🗞️ Reimagining the Halifax Jazz Festival

Good morning!

What a time to follow soccer in Canada. On Wednesday, news of a $40-million lawsuit filed by the players’ union for Canada’s women’s national team against 15 current and former Canada Soccer board members dropped ahead of their debut at the first-ever CONCACAF W Gold Cup.

The Canadian Soccer Players’ Association alleges that Canada Soccer’s board members “breached their fiduciary duty… to act honestly and in good faith” when they signed a media and sponsorship contract with Canadian Soccer Business in 2018. The deal requires CSB—which also owns the Canadian Premier League, where the Halifax Wanderers play—to pay Canada Soccer a guaranteed annual fee in exchange for the broadcasting and sponsorship rights to the men’s and women’s national team games.

It’s been a good deal for the CSB—and has helped pro soccer to grow in Halifax. But has it been a good deal for women’s soccer? The women’s national team players’ union say Canada Soccer’s board left money on the table, causing their program to suffer from underfunding.

The women are back on the pitch against Paraguay this Sunday. Canada’s head coach Bev Priestman doesn’t want this story to take away from the players, the Gold Cup or their fans. And it shouldn’t—if anything, I’d like to think this could build more support for the women in their Cup run.

Hopefully one day soon, we’ll have a women’s pro soccer team in Halifax, too.

– Lauren

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌧️ 3°

Tomorrow: 🌧️ 4°

Next Day: ☀️ -2°

7-day forecast

🚌 Driving, biking or busing today? Check out the current traffic conditions and ongoing road closures.

MUSIC

Halifax Jazz Festival’s new boss wants to make the music fest a year-round fixture

Tenille Goodspeed still remembers her first time on the Halifax Jazz Festival’s main stage. At age 13, the lifelong choral singer and (eventual) music industry pro was part of a “small jazz group” called Generation Jazz, and they were enjoying their first taste of the spotlight.

“It was a big moment for my 13-year-old self,” Goodspeed says with a laugh, speaking by phone with The Coast.

Flash forward, and Goodspeed is back in an even bigger spotlight: This week, HJF announced she’ll be stepping in as the festival’s newest executive director. And Goodspeed has big plans.

We caught up with her to talk about the future of the Halifax Jazz Festival.

🤔 Need To Know

☔ Environment Canada is warning of “significant rainfall and strong winds” this weekend, with gusts up to 90km/h and between 25 and 50mm of rain that could flood low-lying areas.

🎻 Never attended a Symphony Nova Scotia concert? For just $21 on Sunday only you can be amazed by the 80+ musicians performing live. Get tickets here.*

⚖️ Nova Scotia Power is on the hook for $2M in penalties after the province’s utility board ruled the company was “imprudent” in failing to check a rusty pipe that caused an oil spill.

🤝 Atlantic Lottery has existed for almost 50 years now and 100% of profits have always been returned to the region. "Every penny is reinvested in our communities."*

🩺 One recent report finds Nova Scotians wait longer than almost any other province for walk-in clinics.

🍜 Explore a world of noodles during the only celebration of noodles in the city during Oodles of Noodles on Quinpool!*

*Sponsored Post

SEX + DATING

Catfished: Halifax talks sex and dating in the age of the internet

Nearly 30 years after the dawn of online dating, we’re still making fools of ourselves when it comes to finding love—or a bit of lust—on the internet. One in seven respondents to The Coast’s 2024 Sex + Dating survey say they prefer to meet potential lovers online. And nearly two in three say they’ve dated someone they met virtually. Even more respondents say they’ve sexted—even if the results aren’t always successful.

Nowadays, sex and dating on the web is big business: One report predicts the online dating industry will be worth US $23.8 billion by 2032. But it isn’t without its pitfalls—from catfishing stories to Tinder red flags to unsolicited dick pics.

We’ve broken down all your juicy (and 100% anonymous) survey responses at The Coast.

🗞️ In Other News

⛺ Halifax’s homelessness director says issues with rodents partly prompted the HRM’s decision to evict five tent encampment sites.

⏰ Meanwhile, some of the encampments’ residents are feeling left without supports as the Feb. 26 eviction deadline looms.

🥬 Community fridge volunteers in Halifax say demand is growing as the cost of living continues to rise.

📈 Move over, baby boomers: There’s a new generation that’s reached the majority status in Canada, StatsCan says.

💉 Nova Scotia Health and IWK will soon no longer require employees to be immunized against COVID-19.

🏗️ Irving Shipbuilding has identified the 43-year-old man killed in a workplace incident on Monday.

💼 Black and Indigenous Nova Scotians still face lower employment rates compared to their peers, a new report finds. One Black entrepreneur calls it “an issue across the board.”

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Vincenzo Ravina: Actual Wizard: The Halifax magician won over Penn and Teller and took home the Audience Choice Award at the 2023 Halifax Fringe Festival | Feb. 23 | 8pm | $27.96

🗓 Lessons from the Den: Learn from Dragon’s Den alumni about what it takes to build your own business | Feb. 23 | 11am-3pm | Free (registration required)

🗓 Being Black in Canada: Halifax, Montreal & Ottawa: See the latest creative works by Black Canadian filmmakers at the Halifax Black Film Festival | Feb. 24 | 5pm | $12

🗓 Appaloosa & Jacob Strang: Head to Bearly’s on Barrington for a night of blues and barbecue this weekend | Feb. 24 | 4-8pm | No cover

Find more Halifax events in The Coast listings

🎧 Listen To This

🎼 Halifax harpist Kristan Toczo (HarpistKT) has a new project, Rock Echoes, giving the likes of Pink Floyd and Red Hot Chili Peppers a classical twist.

🎹 Former Haligonian David Myles has a smooth new single, “Still Missing You,” with May Erlewine.

⚓ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The Algoscotia oil tanker leaves Halifax for Sydney around midnight.

➡️ The NYK Constellation container ship departs Halifax for Port Everglades, FL, around 4am.

🚢 The MSC Cornelia container ship arrives at the South End Container Terminal from Montreal around 6:15am. It will depart for Sines, Portugal, by early evening.

🚢 The 260-metre-long Melina container ship berths at Fairview Cove around 6:20am. It arrives after a nine-day crossing from Valencia, Spain. It leaves for New York around 10pm.

🚢 The 37,515-tonne East Coast oil tanker arrives at the Irving Oil Terminal from Saint John around 12:40pm.

🚢 The Atlantic Sky container ship docks at Fairview Cove around 3:20pm. It wraps a two-day voyage from Norfolk, VA.

➡️ The 109,898-tonne Haifeng oil tanker leaves Halifax for Quebec City around 6pm.

➡️ Both the Nolhan Ava and Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/container ships leave Halifax at 6pm. The former heads to Argentia, NL, while the latter is onward to St. John’s.

👀 In Case You Missed It

💰 The feds announced a $30M tourism funding agreement with Atlantic provinces, including Nova Scotia, aimed at attracting visitors year-round.

🎵 Halifax alt-pop artist Rich Aucoin took a rather unconventional—and chilly—approach in recording his forthcoming album.

💸 Halifax councillors are in disagreement over whether to cut new hires from the city’s Parks and Recreation department.

⚽ The Halifax Wanderers’ soccer pre-season is officially underway. The Coast’s Martin Bauman spoke with midfielder Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé ahead of the CanPL’s sixth season.

🎤 Comedian Brent Butt is coming to Halifax in November. The Coast breaks down all the big shows coming to the HRM in 2024.

That’s it!

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