s New Democratic Party is once again calling on Houston’s Progressive Conservative government to create a tenancy enforcement unit to ensure both tenants and landlords are following the rules. The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer speaks with community legal worker Sydnee Blum on how landlords can get away with breaking the rules, and what can be done to introduce consequences to the Residential Tenancies Act.

🎞️ A local casting director says the Maritimes has become a film industry hot spot and employment opportunities are endless—with demands for crew, extras and background performers.

🛒 The province announced that its long promised program to encourage people to buy local will only award points at Sobeys Inc. grocery stores and the NSLC. The two retail partnerships will be part of its $6M Nova Scotia Loyal program.

That’s it!

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