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THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK P14
H A L I FA X ’ S W E E K L Y G E M •
VOLUME 27 NUMBER 11
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AUGUST 8 - AUGUST 14, 2019
HRM’S GLASS CEILING
Are men really worth this much more?
PAINTING’S GLASS CEILING How The Light Lies (On You) on stage
LOCAL BEER’S BREAKTHROUGH Powered by Seaport Cider & BeerFest
This land is mine l nd The long history of gold exploration in Nova Scotia is written in toxic waste and mining-friendly policy. The next chapter is unfolding a couple hours east of Halifax, where the St. Mary’s River meets the proposed Cochrane Hill mine.
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The Coast
2019-08-07 4:24 PM
This week
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Deciding to give birth is truly brave, ‘cause your life is fucked forever.
Issue #1,215 VOLUME 27, NUMBER 11 AUGUST 8 - AUGUST 14, 2019
On the cover: Serving as both writer and photographer for this week’s cover story, Andrew Bethune took this shot of the St. Mary’s River near Cochrane Hill. The City 4 Voice of The City 5 Life 5 Cover Story: Nova Scotia’s golden addiction 6 Food+Drink 11
OVERHEARD
EMOJI SCOTIA
Arts Entertainment listings Love The Way We Bitch The Comic Free Will Astrology Savage Love
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Golfers are being warned away from a sand trap at the Debert Golf Club because Shelley, the rescue turtle who lives on the course, laid her eggs in it. This cute situation is reportedly a real hole in one for the club’s business.
THE NUMBER
$1,500.29 Price of an ounce of gold on world markets as we were going to press. This is the most gold has cost since 2013, and that is not good news. Well, it might be good news for mining companies and speculators and the so-called “gold bugs” who are simply wild about gold’s investment possibilities, because it’s a tangible validation of the outsize interest they pay the shiny metal. But as you can read in this issue’s feature—which starts on page 6—gold’s value “tends to rise at times of geopolitical uncertainty.” Meaning a high price is a good predictor of high global drama, i.e. bad news. In this case, the escalating trade war between Donald Trump and China is almost certainly what investors around the globe are responding to; unfortunately Trump may see gold’s record high price as a signal he’s on the right track. More bad news.
The Coast welcomes your thoughts on all aspects of the paper’s performance and city life. Deliver letters to the editor to 2309 Maynard Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 3T8 fax: 902-425-0013, email: letters@thecoast.ca. Post comments on any story at thecoast.ca
My heroic hobby After reading the article by Morgan Mullin about the benefits of having a hobby, I want to tell you of a great hobby I have had for 10 years (“A life less monetized,” cover story, May 16). And I am in full agreement about the rewards of hobbies that Mullin describes, such as the fact “hobbies help stamp out stress.” Statistics Canada data also states that nearly 60 percent of Canadians don’t have something to look forward to. But I certainly do. My happy hobby involves Cole Harbour’s hockey hero, Sidney Crosby. As you can see in the attached photos of my collection, I have been keeping a yearly scrapbook filled with pictures and stories, ever since he was sidelined with a serious concussion in 2011. I have made a scrapbook with every picture and every story I can find. I have professionally framed photos. I have a Crosby #87 sweater, and his own personal hat from when his team won the Stanley Cup in 2009. I have his picture from when he scored the winning goal against the USA at the Vancouver
Olympics in 2010. When his team won the Stanley cup in 2016, I made up a large sign that read “Sid the kid our hero” and paraded it on the corner of Portland Street and Caldwell Road early in the morning, wearing his sweater as Cole Harbour workers were going to work. People were waving, tooting their horns and taking pictures with their cell phones. I also went to New York to see his Pittsburg Penguins play the NY Islanders, where I was wearing his #87 sweater in enemy territory. Before I left home, I made a sign that read “Cole Harbour Nova Scotia” and held in front of me in the second row from the ice surface. All of a sudden a lady in the first row turned around and said, “Guess what? We are on TV because of a sign you’re holding.” Her brother was home watching the game, and called her cell phone to tell her she was on TV. She was really excited. The next morning I picked up a local newspaper and there was my picture in the sports section. Good advertising for Cole Harbour.
I’ve been to all the parades that Sid has made with the Stanley Cup, usually with a sign congratulating him on his victory. I also got to watch him at his hockey school at Cole Harbour Place, as kids come from all over the world to learn from Sidney Crosby himself.
What a great hobby it has been for me. I am on the north side of 85 years old, and all set to start collecting pictures and stories about “Sid the Kid” for the next hockey season. Hobbies truly are great. —Carl Armsworthy, Dartmouth
The Coast • AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14, 2019 • 3
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AIRNBNB
EDITED BY CAORA MCKENNA / SEND TIPS TO NEWS@THECOAST.CA
In 2018-19, Halifax Regional Municipality paid male employees earning over $100,000 per year $82,421,039 as a group. The city’s top-earning female employees earned less than a quarter of that—$17,011,007.
PATRIARCHY
HRM’s glass ceiling
SHORT TERM RENTAL
Eighty percent of compensation on Halifax’s sunshine list goes to men. BY CAORA MCKENNA
Airbnb boom
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New data shows increased revenue generated by multiple-listing hosts and entire home listings. BY SANDRA C. HANNEBOHM
he glass ceiling of income inequality is alive and well, even for Halifax’s topearning municipal employees. Analysis of the city’s sunshine list—published compensation data which includes the names, departments, positions and compensation for municipal employees earning over $100,000 a year— shows big gaps between the big bucks men and women are earning. The data shows that HRM paid out just over $100 million in compensation to its 847 employees or contractors who earned over $100,000 in compensation last year. From HRM department directors and managers, to top jobs at Halifax Water, police constables and firefighters, the municipal employees earning the city’s top dollar are mostly—you guessed it—men. In 2018-19, male employees earned a total of $82,421,039 in compensation. Female employees earned less than a quarter of that—$17,011,007. (The Coast analysed names and online profiles to categorize for gender. People of an indeterminate gender were excluded from the data.) And, before you say “well there’s more male employees than female employees,” the average compensation for sunshine-list-women was still $30,000 less than the average compensation for men. Councillor Lisa Blackburn, one of only two women on Halifax’s 17-member council, says the disparity is in line with most cities across the country. “It’s no secret,” she says. “We have a problem between male and female wages...women consistently and still are not paid as much as men.” For HRM’s sunshine list, Blackburn says it’s important to note that a large proportion of the top earners are from Halifax Regional Police and Halifax’s fire departments. “And love it or hate it,” says Blackburn, fire and police are “still roles that are traditionally filled by men, and it’s a real struggle to get women to see themselves in those positions.” 4 • AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14, 2019 •
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Eliminating Halifax Regional Police and Halifax Fire staff from the data, HRM still pays more than twice as much to its top-earning men—$13,828,198—than women—$6,877,365. Regional council has staff working on two reports looking at gender parity within HRM, but both were just introduced this year, and are both information reports at this stage. One was requested by councillor Lorelei Nicoll to study creating a women’s advocacy committee; the other asks that the CAO review hiring practices and policies, and make recommendations to the executive standing committee on “what means could be initiated to achieve a better balance in relation to gender parity.” The city says staff are also working on a framework for an employment equity program, which would consider women as an equity group when applying for jobs. Blackburn notes that some top jobs recently have been going to women, citing Cathie O’Toole’s recent appointment as general manager at Halifax Water—her predecessor, Carl Yates, made $246,320 in 2018-19—and Halifax Public Libraries chief librarian and CEO Åsa Kachan among other leadership roles. “We do have a lot of women who are sort of breaking through that glass ceiling. But the unfortunate thing is...I don’t think they seem to be taking the big paycheques with them as they go through that glass ceiling.” Women make up 30 percent of the municipality’s whole workforce, but only 20 percent of the sunshine list’s earners. And in Canada, female representation keeps shrinking the higher you get on the pay scale. A 2019 Statistics Canada report says at the wage bracket for the top 0.1 percent, there are tens of thousands of men, but only thousands of women. While the city works internally on ways to increase gender parity, Blackburn says “I think part of it is that we we have to do more to encourage women to see themselves in those roles.” a
This ghost hotel in the Hydrostone was built to be a nice place to visit, with three separate “entire home” units.
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ew Airbnb statistics show a big increase in multiple-listing hosts in Halifax Regional Municipality since last year. According to the data, entire-home listings continue to see the most bookings, and hosts who manage multiple units make half of all the revenue generated by the short-term accommodation site during the height of the summer season. Multiple-listing hosts make up about 20 percent of all listings, but at the height of the summer season they made up to 56 percent of all host revenue generated through Airbnb. To find this information, data analyst Tom Slee created several charts and a heat map, generated by an algorithm he designed to collect data from Airbnb’s site listings and reviews— since Airbnb doesn’t openly share any data. Neighbours Speak Up, a local group concerned about Airbnb’s impact on neighbourhoods, raised the issue of “ghost hotels” to Halifax council in early July. Ghost hotels are purpose-built Airbnb properties for the sole purpose of year-round, less-than-30-day rentals, with no permanent residents. The group says there are about eight ghost hotels operating in the Hydrostone area today, and at least one of them was built to allow for three different Airbnb listings—essentially three flats—without a primary resident. Slee’s data dates back to June 2018. Since then, an average guest looking to book an Airbnb would increasingly find postings from hosts who manage multiple locations. About half of them belonged to hosts with multiple listings, which are often entire-home bookings. Slee’s data shows the lowest average price in the last year has been around $70 per night, while the top prices during tourist season range around $95 or more per night in HRM.
Multiple-listing hosts are often labelled “Superhosts” by Airbnb, a reward (and incentive) for offering safe, clean and reliable bookings—bookings that are typically overseen completely by third-party property managers. Companies like Over Sea Real Estate Management and others are commonly hired to handle bookings, accommodations and cleaning for hosts with multiple listings, making it easier for property owners to consider shortterm renting as a revenue model. Alongside increasing Airbnb revenues and volume of listings, housing insecurity is rising in HRM, with the long-term vacancy rate hovering at around one percent. People who want to live in Halifax are facing a landlord’s market of rising rents and competition among renters for even low-quality apartments. But as Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation senior analyst Kelvin Ndoro sees it, the rental market is thriving. Ndoro says an influx of skilled immigrants and downsizing seniors are among the factors pushing new construction of high-quality apartments in Halifax. There is a lag, however, between constuction starting and new units being ready for tenants. “Supply is growing, but not hitting the market fast enough,” says Ndoro. “Neither affordable housing nor market-price housing is hitting the market fast enough.” As far as measuring the impact of Airbnb on rental supply, Ndora says there’s currently no way to definitively track it. The province is working on short-term rental regulations that will be a step toward measuring the impact, but will not directly address rental supply. Halifax Regional Council recently directed staff to look into the effects of Airbnb on the rental market. a
The Coast
2019-08-07 6:21 PM
Voice of The City
Life
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU voice@thecoast.ca
C O M P I L E D BY ALLISON SAUNDERS Send tips to life@thecoast.ca
Work sucks, I know How the Halifax Worker’s Action Centre can help.
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ith low-wage and precarious work on the rise, many workers in Halifax are struggling to maintain decent employment while sustaining themselves and their families. For those without adequate wages and legal protection, addressing workplace inequality can be exhausting, risky and costly with little reward. During university, I monkey-barred from job to job and, while each was different, I noticed one common and unfortunate denominator: employers abused workers and workers remained powerless. When I sold strawberries at a farmers’ market, I was sent home—without pay—on days that I was menstruating. When I worked as a waitress, I was told that my boss could touch me whenever he pleased. I also balanced several retail jobs at one time. My co-workers and I were consistently denied breaks, working long hours with empty promises of five cent raises. Shifts were cancelled day-of, and paying rent proved challenging. Bad bosses. We’ve all had them. When I got my first office job, I assumed the worst was over. I was wrong. Women were compensated significantly less than men, and while men enjoyed upwards mobility, women struggled to advance. Employees seeking sick leave were met with skepticism, intimidated into disclosing intimate personal details, and were forced to provide excessive medical documentation. New fathers were discouraged from taking parental leave. Those who resisted management were harassed until they quit. Many issues plaguing workers are systemic in nature. I hear repeated accounts of sexual harassment, unpaid wages, wrongful dismissal, and racial discrimination. Many aggrieved workers in Halifax feel isolated, despite the suffering of so many among them. Motivated by frustration, I’m pushing for the $15 and Fairness campaign, which works alongside the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre to minimize workplace injustice. The Halifax Workers’ Action Centre was established in 2017, and works to bring
BY LISA CAMERON
SUBMITTED
Wentworth falls, Beulach Ban Falls, North River Falls. LAURA HAWKINS
The top 5 Nova Scotia waterfalls to fall for Chase-worthy destinations, for all seasons.
Lisa Cameron is a labour activist and organizing member of the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre.
dignity and justice to local workplace by offering practical assistance to low-waged and marginalized workers seeking to rectify their employment problems. The Workers’ Action Centre is committed to addressing workplace injustice through direct and collective action by hosting know-yourrights workshops and clinics where workers can obtain legal information about their workplace issue in a confidential setting and get hands-on assistance for filing human rights and labour standards complaints. The Halifax Workers’ Action Centre can be contacted at 902 221-0755 or email info@halifaxworkersaction.ca. a Read more at at thecoast .ca
DEVELOPMENT
Nine more storeys coming to Quinpool Road Development for the current home of Sicilian Pizza gets final approval from Halifax West and Community Council. Halifax West and Community Council put the final stamp of approval on a nine-storey development coming to the block between Quinpool Road and Pepperrell Street where Sicilian Pizza, Bi One Korean BBQ and 7 Peppers Grill are located. The application, made by WSP, on behalf of Façade Investments Ltd. is for a residential and commercial development, which will bring 69 multiuse residential units—at least 25 percent of which will be two bedroom—and five townhouse units to the area. The three- and a half-storey townhouse units will front Pepperrell street, and the Quinpool Road side of the building will have two-storey street-level commercial units with the eight-storey plus a penthouse tower set back from the street. Councillor Waye Mason told the committee the
development “continues to be one of my favourite buildings. “It really is a model for the kind of building we expect to see coming forward when the centre plan is adopted in September.” The development is very similar to its soon-tobe neighbour at 6324 Quinpool Road, where the infamously ‘out of service for cleaning ice cream machine’ McDonald’s is. The eight storey building proposed by Dexel Deveopments—responsible for the red balconies at Morris and Hollis Streets—will also have townhouses that face Pepperell Street. The upcoming centre plan will see a simplification of the current land use bylaw amendment process, and a reduction in site-specific development proposals like these ones. —CM
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hat sights and attractions remind you most of Nova Scotia? Beaches, coastline, lighthouses and lakes most often come to mind, but Nova Scotia is also home to dozens of breathtaking waterfalls. They come in different shapes and sizes with varying levels of difficulty to access—which makes waterfall hunting an equally varied and rewarding activity. Add these waterfalls to your to-see list and marvel at the beauty, serenity and energy of tumbling water. Let the chasing begin! 1. Pockwock Falls
Pockwock Road, Upper Hammonds Plains This popular waterfall is one of the few in the HRM, so it makes for a great destination if you don’t have the time or desire for a longer drive. It features a 25-foot cascade, whose power varies based on the time of year. (The rush of the water is especially impressive during the spring.) The waterfall is easy to access. From the parking area, it’s a 1km walk down an old dirt road until you reach the bridge, where you then head upstream for 50-100m. There is no official trail but the falls are easy to find along the bank. 2. Butcher Hill Falls
Higgins Mill Road, Upper Stewiacke This is one of my favourite falls in the province and, in my opinion, among the most beautiful. It features two tiers: a drop of 30 feet which pools and then forms a wide cascade at the bottom. This waterfall is incredibly easy to access and there’s not much of a hike involved—just walk a few dozen metres from where you park. That said, the dirt road that you have to drive down to get to the waterfall is in poor condition with large potholes so it’s not suitable for all vehicles. If you don’t want to put your car through that, consider parking at the top of the dirt road and walking up. 3. Wentworth Falls
NS highway 4, Wentworth This large, gorgeous waterfall features a nearly 60-foot plunge that flows in all directions across the rock. The water cascades from out of a hole that was blasted in the rock above.
BY LAURA HAWKINS
Park your car where the Wentworth Valley Hotel once was, and find the logging road that leads to the falls after a short 400m walk. 4. Beulach Ban Falls
456 Beulach Ban Road, between Pleasant Bay and Cape North, Cape Breton Highlands This steep, stunning 65-foot-tall cascade is among the easiest on this list to access. Simply park and the waterfall is right there! If you’re in the mood for a hike, Aspy Trail—the trailhead of which is just downstream from the falls—is a must. The 9km round trip features a gradual climb along a well-established trail, leading to a spectacular panoramic lookoff down the Aspy fault and valley. 5. North River Falls
North River Provincial Park, Oregon Road, Cape Breton Nova Scotia’s highest waterfall at over 100 feet tall, this waterfall is breaktaking—both in terms of its beauty and the effort required to get to it. If you want to check this big, bad waterfall off your bucket list, be prepared—the trail is nine kilometres each way in and out to the falls (18km total), about a six-hour hiking time depending on your skill level. Be prepared for scaling and scrambling across banks, bring lots of food and water, wear good hiking shoes (supportive and waterproof) and make sure daylight is on your side. These waterfalls can certainly be enjoyedduring the summer, but consider visiting at different times of the year to see how the falls transform with different levels of water—from overflow during the spring thaw to more gradual trickles during the hotter, drier summer months. It’s up to all of us to keep these special places, well, special. It’s unfortunate to see some of these treasures being disrespected with litter. Use a “leave no trace” mentality during your outdoor adventures and always take your trash with you—or even better, consider bringing a glove and bag to pick up from others and leave the place even cleaner and more beautiful than how you found it. a The Coast • AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14, 2019 • 5
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COVER STORY
David and Patricia Clark can see Cochrane Hill from their property. If the mine goes ahead despire the NOPE campain, this road to the site will be busy 24/7. SUBMITTED
Nova Scotia’s golden addiction This province has a problem with toxic mining: As one government department spends millions to clean up polluted sites from previous gold rushes, another department’s involved in making the next gold rush happen. BY ANDREW BETHUNE
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avid Clark remembers where he was the day the trouble started. He was walking through the woods on his property in Melrose, a small community on the St. Mary’s River, a two-anda-half-hour drive east of Halifax. Sun shone through the trees. Beams of light landed on the small brook. The rolling water sparkled. It added a spritz of freshness to the air. As he walked, leaves crunched. He noticed a figure down by the brook. The man wore blue jeans and workboots. Clean-shaven, tall and lean, he looked to David like he was used to physical work. David asked him what he was doing. “I’m a prospector,” the man told him. He pointed to a dip in the brook. It was a spot gold miners had altered decades ago, he said, to help process gold. A conversation followed. David quickly learned that in Nova Scotia anybody could stake land for mining, claiming the “mineral rights” to whatever might be in the ground, even if somebody else owned the property and lived on top of it. If a mineral like gypsum or gold was found, the stakeholder would have the right to mine it. If a landowner stood in the way, the matter would go to court. After the encounter, David was unsettled. He knew there had been historic gold mining in the area. This unprepossessing guy was a modern-day prospector looking for gold. Straightaway, David staked a claim on his land. He went home feeling secure. He wouldn’t be losing his property anytime soon
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to some unknown miner. That was 2010. In 2011, David was unable to renew his claim. He figured it was more trouble than it was worth, and forgot about it. The next time David and his wife Patricia Clark heard the words “gold mine,” it was an announcement in 2018. A company had plans for a big open-pit mine nearby. Atlantic Gold had already opened a mine in Moose River, halfway to Halifax. Now they were coming to Melrose.
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tlantic Gold is one of several companies digging in for Nova Scotia’s present-day gold rush. It opened the Moose River Complex, with our province’s first-ever open-pit gold mine, called Tuoquoy, almost two years ago. Atlantic Gold boasts “best in sector margin and cash flow generation” due to its “lowest cost” gold production. The Melrose mine is the second of four mines the company wants to open between Halifax and Cape Breton, a project it calls the “string of pearls.” After Patricia Clark found out about the Melrose mine, she started researching on the internet and discovered that several gold companies are active in the area—staking land, exploring and proposing projects. She found a map showing gold deposits in the province. It also shows areas staked for mineral exploration. The Clarks’ property is now staked by an exploration company called Meguma Gold. Meguma is “focused solely on creating exceptional value for our shareholders”
according to its website. The company owns claims that cover more than 179,000 hectares of Nova Scotia, equal to a third of PEI’s area. The company staked the land surrounding Atlantic Gold’s claims in Melrose, including the Clarks’. Meguma Gold is named after the Meguma Group, a type of Nova Scotia rock unique in North America. Millions of years ago, when Pangaea split, a small part of Africa fractured away and was dragged west. Nova Scotia’s southern half, a 300-kilometre-long stretch of gold-bearing rock from Yarmouth to Guysborough, is actually a “chip of Africa,” according to the journal Atlantic Geology. It’s the only piece of African landmass in North America. Our gold history thus began in the Triassic Age. Roughly 175 million years later, in 1860, a farmer from Musquodoboit named John Pulsiver was led by Mi’kmaw guides Joe, James and Francis Paul to a quartz boulder shot through with gold. The Mi’kmaw people called gold “wisosooleawa,” or “brown silver.” There are many stories of settlers being led to gold deposits by Mi’kmaw guides. Pulsiver registered the find, which kicked off the first Nova Scotia gold rush. Gold was so easily found it could be picked from under rocks in a river; gold panning was probably the first extraction method prospectors used. Then came other tools. Miners would swing picks all day in the Nova Scotia woods, dripping sweat, covered in biting black flies and mosquitos, cracking
rocks. Pieces of rock were crushed and rinsed with mercury to separate the gold. Bigger apparatus soon appeared, like the stamp mill, a giant machine that looks like a pipe organ, designed to crush huge rocks that held tiny specks of gold. These mills did not make the same music as a pipe organ. Large iron rods standing on end would rise a foot and then drop, smashing ore to a fine sand that got sluiced through the mill with water. Anybody working near a stamp mill would hear the constant sound of iron hitting bedrock, each rod landing once per second. It sounds like the Iron Giant doing Riverdance. A five-stamp mill could pulverize five tonnes of ore in 24 hours. Nova Scotia had at least one 30-stamp mill. After pounding, the heaps of wet paste would be drenched with mercury or, in later gold rushes, a mixture of cyanide and lime, to separate out the gold. Everything left over, the tailings, was poured into the nearest river or lake. The first gold rush was hasty and ran from 1860 to around 1874. More organized rushes, involving dynamite, bigger machinery and larger companies, occurred from 1896-1903 and 1932-42. In those early days, nature was endless and threatening. There was little worry about damaging the environment, especially when a life-changing score might be hiding somewhere in the ground. The perpetual flow of sparkling water would carry away the worthless paste, and hopefully a miner would make a few hundred dollars before losing their mind to mercury poisoning, dying of heat stroke or being trapped in a mine collapse. Many of the hopeful miners of the first gold rush had abandoned life on a farm to find riches. All labour was hard in the 1860s; gold mining was gambling with a pickaxe. Production ramped up quickly. Soon, people were coming from all over the world to mine. Three years before Pulsiver’s discovery, the government of Nova Scotia had gained full ownership and regulatory authority over all mineral deposits and mining in the province. To organize the gold rush, the government established districts and regulated claims. Sixty-four gold districts were created. Whole communities sprang up around gold-rich areas. Tangier, Waverley and Goldboro were all built around gold mines. Especially after machinery came into use, gold mining was a wasteful enterprise. Through the first three gold rushes, Nova Scotia produced over 37 tonnes of gold and over 3,000,000 tonnes of tailings. If you put the tailings on a scale, you would need 30,000 blue whales to balance it. As for the gold, one third of one whale would balance. Goldenville, a 15-minute drive from David and Patricia Clark’s property in Melrose, became by far the most productive gold district in Nova Scotia history. More than 200,000 ounces of gold were taken from the land before it shut down toward the end of the third gold rush in 1941. It was closed to the public by the province last fall because the tailings are still too toxic for humans to set foot on.
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inda Campbell’s rubber boot sinks into gray muck. She is stepping through a historic tailings site leftover from the Montague mines, just outside Dartmouth. The site was abandoned about 80 years ago. Along with Goldenville, it was officially closed last fall by the government. Campbell worries that there is no fence to keep people out, and only a few signs to identify the area as a toxic waste dump. She is allowed in as a researcher. The muck is so thick it threatens to suck the boot off her foot. There is a glossy film on the puddles. “It looks like it’s oil, but it’s not,” says
The Coast
2019-08-07 5:47 PM
COVER STORY
Campbell, “it’s a very specific type of bacteria that is processing this. It lives on the tailings.” Campbell is a professor and senior research fellow at Saint Mary’s University. She began studying tailings sites in 2013. In the frenzy of the early gold rushes, it was difficult to keep track of everything. Surviving documentation of mining activities, such as the amount of mercury used, is sparse. It concerns Campbell. We don’t know where all the piles of tailings or the abandoned mine shafts are. People may be living on or near piles of old waste. A hiker could stumble down a forgotten mine shaft. Sites like this have about 340 times the normal level of arsenic, and 140 times the normal level of mercury. Arsenic is a known carcinogen, and mercury is a known neurologic poison. Some insects breed in lakes. Campbell has found that at tailings sites, insects have 50 times more mercury in their bodies than normal. Those bugs fly around. Some are eaten by fish like salmon. “The toxins tend to bioaccumulate” up through the food chain, says Campbell. That means we might be eating animals with high levels of dangerous elements. One modern method of containment is to build an artificial pond where the tailings are submerged in water, which is held back from spilling onto surrounding lands by a tailings dam. But even if the tailings dam is successful at keeping poison out of wells, insects may be carrying it into the animal population. The most thorough report on historical tailings published to date was a Natural Resources Canada study of 14 mine sites (out of over 360 in the province) published in 2012. It found that the harmful elements of tailings seem permanent and can easily spread. The report states that “in some areas the tailings have been transported significant distances (>2km) offsite by local streams and rivers.” The historical tailings site at Montague is a field of gray sand that turns into a cement-like mire when it rains. On a hot day, the tailings become as fine and light as ash. It smells like sand. The ground is drab. Colourless. Motionless. Campbell’s footprints from today might be found months later, almost unchanged. She is hoping research will find a safe way to count and contain these piles of toxic waste.
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he provincial government announced on July 25 that Nova Scotian citizens will spend $48 million on cleanup of the Montague and Goldenville mine sites. Lands and forestry minister Iain Rankin called them “the two most egregious” sites in the province. There is no plan yet for the other 63 historic mining districts and 360-odd mines. Though modern practices are much more sophisticated and efficient, what becomes of tailings is perhaps the biggest concern among opponents of the Melrose mine, and in the gold mining industry in general. There is no standardized way to deal with the toxic byproducts of cyanide gold leaching. Tailings dams have to be monitored forever to make sure they don’t leak into the water table. All residents of Melrose live on well water. Industry website mining.com published a story March 2019 saying, “there are no set of universal rules defining exactly what a tailings dam is, how to build one and how to care for it after it is decommissioned. There are about 3,500 tailings dams around the world…mostly constructed from the waste material left over from mining operations, which—depending on the type of mine—can be toxic. Only three countries in the world ban upstream dams.” Canada is not one of them. The UN Environmental Programme said in 2017, “although the number of dam failures
Warwick Mountain mine, which the Sunns group is effectively fighting
Cape Breton
Goldenville mine toxic site
Guysborough
Cochrane Hill mine in Melrose Fifteen Mile Stream and Beaver Dam mines will complete Atlantic Gold’s “string pearls” vision if they are developed Touquoy mine in Moose River Halifax
Montague mine toxic site
See the RCM P get needless ly violent on At lantic Gold’s behalf at thecoast.ca
Yarmouth
has declined over many years, the number of serious failures has increased, despite advances in the engineering knowledge that can prevent them.” In August 2014, a tailings dam breached at the Mount Polley mine in BC, and a torrent of toxic water plunged down upon lakes, creeks and rivers. The grey waterfall released by the dam contained 24 million cubic metres of waste and mine water, enough to fill 2,000 Olympic swimming pools. The cleanup is costing citizens $40 million. The provincial government had three years to lay charges but did not. Five years later, an expert panel recommended charges against the company under the federal Fisheries Act. The federal government had until August 4 to lay charges, but did not. The tailings released into Quesnel Lake are still sitting at the bottom. In January, a leak at the Moose River Complex spilled 380,000 litres of waste. It was safely contained by an artificial pond designed to catch such a spill. The proposed mine in Melrose will be dug on Cochrane Hill. The plan is to create a tailings pond with a 70-metre-high tailings dam on the hill.
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cott Beaver loves the St. Mary’s River. “From the age of five, I lived here,” he says. He spent his youth as a river guide. As an adult he travelled abroad before settling next to the river. To teach his children to swim, he put them in lifejackets and tossed them in the river. He knew they would be safe. “It’s just so captivating. I can’t get away from it,” he says. He is still a tour guide, and tends different sites along the 250-kilometre-long river. “I feel responsible for it. I feel I need to help the river here,” he says. Beaver became president of the St. Mary’s River Association four years ago. Members are deeply concerned that the great umbilical cord for Atlantic Salmon will be turned into a barren strait. The Atlantic Salmon is generally considered an endangered species, and the St. Mary’s River is a critical area for its spawning. Scientists use a spot right beneath the site of
the proposed mine to count juvenile salmon to monitor the population. The association recently received a $1.2 million federal government grant to reduce the acidity of the river and help the salmon survive. Nearby, in Goldenville, Osprey Gold received a “generous provincial grant” to explore for more goldmining potential. Beaver, for his part, is bothered by what he perceives is a governmental disregard for nature. The environmental assessment of the proposed mine is “an approval process,
If gold was going to make Nova Scotia rich, we would already be a really rich province. —Joan Baxter is a journalist who covered mining in Africa
it’s not a disapproval process. That bugs me. There’s nothing in place to say, ‘this might not be an appropriate place, let’s not do it.’” From his house, he can also see Cochrane Hill. “I drive an hour back and forth [to work] every day, just to live beside this river. I guarantee you me and my wife will be moving from here if that gold mine comes,” he says. Beaver and the river association started a NOPE—No Open-Pit Excavation— campaign to battle an enterprise they believe will be fatal to the river. Other community members have also been outspoken against the mine. Paul Sobey, former CEO of the company that owns Sobeys grocery stores, donated 93 hectares of land along the St. Mary’s River to the Nova Scotia Nature Trust in 2018. Atlantic Gold wants to lay down a paved road
through that protected land. Sobey has called the proposed gold mine “mind-boggling.” About two dozen seasonal homeowners in the area penned an open letter against the mine, saying the combined value of seasonal homes—$40 million—and the combined annual spending of seasonal homeowners—$3 million—will disappear if the pristine quality of nature in the area is lost. Below Cochrane Hill lays Cumminger Lake. It is about a kilometer long, surrounded by emerald-green forest. The water is clear enough to see pale pebbles on the bottom. It is home to loons, fish and snapping turtles. Ralph Jack and Gwyneth Boutilier live on its shore. They moved to Melrose 10 years ago. “You can’t replace this property,” says Jack. Melrose is teeming with life. Deer are glimpsed diving into the woods. Squirrels frantically chase each other through the treetops. Young eagles float through the sky. Snapping turtles sit in the shallows of the pond with a prehistoric scowl. At night, the sky is a deep velvet blue, with stars sprayed across like a sparkling mist. Dozens of frogs croak into the darkness. Sometimes in the woods the sound of a footstep on leaves identifies a black bear. About six months ago, all-hours drilling began on Cochrane Hill. Giant drills bore into the land. It’s one modern way to explore for gold. Since the drilling began you might not see the stars so well, because there are strange lights in the sky coming from Cochrane Hill. It sounds like a giant construction project is underway. Boutilier and Jack are sometimes kept awake by the noise and lights. Boutilier and Jack joined the St. Mary’s River Association about seven years ago. The group is focussed intensely on battling the mine. “NOPE is the St. Mary’s River Association right now,” says Jack. These days, Boutlier and Jack look up at Cochrane Hill and worry what it will look like with the pit. The plan is to blast a hole 950 metres long, 450 metres wide and 170 metres deep out of the hill. It will be as long The Coast • AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14, 2019 • 7
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parties. This made way for the Tuoquoy mine. According to the Cochrane Hill plan, the nearest Mi’kmaw community is Paqntkek, 39 km away. Consultations have begun and, the plan says, “interactions between the Mi’kmaw and the project are anticipated to be low.”
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This toxic tailings site at the Montague mines, near Dartmouth, will be cleaned up by the province. SUBMITTED
as Cumminger Lake, half as wide, and almost 20 times deeper; 27 of Halifax’s Convention Centres could fit in the proposed mine site. “I wish they would just go away,” says Boutilier.
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ensions in the area reached a boiling point at an Atlantic Gold open house on May 23. After some initial community meetings, Atlantic Gold arranged a day with two events: a question-and-answer session and an information session about tailings management. The first session was where the trouble started. Audience members were shouting out questions; panel members had trouble answering them thoroughly. The questions were “good and penetrating,” says Joan Baxter, a journalist who attended, but the meeting didn’t flow very well. By all accounts, that meeting was ground to a halt by a woman who walked in holding some loose papers. She interrupted and held forth about historic mine tailings. Scott Beaver invited her out of the room. After a short talk they returned. She attended the rest of the meeting respectfully. Soon after that interruption, says Beaver, Atlantic Gold’s president Maryse Belanger “interrupted and took over and said, ‘there will not be any more questions about the finances of this company.’” Between the sessions, Beaver noticed a “strange guy…not talking to anybody,” and went over to introduce himself. He says the man wouldn’t shake his hand. “He kinda grunted at me and walked away. That was it.” Nobody knew who he was. The second session was supposed to be a presentation, with questions afterward. “Minutes before” the meeting started, Beaver says, the stranger approached him, Baxter, sustainability advocate John Perkins and a woman named Madeline Conacher. He pointed at each of the four and said, “you, you, you and you, out. You’re no longer welcome at this meeting. This is a private meeting. You’re not allowed in here now.” Beaver thought, “Who are you? What do you mean, we’re not welcome at this meeting? It’s
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not a private meeting. The invitation’s in the frickin’ newspaper.” The four told the stranger they wouldn’t leave. He said, “well, I’m calling the RCMP,” and walked away. The four waited in their seats at the back of the room. The meeting started. After five minutes, Beaver noticed flashing blue and red lights outside the window. He moved to the front of the room and started shooting a video. In the video, an RCMP officer is seen approaching Perkins, who seems baffled by the attention. Perkins declines to leave the room, asking, “this is a public meeting?” The plainclothed stranger is heard saying, “no, this is a private meeting.” Perkins is soon wrestled out of the room with considerable force. The video has been viewed over 11,000 times. “The gold mine company is using their muscle, and they’re using our own RCMP to do it.” says Beaver, “it’s not right.” Perkins is 68 years old. Two months after the incident, “my physical injuries are pretty much healed. My emotional, cognitive injuries are still an issue,” he says by phone from his home in Tatamagouche. He says he can’t bring himself to watch the video. Perkins is the founder of Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia, a group promoting “reasonable economic development” in the province. SuNNS has made progress blocking a proposed Warwick Mountain gold mine with community actions like signs and petitions. The mine would be dug directly on top of the French River watershed and would almost certainly foul the drinking water of Tatamagouche. Perkins was contacted by the St. Mary’s River Association for help fighting the Cochrane Hill mine. “One of the voices that’s missing from this whole thing are the Indigenous voices,” he adds. A required step in the approval of projects is consultation with First Nations communities. In 2014 the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs signed a memorandum of understanding with Atlantic Gold, officially recognizing the perspectives of the involved
oan Baxter wakes up and shuffles into her kitchen. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she fixes a pot of coffee then turns on the radio. She listens for the price of gold: $1,468 per ounce. Still a six-year high. She feels a familiar pang of stress. “If the price of gold starts to drop, all of this will stop,” Baxter says by phone. She is a journalist who has been following the new gold rush in Nova Scotia for about two years. More than a decade ago, she wrote about gold mining in Africa for BBC and other outlets. In Mali, she was flown to see the most profitable open-pit gold mine in the world. She looked out the window of the plane and saw something unforgettable. “We were circling around to come in to land and I just looked at this giant gash in the surface of the Earth,” she says. Huge trucks looked like “dinky toys” in the enormous pit. It looked like a disaster. It was “a pale, pale brown sandy colour, and it just went on forever and ever and ever.” That was 2002. The mine is still operating today, alongside several others in the country. Baxter does not believe such operations bring prosperity to surrounding areas. “I’d like to point out that Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world,” she says. “If gold was going to make Nova Scotia rich, we would already be a really rich province.” Last fall, Baxter published a four-part series jointly in the Halifax Examiner and the Cape Breton Spectator about the modern gold rush in our province. “I didn’t expect to be writing about it in Nova Scotia,” she says. She wrote about a government that added loopholes to the Mineral Resources Act and invited gold companies to explore. Much of the business is done in private. “The people of this province don’t have a right to see what kind of deals are
I get the feeling that somebody signed off on this long before it became public knowledge. —Robie Maclennan lives 5km from the Cochrane Hill site being made, and what kind of protection they have, if any,” she says, “because the privacy is all on the side of the mining companies.” Baxter also reported on the first recorded case of a Nova Scotian, Wayne Oakley, having his home expropriated to make space for the Moose River mine. That mine has produced over 90,000 ounces of gold so far. Baxter says because of policy loopholes, last year “Atlantic Gold didn’t pay one cent in tax.” She also explored the realities of the openpit gold mine, from heavy-duty chemicals like cyanide and explosives being trucked on our roads, to the communities opposing the mines, to the mining lobby’s activities in the province. Her work has been shortlisted for an Atlantic Journalism Award.
Perhaps most concerning is the difficulty Baxter has in finding information and getting comments from the people involved. “The only way I’m ever able to get Atlantic Gold to speak to me is if I go to one of their open houses,” she says. She faces similar barriers with government. “I think I had better access to information in Mali than I do here. When I wanted to interview the minister, I called the minister up and had an interview with him. I didn’t have to go through layers and layers of media relations people,” she says. “This secrecy is new.” Guysborough MLA and former natural resources minister Lloyd Hines told The Coast he had “no comment on the matter” of the Cochrane Hill gold mine in his riding. Atlantic Gold’s communications director declined to answer any questions and would provide no comment. The office of the department of energy and mines sent a statement that says, “Nova Scotia’s mining and environmental legislation holds companies to a high level of responsibility.” Mining Association of Nova Scotia president Sean Kirby referred The Coast to a press release which states, “protecting the environment and ensuring ethical sourcing of essential materials like gold means doing more mining here, not less.” Joan Baxter fears the mine will probably go ahead, because these decisions are out of the hands of the people on the ground. “Nova Scotia is my backyard,” she says. “I live here. I’m from here. I really don’t want my kids and grandkids and future generations to look back and say, ‘What were you thinking?’”
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he price of gold tends to rise at times of geopolitical uncertainty. Governments are able to print currency; nobody can create gold. There’s only so much. Its value comes from its stability. It doesn’t rust. It lasts forever. It is flexible. Your smartphone has a tiny bit of gold inside, a wire that conducts and never corrodes. Gold can be flattened into a see-through sheet. Astronauts have a thin film of gold in their visors, filtering harsh rays from the sun. Dentists have been sticking gold in our mouths for over 4,000 years. With its warm yellow tones and eye-catching shine, gold has mesmerized us through the ages. The most common use of gold is to make jewelley. Diamonds may be forever, but gold is forever too, plus it’s money. According to the World Gold Council, all the gold ever mined amounts to 190,000 tonnes, as much as the CN Tower with three statues of liberty on top. In contrast, 1.7 billion tonnes of silver has been unearthed. Since most of the easy-to-find gold has been mined, it is now “wrung from the Earth at enormous environmental cost,” according to Jane Perlez and Kirk Johnson in The New Yorker. Nonprofit mining reform group Earthworks estimates that for every gold ring, 20 tonnes of waste (equal to 250 beer kegs, 1 loaded garbage truck or 7,000 bricks) is created by mining. The Smithsonian has called gold mining “an environmental disaster.” Today, Canada is the fifth-largest gold producer worldwide, behind China, Australia, Russia and the United States. We produced 176.2 tonnes of gold in 2017. A 2016 investor’s handbook published by the Canadian government says, “Canada is truly one of the world’s mining nations.”
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alda Kelly is chopping broccoli for stir-fry. She and her husband Harry are at their camp (you might say cottage) near Melrose. They’ve come to escape their home in Moose River. Ever since the gold mine moved in next door, life has “reached the unbearable point.”
The Coast
2019-08-07 5:47 PM
COVER STORY
The Kellys moved to Moose River around 1982. Being nature lovers, they sought out a spot that wouldn’t have much traffic. They bought their house “because we love peace and quiet,” says Valda. Seven years ago, the Kellys heard about a proposal for a gold mine nearby. “People kinda thought we’ll believe it when we see it, you know?” says Harry. Five years later, he heard the diesel roar of a huge vehicle rumbling past his house. Heavy equipment and big trucks were driving to the new mine. “All of a sudden, it was happening, and the scale of it was unbelievable,” says Harry, a retired schoolteacher. Valda can’t remember hearing about any meetings beforehand. “There was no public meeting,” she insists. The gold would be mined, and they would have to live with it. “We get it that people need jobs. Some of the people were very happy to get some employment,” says Valda. Those jobs mean more traffic. Now, “an endless stream” of three-quarter-ton trucks, dump trucks full of gravel and Brinks trucks cruise by, whipping up curtains of dust in their wake. “You can’t even see across the road” when these trucks drive by, says Harry. The traffic runs 24/7. Roadside ditches have turned grey. The trees are speckled with dust. One neighbour put plywood over her picture window to protect it from rocks flying up off the road. Their neighbours across the street, Kim and Liz Leslie, have been leaving home as often as they can. Liz has been suffering lung disease flare-ups. “They go somewhere there’s some good air to breathe,” says Harry. There is a knock at the door. Not expecting visitors, Harry raises his eyebrows. He goes to the door. Valda follows, a confused look on her face. “Oh, hi!” she exclaims. In a coincidence after just talking about them, it is Kim and Liz Leslie. The group sits down in the small living room of the Kellys’ camp. A discussion about the mine erupts. “It’s no use trying to clean,” says Kim, because the dust sticks to everything. “It’s the same thing, day and night.” Liz says it’s affected her health, “my breathing especially. It gets too bad and then I end up in the hospital.” Kim has to pay a couple hundred dollars every few months to have his heat pump cleaned. “It should only be done every two years,” says Kim, “It’s ridiculous. That’s how bad the dust is.” Kim’s jaw moves like he’s chewing something small as he talks. He is a slim older man with a white moustache. You can barely see his mouth move. His voice rises with frustration the more he talks. “Who wants to live out there?” asks Harry. “Nobody wants to,” answers Kim. “You want to sum it up?” says Harry. “Dump trucks, dust, devastation. That’s basically what our life is now.” “Yep,” Kim agrees. “Mm-hmm,” murmurs Valda. The others in the room nod solemnly. “No one ever thought it would happen,” Kim says of the mine, “not as big as it is, anyway.” “This is huge,” says Harry. “Probably about 10, 15 kilometres from our place you can see the lights, it looks like a friggin’ airport,” says Kim, “and the piles of gravel are up past the trees.” The two couples eat a stir-fry supper. Then they go to a nearby beach. Kim and Liz set up a tent; they prefer not to go home. The two couples talk about their neighbours who sold property to the mine. “They should have bought us out, too,” says Harry. Kim shrugs. “I like my place. I don’t wanna leave.” The shadows grow long. It is dusk. The tide washes up against the rocks. Harry and Valda CON’T ON P10 >
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Get Out of Town!
COVER STORY
The Coast’s guide to hitting the road this summer < CON’T FROM P9
leave to head back to their camp. Liz and Kim sit on the beach beside their tent, looking out over the water.
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ot everyone who lives in the Melrose area is so against the Cochrane Hill mine. Some think an infusion of jobs would be a much-needed lifeline in a community parched for work. It’s a story familiar in many rural Nova Scotian towns. Young people have been leaving for employment, leaving behind a shrinking community. Robie Maclennan is a mechanic who lives within five kilometres of the proposed mine site. He drives half an hour to his job at a
You want to sum it up? Dump trucks, dust, devastation. That’s basically what our life is now. —Harry Kelly moved to Moose River in 1982 garage in Antigonish. He couldn’t find work closer to home. He wanted his kids to grow up in Aspen (near Melrose), like he did. He believes that without jobs, the community will soon be a shell of what it once was. Since there’s no better option on the table, he supports the mine. “Do I think it’s the best thing for the area? No,” he says by phone. “But I mean, what are we gonna do? Plant flowers and sell them for five bucks apiece? We gotta live in the real world.” The Cochrane Hill mine is projected to create over 200 jobs. Maclennan says those against the mine are jumping to the conclusion that it would cause destruction. When jobs are so important, he thinks people need to be open to anything that can help the economy. The mine might not be the best thing, but if the company follows the rules, it should be a safe operation. The Moose River waste leak is an example of things working the way they’re supposed to. “There’s hotheads on both sides, I guess,” he says. “Nobody wants to see it ruin the river or the drinking water.” Maclennan believes most of the pro-mine people are too busy working and caring for their families to demonstrate support. Others
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are intimidated by the passion of the NOPE campaigners. To encourage supporters to speak their minds, he posted green stickers that say “YEP.” “It doesn’t really stand for anything, it’s just the other side,” he says. Maclennan’s property has both NOPE and YEP signs, because his kids are against the mine. “I want them to know you can be on opposite sides of something and still get along,” he says. Maclennan thinks it’s unfortunate that there are now “very heated conversations between neighbours.” Lifelong relationships are disrupted by different opinions of the mine. Either way, Maclennan assumes the mine will appear soon. “I get the feeling that somebody signed off on this long before it became public knowledge,” he says. Natural Resources Canada’s website says, “Canada’s minerals sector is a mainstay of the national economy that supports jobs and economic activity in every region.” In 2017, there were 426,000 people employed in the Canadian mining industry.
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avid and Patricia Clark can see Cochrane Hill from the end of their driveway. Last year, Patricia googled “open pit gold mine” and became horrified at the idea of having one so close. “It’s the dirtiest type of mine, worldwide,” she says. “It’s more toxic than coal mining.” Accidents involving mine waste seem common, and disastrous, around the world. She thought maybe Canada would have high-enough standards that it could be done safely. Then she found the Mount Polley disaster. “There is no such thing as clean open-pit mining,” she says. The Clarks don’t know what will happen to their property. If the mine opens, and the project expands, their land could be expropriated. It happened in Moose River. As long as the price of gold is high, this business will grow and change. “It’s like David and Goliath, only we don’t have any illusions we’re gonna win,” says Patricia. Atlantic Gold was sold for $722 million in July to a bigger Australian company, St. Barbara Limited. David and Patricia sit in their living room as the sun sets, thinking about the future. They have lived here for 23 years. They say they will move if the mine goes ahead. “I never carried anger before,” says David. “Now I do.” Outside, under the star-splashed sky, frogs croak a chorus near the murmuring stream. A black bear wanders through the trees, completely silent except for crushing leaves underfoot. In the distance, the whine of a highpowered drill echoes through the woods. a Andrew Bethune is a writer from Halifax.
The Coast
2019-08-07 5:48 PM
Get Out of Town!
The Coast’s guide to hitting the road this summer
EDITED BY ALLISON SAUNDERS SEND TIPS TO ALLISONS@THECOAST.CA
Big ol’ beer box makes it’s way into town for the Seaport Cider & BeerFest. SUBMITTED
With love (and beer), from Halifax After being featured at the Seaport Cider & BeerFest, the Maine Beer Box will head home packing Canadian brews. BY REBECCA DINGWELL
Halifax Seaport Cider & BeerFest Friday, August 9, 7-9:30pm and Saturday, August 10, 2-4:30pm and 7-9:30pm Cunard Event Centre, 961 Marginal Road $45-70
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f this were a YA novel, it’d be The Sisterhood of the Travelling Beers. This weekend, dozens of Maine-based breweries are coming to the Halifax Seaport Cider & BeerFest. Even more are sending booze via the Maine Beer Box: a huge refrigerated shipping container commissioned by the Maine Brewers’ Guild in 2017. “As grandiose as it might sound, it’s kind of exporting the collaborative goodwill,” says Sean Sullivan, the executive director of the Maine Brewers’ Guild. The Maine Beer Box is at the centre of an ongoing marketing project, allowing “a global exchange of beer between brewers.” It’s been all the way to Iceland for an event in Reykjavik and, last year, it made the trek across the pond to England. Now, Nova Scotia is the box’s next stop, where its 78 taps will be flowing in time for the BeerFest’s 13th annual event.“Because of this geographic proximity, there’s a real opportunity to create some great relationships, professional relationships between our
brewers,” says Sullivan. Brian Titus, festival co-founder and organizer, says Maine breweries have been participating in BeerFest since the beginning. When the Beer Box project was announced, he was immediately interested: “For me, it’s the reciprocal component that makes this really exciting.” Once the Maine Beer Box has been emptied, it’ll be time to fill it back up. The hope is that the shipping container will be ready to head back to the US by the fall, taking a slew of beers from Nova Scotian breweries (and other parts of Canada).“The question has been asked: If you’re a local producer, why are you bringing a great big box filled with Maine craft beer?” says Titus. “There’s just some phenomenal networking that’s gonna come out of this.” Despite the international offerings at this year’s BeerFest, Titus says the festival didn’t dial back on local products. In fact, there will be about 190 beverage choices from close to home. Some of this year’s trends include brute IPAs and rosé ciders. Since the cider component has continued to grow, it will be part of the event name from this year forward. “It is a reflection of who is coming to this to sample,” says Titus, “and also who’s coming to this to sample on the other side of the table.” a The Coast • AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14, 2019 • 11
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REMEMBERING SKIP BECKWITH
MUSIC AND ARTS NEWS EDITED BY MORGAN MULLIN SEND TIPS TO ARTS@THECOAST.CA
The legendary Nova Scotian bassist passed away July 31, with word of the loss spreading this week. Here, Beckwith’s longtime friend and bandmate Jerry Granelli speaks: “I met Skip in 1986—he was one of only two people I could play with seriously,” Granelli says, saying their friendship helped form the city’s legendary Creative Music Workshops. “Skip played with Oliver Jones, he knew Oscar Peterson. He just had great humour and helped the music. He loved the music and gave it away freely to young people.”
Alexander Cappellazzo as Tamino and Katherine Mayba as Queen of the Night. STOO METZ
REVIEW
The Magic Flute blows on Mozart’s music might be “the most sublime ever written” but he’s no woke bae. BY JADE NAUSS The Magic Flute Aug 8, 7:30pm; Aug 10, 2pm Sir James Dunn Theatre 6101 University Avenue $20
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hen Nina Scott-Stoddart, artistic director of the Halifax Summer Opera Festival, steps into the spotlight to introduce The Magic Flute, she tactfully draws our attention to both the beauty of the music and the antiquated libretto. She says Mozart’s masterpiece features “the most sublime music ever written by human hands” but “it’s a slightly old-fashioned script and slightly problematic for us.” She’s not wrong—on either account. The Magic Flute is a fairytale comedy about love, wisdom and the power of music. There’s a brave prince, a kidnapped princess, a bumbling bird-catcher, a powerful high priest and a meddling mother known as the Queen of the Night. There’s also a magic flute (who knew?) and some magic bells. It’s a silly story with a happy ending. What could go wrong? Well, it’s laden with misogyny, paternalism and racism. It’s full of stereotypical indictments of women: their wiles, their emotionality and their talkativeness. The high priest kidnaps the princess from her mother because he thinks the Queen of the Night is a bad influence. Then there’s a Moor named Monostatos whose dark skin, it is argued, is
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synonymous with evil. So. Yeah. What was acceptable in 1791 (when this opera first premiered) is quite jarring today. Scott-Stoddart’s introduction serves a purpose: Without it, the performance could be misconstrued as an endorsement of the story’s problematic aspects. With it, the performance becomes an acknowledgement of the historical realities that still affect us. Once we’ve been duly prepared by ScottStoddart, we sit back and enjoy the music. The cast is comprised of students and professionals, so the performances are by turns extraordinary and uneven. There are a few faint voices, but the main cast is impressive. In particular, charming baritone Luke Noftall provides comic relief as the bird-catcher Papageno while singing like one of his feathered friends. And, the Queen of the Night’s famous rage aria is performed with goosebump-inducing intensity by talented soprano Anastasia Pogorelova. (Pogorelova is double-cast for the role, meaning when you attend you’ll either see her or the sensational soprano Katherine Mayba as the Queen of the Night—either way, expect excellence.) Almost as sublime as the music? The fact that we didn’t have to brush up on our German: The projected English translations and spoken English dialogue make the libretto easy to understand, if occasionally difficult to read and to hear. a
The Coast
2019-08-07 5:10 PM
Arts
MUSIC
Climate dissonance
THEATRE
Letting the Light in
Andrew MacKelvie and New Hermitage deliver a drone-heavy soundscape charting the climate crisis. BY MORGAN MULLIN
A new, all-woman theatre collective celebrates the overlooked legacy of artist Florine Stettheimer
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How the Light Lies (On You)
hen it comes to understanding the climate crisis, Andrew MacKelvie knows that “the numbers don’t mean anything out of context.” The fixture in Halifax’s jazz and improv scenes has spent four months wading through data about the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, looking to find a way to wake us up from environmental apathy. “As an improviser, I’m interested in how you can transfer extra-musical things into music,” he explains—so, when MacKelvie noticed the data range looked a lot like “notes kind of around a middle C,” he got to work transcribing parts per million to hertz, building two synthesizers on his computer that play off each other. A literal soundtrack to our changing climate—accompanied by layered visuals cut out of different images. This week, he brings the result to Art Bar + Projects, performing with his band New Hermitage on Wednesday night.
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New Hermitage w/Brandon Auger
Aug 14, 8pm Art Bar + Projects, 1873 Granville Street $10/PWYC
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Now at thecoast.ca Weekly prem of new, local ieres make your pl songs to aylist This week, pe slap. DK & Ghetto ep sock “Reflections s’ ”
Aug 8, 9, 7:30pm; Aug 11 2:30pm, 7:30pm Art Bar + Projects, 1873 Granville Street Pay What You Can/$10-$30
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ometimes, the risks we take don’t result in triumph or success.In the upcoming production How the Light Lies (On You), failure and disappointment are examined using art, poetry and a whole lot of cellophane. An original script by Edie Reaney Chunn starring Kya Mosey, Ella MacDonald and Julia Schultz, How the Light Lies follows the life of modernist-feminist designer and painter Florine Stettheimer during the period she designed the set and costumes for Virgil Thompson and Gertrude Stein’s opera, Four Saints in Three Acts. During the early part of the 20th century, she was a major success in the costume and set design scene but her paintings were largely ignored during Stettheimer’s lifetime—she didn’t sell a single painting in her first and only solo exhibition. Both adored and reviled for her unapologetic love of decadence, feminine painting style and depictions of sex, nudity and race (Stettheimer is credited for painting the first feminist nude self-portrait), How the Light Lies proves both failure and success are only ephemeral. With innovative visual effects and designs developed by Anna Shepard, audiences can expect to experience an array of Stettheimer’s paintings, poetry and letters—even cellophane artwork (the artist’s trademark medium).
Ella MacDonald as Carrie Stettheimer. JULIA SCHULTZ
How the Light Lies is the first production by the recently formed all-woman collective The New Pants Project. Schultz, who also directs the piece, says Stettheimer’s audacious attitude in the face of the patriarchy parallels what women often experience in theatre: “I think that’s something that gave me a lot of strength, as someone who loves my feminine side and still demands to be taken seriously. I get to be as much as I want, as feminine as I want, and you still have to respect me.” As Reaney Chunn offers of the story, which is centred around Stettheimer’s decadent and excessive paintings: “It’s an interesting way to know her life. You can read a Wikipedia article about her, you can look at other profiles about her. It’s another interpretation of her life based on her art.” —Sara Connors
A new musical showcases the “broadness and richness” of Canada’s oldest Black community.
SUBMITTED
The Power of Preston
3
Aug 13-14, 7pm Alderney Landing Theatre, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth $15/$20
W
1.
MacKelvie tracks the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by having one of his two synths play a constant tone that represents the amount of carbon dioxide in the air the week he was born. The second synth follows a “microtonal climb”, rising every second to match the increasingly polluted air throughout his lifetime. “It gets much more dissonant and tense the further they get from each other,” he adds.
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MacKelvie took an old family photo of him playing the sax and superimposed it with sky to represent the way our world has been changing around us. “I’d mainly like people to use their imaginations [when viewing the show],” MacKelvie adds. “It’s more in your imagination and sitting with and dealing with uncertainty and anxiety.”
3.
“I hope it gives people a sense of physicality, a feeling of this is what the uncomfortableness of climate change feels like,” MacKelvie says of the piece.
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hen Anne Johnson-McDonald picks up the phone, a quick half-hour before she’ll have to rush out the door to rehearsals, she’s ready to explain exactly where the name of her latest musical comes from: “The power of Preston is the people of Preston,” the playwright and artistic director explains with an audible grin. “I want this play to empower our people, encourage our youth and elders—to showcase our greatness, our history, our accomplishments in education, in politics, in sports, in the arts.” The theme for the play—which opens with an African elder prophesying about a land where Black excellence is forever in bloom and that traces the history of Preston to today—came to Johnson-McDonald “as I was
RUSSELL GROSSE
The Power of Preston is in its people
jogging on the trail in Preston. Last year I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar and thought: It has to be a musical.” The playwright has scads of local, intergenerational talent on deck to back up her song-laced ambitions, with the likes of Reeny Smith, Keonté Beals and Four the Moment member Kim Bernard performing as part of the show. “Everyone that’s involved has a connection to Preston,” Johnson-McDonald adds, mentioning that Beals’ powerful hit “Man Down” weaves into a plot about gun violence (one of only two times the show, as she puts it, “recognizes hardships”). On the whole, Johnson-McDonald emphatically states the show is “a must-see,” a vibrant retelling of a community through the words of those from there: “I want audience members to walk away with an appreciation of who Preston is,” she adds. “Of contributions made to the larger society, of the broadness and richness of who Preston is.” —MM The Coast • AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14, 2019 • 13
2019-08-07 4:46 PM
Entertainment Listings Music Look down! Events & Stage Look right! Visual Arts P15
› ENTERTAINMENT AND EVENTS PICKS WRITTEN AND COMPILED BY MORGAN MULLIN
Send event listings to listings@thecoast.ca. Print deadline Thursday, 5pm
Music
SURE THINGS
Events Thursday August 8 HOW THE LIGHT LIES (ON YOU) A new play about modernist painter and poet Florine Stettheimer, exploring the massive failure that was her first solo painting showcase—and how she continued to create new art for three decades afterward. Read more on page 13. Art Bar, 1873 Granville Street, Aug 8-9, 7:30pm; Aug. 11, 2:30&7:30pm, PWYC
Friday August 9
Sure Thing
MAURA WHITMAN The R&B-steeped singer-songwriter—who told The Coast in 2018 she idolizes Alicia Keys—returns with a new stack of songs and a sound that’s leaning towards pop at this showcase celebrating her new single, “Roulette.” Codapop Studios, 6880 Quinpool Road, Thu Aug 8, $10, 8pm
Thursday August 8 Big Ticket Shows The Magic Flute Read the review on page 13. Sir James Dunn Theatre, 6101 University Avenue, $20, 7:30pm; Aug 10, 2pm
DJ + Dancing ’90S NIGHT Toothy Moose AUDIO THERAPY THURSDAYS Reflections, $7/$9, 11pm DJ RANDY Monte’s, free, 10pm THIRSTDAYZ Menz, 10pm
Live Music LANDING SOUND The Loose Cannon, free, 9pm-12am THE LEGENDARY GOLDBLOOMS Sniggily Wiggily’s, 7pm MAURA WHITMAN See photo. Codapop Studios, 6880 Quinpool Road, $10, 8pm THE MELLOTONES Bearly’s, 10pm YEAR OF GLAD W/OCEAN CHARTER OF VALUES, GLAZEY, TELERI The Seahorse, $8, 8pm
Big Ticket Shows Alcina The Halifax Opera Festival remounts this 1735 story, exploring a magical island ruled by a seductive, capricious sorceress. Lllilian Piercey Concert Hall, 6199 Chebucto Road, 7:30pm
MOOSE MONDAYS W/DJ SKEETER B Toothy Moose, free
DJ FROST AND XS 7 Red Stag Tavern, 10pm-1am DJ RANDY Monte’s, free, 10pm
Live Music
HOW THE LIGHT LIES (ON YOU) Read more on page 13. Art Bar, 1873 Granville Street, Aug 8-9, 7:30pm; Aug. 11, 2:30&7:3
DAVE MACISAAC & LOUIS BENOIT Old Triangle, 7-10pm MORGAN DAVIS Bearly’s, PWYC, 8:30pm ONE MAN SHOW Halifax Alehouse
INDIA FEST 2019 The three-day celebration of Indian culture, food, dance and music returns. Halifax Forum, 2901 Windsor Street, Aug 9-11
Tuesday August 13
Saturday August 10
Sunday August 11
DJ + Dancing
HALIFAX SEAPORT CIDER & BEERFEST Read more on page 11. Cunard Event Centre, Pier 23, 961 Marginal Road, Aug 9-10, $50/$75
GEOFF KENNEDY Edible Matters PORK SODA W/PURE ROCK FURY The Seahorse, $10, 10pm THE WICKED DEADLYS Bearly’s
Big Ticket Shows
Saturday August 10
DJ + Dancing
GARRETT MASON Bearly’s, 8:30pm GOTTIJAM Menz, $3, 10:30pm NEW MUSIC TUESDAYS Sniggily Wiggily’s, 8:30pm TYLER AND SCOTT Durty Nelly’s, free, 10pm
Big Ticket Shows
JEFF GOODSPEED AND HIS ULTIMATE BAND OF SUPER HEROES Stayner’s Wharf, free, 5-9pm SKIN & JONES The Perfect Pour THEM OTHER JOHNS The Local, 4-8pm
DJ + Dancing DJ RANDY Monte’s, Free, 10pm DJ SAVORY Toothy Moose, $10 DJ TONY HAZE The Bitter End
Live Music
The Magic Flute Read our review on page 13. Sir James Dunn Theatre, 6101 University Avenue, $20, 2pm MURDA BEATZ The producer behind Drake’s “Nice For What”—who’s also worked with the likes of Gucci Mane and Nicki Minaj—aims to make you bounce. The Marquee Ballroom, 2037 Gottingen Street The Tales of Hoffmann The Halifax Summer Opera Festival continues as it mounts Jacques Offenbach’s tale of a poet. Sir James Dunn Theatre, 6101 University Avenue, $20, 7:30pm
14 • AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14, 2019 •
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DJ + Dancing
Live Music CODY DEGAUST W/NOT SAFE FOR WORK, CASUAL CRIES FOR HELP Menz, $7, 10pm DANCE NIGHTS Newfoundland Social Club, $6, 8-11:30pm JOE MURPHY & THE WATER STREET BLUES BAND Your Father’s Moustache, 4-8pm MIKE COWIE AND CO. Press Gang
Alcina Lllilian Piercey Concert Hall, 6199 Chebucto Road, Aug 9, 7:30pm; Aug 11, 2pm
DJ MIKE G AND GUESTS Toothy Moose, Free
Live Music
Monday August 12 DJ + Dancing DJ TONY HAZE The Bitter End
AMATEUR DJ NIGHT W/DJ MASTER Menz
Live Music
Wednesday August 14 Live Music 350.5 - 411.16(PPM) BY NEW HERMITAGE W/BRANDON AUGER Read more on page 13. Art Bar + Projects, $10/PWYC, 8pm BLUES NIGHT FEAT. JOE MURPHY AND BRAD CONRAD The Loose Cannon, 9pm THE LEGENDARY GOLDBLOOMS Sniggily Wiggily’s, 7pm ORGAN RECITAL W/JAMES BURCHILL Cathedral Church of All Saints, 12:10pm THE STROLLING BONES The Daily Grind, free, 9-10pm
Sunday August 11 CLAM HARBOUR BEACH SANDCASTLE COMPETITION Armed with perfectionist tools like toothbrushes to get every grain of sand into submission, many of the fest’s diehard fans create honest-to-god sculptures of sand. Clam Harbour Beach Provincial Park, Route #7, Lake Charlotte, 9am HOW THE LIGHT LIES (ON YOU) Read more on page 13. Art Bar, 1873 Granville Street, Aug 8-9, 7:30pm; Aug. 11, 2:30&7:3 INDIA FEST 2019 Halifax Forum, 2901 Windsor Street, Aug 9-11, 11am-9pm
Tuesday August 13 THE POWER OF PRESTON A new musical that highlights the history, culture and resilience of Preston. Read more on page 13. Alderney Landing Theatre, 2 Ochterloney Street, Aug 13-14, 7pm
Wednesday August 14 EAST COAST AMUSEMENTS MIDWAY The Bill Lynch has arrived! Exhibition Park, 200 Prospect Road THE POWER OF PRESTON Read more on page 13. Alderney Landing Theatre, 2 Ochterloney Street, Aug 13-14, 7pm
HALIFAX WANDERERS FC VS. CAVALRY FC Wanderers Grounds Stadium, 5819 Sackville Street, 2pm INDIA FEST 2019 Halifax Forum, 2901 Windsor Street, Aug 9-11, 11am-9pm
Sure Thing
CINDERELLA Neptune’s take on the classic tale of a girl on her way to a party with nothing to wear was so popular when it showed this past winter that the play is coming back— with the same British pantomime treatment audiences loved last time around. Neptune Theatre 1593 Argyle Street, Aug 8-9 7:30pm; Aug 10, 2pm & 7:30pm; Aug 11, 2pm, $30-$76, neptunetheatre.com
STOO METZ
Friday August 9
AMY HELM Yes, sure, Amy Helm is the daughter of The Band’s legendary drummer and singer Levon Helm and singer/songwriter Libby Titus, but she’s long since proved she stands on her own musical feet. The Carleton, 1685 Argyle Street, $32.50, 9pm-12am RICH AUCOIN Confetti-filled indie-electro rock. Shore Club, 250 Shore Club Road, Hubbards, $20, 9pm-1:30am
CHELLE WOOTTEN PHOTOGRAPY
HALIFAX SEAPORT CIDER & BEERFEST The toast to craft suds of all sorts returns for a beer on the pier this summer! With a newly expanded offering of ciders, too, there’s something for everyone at the 13th annual fest—including gluten free brewskis. Read more on page 11. Cunard Event Centre, Pier 23, 961 Marginal Road, Aug 9-10, $50/$75
NORTHERN LIGHTS LANTERN FESTIVAL Merv Sullivan Field, Leeds and Novalea, 4:30-9:30pm
The Coast
2019-08-07 4:34 PM
Visual Arts S e e mo listin re onlinegs t h e c o a at st. c a
Sure Thing
Morning Coffee Harold Klee guides us through his morning routine: a coffee followed by a walk around central Halifax, film camera in hand. Each morning is preserved in 36 frames, developed in the artist’s home using Caffenol—a homemade, coffee-based photo developing agent. The daily rhythm continues. Hermes, to Aug 31 HAROLD KLEE
Galleries ANNA LEONOWENS GALLERY Tue-Fri 11am-5pm Sat 12pm-4pm, Granville Square, 1891 Granville Street A Lack, A Look, A Lark Billed as a blend of sculpture, drawing and installation, this show by Luke Mohan and Gabi P.S. highlights the importance of magic and curiosity. To Aug 10 QUEER WORKS Arjun Lal delivers 2SLGBTQ+ works that explore queer pleasure, the gender spectrum and fetish culture. To Aug 10 ART 1274 HOLLIS Daily 10am-6pm, 1274 Hollis Street An Interior Life “I have always been interested in personal space, the places where we live our lives, think our thoughts, dream our dreams,” Karen Phinney’s artists’ statement begins. Here, the painter delivers detailed renderings of such spaces, filled with crisp outlines and Hollis Sigler vibes. Aug 8-Sep 5 ART GALLERY OF NOVA SCOTIA Tue-Sun 10am-5pm, Thu 10am9pm, 1723 Hollis Street Salvador Dali, a suite of prints The dandy of dadaism and sultan of surrealism, there is no comparison to Dali. To Oct 27 Halifax Harbour 1918 The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s latest memorial of the Halifax Explosion sees the city’s waterfront shown through the eyes of artists Arthur Lismer and Harold Gilman. To Sep 2 Here We Are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art A stereotypechallenging, narrative-reshaping exploration of Blackness in Canada. To Oct 27 Worn Inward A collection of works by eight Indigenous artists, this show acts as a response to Jordan Bennett’s AGNS exhibition Ketu’elmita’jik, which saw Bennett bringing home a collection of Mi’kmaw artifacts and placing them in an immersive environment. Here, Arielle Twist, Brandon Hollohan, Gesig Isaac and more delve into museum collections to explore, as the gallery puts it, “selfrepresentation through adornment and wearable design.” To Oct 13
CHASE GALLERY Mon-Fri 8:30am-4:30pm, Wed 8:30am-8:30pm, Sat 9am-5pm, 6016 University Avenue Natural Selection Ron Hayes debuts a collection of paintings. To Aug 30 CORRIDOR GALLERY Mon-Fri 9:30am–5pm, 1113 Marginal Road Flat Form Ada Denil’s large-scale prints remind the viewer of origami or angular puzzle pieces. Together, they hint at a cohesive form while being ripe with texture. To Aug 29 CRAIG GALLERY Tue-Fri 12-5:30pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 11am-3pm, Alderney Landing, 2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth Splitt: The Art of Drag Brandt Eisner presents a collection of wearable art and performance characters that create a narrative about contemporary drag. To Aug 10 THE DART GALLERY Tue–Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 11am4pm, Sun 10am-2pm, 127A Portland Street, Dartmouth Sea (Your) Food Angie Reid celebrates seafood of all styles with a collection of detail-rich oil paintings. To Aug 14 HERMES Sat-Sun 12-6pm, 5682 North Street Morning Coffee See photo, above. To Aug 31 KHYBER CENTRE FOR THE ARTS Tue-Sat 12-5pm, 1880 Hollis Street Hopelessly Devoted To You The Khyber’s latest group show—which the gallery says is “in response to the end of the world”—sees artists sharing works about everything from late capitalism to iced coffee to Olivia Newton-John. To Aug 24 MARY E. BLACK GALLERY Tue-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat-Sun 11am4pm, 1061 Marginal Road Patterns of Growth Toni Losey’s earthenware pieces rest, nubblytextured and smooth- silhouetted, in waves of ombre gradient. To Aug 25 Woven Woods It’s hard not to think of the trees in a Van Gough painting when your eyes drink in the detail of a Loraine Roy work. To Aug 25
MOUNT SAINT VINCENT UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY Tue-Fri 10am-4pm, Sat-Sun 124pm, 166 Bedford Highway Carrie Allison: clearing Lauded Indigenous artist Carrie Allison continues unpacking themes surrounding the commodification of land with this showcase. To Sep 8 NOVA SCOTIA CENTRE FOR CRAFT AND DESIGN 1096 Marginal Road Craft LAIR: Tyshan Wright The Centre for Craft’s latest Local Artist In Residence, Tyshan Wright, is a “traditional maker of Jamaican Maroon instruments and cultural objects,” the gallery says. Here, Wright aims to “explore the intersections between traditional and contemporary craft.” To Aug 25 SCOTT MANOR HOUSE 15 Fort Sackville Road, Bedford Nets, Knots & Webs Pat Loucks and Violet Rosengarten explore the relationship between humanity and nature with an outdoor installation of twine, rope and more in the manor’s gardens. To Aug 28 STUDIO 21 Tue-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12-5pm, 5431 Doyle Street FRESH While it’s all gold in this showcase of works by Sarah Burwash, Jared Betts, Kizi Spielmann Rose and Jenny Yujia Shi, Burwash’s ability to lay down dreamlike landscapes in soft-as-acloud whispers of watercolours is truly remarkable. To Aug 31 Seaspray Mariette Roodenburg delivers a collection of photos capturing the surface of the ocean, presented in carefully selected pairs. Intentional camera movement, multiple exposures and blending techniques render the images re-imagined. To Aug 31 TEICHERT GALLERY Sun-Mon 12-5pm, Tue-Sat 10am5pm, 1723 Hollis Street Now Anne Launcelott presents a collection of fine art photos snapped during her visits in rural Russia. To Aug 31 VIEWPOINT GALLERY Wed-Sun noon-5pm, 1459 Brenton Street Bokehlicious Angela Creaser presents her collection of supercropped shots, celebrating minute details and blurring colours. To Sep 1
The Coast • AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14, 2019 • 15
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2019-08-07 4:35 PM
LOVE THE WAY WE BITCH / LOVE 2309 Maynard Street, Halifax, NS B3K 3T8 Phone: 902-422-6278, Fax: 902-425-0013 Email: coast@thecoast.ca EDITORIAL Editor Kyle Shaw (editor@thecoast.ca) Deputy Cake and Ice Cream Editor Allison Saunders (allisons@thecoast.ca) Arts Editor Morgan Mullin (arts@thecoast.ca) City Editor Caora McKenna (news@thecoast.ca) Cannabis Editor Meg Hubley (thereef@thecoast.ca) Senior Features Writer Stephen Kimber (stephenk@thecoast.ca) Contributing Writers Chris Benjamin, Jane Kansas, Carsten Knox, Brennan McCracken Contributing Editors Melissa Buote, Lezlie Lowe, Stephanie Johns Contributing Photographers Meghan Tansey Whitton, Lenny Mullins, Alexa Cude, Riley Smith Contributing Illustrators Paul Hammond, Tim Carpenter, Mollie Cronin, Jordyn Bochon Housing Reporter Sandra C. Hannebohm (housing@thecoast.ca) ACTIVE MARKETING PROFESSIONALS Director of Sales and Marketing Christa Harrie (christah@thecoast.ca) Account Executive Kate Spurr (kate@thecoast.ca) Belated Confetti Queen & Account Executive Haley Clarke (haley@thecoast.ca) PRODUCTION & ONLINE Production Manager Pam Nicoll (pamn@thecoast.ca) Production Designer Jess Hartjes (jess@thecoast.ca) Imaging Consultant Kevin Cunningham OPERATIONS Office Manager Audra McKenna (audram@thecoast.ca) Distribution Team David MacPhee, Bob Mitchell, Steve Amero Front Desk Enforcer Kyla Derry (kylad@thecoast.ca) Publisher Christine Oreskovich (christineo@thecoast.ca)
! Who needs porn when there’s the local library? I love my community library, but the school kids are using it to make out in during the school days. Staff turn their backs—thanks! Now I genuinely hate going to the library because it’s like mild soft porn with teens. Yuuuuck. —Do Your Jobs, Librarians! ❤ Nothing compares to you
A steady stream, Of music playing, Almost on the daily. I miss the serenity of that. Chance encounters, With interesting strangers, Finding common ground, At after-parties in Halifax. Whether it be, Day or night, In the east. I never once felt lonely. There is depth to people, Genuine kindness and empathy. You just gotta be open to that. Love and miss you Halifax. —Awestruck With Tears Of Longing For A Return
THE COMIC
❤ To the women at the Women’s
Choice Clinic Among the contentious debate in the United States concerning women’s right to choose, I found myself in the midst of making my own choice: To continue with an unplanned pregnancy, or to access Halifax’s abortion services. I chose the latter. And all I can say is thank god for the staff at the clinic. They were nothing short of miracle workers, and made a really, really shitty situation into an empowering, validating experience. They helped me to understand that it is OK—and well within my right—to say that it is not my time to be a parent. I did not
experience ANY judgment towards my choice, and felt nothing but a sense of deep personal respect. To one nurse in particular (you know who you are), you are a beacon of hope in an otherwise traumatic situation. You held my hand and wiped tears of emotional and physical discomfort from my face, all while telling me that I was doing the right thing for me. I will never forget the kindness you showed me, and I hope you know that you and your colleagues are making a huge difference in the lives of women in Halifax. —The PhD Candidate To the angry mom on the #9 I witnessed your hissy fit in front of a busload of passengers. I can’t believe you would risk your child’s safety and wellbeing by insisting he/she stay in that plastic car. The driver simply asked you to seat the child with you. You were rude, condescending and frankly abusive. The supervisor and driver were willing to continue downtown. Instead, you proceeded on a profanity-laced tirade in front of your own and other kids—a busload
!
!
❤
of passengers. Then you had to get abusive with the driver when you were called out on your reprehensible behaviour. What do you think would’ve happened when you ordered him to drive? I would’ve walked off too, rather than endure your abuse. Any wonder the police finally escorted you off! Here’s a tip: You don’t run things and no one owes you anything, you entitled snot. If you don’t like rules, then find your own way there. Just don’t inflict your bullshit posturing on everybody else! —Try 311 Next Time Instead Of Holding Everyone Up
What would we rather have this week? Warmer ocean water Climate catastrophe
42-year-old handsome teacher A: I really enjoyed talking with you over the last few days, you of the great smile, salt-and-pepper curls, ink. I had planned to ask you out today but was disappointed to see you’d disappeared (one of the many cons of today’s dating culture). If I see you around, I shall bite the bullet and risk asking. Happy summer! If you read this and Georgia is on your mind, this is for you. —G
!
Can I dump a kid in a compost bin? I’m cleaning my motorbike in my driveway. Kids walk by, one of them looks at me, crosses onto my lawn and dumps my compost bin over. I chased him, but am out of shape. I will catch him and paddle his little ass. Call the police—I don’t care. Kids are not held responsible, so I will make him responsible. —Leave My Property Alone
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The Coast is Halifax’s weekly newspaper, published every Thursday by Coast Publishing Limited. The Coast’s goal is to be provocative, entertaining and truthful. Coast Publishing Limited takes no responsibility for your realization that it’s almost mid-August. The Coast is printed locally on recycled stock with 23,000 copies distributed throughout Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford. Mailed under Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40027554. Please return undeliverable addresses to the Distribution Department, 2309 Maynard Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 3T8 (email distribution@thecoast.ca). Staff and management of The Coast neither advocate nor encourage the use of products or services advertised herein for illegal purposes. All rights reserved. © 2019. Independent and locally owned, founded in 1993.
More bitching Go online to post your rant at thecoast.ca/bitch
16 • AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14, 2019 •
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The Coast
2019-08-07 4:35 PM
Free Will Astrology
Cancer, dive into what makes you feel ashamed, says ROB BREZSNY Leo
(Jul 23-Aug 22)
I am overjoyed you’re not competing for easy rewards or comparing yourself to the mediocre crowd. Some people in your sphere may not be overjoyed, though. To those whose sense of self isn’t strong, you may be like an itchy allergen; they may accuse you of showing off or acting puffed up. But freaks like me appreciate creative egotists like you when you treat your personality as a work of art. In my view, you’re a stirring example of how to be true to one’s smartest passions. Keep up the good work! Continue to have too much fun! I’m guessing for now you can get away with doing just about anything you want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone. This week’s birthdays: Gabriella Clive, Rochelle Locke, Julie d’Entremont, Sherry Jollymore bday@thecoast.ca
Virgo
(Aug 23-Sep 22)
Let’s enjoy a moment of poignant silence in honour of your expired illusions. They were soulful mirages, full of misplaced idealism and sweet ignorance and innocent misunderstandings. Generous in ways you may not yet realize, they exuded an agitated beauty that aroused both courage and resourcefulness. Now, as those illusions dissolve, they will begin to serve you anew, turning into fertile compost for your next big production.
Libra
(Sep 23-Oct 22)
Old rules and traditions about how best to conduct intimate relationship are breaking down. New rules are still incubating. Right now, the details about how people express their needs to give and receive love seem to be riddles for which there are no correct answers. So what do you do? How do you proceed with the necessary blend of confidence and receptivity? Can you figure out flexible strategies for being true both to your need for independence and your need for interdependence? I bring these ruminations to your attention, Libra, just in time for the “Transforming Togetherness” phase of your cycle.
Scorpio
(Oct 23-Nov 21)
It’s time for your once-a-year shout-out to your most audacious possibilities. Ready? Go ahead and say, “Hallelujah! Hosanna! Happiness! Hooray for my brilliant future!” Next, go ahead and say, “I have more than enough power to create my world in the image of my wisest dreams.” Now do a dance of triumph and whisper to yourself, “I’m going to make very sure I always know exactly what my wisest dreams are.”
Sagittarius
(Nov 22-Dec 21)
During the next three weeks, I advise you to load up on copious amounts of caffeine from Monday at 8am until Friday at 6pm. Then drastically cut
back on the coffee and consume large amounts of alcohol and/or cannabis from 6:01pm on Friday through 6pm on Sunday. This is the ideal recipe for success. JUST KIDDING! I lied. Here’s the truth, Sagittarius: Astrological indicators suggest you would benefit from making the coming weeks be the most undrugged, alcohol-free time ever. Your potential for achieving natural highs will be extraordinary, as will your potential to generate crucial breakthroughs while enjoying those natural highs. Take advantage!
Capricorn
(Dec 22-Jan 19)
I don’t presume you should or will gleefully embrace the assignment I’ll propose. The task may indeed be too daunting for you to manage right now. If that’s the case, don’t worry. You’ll get another chance in a few months. But if you are indeed ready for a breathtaking challenge, here it is: Be a benevolent force of wild nature; be a tender dispenser of creative destruction; be a bold servant of your soulful dreams—as you demolish outmoded beliefs and structures that have been keeping a crucial part of your vitality shackled and latent.
Aquarius
(Jan 20-Feb 18)
I have cast a feisty love spell that will be triggered in anyone who reads the first line of this horoscope. And since you have done that, you are now becoming even smarter than you already were about getting the most out of your intimate alliances. You’re primed to experiment with the delights of feeling with your head and thinking with your heart. Soon you’ll be visited by revelations about any unconscious glitches that might be subtly undermining your togetherness, and you’ll get good ideas about how to correct those glitches. Astrological rhythms will be flowing in your relationships’ favour for the next seven weeks!
Pisces
(Feb 19-Mar 20)
I estimate that about 25 percent of your fear results from your hesitation to love as deeply and openly and bravely as you could. Another 13 percent originates in an inclination to mistake some of your teachers for adversaries, and 21 percent from your reluctance to negotiate with the misunderstood monsters in your closet. But I suspect that fully 37 percent of your fear comes from the free-floating angst that you telepathically absorb from the other 7.69 billion humans on our planet. So what about the remaining four percent? Is that based on real risks and worth paying attention to? Yes! And the coming weeks will be an excellent time to make progress in diminishing its hold on you.
Aries
(Mar 21-Apr 19)
When it came time to write your horoscope, I was feeling unusually lazy. I could barely summon enough energy to draw up the planetary charts. I said a weak prayer to the astrological muses, pleading, “Please don’t make me work too hard to discover the message that Aries people need to hear; just
make the message appear in my mind.” As if in response, a voice in my head said, “Try bibliomancy.” So I strolled to my bookcase, shut my eyes, pulled out the first book I felt and went to a random page. Here’s what I saw when I opened my eyes: “The Taoist concept of wu-wei is the notion that our creative active forces are dependent on and nourished by inactivity; and that doing absolutely nothing may be a good way to get something done.”
Taurus
Support the advertisers that support us
(Apr 20-May 20)
There’s an old Rosicrucian vow you might have fun trying out: “I pledge to interpret every experience that comes my way as a communication of God with my soul.” If you carry out this intention with relaxed playfulness, every bird song you hear is an emblem of Divine thought; every eavesdropped conversation provides hints of the Creator’s current mood; the shape that spilled milk takes on your tabletop is an intimation of eternity breaking into our time-gripped realm. In my years of offering you advice, I have never before suggested you try this exercise because I didn’t think you were receptive. But I do now. (If you’re an atheist, you can replace “God,” “Divine” and “Creator” with “Life.”)
Gemini
(May 21-Jun 20)
Below are unheralded gifts possessed by many Geminis but not commonly identified by traditional astrologers: 1. a skill for deprogramming yourself: for unlearning defunct teachings that might otherwise interfere with your ability to develop your highest potentials; 2. a sixth sense about recognizing artificial motivations, then shedding them; 3. a tendency to attract epiphanies that show you why and how to break taboos that may once have been necessary but aren’t any longer; 4. an ability to avoid becoming overwhelmed and controlled by situations you manage or supervise.
Cancer
(Jun 21-Jul 22)
In 1993, I began writing a book titled The Televisionary Oracle. By 1995, I had generated over 2,000 pages of material that I didn’t like. Although I was driven by a yearning to express insights that had been welling up in me for a long time, nothing about the work felt right. I was stuck. But finally I discovered an approach that broke me free: I started to articulate difficult truths about aspects of my life about which I was embarrassed, puzzled and ashamed. Then everything fell into place. The process that had been agonizing and fruitless became fluidic and joyful. I recommend that you try this strategy to dissolve any mental blocks you may be suffering from: dive into and explore what makes you feel ashamed, puzzling or embarrassed. I bet it will lead to triumph and fulfillment, as happened for me. a Go to freewillastrology.com for Rob Brezsny’s EXPANDED WEEKLY AUDIO and DAILY TEXT MESSAGE HOROSCOPES. The audio horoscopes are also available at 877-873-4888.
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2019-08-07 4:28 PM
Savage Love SEX ADVICE FROM DAN SAVAGE mail@savagelove.net
Crossing boundaries Do I forgive my otherwise great boyfriend for stealthing when I made it clear it wasn’t OK, or do I forget him? a 42-year-old single, straight female Q I’m who recently started dating a 36-year-old
man in a somewhat exclusive, long-distance relationship. I have specifically stated many times I don’t want kids of my own, am extremely safety conscious (only when I see someone’s STI results and know we’re 100 percent monogamous will I go “bareback”) and am against hormonal contraception. Therefore, I’ve insisted on the use of condoms since our first encounter, which he at first reluctantly agreed to, but has since obliged without incident. He is expressively into me and treats me better than any guy I’ve dated; cooks for me, gives me massages and has shown me nothing but respect since Day 1. Until our last sexual encounter. He woke me up in the morning clearly aroused and ready for sexy time. He asked if he could enter me, and after I said yes, I grabbed a condom for him and he put it on. We were spooning at the time so he entered me from behind. At one point early in the encounter, I reached back to grab his hand, and felt the condom he had been wearing laid out on the bed. I immediately stopped, asking, “Why did you take this off?” To which he replied, “Because I wanted to cum faster.” All I could muster back was, “Do you have any idea how bad that is? I can’t even look at you.” I covered my eyes and cried uncontrollably for a few minutes. After getting dressed and exiting without a word, I started to process the atrocity of his actions. It’s clear he does not respect me, my body, my health or my reproductive choices, and made his physical pleasure top priority. He has apologized profusely and has definite remorse. After sending him several articles on how it’s criminal (including the one about the German man who got eight months in jail for stealthing), he now seems to grasp the severity. It’s hard to reconcile his consistent respect for me with a bold and disrespectful act like this. The best case is he’s a dumb-ass, the worst being that his care for me is a facade and I’ve been a fool. Is there any reason I should consider continuing to see this guy? Is it remotely forgivable? —Stealthed On Suddenly
A
Nope. The obvious (and objectively true) point is that anything is forgivable. People have forgiven worse—I mean, there are mothers out there who’ve forgiven the people that murdered their children. But moms who’ve found it within themselves to forgive their children’s murderers...yeah, they don’t have to live with, take meals with or sleep with their children’s murderers. I’m not saying that forgiving the person who murdered your kid is easy (I wouldn’t be able to do it), but most people who’ve “forgiven worse” never have to lay eyes on the person they forgave again. So while it may be true that people have forgiven worse, SOS, I don’t think you should forgive this. And here’s why: You only just started dating this guy and all the good qualities you listed are the kind of best-footforward fronting a person does at the start of a new relationship. Not only is there nothing wrong with that, SOS, but you wouldn’t want to date someone who didn’t do that at the start, because the kind of person who doesn’t make the effort to impress early in a relationship is the kind of person who can’t
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be bothered to make any effort later in the relationship. We all erect those facades, SOS, but some people are slapping those facades on slums you wouldn’t wanna live in, while others are slapping them on what turns out to be pretty decent housing. And if I may continue to torture this metaphor: When the first cracks appear in the facade, which they inevitably do, you aren’t a fool if it turns out there’s a slum behind it. You’re only a fool if you move in instead of moving on. The collapse of your new boyfriend’s facade revealed him to be a selfish and uncaring asshole. He was on his best behaviour until he sensed your guard was down, at which point he violated and sexually assaulted you. Those aren’t flaws you can learn to live with or actions you can excuse. Move on. am a 27-year-old man in an open marQ Iriage with a wonderful partner. We don’t,
however, have that much sex. I’m currently seeing someone else and our sex is great. We’ve explored some light BDSM and pegging, and I’m finding myself really enjoying being a sub. I’m kind of terrified that, as a man, I might accidentally violate someone’s boundaries. I’m also autistic, which makes navigating cues from partners difficult. Completely submitting to someone else weirdly makes me feel totally safe and free for the first time. The problem is, my spouse is also pretty subby. When they do try to initiate sex, it’s often so subtle that I totally miss the signals. In the past month, I’ve had sex with my spouse maybe once, compared to four or five times with my other partner. My question is this: Have you seen people in open marriages who essentially fulfill their sexual needs with secondary partners, while still maintaining a happy companionable partnership with their primary?
—Sexually Understanding Butt-Boy
A
I’ve personally known people in loving, happy, sexless marriages who aren’t leading sexless lives; their marriages are companionate—some can even be described as passionate—but both halves seek sexual fulfillment with secondary, tertiary, quaternary, et cetera, partners. But companionate open marriages only work when it’s what both partners want, and your partner’s feelings are conspicuously absent from your letter. How do they feel about being in a sexless or nearly sexless marriage? Your spouse would seem to be interested in having sex with you—they occasionally try to initiate—but perhaps your spouse is just going through the motions because they think it’s what you want. So... you’re gonna need to have a conversation with your spouse about your sex lives. If you’ve found being told what to do in unsubtle ways by your Dominant second partner to be liberating, SUBB, you could ask your spouse to be a little less subtle when they want to initiate—or, better yet, ask them not to be subtle at all. Nowhere is it written that subs like you and your spouse have to be subtle or sly or stand there waiting for others to initiate. “I am feeling horny and I’d really like to have sex tonight” is something submissives can and do say. a Listen to Dan Savage’s Weekly Lovecast at thecoast.ca/savage
The Coast
2019-08-07 4:32 PM
The Coast • AUGUST 8 – AUGUST 14, 2019 • 19
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2019-08-07 4:25 PM
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