🗞️ Residential Tenancies Act remains toothless

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 mean—a water slide would be ideal—but beggars can’t 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 bit…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 tweaks—padding on slide, new sacks and they opted to skip on the wax.

Write to your counsellor and let’s make this happen Halifax! 🛝 

Also, escalators.

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌦️ 24°

Tomorrow: ☁️ 23°

Next Day: 🌤️ 25°

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

Residential Tenancies Act remains toothless as support systems become overwhelmed

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.

In their statement released on July 17, the NSNDP claims Houston’s government has been “sitting on a consultant’s report” recommending the creation of such a unit, which would instill repercussions for violations of the Residential Tenancies Act.

“So many Nova Scotians are scared to report unsafe living conditions or illegal rent hikes because they’re afraid of losing their home,” said NSNDP leader Claudia Chender in the release. “We need a residential tenancies enforcement unit to ensure that repeat offenders face consequences if they continually break the Residential Tenancies Act.”

Although Chender introduced legislation to create a residential tenancies enforcement unit last fall, and the provincial government has received a consultant’s report on the matter, nothing has been done about enforcing the Residential Tenancies Act.

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.

🤔 Need To Know

🏳️‍🌈 Tim Houston says that he didn’t participate in this year’s Halifax Pride parade because he was advised by RCMP not to due to safety concerns—but the decision to skip doesn’t diminish his support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

🛒 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 ‘importance of human relationships with trees’

Two years ago Thursday, “some asshole broke into the Halifax Public Gardens and vandalized trees,” 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 gardens—or intentionally had their bark stripped and deep cuts made into their trunks in a way that could kill them—have 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 locations—mostly through human intervention—that Bellamy and Fauteux have encountered. 

The “process of accumulation” of hundreds of photographs of trees leading up to Collective, “was always in the background of whatever else we were doing for the last five years,” says Bellamy. They’ve distilled these into the exhibition at MSVU—the show's second location since first opening at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie in Treaty 8 territory, in Alberta, on Oct. 5, 2023. 

The Coast’s Lauren Phillips spoke with the artists about their show—Collective—and the artist talk taking place this Saturday at MSVU.

🗞️ In Other News

⚠️ A natural gas leak on Monique Avenue in Dartmouth prompted a provincial emergency alert throughout HRM yesterday afternoon.

🚒 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 officials—who don't appear to have followed their own policies.

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

🚔 Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin—MLA for Cumberland North since 2017—is calling on multiple levels of government to find ways to curb a spike in crime in her constituency.

🥪 Some N.S. parents are concerned about how the province’s new school lunch program will cater to dietary needs—both health and religious.

🦪 The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says a "worrisome" parasite has been confirmed in at least one area on P.E.I.—samples from several oyster farms have been sent for testing.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 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

🗓 Unbroken Ukraine Barvinok Charity Concert: Experience mesmerizing Ukrainian dance and live performances of well-known Nova Scotian musicians at the LightHouse Arts Centre—including 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

🗓 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

🗓 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].

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The East Coast oil tanker leaves Halifax for St. John’s at 3am.

🛳️ The NYK Nebula arrives in Halifax from Saint John at 5:20am.

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

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🥐 Don’t 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.

🌶️ 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.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🚍 On December 7, 2021, Halifax’s city council directed staff to develop a plan to make Spring Garden Road available only for buses. It is now July, and this week’s transportation standing committee meeting does not have the transit-only pilot on the agenda. The Coast’s city hall reporter Matt Stickland has more on the ongoing saga of the Spring Garden Transit-only pilot.

🍷 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-Governor’s 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 Coast’s Brendyn Creamer lists the five wines awarded by the Lieutenant-Governor and their varied flavour profiles and pairings.

That’s it!

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