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- šļø Residential Tenancies Act remains toothless
šļø Residential Tenancies Act remains toothless
Plus, premier skipped Pride parade due to safety concerns, N.S. Loyal program announced, and new art show inspired by Public Gardens tree-girdling.
Oh hi Halifax,
It has always been a secret fantasy of mine for Halifax to convert one of the hills downtown into a GIANT slide. I meanāa water slide would be idealābut beggars canāt be choosers. How cool would that be though? Just grab a sack, hop on at Brunswick and just slide on down to Lower Water?
I always thought of it as a childish pipe dream. Until I heard about this giant slide in Detroit that reopened last week! Admittedly, the launch was a bitā¦bumpy. The slide at Belle Isle state park made headlines, landed on late night TV and even inspired a song after viral videos in 2022 showed riders literally bouncing down the ramp.
Two years later though, the six-lane slide is open once again, this time with some tweaksāpadding on slide, new sacks and they opted to skip on the wax.
Write to your counsellor and letās make this happen Halifax! š
Also, escalators.
ā Julie
š”ļø Traffic & Weather
Today: š¦ļø 24Ā°
Tomorrow: āļø 23Ā°
Next Day: š¤ļø 25Ā°
š Driving, biking or busing today? Check out the current traffic conditions and ongoing road closures.
šØ Here is Halifaxās Air Quality Index and the smoke report.
NEWS + OPINION
Residential Tenancies Act remains toothless as support systems become overwhelmed
šø Wangkun Jia / Shutterstock
Nova Scotiaās New Democratic Party is once again calling on Houstonās Progressive Conservative government to create a tenancy enforcement unit to ensure both tenants and landlords are following the rules.
In their statement released on July 17, the NSNDP claims Houstonās government has been āsitting on a consultantās reportā recommending the creation of such a unit, which would instill repercussions for violations of the Residential Tenancies Act.
āSo many Nova Scotians are scared to report unsafe living conditions or illegal rent hikes because theyāre afraid of losing their home,ā said NSNDP leader Claudia Chender in the release. āWe need a residential tenancies enforcement unit to ensure that repeat offenders face consequences if they continually break the Residential Tenancies Act.ā
Although Chender introduced legislation to create a residential tenancies enforcement unit last fall, and the provincial government has received a consultantās report on the matter, nothing has been done about enforcing the Residential Tenancies Act.
š¤ Need To Know
š³ļøāš Tim Houston says that he didnāt participate in this yearās Halifax Pride parade because he was advised by RCMP not to due to safety concernsābut the decision to skip doesnāt diminish his support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
š 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.
ARTS + CULTURE
Two years after Halifax tree-girdling incident, art show reminds us of āimportance of human relationships with treesā
šø Credit: Keely Hopkins / MSVU Art Gallery
Two years ago Thursday, āsome asshole broke into the Halifax Public Gardens and vandalized trees,ā as captured by a headline that ran July 26, 2022 in the Halifax Examiner. The mystery of who did this is an unsolved whodunit.
Two years later, some of the trees that were girdled in the gardensāor intentionally had their bark stripped and deep cuts made into their trunks in a way that could kill themāhave been removed from the gardens. Others, wearing life-saving strips of their own branches as grafted skin under burlap bandages, may still survive, though forever marked by this act.
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, on view until Aug. 17. The show documents various marks made on trees in different countries and locationsāmostly through human interventionāthat Bellamy and Fauteux have encountered.
The āprocess of accumulationā of hundreds of photographs of trees leading up to Collective, āwas always in the background of whatever else we were doing for the last five years,ā says Bellamy. Theyāve distilled these into the exhibition at MSVUāthe show's second location since first opening at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie in Treaty 8 territory, in Alberta, on Oct. 5, 2023.
šļø In Other News
ā ļø A natural gas leak on Monique Avenue in Dartmouth prompted a provincial emergency alert throughout HRM yesterday afternoon.
š As questions remain about why municipalities didn't request an emergency alert during the recent flash flooding, a fire chief says there wasn't enough support from local emergency officialsāwho don't appear to have followed their own policies.
šļø A local casting director says the Maritimes has become a film industry hot spot and employment opportunities are endlessāwith high demand for crew, extras and background performers.
š Elizabeth Smith-McCrossināMLA for Cumberland North since 2017āis calling on multiple levels of government to find ways to curb a spike in crime in her constituency.
š„Ŗ Some N.S. parents are concerned about how the provinceās new school lunch program will cater to dietary needsāboth health and religious.
š¦Ŗ The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says a "worrisome" parasite has been confirmed in at least one area on P.E.I.āsamples from several oyster farms have been sent for testing.
šļø Things To Do
Looking for something to do this week? Check out these Coast picks:
š Californian Margarita Mocktail Class with Mike Delic: Join this fun and refreshing evening and learn how to make a delicious Californian Margarita Mocktail with a unique twist! | July 24 | 6:30pm | $40
š Unbroken Ukraine Barvinok Charity Concert: Experience mesmerizing Ukrainian dance and live performances of well-known Nova Scotian musicians at the LightHouse Arts Centreāincluding 55 dancers. All proceeds from the entire tour will be donated to the medical rehabilitation centre Ukraine to help those affected by war. | July 24 | 6pm | $39
š Haliwood Queers: Join host Rouge Fatale and a slew of queer Halifamous celebrities in a classic game of trivia tic-tac-toe. Contestants from the audience will compete for glamorous local prizes, wading through campy questions and hilarious answers to determine who is telling the truth, and who is bluffing. With performances by Elle Noir and Anna Mona-Pia, and featuring sociologist Robert S. Wright, MLA Dr. Lisa Lachance, King of the Party Lou Campbell, comedian Adam Myatt, theatre darling Lara Lewis, and drag performers Abel T. Suckizone and Colin Sick. | July 25 | 7:30pm | From $15
š FREE Summer Concert Series At Halifax Shopping Centre: After 10 years in Toronto, playing with his bands The Matavaras and Julia Set Generator, Thomas Matheson is back in the Maritimes where he does a yearly Gordon Lightfoot tribute with Matt Mays, acoustic shows around Halifax and is currently working on a new solo project. | July 25 | 7pm | Free
Have an event to share? Let us know at [email protected].
āļø Whatās In The Harbour
ā”ļø The East Coast oil tanker leaves Halifax for St. Johnās at 3am.
š³ļø The NYK Nebula arrives in Halifax from Saint John at 5:20am.
š³ļøā”ļø The Atlantic Sun container ship arrives in Halifax from Norfolk at 5:20am and leaves for Liverpool at 5pm.
š“ Where To Eat & Drink
š„ Donāt miss out on the Annapolis Royal specialty sandwich at Tart and Soul this week: a flaky croissant layered with goat cheese, garlic aioli, thyme and pepper roasted strawberries, prosciutto and arugula.
š¶ļø Get all the flavour and none of the gluten with the GV Nachos at Easy Street Diner: jalapeno, monterey jack and cheddar cheese, corn, black beans, peppers, onions and tomatoes on top of fresh corn tortilla chips fried to order.
š In Case You Missed It
š On December 7, 2021, Halifaxās city council directed staff to develop a plan to make Spring Garden Road available only for buses. It is now July, and this weekās transportation standing committee meeting does not have the transit-only pilot on the agenda. The Coastās city hall reporter Matt Stickland has more on the ongoing saga of the Spring Garden Transit-only pilot.
š· The Lieutenant-Governor's office honoured five wines with Awards of Excellence earlier this month. Given out by Taste of Nova Scotia and Wine Growers Nova Scotia, in partnership with the Lieutenant-Governorās office, wineries across the province were able to submit up to three commercially available wines. Awards were given out at the Government House on July 10. The Coastās Brendyn Creamer lists the five wines awarded by the Lieutenant-Governor and their varied flavour profiles and pairings.
Thatās it!
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