🗞️ Slumlord voyeur

Good morning Halifax,

Welp, another day, another scum bag landlord story. This one isn’t hiking rent, throwing tenants out on their ass or painting over cockroaches instead of paying for an exterminator…

@kayla.hart22

... it be like that.... #landlord #paint #suspicious #renter #roach #weird #spiderwho

No, it’s much, much worse.

A single mom from Digby was minding her own business, unwinding in a nice bath when she noticed what she thought at first was a screw in the bathroom ceiling. Upon closer examination, she discovered that it was actually a tiny camera.

She immediately called the RCMP, who pulled the camera from the wall, along with a long wire that they traced to the landlord's home upstairs. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the landlord was charged with voyeurism, and has been released on conditions before a May court appearance. 

The woman said that she felt unsafe in the apartment since the day she moved in; the landlord made crude comments about her, texted her at all hours and entered her home without notice. 

But because she is on income assistance and receives other benefits like the provincial rent supplement, she struggled to find anywhere else to move in her rural area—and was told she would be waiting years for a spot in government-owned public housing. 

Housing advocates say this is not a one-off, but a chronic problem—that many people across the province are essentially trapped in their living situation. 

Trust your gut out there and if you feel like somebody’s watching you, they probably are 👀

– Julie

📷 @editorjulesl

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌦️ 8°

Tomorrow: ☁️ 12°

Next Day: 🌤️ 12°

7-day forecast

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

ELECTION

What keeps Canada democratic—and independent? Readers asked. We answered.

Democracy isn’t inherently permanent.

That fact—clearly linked to growing concerns about human rights and democracy in the United States—is on the minds of more than a few Coast readers.

We recently posted an explainer article called Government 101 and it spawned a flurry of follow-up questions from readers about how our federal government functions, and many people asked about what—if any—safeguards exist to protect our own democracy and rights.

The questions get to the very heart of Canada’s Parliamentary democracy and constitution, so we have taken time to explain them as best we can.

🤔 Need To Know

👁️‍🗨️ The HRM wants to know what residents value most from the city, and what public dollars should be spent on over the next four years as it builds its new strategic plan for 2026-2030—residents can take part in an online survey on the draft plan until April 23.

👀 Halifax police are asking for the public’s help in locating a missing woman from Hammonds Plains—52-year-old Stephanie Walsh was last seen in Halifax around 7:30am on Saturday and was reported missing by her family on Sunday.

📱 A new app launched in Nova Scotia will allow residents to create a legally valid power of attorney—the tool lets users designate a trusted person to manage their finances and property if they are unable to do so themselves.

🌮 Trivia, tacos, and playoff hockey? It’s all going off at The Pint this Tuesday. $3 tacos, $6 Coronas & margaritas. Leafs vs Sens with sound! Book now, arrive early! Yeah it’s real, see you down there!*

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY PAGE 1 THEATRE

OutFest l Queer Performance Festival

OutFest, the largest Queer performance festival in Mi'kma'ki/Atlantic Canada takes over Halifax, with Pillow Fite, Freya Milliken, and Clare Belford!

Audiences can enjoy a Main Stage production, as well as five new pieces on the Emerging Stage at the festivals main venue, The Bus Stop Theatre. OutFest 2025 also includes a Comedy Stage, headlined by Clare Belford, an expanded Youth Stage which includes a youth improv show, and the launch of an Open Stage at Breaking Circus. Other performances include a closing night Music Stage at The Carleton, and more.

Shop local food, jewellery, clothes and more at the Makers Markets this Sunday, in partnership with Different Folks!

Grab your tickets now!

🗞️ In Other News

🏛️ The Nova Scotia government is considering new regulations for bouncers—it comes after some family members of loved ones who died outside bars criticized the province over accountability.

🌊 Halifax’s water utility says it needs to divert millions of cubic metres of wastewater into the Halifax harbour and Bedford Basin as part of maintenance work in the coming weeks.

🚬 Nova Scotia tobacco enforcement officers seized a record number of illegal cigarettes last year and laid dozens of charges—an effort that comes as provincial tobacco tax revenues have dropped significantly in the last number of years.

🛒 As the price of food continues to increase, the majority of Canadians are looking for a Prime Minister who will work to fight food insecurity—Food Banks Canada’s newly released report found that 84% of Canadians agree that reducing hunger is a non-partisan issue for Canada.

🗳️ According to Elections Canada, Canadians have set a new record as two million people voted on the first day of advanced polling in the federal election. 

🥀 RCMP have suspended a multi-agency search for a child who fell into Cook’s Cove in Guysborough County—the child was fishing with a man and another child on April 17 when he fell into the water.

🥫 Amid U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats of annexation, some academics at Halifax universities are calling for Canada to assess whether it can feed its population in a crisis—they say Canada needs to think about food as part of the country's national defence strategy.

SPONSORED BY NEPTUNE THEATRE

Opening This Week

This potent and moving drama by Nick Green, vividly captures a moment in time when a rebel Princess Diana, alongside fearless caregivers and advocates, reshaped the course of a AIDS pandemic—and how those stricken by the virus found hard-won dignity, community and love in the face of astonishing hardship.

On stage April 22 - May 18
Tickets starting at $33, Book Today!

SPONSORED BY NSCAD UNIVERSITY

Student Art Award nominees show off

Visit the Anna Leonowens Gallery April 23 and 24 from 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. to see the work of nine NSCAD students vying for a $5000 juried grand prize award. This award provides young artists with vital visibility as they embark on their careers. On April 24 from 6 - 8 p.m., meet the finalists and discover who the 2025 winner will be.

🗓️ Things To Do

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

🗓 Tim Forbes re/collection Recent Paintings & Sculpture: Bridging the abstract and minimalist, Forbes’ artistic vocabulary leverages a unique visual language in a bold, modern dialogue, often wrestling with contemporary issues that ground his work in the present. Influenced over time by mid-century aesthetics, he embraces its tenets—a selective monochromatic palette, enlarged mass, repetition, and pattern recognition—all contributing to a pared-down formality. | April 10-27 |

🗓 What's Up! Improv Show: We pan across the stage as a group of ensemble improvisers embody dynamic characters in the foreground, middle ground and background of the frame. What's Up! will pitch their next great film—without a script, without limits, and with absolutely no idea what’s coming next! Each film pitch is completely made up on the spot, with outrageous plots, and scenes that could only exist in the realm of improv. | April 24 | 7:30pm | $15 |

🗓 Stars on Ice: Come see your favourite skating stars live in an all-new show, featuring the legendary Elvis Stojko. | April 25 | 7pm | From $32 |

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

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

🚢➡️ The Box Endurance container ship arrives in Halifax from New York at 5:50am and leaves for Kingston, Jamaica at 11pm.

➡️ The Tropic Lissette container ship leaves Halifax for West Palm Beach, FL at 6am.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

🍔 A true legend is back at Wave Foods today! You wont want to miss the Bacon Jam Burger: quarter pounder smash burger, melty cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, Wave sauce on brioche.

🍛 The Brown Rice Risotto Primavera at 2 Doors Down is the perfect respite from a weekend of indulgence: spring vegetables, grilled halloumi cheese, spinach, roasted garlic “cream”, pumpkin seeds.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🎙️ Although the weather would have you convinced otherwise, summer is indeed right around the corner. We’re halfway through spring—halfway to sun rays and shorts. Verry Gerry’s debut album, Sunny Beaches, may be exactly what you need to push yourself towards the finish line. Released last month, the 10-track album is a marvel of indie-pop bliss. It’s weird, free-flowing, and easy listening; it’s also instrumentally complex, lyrically engaging and emotionally resonant. It’s positive, it’s personal, and it might be one of the best local records to drop this year, in this writer’s opinion. The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer spoke with Halifax-based multi-instrumentalist Keith Doiron about how the debut album is a testament to individuality and personal positivity.

🪕 The Stan Rogers Folk Festival announced its 2025 lineup Thursday—the 28th edition of the music festival, which takes place in Canso from July 21-27, features folk, country, blues, soul, gospel, pop, rock and bluegrass artists.

🇨🇦 The further you get from your last social studies course, the more likely you are to vote. And let’s face it, it’s been a long time since many of us were given a breakdown of how exactly the Canadian government works. With a federal election coming up in a week, it’s worth spending a little time to refresh our memories on what, exactly, Canada’s federal government can—and can’t—do. So let’s get into it—here is an overview of everything you forgot you knew about federal elections, jurisdiction and law-making—and what exactly we’re voting for on April 28.

That’s it!

Thanks for reading The Coast Daily today.

If you found something useful, consider forwarding this newsletter to another Haligonian.

And before you go, let us know: