“When we checked around, we noticed that even for more minor regulatory changes the department offers longer comment periods. They also offer discussion documents and information sessions before a notice is posted in the Gazette,” says Sadie Beaton, Community Conservation Research Coordinator at the Ecology Action Centre.
Judy Haiven looks back on the racist reign of terror at Halifax Transit. How could this reign of terror go on for 14 plus years? How could a Black man become unemployed and then die due to the stress of living with the anger and threats directed at him by racist co-workers? How could a white man and his Black wife receive such soul-destroying treatment for the mere crime of loving each other? When will anyone step up to explain what happened and how it won’t happen again?
“What bothers me the most in all of this is that city lawyers advanced this argument that the racist slurs directed at Y.Z. were protected under free speech provisions.” We talk with Equity Watch spokesperson and lawyer Connor Smithers-Mapp about how unions, councillors and management continue to evade the issues of racism, homophobia and misogyny at the City’s workplaces.
News release: In light of a record award by a Human Rights tribunal to a Halifax Transit worker, Equity Watch, a Nova Scotia human rights advocacy group, is renewing its call for an independent forensic human resources audit of Halifax Regional Municipality.
PSA: Wednesday, May 22, Sisters In The Struggle, a Black Feminist Panel Discussion about the yet-to-be-heard story of Black Women in the Feminist Movement in Nova Scotia during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
A spoken word piece Angee Bowden performed yesterday at the rally against racism in downtown Halifax.
Early this afternoon some 50 African Nova Scotians and their allies (and 4 very visible cops) gathered in downtown Halifax , to once again call attention to the racism that pervades Nova Scotia politics and society. Speakers included Kirk Johnson, Jason MacLean, Angee Bowden, Raymond Sheppard, and many more.
Last Friday Judy Haiven joined the march and tribute to Tanya Brooks, the Mi’kmaq woman who was murdered 10 yeasr ago in Halifax. “Given recent reluctance by the Halifax police to end street checks and apologise for their racism, race likely played a role in their unforgivably slow investigation,” Haiven writes.
No apology will be forthcoming from Halifax Regional Police (HRP) and HRM RCMP for the damage inflicted on the African Nova Scotian community through the racist practice of street checks. This despite a unanimous motion by the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners that asked for such an apology.
Two Halifax residents are circulating a petition calling on the Halifax Regional Municipality and the provincial government to ban the racist practice of police checks.