It rained a lot yesterday. Thankfully, CBC was here to document it.
Anjuli Patil, the CBC’s go-to weather reporter.
At 6:30am, the Bedford Highway was closed between Flamingo Drive and Bayview Drive due to flooding, so it looks like the morning commute will be a mess. Anjuli Patil is on it.
Environment Canada has issued another one of its “Rain ending this morning. This afternoon: Rain.” forecasts. So run outside at 11:47am and catch the glorious moment.
Police are investigating the region’s latest pedestrian accident after a man was hit in a crosswalk on Highway 107 in the Forest Hills area on Wednesday morning.
The RCMP say the man was crossing the busy stretch of road in a crosswalk from a grocery store to a gas bar when a vehicle leaving the gas station turned left onto Highway 7 and struck the victim.
The accident happened at about 6:30 a.m.
The 33-year-old was taken to hospital by paramedics with non-life threatening injuries.
Police are now investigating the cause and say they haven’t decided on any charges.
Yesterday evening, via a police release to reporters:
At 5:30 pm, at the intersection of Henry St and Watt St in Halifax a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle. The 48 year old pedestrian was walking across Henry St when she was struck by a vehicle, she fell to the ground. She was taken to the QE 2 for assessment. The 41 year old male driver was issued a Summary Offence Ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian. At the time of the accident it was raining heavily and dark.
Last night, via a police release to reporters:
At 9:50 pm, a 22 year old pedestrian was crossing Mumford Rd, she was in a marked cross walk , near the shopping mall entrance. She was struck by the front passenger side of a large white vehicle, possibly a SUV, with a hatch back. This vehicle did not stop at the accident or provide any information to the pedestrian. No further description of the suspect vehicle or driver.
The women was assessed by EHS at the scene, it was suggested she attend the hospital for further treatment of her possible injuries.
Anyone with information about this accident are asked to contact police at 490-5020. Anonymous tips can be sent to Crime Stoppers by calling toll-free 1 800 222-TIPS (8477), submitting a secure web tip at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca or texting a tip – Tip 202 + your message to 274637.
This morning, via a police release to reporters:
At 7:45 AM – HRP Officers are at the scene of a motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian. The incident occurred at the intersection of Agricola St and Russell St. in Halifax. The pedestrian, a 26 year old woman, was crossing Agricola St at Russell St when she was struck by a 62 year old man who was making a left hand turn from Russell St. onto Agricola St. The pedestrian has suffered what appears to be minor injuries but has been taken to hospital for assessment.
This matter remains under investigation at this time.
The Australian Spirit, an oil tanker, is adrift off the coast. See “On the harbour” below for more.
Views
1. Xmas cards
Stephen Archibald breaks out his collection of 19th century Christmas cards. “I assume they were hilarious in their time but today it takes some unpacking to get the point,” he notes. “There is just enough depth to the collection to suggest several themes (we are always looking for patterns). Most of the cards feel masculine, maybe someone in my family particularly saved manly cards. ”
Photo: Stephen Archibald
C.M. Coolidge’s “Post Mortem.”
Included is an image of dogs and cats playing whist; in 1903, the Brown & Bigelow Company commissioned artist C.M. Coolidge to produce a series of ads with the theme of Dogs Playing Poker, which look a whole lot like the earlier Christmas card in Archibald’s collection.
This should be fun. If the latest piece of legislation introduced in Parliament, the Price Transparency Act, gets passed, it will require companies to explain why their Canadian prices are so much higher than the U.S. price.
So that will mean we can now ask the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. to explain how and why a case of Bud Light costs approximately $50 here and only $18 in the U.S.
Is it because of the fancy stores, the glossy brochures and magazines, the unionized labour force, the highly compensated executive team? Things they supposedly need to beat the competition? What competition? Come on, ’fess up! What’s the real reason? Good old price gouging?
Tim O’Neill, Chester Basin
Government
City
Appeals Standing Committee (10am, City Hall)—a couple of Dartmouthians are appealing their citations.
Province
Veterans Affairs (9am, Room 233A, Johnston Building)—Bruce Belliveau, the CEO of the Commissionaires, will be the witness.
On campus
Dalhousie
Today
Planetarium show (7:15pm, Room 120, Dunn Building)—Quinn Smith will present “The Christmas Star—Fact or Fiction?” Five bucks at the door. Reservations required; go to astronomynovascotia.ca.
Saint Mary’s
Friday
Burke-Gaffney Observatory (Friday, 7pm, meet at the lobby of the Loyola Residence Building)—check out the telescope at Saint Mary’s University’s Burke-Gaffney Observatory. Space is limited so reserve a spot here. The tours:
…generally last one to two hours and involve looking at various astronomical objects through the telescope and discussing the nature of these objects.
We also use a fenced-in Observation Deck on the roof of the building to show you the constellations or objects in one of our smaller portable telescopes.
These events are suitable for about ages 8 and up.
Sounds cold.
Noticed
I spend much of my walking around and on-the-bus time listening to podcasts. One of the most enlightening is the series produced by the London School of Economics. I’m way behind, so only listened to Danny Dorling’s October talk on “Inequality and the 1%: what goes wrong when the rich become too rich” yesterday. It’s worth a listen.
Dorling’s talk is specific to Britain, but he brings in enough international information and analysis to be of interest to North Americans. He also has a series in the Guardian about inequality.
In the harbour
The ocean near Halifax Harbour, 6am Thursday. Note the Australian Spirit, adrift. The tanker East Coast is passing by, en route to Saint John from Charlottetown. Map: marinetraffic.com with annotation from Halifax Examiner
(click on vessel names for pictures and more information about the ships)
Several of yesterday’s arrivals were delayed until today due to weather
A tanker carrying 90,000 tonnes of crude oil is adrift off the coast of Nova Scotia after losing steering Tuesday evening.
The Canadian Coast Guard says there’s no danger to the crew of nearly two dozen on board the Australian Spirit.It says it is monitoring environmental risks, but so far there are no issues.
[…]
The 250-metre ship is roughly 40 nautical miles from Chebucto Head, near Halifax. The ship was travelling from Placentia, N.L., to New York.
The tug Atlantic Larch is reportedly on scene, and the Venture Sea and CCGS Earl Grey appear to be on their way.There is a Good argument for the CCGS to be equipped for emergency towage. As the current multipurpose buoy tenders and light icebreakers reach the end of their useful lives, they should be replaced with an off-the-shelf ice-classed Anchor handling Supply tug design. Such vessels are equipped for towing operations and feature large working decks for cargo transport. A suitable crane could be provisioned for buoy work. this would add to the Coast Guard’s capability, and preserve the existing service levels.
Footnotes
You could be drinking your morning coffee in this cup.
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Tim Bousquet
Tim Bousquet is the editor and publisher of the Halifax Examiner. Twitter @Tim_Bousquet Mastodon
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Maybe we could get price transparency within Canada too? Why does Bell high speed internet service start at $48 a month in Ontario, and $67 a month in Nova Scotia (for slower service)? Same internet, same equipment, no shipping…
Re: cranky letter, Budweiser probably sells their beer for the same amount to NSLC and any other liquor store. There are no NSLC stores in the states. Stores in NS have to buy through NSLC. There’s no competition, and It’s not a free market.
We pay more because the market will bear it. Target is probably the most bold. In the US they’re a bargain retailer. When they moved to Canada, they explicitly said they’ll be “pricing their goods for the Canadian market” (ie; competing with Canadian Tire not Walmart.)
If people refused to pay more than US prices, they’d have to drop the price.
I attribute the difference to the (relative) strength of the Canadian dollar. Goods always cost 45% more because of the currency exchange, but as we surpassed parity (and back down again) that didn’t change; they simply pocket the difference.
That same currency difference is why fishing revenue is down. It’s bought and sold in US dollars. A weak Canadian dollar is ironically a boon to the rural Atlantic Canadian economy.
Actually there is a minimum set price, authorized by legislation. The NSLC calls it “Social reference pricing” – it has very little to do with tax, and more so, the power of Dr. Strang, MADD Canada, and all the other quasi-prohibitionists and their power under our system.
It will be interesting to hear what the automobile manufacturers have to say about their parts pricing. It is common knowledge that there are parts that cost 50-100% more in Canada than the US. For years they used the low dollar as a reason, until the dollar was at or above par. When the dollar was at par they dropped the prices about 10-15%, on some items. So the dollar increased about 50% and some prices dropped 15% max.
The answer to their reasoning is easy. The Canadian public is accustomed to paying inflated prices and as a business the automobile companies can see no reason to drop prices, regardless of where the dollar is. When you are the only supplier of some parts you have total control. Most business people will tell you to charge the maximum you can, with your limits set by the competitors and with the public being able to see value. Obviously the Automobile companies have this figured out.
It will be curious to see what they have to say about their price marketing program.
Bud Light Conspiracy: I await hearing about the differential in the cost of books and other items but know that the main reason beer is more expensive here is that we have higher taxes on alcohol in Canada
Tim, thanks so much for sharing your en route podcasts. What a fantastic site!
Maybe we could get price transparency within Canada too? Why does Bell high speed internet service start at $48 a month in Ontario, and $67 a month in Nova Scotia (for slower service)? Same internet, same equipment, no shipping…
Population density.
Re: cranky letter, Budweiser probably sells their beer for the same amount to NSLC and any other liquor store. There are no NSLC stores in the states. Stores in NS have to buy through NSLC. There’s no competition, and It’s not a free market.
We pay more because the market will bear it. Target is probably the most bold. In the US they’re a bargain retailer. When they moved to Canada, they explicitly said they’ll be “pricing their goods for the Canadian market” (ie; competing with Canadian Tire not Walmart.)
If people refused to pay more than US prices, they’d have to drop the price.
I attribute the difference to the (relative) strength of the Canadian dollar. Goods always cost 45% more because of the currency exchange, but as we surpassed parity (and back down again) that didn’t change; they simply pocket the difference.
That same currency difference is why fishing revenue is down. It’s bought and sold in US dollars. A weak Canadian dollar is ironically a boon to the rural Atlantic Canadian economy.
Actually there is a minimum set price, authorized by legislation. The NSLC calls it “Social reference pricing” – it has very little to do with tax, and more so, the power of Dr. Strang, MADD Canada, and all the other quasi-prohibitionists and their power under our system.
The Price Transparency Act:
It will be interesting to hear what the automobile manufacturers have to say about their parts pricing. It is common knowledge that there are parts that cost 50-100% more in Canada than the US. For years they used the low dollar as a reason, until the dollar was at or above par. When the dollar was at par they dropped the prices about 10-15%, on some items. So the dollar increased about 50% and some prices dropped 15% max.
The answer to their reasoning is easy. The Canadian public is accustomed to paying inflated prices and as a business the automobile companies can see no reason to drop prices, regardless of where the dollar is. When you are the only supplier of some parts you have total control. Most business people will tell you to charge the maximum you can, with your limits set by the competitors and with the public being able to see value. Obviously the Automobile companies have this figured out.
It will be curious to see what they have to say about their price marketing program.
Bud Light Conspiracy: I await hearing about the differential in the cost of books and other items but know that the main reason beer is more expensive here is that we have higher taxes on alcohol in Canada