Halifax Magazine March 2019

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Works by Crystal Pite, Medhi Walerski, Emily Molnar

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CONTENTS

Vol. 19 No. 2 | March 2019

PHOTO: PAULETTE CAMERON

PHOTO: BRUCE MURRAY/VISIONFIRE

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By simply answering the questions below, you will be eligible to win $100 in product or service from the Halifax Magazine advertiser of your choice.

DEPARTMENTS

18 | FOLLOW THE PAPER TRAIL Over a few years, Stefanie MacDonald turned a simple project into a fast-growing business

7 | EDITOR’S MESSAGE Advice for Martians: Haligonians on surviving in our city

20 | HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS Long-time Symphony Nova Scotia conductorin-residence Dinuk Wijeratne returns to Halifax, reflecting on what the city still means to him 24 | MORE THAN A GAME Shaquille Smith wants to help kids in North Preston use their love of basketball to build their futures

26 | DINING: IT’S THE SIMPLE THINGS With straightforward comfort food and prices stuck in time, Halifax’s diners have lasting appeal

Eligibility: The contest is open to any resident of Atlantic Canada who is 19 years or older except those who are employees of Metro Guide Publishing or Advocate Printing. Your name may be made available to carefully screened companies whose related products may interest you unless you request otherwise.

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30 | OPINION: DIFFERENT BUT THE SAME Working with kids, a newcomer to Canada finds joy and meaning

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_____________________

28 | BEER: UPSTREET IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD A popular P.E.I. brewery partners with local restaurateur Bill Pratt to get a toehold in Nova Scotia

PHOTO: PAUL ORENSTEIN

General Contest Rules: Entries sent to any address other than the one given below will be ineligible.

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ronment q Education _____________________

9 | CITYSCAPE Free prenatal resources in Halifax; the city’s role in the historic battle between the Shannon and the Chesapeake; craft-beer spinoffs for a local bottle-washing business 17 | ENTERTAINMENT Dinosaurs Unearthed; university championship basketball; art inspired by native culture; Ballet BC; and more

All cards must be completed fully to qualify for the contest.

Closing date: August 14, 2015.

stories?

8 | CONTRIBUTORS Meet the writers and photographers who work on Halifax Magazine

PHOTO: BRUCE MURRAY/VISIONFIRE

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FEATURES

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MARCH 2019 halifaxmag.com | 5

PHOTO: JOAN MARCUS.

“The most remarkable broadway experience ever!”

ONE NIGHT ONLY! MARCH 26 SCOTIABANK CENTRE

EDITOR’S MESSAGE

Advice for Martians Imagine the Martians. They look more or less like us and have thus far escaped notice.

And today, one sees a nice Tourism Nova Scotia advertisement on Facebook. Moved by the lobster, fiddlers, and happy kayakers, he decides to visit Halifax.

He lands in front of your house. “Greetings Haligonian-Earthling! Your city is strange, with dangers and delights in equal measure. What is one thing I must know to survive here?”

After a moment to compose yourself, your natural Maritime helpfulness kicks in. What do you tell your new Martian friend?

In a fit of whimsy, I recently asked this on Twitter, eliciting some interesting reminders about what really matters to Haligonians.

Some of my favourite wisdom comes from @NFMazdaspeed: “The Dartmouth - Halifax divide. Do NOT refer to Dartmouth as if it’s part of Halifax, even if that’s what the official things you read say. I’m not joking. I have done this and it was awkward.”

We hear variations of this regularly from Dartmouthians (and Chezzetcookians and Lower Sackvillains and people from every other HRM community). The “Halifax” in Halifax Magazine refers to the whole municipality. We focus a lot on peninsular Halifax because that’s where the bulk of our readers live and/or work, but we try (and are trying harder) to broaden our reach. For example, see Josefa Cameron’s report from North Preston on page 24.

We can assume the Martian is unfamiliar with crashing ocean waves, so @Labville has a ruthlessly practical tip: “Stay off the black rocks.” Our visitor also gets pragmatic lifesaving advice from @realfatapollo: “Don’t use crosswalks. You are more likely to be killed.”

This winter it certainly feels that way, but still, use crosswalks. Just don’t count on drivers obeying the rules or police enforcing them.

This Martian will also need provisions. @PRapproach steps in: “You can only buy booze at the liquor store. As someone who moved from N.L. this was a harsh truth to learn.” This is one of those Nova Scotian things that feels so normal, until someone questions it. Why can we trust the cashier at the corner store to be responsible with tobacco but not alcohol?

As a small city, we sometimes take on weird quirks. @LauraORourke highlights one that will baffle Martians as much as it baffles me: “Everyone here buys chips to prepare for storm. (This was a legitimate conversation

with my mother-in-law after she recently moved from Toronto.)” This whole #StormChips business is weird. I get wanting chips, but why the compulsion to do a bunch of free marketing for the potato-chip company? @ColinHodd encourages the Martian to embrace transit: “Make friends with the ferry.” @Jer_Godfrey has similar advice: “The number 1 bus comes every 15 minutes or in rush hour every 10. Takes you to the Mall and Dartmouth!”

We Haligonians grumble about our transit system, but many newcomers love it. Halifax Magazine columnist Marianne Simon shared her impressions in the November issue: “Buses were modern… The drivers were courteous and helpful…I thought about the city buses back in India. People would be packed like sardines without a bit of personal space, adding to the misery of women.”

It’s easy, particularly for rich folks with lots of suasion, to discount Halifax Transit as a tax-dollar-sucking traffic-blocking nuisance;

PHOTO: TAMMY FANCY

BY TREVOR J. ADAMS

tadams@metroguide.ca Halifax Magazine @HalifaxEditor @HalifaxMagazine

it’s good to get a reminder that it’s a vital service that improves thousands of users’ lives.

(And see Marianne’s latest column on page 30).

Finally, should the Martian decide to settle and build a new life here, @RyanVanHorne has a career-building tip that would be funny, if it wasn’t painfully true: “Use the word ‘innovate’ a lot and you will never go hungry.”

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CONTRIBUTORS MARIANNE SIMON “There’s no place like home” Marianne is a freelance writer and subeditor and has published many children’s stories, articles and poems in magazines and newspapers. Her interests include teaching and conducting English-conversation classes. mariannesimon777@gmail.com

PAUL ORENSTEIN Photos for cover, “Home is where the heart is” Paul lives in Toronto and has been photographing a variety of subjects for many years—portraiture both editorial and corporate, documentary, travel, architecture, advertising, and fine art.

BOB GORDON Cityscape Bob is a journalist and popular historian specializing in Canadian military and social history. His work has been published in The Beaver, Air Power Review, Parents Magazine, and various Canadian titles. He contributes regularly to Espirit de Corps.

ALEXANDRA MACRAE Cityscape A St. Thomas University’s journalism graduate, Alexandra is originally from Cape Breton and has been a Haligonian since 2010. Her work has appeared on The Billfold and New York Magazine’s Vulture blog.

JOSEFA CAMERON “More than a game” A freelance journalist based in Halifax, Josefa writes for Halifax Magazine and The Coast and covers news for Seaside Radio. She also hosts a radio show on CKDU with her sister called The Paulette and Josefa Show.

PRIYA SAM “Follow the paper trail” Priya is currently filling a maternity leave position as the news anchor for CTV’s Your Morning. Before that, she was the news anchor on CTV Morning Live Atlantic. She attended the University of King’s College Master of Journalism program and graduated in 2014.

PAULETTE CAMERON Photography for “More than a game” Paulette is from Cape Breton and has lived in Calgary, Vancouver, Rhode Island, and Rome. She’s now in Halifax where she studies architecture at Dalhousie University and interns at MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects.

KIM HART MACNEILL “Upstreet in the neighbourhood” Kim is a freelance journalist and editor of East Coast Living. Read her beer column on HalifaxMag.com. @kimhartmacneill

RICHARD WOODBURY Cityscape Richard is a writer and editor from Halifax whose work has been published by CBC, Reuters, and the Chronicle Herald. richardwoodbury.ca

SUZANNE RENT “It’s the simple things” Suzanne is an editor and writer whose work has appeared in The Coast, Lawyers Weekly, Canadian Business, Globe and Mail, Bakers Journal, Our Children, and more. She hosts Cobequid Magazine on 97.5 Community Radio.

ANDREA NEMETZ “Home is where the heart is” Andrea has been writing about news, sports, and entertainment for over 25 years.

BRUCE MURRAY Photography for “It’s the simple things” and “Upstreet in the neighbourhood” Bruce Murray has been creating food and lifestyle photography for more than 20 years in the Maritimes and in his original studio in Vancouver. visionfire.ca

TAMMY FANCY Photo for Editor’s Message A freelance photojournalist, Tammy has shot for East Coast Living, Bedford Magazine, Profiles for Success, and Our Children magazines, plus two cookbooks. fancyfreefoto.com

8 | halifaxmag.com MARCH 2019

CITYSCAPE PARENTING

Free prenatal resources in Halifax

BY ALEXANDRA MacRAE

Free Prenatal Vitamins Women who are trying to conceive, expectant mothers, and nursing mothers should take prenatal vitamins. Through the Sobeys Baby Be Healthy program, they can receive these vitamins for free, plus advice about nutrition during pregnancy and a consultation with a pharmacist. A supply of vitamins lasting through pregnancy and a year of breastfeeding can cost around $130. To sign up for free vitamins, all you need to do is visit a Sobeys pharmacy and speak to a pharmacist, who will create a patient profile. Vitamins are issued in monthly prescriptions.

Volunteer Doula Program Chebucto Family Centre has offered a volunteer doula program since 1996, which provides doula support during pregnancy and childbirth to members of the community who may not otherwise be able to afford it. The program is available at no cost to those under the age of 25, newcomers to Canada within the previous five years, full-time students, those who are single, identify as LGBTQ or non-binary, or who have a household income of less than $42,000. For those with a household income between $42,000 and $70,000, the program is available for $250. There are many doulas available for hire in the Halifax at a cost.

According to Doula Services Association in British Columbia, the average doula cost is $600–$1,000 for a birth package, which typically includes two prenatal visits,

support during labour and delivery, and at least one postnatal visit.

Free Prenatal Classes Chebucto Family Centre also offers prenatal classes for expectant parents at no cost. A weekly series of two-hour classes run over the course of eight weeks, and cover pregnancy guidance, education on labour and delivery that is specific to what you can expect from a local hospital, and breastfeeding and newborn care education.

A certified doula leads the class, which runs three times yearly (usually fall, winter, and spring, depending on demand). PACT (Parents and Children Together) Resource Centre in Cole Harbour and Dartmouth Family Centre in North Dartmouth also offer free classes. Prenatal classes are also available at other venues in the city for $185–$220. The provincial government used to offer prenatal classes but replaced them with a website.

Pre-Owned Maternity Wear & Baby Gear Maternity and baby clothing have something in common: you only need them for a few months. This is also true of infant

baby gear such as bassinets, infant car seats, and small baby carriers. They’re expensive and rarely wear out before the baby outgrows them. So the secondhand market for these items is thriving in Halifax.

Growth Spurts Consignment Store on the Bedford highway sells maternity clothes, baby clothes (including snowsuits), and baby gear such as carriers, on a consignment basis. Halifax OutGROW OutPLAY holds a twice-yearly large-scale consignment sale event, often at the Halifax Forum, where you can find anything baby-related from toys to changers to clothing. First-time parents and consignors are eligible for early bird shopping at these events.

tadams@metroguide.ca Halifax Magazine @HalifaxEditor @HalifaxMagazine

PHOTO: BIGSTOCK/ARTURSFOTO

Everyone knows babies are expensive, but you may not expect the hidden costs of pregnancy, some of which even start before conception. Pregnancy tests, ovulation kits, prenatal vitamins, body pillows, maternity pants: they add up. There are many free resources available to pregnant women in Halifax, but they’re usually passed on by word of mouth, or a glance at a bulletin board in a waiting room. Here is a roundup of some free or low-cost resources to help ease the costs of pregnancy, so you can save your money for the latest safety-certified car seat.

MARCH 2019 halifaxmag.com | 9

CITYSCAPE SMALL BUSINESS

Cleaning up: craft-beer spinoffs for a local bottle-washing business

BY RICHARD WOODBURY

companies, cardboard companies, glass and bottle companies, contractors and the graphic designers who design labels for the craft breweries’ frequent new releases.

The growing industry creates a market for companies that couldn’t exist otherwise.

Anglehart’s Atlantic Bottle Wash Inc. is a prime example. The company, which opened in March 2017, washes what are known as industry-standard bottle beers and sells them to three Nova Scotian microbreweries (Propeller, Garrison, and Boxing Rock) that use them.

Prior to Atlantic Bottle Wash, the only local bottle washer for industry-standard bottles was the Oland Brewery in North End

Halifax, which is owned by a Belgian company. “We basically didn’t have access to washed bottles, so we were buying brand new bottles and putting them into the pool, which then Olands got to use 19 more times,” says Emily Tipton, a founding partner and beer engineer at Boxing Rock.

Anglehart says it’s too expensive for microbreweries to wash their own bottles.

To get his business up and running, he says he sold his house, “toys,” and cashed in his RRSPs. “I went all in,” he says. The company also got a $250,000 loan from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

The facility washes about two million bottles of beer a year, but is capable of doing

PHOTOS: RICHARD WOODBURY

André Anglehart uses the housing market as an analogy for the economic impact of breweries: the housing market.

When somebody buys a house, banks, realestate agents, and lawyers make money. “It’s the same thing for microbreweries,” says Anglehart, president of Atlantic Bottle Wash Inc. in Burnside. “When you buy a craft beer, you would not believe the ripple effect it creates in our own backyard in Nova Scotia.”

While the economic impact of the localbrewing industry gets simplified as being the roughly 500 people it employs at the more than 50 craft breweries in the province, the impact includes local shipping companies, hop growers, draft line cleaning

André Anglehart’s Atlantic Bottle Wash prepares some two million bottles per year for reuse, but could be doing up to 55 million.

10 | halifaxmag.com MARCH 2019

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CITYSCAPE SMALL BUSINESS (continued from page 10)

55 million. The operation employs about six people, but that’ll double once it begins selling cans to local microbreweries. At present, Nova Scotia microbreweries using cans must buy them from companies outside of the province.

A new industry-standard bottle costs brewers about 30 cents, but is about half that

when it’s washed and sold back to the brewer. Besides getting more microbreweries on board with using industry-standard bottles, Anglehart’s also hoping to launch a bottle-washing program for 650-millilitre bottles. Those bottles can be reused about 30 times.

Tipton says the bottle-washing program has many benefits. “It’s kind of a feel-good

factor in that I know that bottle does not leave Nova Scotia … we’re minimizing our environmental impact, as well as it having a positive financial benefit and employing more people in Nova Scotia indirectly,” she says. tadams@metroguide.ca Halifax Magazine @HalifaxEditor @HalifaxMagazine

HISTORY

Halifax’s role in a historic battle

BY BOB GORDON

On June 6, 1813, St. Paul’s in downtown Halifax was midway through a solemn Whit Sunday service when parishioners began rushing out. A discrete messenger’s glad tidings had raced through the congregation, the 36-gun frigate HMS Shannon was sailing into Halifax Harbour tailed by the haggard and humbled USS Chesapeake, her captain having died of his wounds the day before and her surviving crew prisoners.

Days earlier, in less than a quarter of an hour, Shannon devastated the larger, faster, and better-armed American frigate, turning the tide on a string of Royal Navy defeats.

The celebratory mood only swelled as the crowds learned that temporarily in command of the Shannon was a local boy, Second Lieutenant Provo Wallis, the son of a clerk at the Halifax Naval Yard. (The captain was horribly wounded and incapacitated, the first lieutenant killed during the melee aboard the Chesapeake.)

Entangled in decades of confrontation with France that culminated in the Napoleonic Wars, Britain was loath to commit naval resources to the North American sideshow when the United States declared war in June 1812.

Two months after war broke out the USS Constitution bludgeoned the frigate HMS Guerrière so badly it sank having struck its colours. In the space of one week in October, the Americans captured the convoy escort HMS Frolic and frigate HMS Macedonian. In the final week of 1812, USS Constitution struck again, destroying the frigate HMS Java.

The fifth in this string of defeats occurred in February 1813. The USS Hornet, under Captain James Lawrence, sank HMS Peacock.

Widely dismissed as the “Yacht” for its

The battle between HMS Shannon and USS Cheasapeake as depicted by Thomas Buttersworth (via the U.K.’s National Maritime Museum).

pompous focus on spit, polish, and protocol rather than fighting power, the aptly named Peacock fired multiple broadsides but managed just a single hit on the enemy.

Meanwhile, Peacock was so badly damaged it had to be sunk after the exchange. Such were the scores to settle when HMS Shannon, under Captain Philip Bowes Vere Broke, took station off Cape Ann, keeping watch over the port of Boston in May 1813.

The science of gunnery and rudimentary ballistics obsessed Broke, which was rare for a British officer. At the time, battle

doctrine focused on closing with the enemy, broadsides fired at pistol range, and boarding. Navies placed a premium on speed, not accuracy.

The bookish Broke turned this doctrine inside out. He emphasized accuracy, aimed fire at the enemy’s gun decks and marines exposed on open decks. He intended to disable his opponent by killing her crew. He theorized that any ship without crew would be harmless and helpless. He had sights and elevation-scales fitted to his guns. He paid for additional shot and powder for practice firing and ordered 90 minutes daily at the MARCH 2019 halifaxmag.com | 13

CITYSCAPE HISTORY “great guns” and another 90 minutes at close combat and boarding drill. This emphasis on gunnery and fighting power was unheard of in the Royal Navy.

On June 1, Broke issued a challenge to the captain of the American warship in Boston harbour: “As the Chesapeake appears now ready for sea, I request you will do me the favor to meet the Shannon with her, ship to ship, to try the fortune of our respective flags.”

Captain Broke’s career had been undistinguished and he was desperate to make his mark with a victory. He was convinced his study of naval gunnery and emphasis on combat drill at the guns and in preparation for boarding would lead to victory.

His opponent never saw the challenge, but did not need to. Captain James Lawrence, like his British counterpart, was looking for a fight. In the wake of his victory over the Peacock, Lawrence had been lionized in the press and given command of USS Chesapeake. He was convinced one more victory would assure him command of the

flagship USS Constitution, and leadership of the American navy. While Broke’s challenge was en route, the Chesapeake set sail to challenge the Shannon.

Upwind of the Shannon Lawrence inexplicably surrendered his advantage and closed for an exchange of broadsides. The Shannon was almost dead in the water and Lawrence could have, and should have, crossed its stern and raked it while largely untouchable by the Shannon’s guns. Instead, he simply paralleled its course, upwind and to the starboard.

The exchange of broadsides shattered the Chesapeake. Cannon fire swept the quarterdeck and destroyed the wheel.

Marines and boarding parties on deck were ravaged. The Chesapeake turned into the wind, sails aback, its stern blown into the Shannon. During its approach the Shannon’s gunners smashed Chesapeake’s stern, wrecking the captain’s cabin.

When the ships collided, their rigging entangled. Boarding parties of Royal Marines

and Shannons swarmed the survivors, quickly forcing them below decks and sealing the hatches. In less than 15 minutes, the Chesapeake was in British hands and 22-year-old Haligonian Provo Wallis was in command of both.

In 1844, Shannon became HMS St. Lawrence and in 1855 a new steam frigate was christened HMS Shannon. Even in this new incarnation the Shannon continued to be intimately linked to Nova Scotia. Under the command of Sir William Peel, Shannon sailed up the Ganges, landing a naval brigade which fought at the Siege of Lucknow.

Able Seaman William Hall won one of five Victoria Crosses awarded during the campaign. Hall was the second British North American to be awarded a VC, and the first Nova Scotian and first black Canadian.

tadams@metroguide.ca Halifax Magazine @HalifaxEditor @HalifaxMagazine

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Halifax Magazine web exclusives Need even more Halifax Magazine?

Visit halifaxmag.com for web-exclusive stories and commentaries.

Our team of regular contributors includes: commentary on life in the city by comedian Mark Farrell, environmental issues with Zack Metcalfe, the latest craft-beer news by Kim Hart Macneill, the latest from the visualarts scene with Ray Cronin, fascinating reports on Halifax history by Dorothy Grant, and consumer-affairs advice from the Better Business Bureau’s Peter Moorhouse.

Recent posts: • “A sex-trade worker’s memoir about a historic Halifax brothel” • “Change is constant: the year in art” • “Propeller brewing opens a new arcade” • “Can big business be a force for good?”

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ENTERTAINMENT The hottest things to see and do in Halifax this month

CONTINUING

DINOSAURS UNEARTHED The Museum of Natural History on Summer Street hosts Dinosaurs Unearthed. This immersive exhibition, which has drawn rave reviews across North America, features lifelike animatronic dinosaurs, full-scale skeletons, and fossils from around the world. Also at the museum, you’ll find an array of permanent exhibitions, including Science on a Sphere, to learn about weather, shipping routes, and ocean currents. It’s home to Gus the gopher tortoise, Halifax’s most-loved reptile for some seven decades. naturalhistory.novascotia.ca

MARCH 26

LIVE ART DANCE

PHOTO: NICK PEARSE

Continuing its mission of showcasing top contemporary dance from across the country, Live Art presents Ballet BC at the Dalhousie Arts Centre on University Avenue.

The 16 dancers will perform works by Crystal Pite and Medhi Walerski, plus a new piece by Emily Molnar. liveartdance.ca

MARCH 30

MARCH 1–3, 8–10

CECILIA CONCERT SERIES

UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIP BASKETBALL It’s championship-basketball season in Halifax, as Scotiabank Centre hosts three major tournaments.

From March 1–3, the AUS Basketball Championships features Atlantic Canada’s top men’s and women’s university teams battle for the regional titles. Then from March 8–10, the U Sport Men’s Basketball Final 8 comes to town, with top teams coast-to-coast competing for the national title. ticketatlantic.com

Kerson Leong takes the stage at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts, performing Eugène Ysaÿe’s Six Sonatas for solo violin.

One of the bright lights of Canadian classical music, Leong has been a soloist with the Oslo-Philharmonien, Wiener Kammer Orchester, Stavanger Symfoniorkester, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre symphonique de Quebec, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. ceciliaconcerts.ca

CONTINUING THROUGH MARCH 31

ART GALLERY OF NOVA SCOTIA Focusing on Mi’kmaq and Beothuk visual culture, Jordan Bennett uses painting, sculpture, video, installation, and sound to explore themes of land, language, the act of visiting, and familial ties. See his exhibition Ketu’elmita’jik at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia on Hollis Street. (For more on Bennett and his work, see Ray Cronin’s web-exclusive column at halifaxmag.com) artgalleryofnovascotia.ca

tadams@metroguide.ca

Halifax Magazine

@HalifaxEditor @HalifaxMagazine

MARCH 2019 halifaxmag.com | 17

| FEATURE |

FOLLOW THE OVER A FEW YEARS, STEFANIE MacDONALD TURNED A SIMPLE PROJECT INTO A FAST-GROWING BUSINESS

PHOTO: TERRI-LYNN WARREN

COURTESY OF HALIFAX PAPER HEARTS

BY PRIYA SAM

When Stefanie MacDonald was getting ready for her aunt’s wedding in 2014, she was on the hunt for the perfect card: cute, quirky, and speaking to an LGBTQ marriage. She came up empty-handed, so she used her limited graphic design skills to make her own.

“I got a really positive response to it at the wedding,” says MacDonald.

It also sparked the idea for her company, Halifax Paper Hearts, which has grown quickly in the last four years and is now MacDonald’s full time job. “I just decided from there to take a more thoughtful approach to traditional occasions and sentiments and try to be more diverse and inclusive.”

With that in mind, MacDonald decided to start creating cards even though she didn’t have a background in graphic design. “I literally taught myself using YouTube videos,” says MacDonald.

The work paid off as she started creating cards and selling them at the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market on weekends. “People thought the cards were cute and they really liked all of the clever, quirky puns, that’s really what we’re known for,” explains MacDonald.

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Sometimes she gets ideas for new cards from customers or friends, but often the inspiration comes from simple objects or events. ”It’s not a formal process at all,” she says. “Just to give you an example, I saw a pylon on the road and I started thinking about that…

It ended up being, ‘I’m just here to pylon the birthday wishes.’”

The distinct messages and focus on inclusivity and diversity served her well and the demand for her cards quickly grew. One of the first stores to carry them was Duly Noted, owned by Nicole Smith.

She first found out about Halifax Paper Hearts on social media.

“It just sounded like a great brand she was creating,” says Smith.

“When she came out with her first selection of cards and she contacted us to offer them to us, we were excited to bring them in.”

Since then, Smith has seen Halifax Paper Hearts continue to mature and develop and she says she’s not surprised by MacDonald’s success.

“She’s very brave as an entrepreneur, she’s not worried about approaching people or coming up with ideas or collaborations and I think that’s why she’s been able to grow so quickly,” says Smith.

Smith says customers love the unique cards. “They find them very uplifting, they’re very whimsical,” she adds. “And it’s nice that she’s always been very charity focused, she gives back to the community through her company.”

Giving back is crucial for MacDonald. “For me, being able to make really meaningful contributions to a number of charitable organizations, that’s the stuff that really keeps my heart full,” she says.

Halifax Paper Hearts has partnered with several charities, with a focus on helping young people in difficult circumstances.

MacDonald also started an initiative called Thankful Hearts that provides Thanksgiving meals to families who may not otherwise have them.

“For me, I’m a marketer and I’m an entrepreneur and I just needed a product to sell. The passion for me is not in the illustrating” says MacDonald. “For me, the passion part comes through that community piece of what we do.”

She hopes to do more of that as her company grows. Last year

PHOTO:

PHOTO: TERRI-LYNN WARREN

PAPER TRAIL

marked several milestones for them including a deal with Sobeys.

Halifax Paper Hearts cards are now available in six Nova Scotian Sobeys stores and 150 boutiques across Canada. In 2018, MacDonald also decided to take her business south of the border.

That started with a trip to Los Angeles to learn about the American market followed by a visit to New York for the National Stationery Show. “We placed as finalists in two of their contests,” she recalls.

“You’re walking around and you’re seeing world famous designers that you’ve admired for years and you think how am I here? How am I a finalist next to these people that I adore so much!”

But the road hasn’t always been easy since she left her full time job in 2017. “It wasn’t an easy transition,” she says. “I think being an entrepreneur is always a roller coaster where the highs are higher and the lows are lower.”

Still she encourages others to pursue their passions, take chances, and be persistent: “When you just show up, you will often surprise yourself with what you can accomplish.”

MARCH 2019 halifaxmag.com | 19

| COVER STORY |

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS LONG-TIME SYMPHONY NOVA SCOTIA CONDUCTOR-INRESIDENCE DINUK WIJERATNE RETURNS TO HALIFAX, REFLECTING ON WHAT THE CITY STILL MEANS TO HIM

BY ANDREA NEMETZ PHOTOS BY PAUL ORENSTEIN

The idea of home fascinates Dinuk Wijeratne.

The Juno-winning conductor, composer, and pianist was born in Sri Lanka, grew up in Dubai, studied in England and New York, and moved to Halifax in 2005 to join Symphony Nova Scotia as conductor-in-residence. Now he lives in Toronto, where there are more opportunities for his wife Samantha Berardesca, a speech pathologist, and easier travel connections for performing and conducting gigs the world over. But he maintains strong musical connections to the city.

When he was a boy, a career with any sort of link to Halifax seemed unlikely.

He started studying piano at the age of nine at the suggestion of his mother, but didn’t like it.

“We were a very arts-oriented family,” says Wijeratne, by phone. “My mum is a dance teacher. My dad plays a pretty decent jazz piano by ear. I was just going through the motions. It’s a good argument for parents forcing their children to do things.”

He was 12 when he heard Mozart for the first time, filling him with passion for music. “I read about the history of music and was fascinated,” he recalls. “I started composing music at that age. When I won the Juno [in 2016 for classical composition for Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems], one of my friends from my Dubai days reminded me that as a teenager, I said ‘I am a composer.’ I forgot I told people that.”

Dubai offered a music scene nothing like Halifax’s. “Growing up in Dubai, you couldn’t access live music easily, there were no live concerts,” he explains. “It was an advantage because you were exposed to a wider variety of stuff with a more neutral perspective.”

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When he started discovering music, it was cassette tapes from every genre. Mozart one moment, Sri Lankan traditional music the next. “There was a lack of bias,” he says, noting his constant struggle to reconcile his identity and the ideas of how one defines home, comes out in his music.

His mother, Vino, whom Wijeratne says has “been one of the biggest inspirations throughout my life,” worked two jobs so he could study composition at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. Next came studies at Julliard in New York City with John Corigliano, the five-time Grammy winner and Oscar-winning composer of the score for The Red Violin.

Wijeratne says Corigliano changed his life artistically.

“I think one of the signs of a good teacher is that you notice that their pedagogy unravels over your life-time, through the course of your career. John was all about clarity of concept. He was ruthless about making me define and be clear about what it is that I wanted from any musical moment.”

Wijeratne believes karma helped bring him to Halifax, where his mother, a dance teacher at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts, had settled the year before.

While studying conducting at New York’s Mannes College of Music in 2005, the talented young musician auditioned to be conductor-in-residence with Symphony Nova Scotia.

Bernhard Gueller, music director of Symphony Nova Scotia from 2002 to 2018, says what stood out about Wijeratne, amid the stiff competition, was “his clear, elegant and very musical way or style of conducting. He has a very efficient beat. This beat shows exactly what he wants.”

MARCH 2019 halifaxmag.com | 21

| COVER STORY |

The orchestra responded well to Wijeratne’s leadership, especially when they discovered his composition skills, continues Gueller, praising Wijeratne’s “sensational rhythmical imagination and wonderful orchestration, which means a great sense for orchestra colours.”

When his three-year post as conductor-in-residence wrapped up in 2008, Wijeratne decided not to purse more conducting jobs: “I wanted to be creative and write.”

“I AM LUCKY TO LIVE IN THIS COUNTRY, IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY THERE WOULD BE MORE PRESSURE TO CONFORM. PEOPLE ARE EXCITED BY CULTURAL FUSION HERE.” —DINUK WIJERATNE Among the pieces he created was The Concerto for Tabla and Orchestra which Symphony Nova Scotia premiered in 2012.

“Dinuk is a fantastic bridge builder between Western and Asian music,” says Gueller. “The tabla concerto is a great example of this bridge building. It’s structurally a great composition. How he integrates this Asian percussion instrument in the sound of a western orchestra is masterful.”

Gueller nominated the piece for a Nova Scotia Masterworks Award in 2012 and 2016. Wijeratne was also nominated in 2015 for Love Triangle, created for the Gryphon Trio, and won in 2017 for Polyphonic Lively, a world premiere full of multicultural influences, that opened Symphony Nova Scotia’s 2016–17 season.

That season Wijeratne was appointed the symphony’s composerin-residence, the first person to be both conductor-in-residence and composer-in-residence at a single Canadian orchestra. The in-demand composer has three years of commissions ahead of him, including another world premiere with Symphony Nova Scotia this month, co-commissioned by SNS, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and the Calgary Philharmonic.

Wijeratne wrote his Clarinet Concerto for his close friend and longtime collaborator, Syrian-born clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, who will perform it on a program that also includes Beethoven’s Seventh on March 21 at 7:30 p.m. at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax and on March 24 at 2 p.m. at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth.

The 27-minute piece for clarinet and orchestra came out of a visit with Azmeh to Syria in 2009 that had a huge impact on Wijeratne.

“It is part response to the conflict, part autobiography, Kinan’s story and mine, part immigrant story,” he says. “It addresses many questions about the nature of home. How do you reconcile multiple identities, the dual identity of Asian/Western?”

Azmeh has known Wijeratne for more than 18 years since they were students at Juilliard. “I have always been in awe of Dinuk’s

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creativity, both as a composer and pianist,” he says. “He is an incredibly hard-working man with sensibilities that stretch far beyond the classical repertoire. He is able to travel through different musical worlds seamlessly and channel what he has in his head straight to his fingertips on the piano, or to the manuscript paper on his desk with honesty and incredible originality.”

Their collaborations began early in their friendship. “We resonated with each other’s curiosity and love to explore different musical possibilities,” explains Azmeh, noting they have travelled across the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, France and Germany with their Art of the Duo project.

“This clarinet concerto is the fruit of a wonderful friendship that is built on trust and years of explorations. It is unique in its concept and approach to the instrument and to the concerto genre in general. I trust it will be an incredible addition to the clarinet repertoire for generations to come.”

Wijeratne sees himself first as a composer and only plays his own music now, but he tries to make time for each musical pursuit. “I’m a richer composer for conducting, and a richer conductor for playing.”

He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2004 with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble and performed there in 2009 alongside tabla legend Zakir Hussain.

He’s worked with artists as diverse as soprano Suzie LeBlanc, hip-hop artist Buck 65, DJ Skratch Bastid, Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Tim Garland, Victor Mendoza (a leading artist in the Latin-jazz and world-percussion scenes), and Halifax’s Onelight Theatre Company.

For the last 13 years, he’s been mentoring young musicians as music director of the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra. He is stepping away at the end of April with the NSYO concert Dvorák’s Eighth and Dinuk’s Farewell on April 28 at 7 p.m. at St. Matthew’s United Church in Halifax.

Wijeratne has been at the helm for the decade Anne Lee has been with the group. The Charles P. Allen grad, who was born in South Korea, began studying piano and violin at seven and focused on violin at 12. Now studying music at Dalhousie University with an eye to a professional career, she looks to Wijeratne for guidance.

“As I’ve gotten more serious about music, I realize how much I’ve learned from him about life and emotion through working on epic pieces of music,” she says.

“I really like the richness and sensitivity he brings as a conductor and the way he engages with musicians,” she says, adding as one of three NSYO concertmasters, her role is to be “the conduit of Wijeratne’s ideas to her section and more broadly to the whole orchestra.”

Wijeratne is pleased to be premiering Clarinet Concerto in Halifax, where the orchestra feels like family and the city feels like home. “The ties will always be there,” he says, adding he is grateful to the community that gave him his start.

And he is hopeful for the future of music in Halifax and Canada.

“I am lucky to live in this country, in any other country there would be more pressure to conform,” he says. “People are excited by cultural fusion here.”

tadams@metroguide.ca

Halifax Magazine

@HalifaxEditor @HalifaxMagazine

MARCH 2019 halifaxmag.com | 23

| FEATURE |

MORE THAN A GAME SHAQUILLE SMITH WANTS TO HELP KIDS IN NORTH PRESTON USE THEIR LOVE OF BASKETBALL TO BUILD THEIR FUTURES

BY JOSEFA CAMERON

“Basketball is in my blood,” says Shaquille Smith, sitting in the board room at the North Preston Community Centre. Staff and daycare children alike are happy to see him. People emerge from offices to greet him.

Smith grew up in North Preston, going to school, attending St. Thomas Baptist Church and playing lots of basketball. “I always took basketball very seriously and trained a lot,” he recalls. “When I got to high school, I knew I could turn this into a university scholarship.”

He received a basketball scholarship to Acadia University where he earned a business degree. Smith now works as a digital strategist at Colour, a marketing agency in Halifax. He also coaches at Auburn Drive High School and the University of King’s College.

Smith’s energetic demeanor and wide smile belie the difficulty of his journey here, though.

Growing up, Smith found that the Community Centre was often occupied with day camps and the outdoor court was in tatters. During the summertime, Smith bused from North Preston to Shearwater and Cole Harbour to find a basketball court.

“The nets weren’t even regulation height because they were slanted in. There were holes in the fences, cracks in the pavement,” he says. “There wasn’t really a court for me to go to that was open all day to do the training I needed for Acadia.”

This was not the only obstacle Smith came across. He was a top student in high school but felt unprepared for the change of pace of university.

“University was a complete game changer,” he says. “Student athletes sacrifice a lot. You can’t get as much work experience through co-op programs because you’re busy with sports. When

24 | halifaxmag.com MARCH 2019

you see your grades starting to slip, it’s discouraging; you start to doubt yourself.”

Of the 40-some students from the community who received university scholarships for basketball, Smith can count on his hand how many graduated. He blames overloaded schedules and insufficient preparation.

Smith knew he did not face these challenges alone and decided to build a new court in North Preston. “I thought of the young basketball talent in North Preston and knew they needed a place to play,” he explains.

Kids in North Preston gravitate towards basketball; it’s at the heart of the community. People from North Preston have played on the Basketball Nova Scotia Team and among their accomplishments, won gold medal in the U17 National Championships.

“There’s a long history of basketball in the community,” Smith says. “We have plenty of players who went to university or play professionally. I wanted to make sure we continue to celebrate basketball and push kids to go to university, and hopefully go professional as well.”

Work on the court is currently underway. It’s larger than the former court, with space for audience bleachers. It will have an acrylic surface, which is more appealing and will allow the ball to bounce better. Work is scheduled to finish this spring. “We’re putting banners on the fence of everybody from the community who played at a post-secondary school or professionally,” says Smith.

The basketball court is not Smith’s end goal, though. It’s the first step to a long-term educational program he plans to launch. He wants to help student-athletes of North Preston as well as other youth in

PHOTO: PAULETTE CAMERON

“THERE’S A LONG HISTORY OF BASKETBALL IN THE COMMUNITY... I WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE CONTINUE TO CELEBRATE BASKETBALL AND PUSH KIDS TO GO TO UNIVERSITY.” — SHAQUILLE SMITH

Nova Scotia be better prepared for university. He wants them to use basketball as a tool to build life-long careers.

“I’m planning a program that uses all the challenges I had in university…and show the kids how to overcome them,” he says. “I just want to give them the tools to succeed.”

A fundraising campaign for the court began with $10,000 from a community fund that Councillor David Hendsbee administers.

Hendsbee used to play basketball in high school and on occasion, still plays a game of pick-up. He hopes North Preston will end up with some of the best basketball facilities in the municipality.

“The court will help develop youth talent,” he says. “North Preston has seen some of its incredible athletes become scholastic achievers.”

HRM paved a new parking lot beside the court and made a safer walkway to the daycare. He wants to see more, though. “I’d like to see more landscaping enhancements to provide connectivity to the community,” he adds.

The contracting business, M&M Paving, is a North Preston company. From planning to building, the court is a community project. Smith is currently gathering potential names for the court, drawing from the community’s legacy: “That’s a tough one, there are so many worthy community members of North Preston.”

Smith is ecstatic about the progress. “I’ve been working on this since I graduated in 2016,” he says. “To see it come to life is just unbelievable.”

MARCH 2019 halifaxmag.com | 25

DINING

The Chickenburger has been a Bedford landmark since 1940.

IT’S THE SIMPLE THINGS

WITH STRAIGHTFORWARD COMFORT FOOD AND PRICES STUCK IN TIME, HALIFAX’S DINERS HAVE LASTING APPEAL

BY SUZANNE RENT The classic diner is a staple of Halifax’s restaurant scene, boasting hearty food, friendly service, and menus as reliably unchanging as the décor. Recently, Halifax Magazine visited some of the city’s favourites.

The Armview Restaurant and Lounge on Chebucto Road, which just celebrated its 65th anniversary, boasts a retro-but-hip vibe. The menu still features classics like the Dagwood and a selection of burgers, while the drink menu includes several Nova Scotian wines.

The space keeps its charm with the small booths and nostalgic décor.

The lounge in the former barbershop space is popular with the afterwork crowd on Fridays. You can even get a shot of booze in your classic milkshake.

John’s Lunch on Pleasant Street in Dartmouth has been in the same building since opening in 1969. Its original counter has been washed so many times that the pattern is coming off. The space is

26 | halifaxmag.com MARCH 2019

getting new siding and an awning this year, but manager Kathy Hilchey says the menu is staying the same. And that’s why people love it. Favourites include fresh fish and chips, homemade coleslaw, and roast-turkey clubhouse sandwiches. Hilchey, who’s worked here for 20 years, say she stays for the people: “We have the nicest regulars you’ll ever meet.”

Jim’s Family Restaurant owner James Mihelakos worked in the city’s restaurant scene for years and decided to branch out on his own with his Bedford Highway spot in 1988. In the 1990s, he took out the back parking lot and added more seating, giving customers a view of the Bedford Basin. The counter and stools remain in the front. And the menu has changed little, offering breakfast, pizza, donairs, seafood, and Greek moussaka. “People know they will get a large quantity for a great price and the food will taste great,” says Voula Mihelakos, who now runs Jim’s with her husband George (Jim’s youngest son).

tadams@metroguide.ca

Halifax Magazine

PHOTO: VISIONFIRE/BRUCE MURRAY

Service at Westcliffe Diner on Oxford Street starts when you fill out your order on a slip of paper and hand to Bev or Tyler Griswold, the owners, who also cook and serve. Not much has changed here over the decades. The food is inexpensive; the priciest (using the term relatively) dish on the menu is the three-piece fish and chips at $7.50. Everything else is $5 or less. Bev and Tyler are swift on their feet and seem to know everyone. Hot, fresh, and straight-up classic comfort food.

Brothers Peter, John, George, and Bill Kanellakos opened Cousin’s Restaurant on Robie Street 55 years ago. Peter is the only brother who hasn’t retired from the business. “We try to do something nice for the people and our prices are very good,” he says. The last time he changed the prices was about seven years ago. The menu here is a multi-page laminated book with everything from liver and onions to Greek dishes. Server Brenda Munro has worked here for 30 years and has customers from outside the city. One family comes in from Bridgewater for the homemade pea soup. “We get a good crowd,” she says. “We have a good reputation.”

The Chickenburger is a Bedford landmark. While the menu now includes a veggie burger and gluten-free buns, the core offerings (including its eponymous chicken burger) have stayed the same since it opened in 1940. Seafood, burgers, fries, milkshakes, root-beer floats, and the retro neon lights and music exert a nostalgic pull on customers. Manager Amanda Stirling has worked here for 20 years.

Her grandmother brought her here when she was a young girl. “I think it has a special place in a lot of people’s hearts,” she says.

The Ardmore Tearoom opened in 1958 on Quinpool Road. Today, it’s the undisputed diner-breakfast kind of Halifax. Mike Cormier took over ownership in 2012 and striped down the menu to focus on the best sellers, like breakfast. There are often lineups down the street and the crowd includes students nursing hangovers and business people getting lunch. “We use good ingredients, most everything is homemade, and everyone is welcome,” Cormier says. Forget your debit or credit cards: cash only.

The building that houses Hellas Family Restaurant on Sackville Drive is the same as it was before the 1940s when it was a general store. John Giannakos’s parents opened a restaurant here in June 1969. Giannakos started working at the family restaurant when he was a kid. Back then, Lower Sackville was a fast-growing community.

“We supplied a lot of meals to construction workers,” Giannakos says.

The menu at Hellas hasn’t changed much, although there are a few new items like fish tacos. Everything is made from scratch; the gravy is a family recipe. Giannakos says the customers are still family, too: “We’ve seen them grow older and they’ve seen us grow older.”

After 65 years, the Armview still boasts friendly service and a classic diner menu.

PHOTO: VISIONFIRE/BRUCE MURRAY

PHOTO: VISIONFIRE/BRUCE MURRAY

DINING

@HalifaxEditor @HalifaxMagazine

Propeller Brewing Co. Propeller Brewing Company has been a proud North End neighbour since our founding in 1997.

Stop by for a pint or flight in our Tasting Room at our Gottingen Street Brewery, with special cask releases every Friday. Full cold beer stores on Gottingen, and on Windmill Road in Dartmouth.

2015 Gottingen Street, Halifax NS drinkpropeller.ca @PropellerBeer

MARCH 2019 halifaxmag.com | 27

DRINK

UPSTREET

IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD A POPULAR P.E.I. CRAFT BREWERY PARTNERS WITH LOCAL RESTAURATEUR BILL PRATT TO GET A TOEHOLD IN NOVA SCOTIA

PHOTOS: VISIONFIRE/BRUCE MURRAY

BY KIM HART MACNEILL

Brewery co-owner Mike Hogan and restaurateur Bill Pratt join forces at Upstreet BBQ Brewhouse in Burnside.

The first thing you notice when walking in Upstreet BBQ Brewhouse in Burnside is the sheer size of the brewery-eatery. A long entry hall filled with arcade games leads to a spacious room with soaring ceilings.

Across the restaurant a long wooden bar and open kitchen catch the eye. High-top tables surround a shuffleboard table at the room’s centre.

“We could jam more tables into this place if we wanted,” says chef Bill Pratt. “But that’s not what we’re about. It’s about that craftbeer culture. People hanging out, playing shuffleboard, enjoying beer and food.”

Pratt, who owns Chef Inspired Group of Restaurants (Habanero’s, Cheese Curds, Gecko Bus, etc.) and the founders of Upstreet Craft Brewing opened the brewery/restaurant

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in October 2018. Upstreet co-owner and beer engineer Mike “Hoagie” Hogan moved to Halifax to helm the brewery.

When Downeast Beer Factory closed, Pratt jumped on the Windmill Road location. He wanted to open a barbecue joint with a strong craft-beer component, and the space included a brewing system.

“I knew nothing about beer other than we have a flooded market as it is, and I didn’t want to establish a new brand,” says Pratt.

“Why not go after a bunch of cool cats who have an established brand, take my established food brand, and work together?”

Hogan adds that Upstreet wasn’t planning a Nova Scotian expansion but moving into an existing space with a brew system “was too good to pass up.”

Within weeks of Pratt’s pitch, the new business partners toured barbecue restaurants and breweries in Kansas at a rate of three or four a day. Hogan and Pratt say they came home with the meat sweats and a love of shuffleboard.

“In the U.S. they are all about the meat,” Pratt says. “It’s amazing how bad the sides were. Boiled green beans, potato salad with no flavour. I wanted the sides to be just as important as the mains.”

There’s a rhythm to ordering at a barbecue restaurant. First, pick your protein. Next, choose how many sides you want. The menu offers an abundance of options from familiar house-made fries and onion rings to barbecue classics like cider slaw, pickled vegetables, and beer-baked beans.

Brisket is the most popular item, likely because it’s rare in the city, says Pratt. The meat smokes for 12 hours on maple wood until it’s tender, flavourful, and glistening with juice.

You’ll find Upstreet beer in the housemade sausage and 24-hour brined chicken, and spent brewing grain in the Caramel Apple Cheese-Quake dessert. Pratt is working on more recipes using beer and brewing grain.

Amid 14 beer taps, you’ll find Upstreet flagships like Do Gooder American Pale Ale alongside small batches like the Neon Friday series (read more below), plus guest taps from other Dartmouth breweries. Underage diners can sip a house-made soda, including a hopinfused option. On your way out, a compact retail space offers beer and soda to go, plus a selection of Upstreet swag from shirts to bottle openers.

Due to NSLC licencing, the retail space can only sell beer brewed on-site. Hogan says he hopes that will change someday. “In a perfect world we’d be making our [flagship beers] on P.E.I. and this place would be all experimental and one-off beers,” he says. “We’re playing by the rules of course. In theory, we’d be able to make more unique beers because the beers here could also go to P.E.I.” Scott Ellis and Juanita Whitmore own a summer home in P.E.I. and count Upstreet among their favourite island stops. “Upstreet in P.E.I. is very small,” says Whitmore. “This is huge, but I love the décor. And the deepfried pickles were perfect.” The pair live in downtown Halifax, and Ellis says he wishes the location was closer, but that he’s delighted to get his Upstreet fix in winter.

Pratt give a sly smile when people tell him they’re surprised about a brewery-restaurant in Burnside. “Come to Dartmouth–we’ve got Ikea too.”

KIM HART MACNEILL Kim is a freelance journalist and editor of East Coast Living.

Read her weekly beer column on HalifaxMag.com and follow her on Twitter. @kimhartmacneill

Artfully seasoned and smoked long and slow: Upstreet promises authentic Southern-style barbecue.

Must-try beers

Sailor’s Dream (dry-hopped lager)

Neon Friday: NEIPA with Simcoe

Upstreet Craft Brewing Dartmouth, N.S. 4.6% “It’s every sailor’s dream to own a brewery or distillery,” says Pratt, who served in the navy for 27 years. Hogan developed this recipe for folks like Pratt who enjoy flavour but not heavy hops.

Dry-hopping gives this crisp brew a hint of melon that plays well with the mildly sweet base. A portion of the proceeds support the Military Family Resource Centre at CFB Halifax.

Upstreet Craft Brewing Dartmouth, N.S. 6% This beer is one of a continuing series of IPAs brewed with different hop combinations. While it’s not as hazy as you’d expect from a New England IPA, it is refreshingly bitter with a pleasant fruity/earthy aroma. Each batch is on for a limited time and only available at the Brewhouse on tap and in cans in the retail section.

MARCH 2019 halifaxmag.com | 29

OPINION

DIFFERENT BUT THE SAME WORKING WITH KIDS, A NEWCOMER TO CANADA FINDS JOY AND MEANING

BY MARIANNE SIMON Working as an EPA (Educational Program Assistant) has revealed to me a new world where youngsters work to cope with the demands society makes.

Take for instance, T.J. (Name changed.) He is 17 years old and doing Grade 1 math. He concentrates on his work for 20 minutes at the most, and then he has to go for a walk around the hallway to relax or switch to another activity like the word search or cycling around the hallway. He is struggling to live up to the demands we make on him and ends up doing many of the things he doesn’t want to during his long days at school.

Most of the children I work with have autism. One recent report says that one in every 66 Canadian children is diagnosed with autism. Initially working with these children challenged me. I wanted to learn how to work with them effectively and positively, so I’ve been reading all the reputable information I can find on the subject.

Currently I’m working as a substitute EPA. This means I check the website and accept an assignment for the day which takes me to a different school every day. In the morning, when I walk into the school, I never know what to expect.

Will today’s child be quiet and cooperative or aggressive and overactive? The supervisor of the Learning Centre is always helpful and I get a case study with the child’s file. Studying this helps me prepare for the day.

Empathy and careful communication are my priorities. I try to understand what my students are thinking and feeling, and respond accordingly. Most of the times this works. I’m allowed to explore their private world with them. I even get a smile or a gentle hug when I say goodbye in the evening.

But sometimes, it doesn’t work because they are so engrossed in their private world that they shut out the outside world.

Handling a violent student is another matter altogether.

These young people sometimes scream and call names, spit, scratch, or bite. The supervisor’s forewarning helps the EPA prepare. I find a soft, gentle approach frequently helps them settle back into their normal routines.

According to another report, in Canada 3.7% of children aged 5 to 15 have physical and mental impairments, and learning disabilities. More boys are affected by severe disabilities than girls. The common learning disabilities include problems in areas like speaking, reasoning, listening, reading, writing, and math. Often these children are intelligent but cannot keep up with the other children because their minds work differently. An EPA with a deeper

30 | halifaxmag.com MARCH 2019

understanding of the disability can help them overcome the problems slowly and steadily, with patience and perseverance.

Sometimes I think about how unfair it is that these children face more difficult paths. Who is to blame? Is God, or however you describe the creator, responsible for this? Or, as many would say, is it a quirk of nature? And to what purpose?

Then again, are these children really unhappy? The “neurodiversity” view argues that what some see as disability is actually the result of normal variations of the human genome. Many kids like the ones I work with are perfectly content as they are. Others are aware that they are different, and wonder why.

Recent research shows that children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder often exhibit extraordinary characteristics such as approaching situations differently, acquiring computer skills faster than others, and being endowedd with musical abilities and skills in art and design.

After receiving clear and precise instructions, they perform, in their special field, better than others provided they are allowed to work in a quiet environment and with a minimum of interference.

Unfortunately, there is a stigma attached to autism, and therefore some parents do not want others to know that their child is autistic. This could lead to problems for the autistic child as well as others and may create situations where the atutistic child is bullied for not behaving as they are expected to.

E. J. Plows, a U. K. based author, says in her book, Autistic blessing and Bipolar me, “It is my understanding that when you receive an autism diagnosis for your child, you have to accept it. If you don’t, you are only condemning yourself and your child to a life of frustrating misery.” She advises parents to work with it, not against it.

All of us are, to a great extent, differently abled because we are born to different parents and are raised differently.

So let us accept the diversity in people’s abilities and respect their ways.

As for me, despite all challenges, I am happy with my work, helping children in whatever way possible to make their life a bit easier. I believe that all children deserve all our help, love, and understanding. And I am grateful for the opportunity to work with them and to get to know them. tadams@metroguide.ca Halifax Magazine @HalifaxEditor @HalifaxMagazine

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