What do you mean, defund the police?

Episode #18 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne is published. Mo Kenney’s new record Covers is a perfect winter companion — songs from across the rock spectrum that she’s pared down to piano or guitar and turned them into sad ballads. She joins Tara to talk about choosing and arranging them, and opens up for a frank discussion of the alcohol dependency it took a pandemic for her to confront. Plus: Movies are back (again). This episode is available today only for premium subscribers; to become a premium subscriber, click here, and join the select group of arts and entertainment supporters for just $5/month. Everyone else will have to wait until tomorrow to listen to it. You can subscribe to The Tideline here.

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6. Code of Silence

This item is written by Jennifer Henderson.

The Canadian Association of Journalists has given Quebec’s Ministry of Forests, Wildlife and Parks the 2020 Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy in the provincial category.

A news release from the CAJ says “the provincial ministry is being recognized for its unwillingness to share lab data with scientists at Environment Canada related to four mysterious fish kills that took place during the summer of 2019. At the time, dead fish showed up in the Ottawa River, with the source believed to be the Lièvre River, east of Ottawa and Gatineau”.

“Obstructing the free flow of information between different levels of government to address a critical environmental issue is disgraceful behaviour,” said Peter Jacobsen, chair of the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Canadian Issues Committee.

Ultimately, Environment Canada was forced to file access to information requests to get the scientific data from Quebec. Quebec told the Ottawa Citizen newspaper that it only asked for formal access requests “where appropriate,” but gave no further explanation.

The CAJ says the intent of the Code of Silence awards is to call public attention to government or publicly funded agencies that work hard to hide information to which the public has a right under access to information legislation.

The McNeil government is a likely candidate for next year’s Code of Silence award. A judge has ordered the province to tell taxpayers how much it is paying Bay Ferries to operate the Yarmouth ferry under a 10-year agreement that is subject to Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) Act. The annual fee is paid whether the boat operates or not, and the government chose not to disclose the fee despite a request from the Progressive Conservative caucus four years ago and a subsequent recommendation from the previous Information and Privacy Commissioner.

The Nova Scotia government and Bay Ferries have 30 days to choose whether to appeal. Cabinet meetings attended by ministers and the premier to discuss government business used to be held weekly. That changed to every two weeks last summer. The last meeting of the McNeil cabinet was on February 4 — two days before the Liberals chose Iain Rankin as their new leader. Yesterday afternoon the government announced there would be no cabinet meeting today. No explanation was provided. But it’s almost certainly because the current team will soon be replaced by different players. Premier-designate Iain Rankin will be sworn in February 23, next Tuesday, so perhaps there will be a meeting late next week. Or not.

This inter regnum offers a convenient excuse for the outgoing premier and ministers not to have to deal with difficult or embarrassing questions about issues that matter to people. Why are volunteer firefighters not equipped with sufficient PPE to respond to medical emergencies in their own communities when there aren’t enough paramedics available? It took 80 minutes for an ambulance to arrive in Bass River this weekend after 46-year-old April George experienced a heart attack, which proved fatal. Other examples are being discussed on social media. Despite fire departments being equipped with defibrillators, 911 does not contact first responders during medical emergencies because of a Public Health directive which has restricted firefighters to attending fires and car accidents due to COVID concerns about spreading infection.

That guidance from Public Health now appears to be under review. More paramedics will soon graduate yet there are also questions about why paramedics are sitting for hours waiting to offload patients at overflowing Emergency departments in Metro. Or why for more than a year the Emergency departments at two hospitals along the Eastern Shore (Twin Oaks and Musquodoboit Valley) can’t find enough staff to stay open. All at a time when there are no outbreaks of flu or COVID-19, fingers crossed.

The McNeil government has not released a 2019 consultant’s report by Fitch and Associates that assessed the province’s Emergency Health Service.

Waiting another week (or more) for answers on this file or the Yarmouth ferry or citizen requests to stop clearcutting probably doesn’t matter as much as a change in tone. The Code of Silence is not a prize any government wants to win.

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7. Slow streets equals…racism?

I often read the letters in the Saltwire publications for their entertainment value. Often it’s like taking a trip back in time. Sometimes they are mundane and charming — someone expressing their appreciation for a provincial park, or noting the particular pleasure of walking to the end of the driveway to pick up the paper every day. (The PEI Guardian is especially good for these.) Then there are all the cranky shakes-fist-at-cloud letters, and the often retrograde political opinions.

This morning I noticed one that picks up where former district 13 councillor Matt Whitman left off — railing against the local traffic signage that went up in a largely failed attempt to reduce and slow down traffic in residential areas.

Peter Lavell of Halifax objects to the city’s seeking federal funds to maintain the slow streets initiative.

In the initial article, Nicole Munro writes:

The initiative is looking to support projects that help communities create safe and vibrant public spaces, improve mobility options and provide digital solutions to help connect people and improve health.

Well, we can’t have that. Lavell writes:

It is becoming quite clear that a lot of the “new urbanists,” gentrifiers and city staff and councillors do not understand the difference between a neighbourhood and a gated community…

Do not even imply that anyone is not welcome to use any street in Halifax. That is a gateway to class bias and racism.

I mean, it is true that there was criticism of this slower streets initiative earlier in the pandemic, in that the number of slow streets seemed to fall disproportionately in higher-income communities.

But let’s face it — gated communities? Cars started knocking over those orange slow streets barrels almost as soon as they went up. I know people who saw drivers get out of their cars and move them off to the side of the road, then carry on their way. And then there’s the argument that we all pay taxes, so we should all have access to all the roads (which we do). Funnily enough, I rarely hear this argument when it comes to the notion that, say anyone should be able to stay in a city park overnight, or that transit and museums should be free.

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1. Molly Ivins on Rush Limbaugh

Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh died at 70. It’s no understatement to say he transformed the political landscape in the US and revolutionized talk radio. I first heard of Rush back in the late 80s, when a friend who had moved to Arizona became enamored of his show, and wrote me (yes, we wrote letters) about how refreshing it was to listen to him, and how he told it like it is, attacking journalists, feminists, and homeless people. Uh…OK.

I always found it interesting that Rush fans who considered themselves free thinkers also referred to themselves as dittoheads.

There was a time when I listened to a lot of American rightwing talk radio, back when it seemed like a niche aberration and before it took over the culture. I remember listening to these guys who had shows with vast audiences railing about being silenced and the oppression of conservatives and so on.

There was a lot of back-and-forth on social media yesterday about appropriate reaction’s to Limbaugh’s death, but I think the best piece about him is over 25 years old. It was published in Mother Jones, and written by the late, great Molly Ivins.

She writes:

I have been attacked by Rush Limbaugh on the air, an experience somewhat akin to being gummed by a newt. It doesn’t actually hurt, but it leaves you with slimy stuff on your ankle.

Ivins was no stranger to the biting comment or sarcastic remark. She was the epitome of the shit-disturbing writer and funny as hell too. Rush Limbaugh and his followers would often claim some of his more outrageous statements were jokes, and people complaining just didn’t get it. Ivins has no time for that:

The kind of humor Limbaugh uses troubles me deeply, because I have spent much of my professional life making fun of politicians. I believe it is a great American tradition and should be encouraged. We should all laugh more at our elected officials—it’s good for us and good for them. So what right do I have to object because Limbaugh makes fun of different pols than I do?

I object because he consistently targets dead people, little girls, and the homeless—none of whom are in a particularly good position to answer back. Satire is a weapon, and it can be quite cruel. It has historically been the weapon of powerless people aimed at the powerful. When you use satire against powerless people, as Limbaugh does, it is not only cruel, it’s profoundly vulgar.

And then she offers up this, which really was ahead of its time:

A large segment of Limbaugh’s audience consists of white males, 18 to 34 years old, without college education. Basically, a guy I know and grew up with named Bubba.

Bubba listens to Limbaugh because Limbaugh gives him someone to blame for the fact that Bubba is getting screwed. He’s working harder, getting paid less in constant dollars and falling further and further behind. Not only is Bubba never gonna be able to buy a house, he can barely afford a trailer. Hell, he can barely afford the payments on the pickup.

And because Bubba understands he’s being shafted, even if he doesn’t know why or how or by whom, he listens to Limbaugh. Limbaugh offers him scapegoats. It’s the “feminazis.” It’s the minorities. It’s the limousine liberals. It’s all these people with all these wacky social programs to help some silly, self-proclaimed bunch of victims. Bubba feels like a victim himself—and he is—but he never got any sympathy from liberals.

The whole thing is worth a read.

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2. Reading outside our comfort zone

Last year, my friend Jay and I started our podcast, Dog-eared and Cracked, with a simple conceit: each of us would recommend a book to the other. We’d read the books, then discuss one in each episode.

Early on, I found myself picking old favourites, in part to share my enthusiasm for them, and in part to see if they held up for me. We’ve read contemporary fiction, classics, and a pretty wide array of non-fiction.

For our most recent episode, Jay recommended the book The 50th Law, by Robert Greene and 50 Cent.

I don’t think it will spoil the episode to tell you I absolutely abhorred this book. Definitely a candidate for one of the worst books I’ve ever read. But hey — I’ve subjected Jay to a few he considers stinkers too.

I’m telling you all this not just to plug my podcast (but hey — listen to my podcast), but also because there is a real pleasure in reading recommendations. I find that by far the most fun, surprising, entertaining (and yes, even maddening) reads come from titles others have recommended to me. In the age of “if you liked this, you might like this other thing,” I really appreciate being subjected to, er, having recommended to me, books that I might otherwise have never picked up.

Feel free to drop your reading recommendations in the comments.

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Noticed

For years, people would drop off file folders and binders as donations to the Wonder’neath art studio, then located on Isleville.

“We try to say yes to donations because it is a way to build relationships. I am telling you, in the five years we were open at our Isleville location, people dropped off binders and used file folders so many times, and we would be like, ‘Oh God, what are we going to do with this?'” mixed-media artist and Wonder’neath co-founder Melissa Marr said in an interview.

Then came the pandemic. And all of a sudden those piles of file folders found a use.

I first heard about Wonder’neath several years ago, when I was writing a story on the craft scene in Halifax for American Craft magazine. The place was something of a magnet, with both professional artist studios and open studio events, where people could drop in and work on whatever project they wanted. The place had a great vibe. As I wrote at the time:

This afternoon, there are two dozen people here – many of them kids – sewing costumes and pillows, painting, handbuilding.

[Wonder’neath co-founder Heather] Wilkinson says it’s all about building relationships between professional artists and members of the broader community. “It’s kind of a delicate ecology that we manage. With spaces like this, we’re building up a level of support in the community for the work that we’re doing,” she says, before trailing off to go thread a bobbin.

Over the last five years, open studio has attracted 17,000 people. But last March, when pandemic restrictions were announced, it became clear those open studio days were not going to be able to continue.

Marr said, “When March 13 hit, we recognized our population was particularly vulnerable. Lots of older folks, folks with health concerns, people in precarious housing. We realized we couldn’t open, and that our style – a grand buffet of arts supplies – would make us ground zero for this disease. We recognized that some  people take multiple buses to get here, and if they hadn’t seen on social media that we would be shut, they would come to the door and they would be hurt. So, we thought, what can we do to give them something, some materials? And that’s how the kits evolved.”

“The kits” are the art kits Wonder’neath started putting together for people to take home. Some are handed out directly to people who come and line up outside the studio — which moved from Isleville to Maynard Street last year — and some are picked up and distributed by other organizations, like the Bayers Westwood Family Resource Centre, Veith House, and the Mulgrave Park Caring & Learning Centre.

Wonder’neath makes about 200 of the kits available every week, and last week, when I spoke to Marr, she said they were about to hit 7,500 total kits.

Marr said the Wonder’neath staff have “years of experience designing for classrooms with no budgets… We have skills like ‘how do these four weird materials come together and make something meaningful?'”

But there is a lot of thought that goes into the kits. Marr said they need to have clear instructions, be relatively foolproof, and that anybody should be able to follow the instructions and achieve success — an important confidence-builder for children and families. They are also open-ended enough that people can take them and improvise. There have been kits to make pop-up cards, and hand-stamped gift wrap, a flower-pressing kit, a mix-and-match drawing game, and mini fresco murals, and a lot more.

Last week’s kit theme was mini-golf. “Cardboard, felt, little bamboo sticks…. We put in a few materials so people could create obstacles in their mini-golf, like corks,” she said. And we put in whatever connectors we’re asking folks to use. We’ve figured out ways to send that out — like when folks need tape, we cut pieces of tape and wrap them around the pencil in the kit so everyone has the right kind of durable tape.”

But one of her favourites, Marr said, was the mini shadow theatre kit.

That’s where the file folders came in.

“The file folders became just the right thing,” Marr said. “We put in lots of work on our end to make it really easy for people to put together on their kitchen tables. And when you can do something sophisticated and artistic from something so pedestrian, that’s special. It was really beautiful. People were going to make something not too tricky but it provided hours of play and creativity. We heard about people putting on these mini-theatre shadow shows for people living with them, and we heard all these stories of kids doing shadow theatre over Zoom for relatives. Stuff like that is really powerful.”

While the kits have been a way for Wonder’neath to keep serving the public during the pandemic, Marr said the studio looks forward to being able to welcome people again, hopefully in April, with safety measures in place.

In a rapidly changing neighbourhood, Marr said Wonder’neath has a 10-year lease. She said, “People are tired of everything becoming super-bougie, so I think having spaces that show some kind of alternative is important. And I’m not naive when I say that; I understand art is a world that can be really elite, but there needs to be space for people to express themselves. We need to have some of the skills to problem-solve in our bigger world, and some of that starts in spaces that are for dabbling and playing… I think it’s important to have places where people can come together when it’s safe to do that.”

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Government

City

Thursday

Community Planning and Economic Development Standing Committee (Thursday, 10am) — live broadcast of audio and PowerPoint presentations

Board of Police Commissioners (Thursday, 12pm) — live webcast

Friday

Budget Committee (Friday, 9:30am) — contingency date if needed

Province

No public meetings.

On campus

Dalhousie

Thursday

Blockchain, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency (Thursday, 11am) — Zoom webinar; from the listing:

In this live 30 minute, information-packed event featuring renowned blockchain and cryptocurrency expert instructor George Levy, you will have the opportunity to learn about the many opportunities currently available with blockchain technology, and why it is considered “essential critical infrastructure” during the COVID-19 Pandemic. You will also have the chance to learn valuable information about Bitcoin, Blockchain and how you can take part in the greatest technological transformation since the World Wide Web.​

Don’t forget to write down your password.

Falling Through the Cracks: Long‑Term Care and COVID‑19 (Thursday, 1pm) — Facebook live stream event; panel includes Pauline Dakin, Janice Keefe, Kenneth Rockwood, and David Sabapathy.

COVID-19 has overwhelmed long-term care (LTC) facilities across the country, leaving Canadian’s shocked by the devastation. LTC facilities account for nearly 11% of COVID-19 cases in Canada and over 70% of total deaths. While the largest proportion of cases in Canada are among those 20-29, nearly 97% of deaths have been among Canadians over the age of 60.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed long-standing deficiencies and challenges in the delivery of long-term care in Canada. Many stakeholders are calling for national standards, but there are questions about the best approach. Should we amend the Canada Health Act to include LTC or develop new legislation? Long standing staffing challenges will also need to be addressed, such as equitable and permanent pay and benefits for care aides, mental health supports for all staff; and improved and required data collection. A coordinated approach between Federal and Provincial/Territorial Governments will be necessary.​

Friday

Let me tell you a story: Black women’s motherwork as educational leadership (Friday, 12pm) — captioned event with Stephanie Fearon, part of the Dalhousie Feminist Seminar Series

King’s

Thursday

Live Poets! On Love (Thursday, 8pm) — virtual live readings from Ben Ladouceur, Scott Lemoine, and Bahar Orang, and an open mic featuring student work

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In the harbour

05:30: Bishu Highway, car carrier, arrives at Autoport from Emden, Germany
15:00: Atlantic Condor, offshore supply ship, sails from Irving Oil for sea
15:30: Bishu Highway sails for sea
16:30: Oceanex Sanderling, ro-ro container, moves from Pier 36 to Autoport
22:30: Oceanex Sanderling moves to Pier 41

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Footnotes

I honestly don’t know what to think of the prospect of a Major League Baseball season at this point, but pitchers and catchers are reporting for spring training this week. Now I’m feeling wistful.

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