Welcome to Weekend File, where you’ll find all the articles you might have missed last week. There was no article on Saturday; use the links to jump to these days:
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Sunday, August 29
1. When developers and landlords speak, Tim Houston listens
Stephen Kimber reviewed Premier-elect Tim Houston’s comments over the last number of months to find out how closely Houston’s listening to developers in the province. Kimber determined it’s likely too closely. If you recall, Houston, who’s opposed to rent control, said at his first post-election press conference, “I have calls from people who have lost their rental because of rent control.”
2. Updated: Photos suggest that there is a tailings leak at Atlantic Gold’s Moose River gold mine
Joan Baxter reports on photos that surfaced on social media that appeared to show a tailings leak at the Moose River gold mine on the Eastern Shore. A spokesperson with Atlantic Gold said “there is no leak of any kind occurring,” but Baxter spoke with an independent expert who said the orange coloration in the photo “is worrisome to me.”
Monday, August 30
1. Morning File: Don’t go putting soap in waterfalls
A social media stunt that’s been around for years made its way to Nova Scotia. People are putting dish soap into waterfalls and natural watercourses. While the bubbles look fun, Rent learned from Adam Malcolm at Nova Scotia Species at Risk that soap can harm fish and other wildlife.
2. Black News File
Matthew Byard’s latest Black News File had stories on a Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision on the use of Impact of Race and Culture Assessments (IRCAs), assault charges against New Glasgow mayor Nancy Dicks, and a piece on Canadian wrestling legend Sweet Daddy Siki. Byard also found a story about Jollytown written by Ashley Sutherland, an archivist for the Colchester Historteum, and found his grandfather in one of the photos.
3. Celebrating environmental activism with art
This year, the Ecology Action Centre is celebrating its 50th anniversary. To honour the occasion, EAC got together with Nova Scotia artists to create an interactive app called 50 Things. Yvette d’Entremont learned all about it.
4. 31 cases of COVID-19 over 3 days announced on Monday, August 30
It looked like a lot of cases, but remember it was a three-day total. Tim Bousquet had the report.
5. Nova Scotia fighting to evict 63-year-old man with terminal cancer from public housing
Zane Woodford had another story in our series, PRICED OUT: Addressing the Housing Crisis. In this story, Woodford learned about Blair Raoul who has terminal cancer and is living in public housing in Dartmouth. But Raoul is about to be evicted.
Tuesday, August 31
1. Morning File: Antivaxxers getting COVID might not result in the schadenfreude we imagine
Tim Bousquet wrote that it’s “ungenerous” to want people to get sick with COVID, even if they rally against vaccines and public mandates that could protect them. Bousquet wrote: “I don’t know who deserves what, but I do know I don’t want these people to suffer.”
2. New government installed
Tim Houston was sworn in as Nova Scotia’s 27th premier and the new cabinet ministers were announced. Bousquet was at the press conference after the swearing-in ceremony and asked Houston and John Lohr, the new Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, about rent control.
3. 3 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Tuesday, August 31
Just three new cases of COVID-19 were announced on Tuesday.
Wednesday, September 1
1. Halifax council votes to use $13 million in federal money to fund 85 affordable units, pledges $500,000 in new housing spending
Almost two weeks after the eviction of homeless people and police action, there were some apologies by councillors and an announcement that new affordable housing was on the way. Zane Woodford reported on Tuesday’s day-long city council meeting.
2. How 27 units of affordable co-op housing in Halifax were sold off for cheap
Another story from Woodford on the housing crisis. This one on New Armdale Westside Housing Co-operative Limited’s quiet sale of some of its properties in Spryfield, all done with government approval.
3. Morning File: The madness of the online marketplace
Ethan Lycan-Lang dug up some of the most outrageous items being sold on Halifax Buy and Sell. And he had a heartbreaking story about his family’s cabin in Echo Lake, California, which is under threat from the Caldor wildfire.
4. Backyard chickens, the Halifax Forum, and a football field: council round-up
Zane Woodford had all the latest from Halifax Regional Council’s meeting this week. Chickens were on the menu (I stole that line from Philip Moscovitch), as was the decision to sell of part of the Halifax forum.
5. Houston fires Nova Scotia Health Authority CEO, dissolves board
Just a day after the swearing-in ceremony, Premier Tim Houston and his party made huge changes at the Nova Scotia Health Authority with the firing of CEO Brendan Carr and its entire board. Tim Bousquet reported on the new “leadership team” that’s taking over.
6. 7 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Wednesday, September 1
Seven new cases for Wednesday.
7. People’s Park: ‘None of this is sustainable’
Yvette d’Entremont interviewed Claire Chadwick, a spokesperson with P.A.D.S. (Permanent, Accessible, Dignified, and Safer) Housing Network, about the news from Halifax Regional Council on the creation of affordable housing and how it can help those currently living in “People’s Park.”
Thursday, September 2
1. As a Canadian nurse who provides abortion care, I worry for my colleagues in Texas
Registered nurse Martha Paynter reflected on the work her colleagues in Texas are doing as Senate Bill 8 came into effect this week. Paynter wrote about the despair she felt for abortion care providers, their safety, economic security, and “immeasurable distress of not being able to help.”
2. The Tideline, with Tara Thorne
Tara Thorne chatted with Halifax legend Jane Kansas about her new Halifax Fringe play, My Heart Attack. Fringe started on Friday and wraps up September 12. Thorne also gives her recommendations on what to see there.
3. Morning File: Assault with a breakfast sandwich
Philip Moscovitch had so many interesting pieces in his Morning File this week, including a job posting from Armour Group, an article on how bad design can be dangerous, and lawyer Barbara Darby’s look at legal cases involving Egg McMuffins.
4. Halifax releases 2021 sunshine list: Of more than 1,000 employees making more than $100,000, 454 are police
This week, the HRM released its annual sunshine list, which includes the names of all HRM employees who make more than $100,000. And there are a lot of cops on the list this time; they make up just over 40% of it.
5. 5 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Thursday, September 2
60 known active cases in NS, but no one is in hospital with COVID-19, so there’s that.
Friday, September 3
1. Study to look at “portable” housing subsidies
Project HALO (Housing Assistance and Life Outcomes) is seeking participants for a study on how housing assistance impacts people’s housing experiences and quality of life. Yvette d’Entremont speaks with Lynn Liao, the lead investigator.
2. Bria’s story
When he was eight years old, Braxton Dort wrote a book about his little sister, who has a rare genetic disorder. He sold enough copies of the book to raise about $2000 for the TANGO2 Research Foundation. Joan Baxter talks to Braxton and his family, and to specialists looking for a cure.
3. Black community reacts to the appointment of a white Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs
Matthew Byard surveyed the reactions to Patt Dunn’s appointment, and to the dismissal of two prominent Black female non-elected officials. He also spoke to Percy Paris, the province’s first minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs.
4. Morning File: John Lohr is the minister charged with Nova Scotia’s housing file, but doesn’t seem to comprehend the housing crisis
Tim Bousquet tried to make sense of the word salad that was John Lohr’s response when he was asked about housing costs, the perceived conflict of interest in being a landlord, and being open to all options, except the option of rent control.
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