Province relaxes oversight of Halifax Convention Centre

New legislation doubles what Events East can spend without government approval, eliminates annual reports on centre's effectiveness.

by Jacob Boon on September 21, 2018 at 4:01PM

New legislation introduced on Friday will expand the powers of Events East to operate the Halifax Convention Centre with far less oversight from the city and province. The Crown Corporation, which manages the Argyle Street enterprise, will see its spending limit without prior written government approval increase from $250,000 to $500,000.

Stephen McNeil's contempt for transparency

The premier has no interest in fixing the broken freedom of information system his government openly ignores.

by Jacob Boon on September 21, 2018 at 1:19PM

It's been a depressing week for Nova Scotia's freedom of information. First, premier Stephen McNeil said his 2013 campaign promise to “expand the powers and mandate” of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner was a “mistake.”

Kathy Symington’s discrimination complaint will be heard in full

Nova Scotia's Human Rights Commission changes its mind about the former Halifax firefighter's case of systemic gender discrimination and harassment.

by Jacob Boon on September 20, 2018 at 4:01AM

Sixteen years and 24 hours later, Kathy Symington’s complaint will be heard in full by Nova Scotia’s Human Rights Commission. The news was announced Wednesday by civic advocacy group Equity Watch, which has been fighting on behalf of the firefighter’s gender discrimination case.

25 for 25: episode 2007

Inside the Square with councillor Lindell Smith and Halifax's slow road to better biking with Kelsey Lane.

by Jacob Boon on September 17, 2018 at 12:45PM

If you like the podcast, please feel free to give us a nice rating or leave a review. If you hate the podcast, want to correct something we got wrong or have comments about any events we forgot to mention you can email us at letters@thecoast.ca.

Petition to rename Cornwallis Street delivered to city hall

Over 1,700 online signatures and 60 area residents want the controversial north end street's name changed to Rocky Jones Boulevard.

by Jacob Boon on September 14, 2018 at 5:47PM

“The statue coming down was a great first step, but there's more that can be done,”

 says Angel Marcus-Panag. On Thursday, the Halifax resident went to City Hall and delivered his petition containing over 1,700 signatures in favour of renaming Cornwallis Street to Rocky Jones Boulevard.

Delay in addressing workplace racism a “slap in the face,” says councillor

“I just think, as a municipality, it looks more reactive than proactive.”

by Jacob Boon on September 13, 2018 at 4:06AM

It shouldn't be taking this long. This week at council, staff presented a progress update on efforts to address widespread racism within city hall's workforce, as documented in the 2016 Employment Systems Review.

Planner's exit could impact Centre Plan

Mayor is sad to see Jacob Ritchie leave city hall, but what his departure means for HRM's new planning bible remains to be seen.

by Jacob Boon on September 12, 2018 at 2:53PM

Mayor Mike Savage isn't sure what sort of impact Jacob Ritchie's departure from city hall will have on the long-delayed Centre Plan. The urban planner has been shepherding the new planning bible through a slow, often delayed approval process for the past few years.

25 for 25: episode 2006

Reuniting the (almost) original cast of Street Cents, AKA Jonathan Torrens, Jamie Bradley, Benita Ha and Brian Heighton.

by Jacob Boon on September 10, 2018 at 7:13AM

Oh word, Rick Mehta was fired

Acadia University terminates professor after investigation into racist, sexist comments made both in and out of the classroom.

by Jacob Boon on September 7, 2018 at 5:16PM

Congratulations to Rick Mehta on what will surely be a windfall for his personal brand. The associate psychology professor has been fired by Acadia University after an investigation into multiple complaints about his sexist, racist and transphobic comments.

City hall lawyers say smoking ban needs to include tobacco

Halifax staff reason it'll be nearly impossible to prosecute cannabis smokers if we can't also prosecute cigarette smokers.

by Jacob Boon on September 7, 2018 at 4:19PM

It's worth noting that Halifax Regional Council does not have any authority to decide what evidence a provincial court judge should or should not consider. Also, given how much of the criticism about this nuisance bylaw has been on how it will unfairly target poor and racialized residents, it's unlikely that widening the potential for discrimination from city police to any old pot-smelling “witness” will be met with less vocal resistance from the public.