Few people knew that Robert ran the Advocate as a one-person, one-cat operation out of a spare bedroom. Journalism was his labour of love. Robert’s death is a terrible loss for Simon, his son, Bonnie, his girlfriend, and all his entire family. It is also a great loss for the communities, writers, and colleagues he tirelessly supported for so long.

This marks the end of the Advocate, but we trust that it is not the end of this form of journalism. Robert showed that journalism can be accessible to anyone, regardless of training or budget. We look forward to seeing what comes next.

The work that the Nova Scotia Advocate has published is too important to lose, so the site will remain accessible as an archive. However, there will be no new articles published. Comments on old articles have been disabled.

If you were a donor using Stripe, your donations have been automatically cancelled. If you use PayPal, you need to cancel your donations manually.

There are plans for a memorial in Robert’s honour, and a way to make donations to causes he believed in. We’ll provide more information soon.

The post Robert Devet, Rest in Power appeared first on Nova Scotia Advocate.

I never thought I would be ashamed of having my name associated with my former high school; up until today. Considering the recent events of cultural appropriation, racism, and the blatant disregard of the issue by staff I feel it is my obligation to share my story as a Black woman about what really goes on behind the closed doors of Fredericton High.

When I first started at FHS I was extremely nervous.  At the time I didn’t think my nerves would have to be for the racism and cultural appropriation I would later experience. My earliest memory was in my ninth-grade science class, we had a supply teacher that day.  Row call ensued and my name was next. Quietly I replied, “Here” to which she asked, “What are you”?  This was a question I had heard umpteen times, however it felt different particularly coming from a person of colour. On this day, I had 24 classmates anticipating my reply. Having a confused look on my face did nothing to quash her nosiness, so she inquired again, “Is your mom Black or your dad, because you certainly aren’t white, and you aren’t fully black either?”  

My heart sank.  I had never been so humiliated in my life. Naturally I came home telling my mom what had happened earlier in the day, and we decided to email the Principal and the Vice-Principal requesting that she be removed from the supply teacher list. I was thrilled to be told that she was no longer permitted to work at my school but disappointed to see her there a month later. In that moment I didn’t feel looked after or as though they “had my back” it became apparent that their actions were a short-term solution to get us to stop complaining.

When tenth grade began my English teacher chose to read To Kill a Mockingbird. As she passed the books around, she loudly and proudly announced that, “We shouldn’t feel obligated to say ‘Nigger’ as it’s consistently used throughout the novel” but that she would be saying it because its ‘just a word’. She went on to explain how ‘[her] grandmother would walk down the street, walk up to a Black man and say ‘Hey Nigger’ to get his attention simply because she could. I was appalled to hear an educated professional not only use this type of language that has generational trauma associated with it but also openly share such a disgusting story with me sitting right in front of her. After discussing the situation with my mom, she made the recommendation of emailing said teacher and sharing my upset and frustration. However, I felt differently; I was terrified of retribution and even more scared of what else she would say. To this day, I refuse to read that novel.

My last year of high school was supposed to be an exciting time, experiencing fun filled graduate activities. For me, that was not the case. I had this white boy in my class, the type of boy I could look at and know he would say something about race, unfortunately my premonitions were correct. We had multiple courses together, and our initial interactions were filled with him asking stereotypical questions such as ‘was I from the hood’, ‘if I can give him cornrows’, and asking me to show him gang hand symbols. From there he moved on to stereotypical assumptions such as me being in a gang, how my father wasn’t in my life because he was Black and so on and so forth.  

I voiced my concerns to teachers on multiple occasions but alas, nothing was done. From there, he escalated to saying “Hey ma Nigga” or “What’s up ma nigga” as an appropriate method of greeting me. When I voiced my dislike of him saying “Nigger” he informed me that because he has Black friends that means he himself is ‘basically’ Black and therefore he is permitted to say “Nigger”. 

I had finally had enough, I was tired of being called ‘Nigger’, being shown videos of Black men being shot, and listening to his stories of his hyper sexualization of Black women. So, I took matters into my own hands and spoke to the teachers. Much to my dismay they informed me that “because [they] didn’t hear him say that directly, it’s my word against his and [they] can’t be sure if he said those things or not”.

I graduated a month later and have loathed the day I will have to walk back in those doors as I don’t feel protected or safe. The vision and mission statement of Fredericton High is to “focus on leaders in academic excellence and an inclusive education [including but not limited to] diversity, respect and responsibility. Through the promotion of inclusion and collaboration, [the]celebration of diversity by recognizing [how] our differences enrich our community and by creating a safe, supportive and respectful environment.” These statements have been around for many years and will probably stick around for many more.  I like to believe in human decency and educating oneself on touchy subjects but in my opinion (based on my personal experiences) Fredericton High has and always will be a white privileged school.

See also: Chronicles of a mixed girl – Nanny edition

The post Chronicles of a mixed girl: The skeletons in the closet of Fredericton High appeared first on Nova Scotia Advocate.

KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – Ross Gray encountered racism once too often, and he is fully committed to seeing that there are consequences for the perpetrators. He hopes others will follow his example. 

In mid-July we reported how a condescending commissionaire falsely accused Gray, who is Black, of riding a bicycle on the pedestrian lane of the Angus L MacDonald Bridge. Gray was spoken down to and bluntly told that he was lying when he explained he walked all the way across the bridge, bicycle in hand. The commissionaire even falsely claimed they had footage of Gray cycling on tape.

Later Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) acknowledged that the accusation had no basis in fact, and apologized. HHB also said it would implement a policy to address a future repeat, and suggested that the commissionaire would receive counselling. HHB did not acknowledge the potential tole of racism in the incident.

“Too much of this is going on, and nobody ever does anything. They all just talk. Until the next time that it happens, and then it happens again. It just keeps going,” Gray said at the time. “This apology is worthless, as far as I’m concerned, because nobody is held accountable, ever.”

The ordeal shook Gray to the core, and left him determined to seek justice.

“What happened to me is a systemic thing. I’m a 57 year old man, and my accuser is probably in her thirties, but she was talking to me as if I was a child, I felt like a damn dog. You don’t talk to a human being like that,” Gray explains.

It’s also left him deeply shaken, so much so that it is affecting his ability to sleep. And he’s not the only one who is affected, inevitably it also touches those close to Gray.

“I can see the change in my son’s face when I’m talking to him about it. I have always taught him to treat people with respect. And now I find myself trying to build a wall around him, and he senses that,” Gray says.

Commissionaires employed by HHB as traffic officers receive limited policing powers. What if someday in the future they will be allowed to carry firearms, Gray wonders. “You’re going to see not just police shooting Black people, you’re going to see other authorities doing the same damn thing,” Gray says.

I ask Gray what he would say to white people who want to shrug off what happened to him as just a run in with a grouchy commissionaire, without the racist overtones. 

“I encounter racism all the time, I see it when I enter a grocery store,” Gray says, “just like a white person might feel uncomfortable when walking into an all-Black club. Except that the Black person may get shot, because there is a power imbalance in the mix. Just look at what happened to the young Black mother accused of shoplifting before she even left the Walmart store.”

See also: Protesters rally at Walmart in support of Santina Rao 

Meanwhile, any efforts by Gray to seek accountability have been unsuccessful.   

Questions emailed by Gray to HHB, about the process to lodge a racial profiling complaint, how many such complaints have been filed before, whether there is diversity training for staff, have not yet received a response. 

When the Nova Scotia Advocate asked similar questions earlier on we were told that “We believe this to be a matter between Mr. Gray and HHB.” 

“Things need to change in this province. I’d be happy if only one person who reads this story decides to speak up. Others will see that, and it will snowball,” Gray says. 

“The long and short of it is, if you’re a racist then you should be fired, And anyone who is condoning that atmosphere should be fired as well,” Gray says. “That would cut out all this bullshit talk about sensitivity training, counselling, and all these other stupid phrases that they use to cover up what’s actually going on.”

See also: Woman alleges racial profiling at Halifax store

The post “If you’re a racist then you should be fired” – Quest for accountability at Halifax Harbour Bridges continues appeared first on Nova Scotia Advocate.

KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – This month, the city of Toronto is expected to debate the implementation of inclusionary zoning policies to help remedy the lack of safe, secure, and affordable housing in the Greater Toronto Area. 

Inclusionary zoning is a land-use planning tool that allows the city to mandate a certain percentage of affordable housing in new developments.

“With inclusionary zoning, the requirement for affordable housing is set out upfront in the city’s official plan, instead of being negotiated on a site-by-site basis,” Christine Ono, Senior Planner with the City of Toronto, explained at an April seminar. “Because it’s mandatory, affordable housing must be secured as part of the development approval process.”

Inclusionary zoning policies in Toronto are limited by legislation to being implemented within a 500 to 800 metre radius of a public transportation system. The policies are designed to help “those who earn too much to be eligible for social housing but not enough to be able to afford market rents or prices.”

The United States, for example, has implemented inclusionary zoning in hundreds of jurisdictions, according to Ono. With more and more Nova Scotians finding themselves unable to afford exorbitant rents across the province, could inclusionary zoning be a solution to our rapidly escalating rental crisis?

NDP brought inclusionary zoning bill forward, Liberals looked the other way

Nova Scotia NDP MLA Lisa Roberts, who also serves as the party’s housing spokesperson, says the province needs to take meaningful action on the housing crisis in Nova Scotia, with a greater sense of urgency. 

“I meet seniors who are ready to downsize, but the rental market is so unaffordable in comparison to their monthly costs,” Roberts said. 

At a recent rent control rally, Roberts was also struck by the number of young university graduates stuck in “adolescent life” because they can’t find a place to move out.

“So they’re living in the basement of their parents’ home, which is too far away from their work, so they have to have a car [and] they’re spending all their money on their car, but not able to save anything towards [a] damage deposit.”

Her party put forward a motion in 2018 to implement inclusionary zoning policies as part of a series of approaches to solve the lack of affordable housing, but the Rankin government wouldn’t bite.

“I think the province needs to be working with municipalities because frankly, the housing situation has been allowed to get worse and worse over quite a long time,” Roberts said. She also attributes part of the lack of action on affordable housing to the constant shuffling of the Liberal Cabinet, a regularity under Premier Stephen McNeil.

Last month, the province’s Affordable Housing Commission released a 61-page report, with recommendations including the termination of rent control when the state of emergency is lifted, likely as early as September. The term ‘inclusionary zoning’ appears once in the report:

Roberts calls the report “underwhelming” and “maybe not surpris[ing] but disappointing.” She says rent supplements, like the current government are offering, leaves too many falling through the cracks.

“Many people who are offered [rent supplements] don’t take them, because it means that they’ll come off the public housing waitlist, which is actually housing that they can afford,” Roberts explained. She calls rent supplements, which ultimately go to the pockets of landlords, “a public transfer of public dollars.”

Roberts has spoken in support of inclusionary zoning in the Legislature. She has previously proposed enabling inclusionary zoning policies through Bill 75, “The Affordable Housing Through Inclusionary Zoning Act.” The legislation would give more power to municipalities to combat rising rental markets and create more affordable housing in the process.  

“I think it makes sense to be building density in association with transit, because otherwise, you’re building big buildings with big parking lots and then you have congestion, which … doesn’t ultimately help us accomplish our goals around climate change,” Roberts said.

Density bonusing vs inclusionary zoning  

For too long, the housing crisis in Halifax has been treated as a ‘hot potato’ between the municipality and the province. While the province is technically in charge of housing, HRM has stepped up, when the price is right.

HRM’s municipality planning strategy has previously been used to negotiate a set number of affordable units within a development in exchange for granting land-use bylaw amendments.

As well, Halifax’s Centre Plan, approved in 2019, allows developers to circumvent rules around size as long as they pay a “density bonus” into a fund earmarked for affordable housing initiatives.

Inclusionary zoning however would give municipalities another and potentially more powerful mechanism to accomplish those objectives.

One in ten Toronto renters are in arrears

The fight for inclusionary zoning is one that is long-fought, according to PHD candidate Jeremy Withers.

“It has coalesced after many years of scattered neighborhood-based campaigns to require individual new developments to include some housing affordable to local renters, who are increasingly facing displacement pressures,” he explained.

Withers, who studies in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto, centered his dissertation on the development and potential of inclusionary zoning in Toronto. 

“Organizations are united in advocating for a policy that would require a minimum of 20-30% of new high rise developments be set aside for rental housing permanently affordable for a mix of low and middle income residents,” Withers explained.

Withers says that as of April 2021, 1 in 10 Toronto renters are in arrears. 

He points to a frightening stat: for every purpose-built rental unit in the last decade, nine condos were developed. Renters in Ontario make up for half of the province’s households and are on track to outnumber homeowners within the next decade. 

“Of all the housing built in the last decade, only 2.5% were priced affordably for the core half of renters,” Withers at the seminar. “That’s just over 4,000 units completed for just over 250,000 lower-income renter households.”

The city’s proposal would apply to developments with between 100 and 140 units. All units in inclusionary zoning must remain affordable for 99 years, but will only apply to development applications submitted before January 1, 2022.

Withers says the city’s proposed inclusionary zoning policies are ‘conservative’ and argues the city’s study shows it’s feasible to require two to four times more affordable housing units than its current proposal. 

Toronto is also reviewing their definition of affordable housing with a more income-based approach, rather than by average market rent.

“There’s so much potential to expand access to affordable housing,” Withers says, “simply by requiring developments [to] include them.”

See also: News brief: Rent poor in Nova Scotia

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