Jacob Moore is a reporter for Acadia Broadcasting based in Halifax. He’s worked at both CBC and CTV, as well as the student newspaper at St. Thomas University. Send him any story tips at mooreja@radioabl.ca.
A 59-year-old man is facing charges for uploading child sexual abuse material online.
The Thunder Bay Police Service got a tip August 19th that a local resident was uploading the exploitation material to the Bing search engine, according to a news release.
Through the investigation, they identified the suspect and searched a home on Sept. 24.
Police seized several electronic devices.
But he turned himself in to police Wednesday.
He remains in custody and the investigation continues.
Police add that parents and caregivers are the first line of defense to protect children on the internet and on electronic devices.
They have some resources available through their website.
A single mother of two says her bills have gotten so expensive she would have already moved to a different province, if not for her two children.
The provincial NDP asked Shylah Hacala to speak at a news conference Monday morning.
She says she has a good paying job and has started teaching yoga to earn a bit extra money, but she is still barely getting by and can only pay part of her power bill some months.
Hacala says she used to wonder how advancing her career might help, but that is not enough anymore.
“And now it’s like, okay, how can I dial it down? Do I get a roommate? Do I have to move to another part of the city so I drive? Do I have to buy a hybrid car? It’s like, you’re searching for any solution that will help alleviate some of that stress.”
Hacala adds that there are only so many hours in a day.
“I don’t have any more time to do any more jobs or work.”
If she were to leave her current home, she says the suitable three-bedroom apartments were priced at $3500 a month, and that is more her take-home salary every month.
Although she is exploring her options to move to another province, she says she will find some way to stick it out because she has been divorced, and as a co-parent, she cannot just relocate.
She says she know a lot of her friends are in similar situations.
NDP leader Claudia Chender brought Hacala to the news conference to highlight her story, one of many Chender says she hears about every day.
She also took the opportunity to call on the provincial government to do more to keep people like Hacala from moving away.
That includes more ways to make their homes more efficient and lowering power bills.
She is also pushing for more ways to help people manage their debt when they get behind on power bills.
A P.E.I. writer is in the running for one of Canada’s biggest awards, but the book touches each of the Maritime provinces.
Five finalists have made the shortlist for the Giller Prize, including Nicholas Herring, for his novel Your Breath in Charcoal.
It is published by Goose Lane Editions, a New Brunswick company, and begins with an islander who makes a trip to the northern part of the province to pick up an acquaintance’s brother from a mental hospital.
Plans change and they decide to head to Toronto. They start a “heady working-class odyssey rife with metaphorical richness and references to literature, film, and 90s music, Your Breath in Charcoal peers into the mind of its irrepressible and relentlessly quotable East Coast everyman,” according to the summary on the Goose Lane website.
The other finalists and their novels include:
Tara Gereaux for Wild People Quiet
Michelle Good for Eliza Sunshine
Nazanine Hozar for The Small Ones
Patmeena Sabit for Good People
The finalists are also on tour as part of the Between the Pages series, which gives the public an evening with the writers.
They visit Calgary and Ottawa before coming to their only East Coast stop on the tour at the Halifax Central Library on Nov. 4th. If you want to visit, details are few, but it is a first-come-first-serve event.
The final tour stop is in Toronto on Nov. 13, and the winner is announced on Nov. 16 in the city.
One of the stars of a historical satire at Neptune Theatre has a personal connection to what she calls her dream play and dream role.
In Women of the Fur Trade, Danelle Charette plays Marie-Angelique, a super fan of Louis Riel, who led the Red River Resistance movement in the late 1800s that formed Manitoba.
Not only is it the first time she is playing a Métis woman from her home of Red River, she is also a descendent of Riel.
“It’s such an honor to be able to tell a story so close to my ancestors’ story. Like, this is my family’s story. This is our truth,” says Charette.
“It’s been a literal dream. I couldn’t have asked for a better cast to do it with and director and team. I feel so lucky.”
Instead of focusing on the men of the Red River Resistance story, as history textbooks typically do, playwright Frances Koncan shifts the perspective to three women during the revolt against European colonizers, says Charette.
She says the play is incredibly funny, mixing the setting of the 1800s with 21st century slang and a lot of pop culture references, but it also touches on some heavy topics, like colonial violence and misogyny.
Truth and Reconciliation Day
The run is part of the Prismatic Arts Festival and happened to coincide with the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day to honour and remember the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis survivors and victims of the residential school system.
Charette says she’s never had a performance on the day and it’s a different experience.
“I’m feeling incredibly lucky that we still exist. It’s a testament to the power of our storytelling that we can share history that was pushed to be erased in our country,” she says.
She adds that it is an honour for herself, her family, and her ancestors to tell this story on that day.
For Joelle Peters, an Ojibwe woman, Truth and Reconciliation Day is, on one hand, great to have, but she says it also brings up a lot of complicated feelings.
And doing a show that talks about a lot of those complicated topics and subjects is great, she says.
“It gives me an opportunity to also share that feeling with other people,” says Peters.
She says supporting Indigenous art on Truth and Reconciliation Day is even more important.
She wants to be there with others who put their money where their mouth is, and who think “I’m going to sit with perhaps some uncomfortable feelings, or I’m going to show folks that, yeah, these types of stories matter.”
‘A gift to return to’
Peters plays Eugenia in the show. Her history with it goes back to even before the first production.
It was about 2018, she says, when she was part of one of the first readings of the show, and she went on to play Eugenia in the first production in 2020.
Now, in 2026, she says the play continues to grow and change alongside her.
“It’s such a gift to return to. It feels so good, and it’s always different. It depends on who’s part of the production. It depends on where we’re doing the production,” says Peters.
Eli Ham as Thomas Scott in “Women of the Fur Trade.” PHOTO CREDIT: Stoo Metz Photography SUBMITTED: Neptune Theatre/Prismatic Arts Festival
Eli Ham is not Indigenous, but he feels grateful he can help centre the story on the Indigenous and Métis perspectives.
He says his take on Thomas Scott is nuanced, making him seem misguided and more of a “lost boy” to get people on his side. Then, when he does and says terrible things, it feels more shocking, he says.
“It’s a way of getting people to understand that racism is hidden, and it’s insidious, and it is a baked-in part of the culture, and it certainly was at the time,” says Ham.
365 days a year
Along with Women of the Fur Trade,Prismatic Arts Festival is putting the spotlight on marginalized voices, like Indigenous people and people of colour, all across the city until Sunday.
Raeesa Lalani, executive and artistic director of the festival, curates the whole selection, including Women of the Fur Trade. She says it was such a beautiful and professional production that they wanted to give it a platform.
She says, though the fall festival happens to coincide with Truth and Reconciliation Day, that is on their minds all the time.
“Every single day of the year, we want to make sure that they’re supported. We want to make sure that their voices are amplified,” says Lalani.
The production is directed by Keith Barker and opened in Halifax on Sept 22. It runs until Oct. 11.
Nearly $2 million will go towards youth programs to help stop gun violence before it happens in Halifax.
Tuesday morning’s announcement from the federal government is part of a national program to build safer communities.
Andrew Matthews, Deputy Chief with the Halifax Regional Police, says our city is growing, and we can’t leave anyone behind.
“That’s why investments like this are so important. They help us ensure people have access to the support and opportunities that they need to make important positive choices and have a brighter future,” Matthews told reporters on Tuesday.
Federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree also spoke at the news conference. He said the goal is to support at-risk youth, and to help them build one-on-one relationships to guide them away from guns and gangs.
As an example, he said it could go toward a tutor to help get a student back on track or back into school. Or it could go toward an evening basketball program.
From right to left, Deputy Chief Andrew Matthews with Halifax Regional Police, Mayor Andy Fillmore, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree. PHOTO: Jacob Moore/Acadia Broadcasting
Those are important, because although the government is working on important changes to the criminal justice system, they “cannot arrest our way out of conflict,” says Anandasangaree.
The $1.98 million in funding comes as part of a federal program. It was initially announced in 2022 with $250 million in funding, and then it was renewed in March with $157.7 million to be spent over the next three years, according to a news release.
Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore also spoke Tuesday. He says no government can create safer communities on its own. They need to work with community groups, first responders, families, and residents to find real solutions.
“Most importantly, I want to say thank you to the people all across HRM doing this work every single day, often quietly, often one relationship with one person at a time. And that is how violence is prevented,” says Fillmore.
Residents are able to return home after some evacuated a Middle Sackville neighbourhood because of a strange smell caused by a petroleum substance in the sewer system.
It was just before 8:30 p.m. Thursday night when the odour was reported coming from the sewer system around Claudia Crescent, Lucy Court, and Flora Court, according to a news release from the city.
Officials went door-to-door, letting residents know they could evacuate themselves if necessary.
Later, crews found a petroleum substance, which could be gasoline, diesel, oil, or another type of petroleum product, in the catch basin at the corner of Claudia Crescent and Flora Court. “The exact material and quantity are unknown,” the city says.
Halifax Water crews flushed the system with water to isolate the material and then vacuumed it out.
Overall, about 70 homes were affected, and 15 residents stayed overnight at the Sackville Sports Stadium evacuation centre.
By about 3 a.m., crews let residents know it was safe to return home.
In a statement, the city says petroleum-based substances, like gasoline and oil, should not be dumped into the waste water system.
“Improper disposal of these substances can create public safety risks, impact the environment and disrupt municipal infrastructure,” the statement says.
A teacher at a Pictou County school is facing a long list of charges after police say several students were assaulted.
RCMP began investigating after they got a call on Sept. 10 about an alleged assault at Dr. W.A. MacLeod Consolidated School in Riverton, according to a news release.
Police then discovered other alleged victims from this school year.
A 53-year-old Bible Hill man is now facing 10 charges, including assault, choking, sexual assault, sexual interference, as well as administering a noxious thing.
The school board removed his access to the school and students after the initial report.
RCMP say there may be additional victims, and police want people to know they are committed to investigating with “a supportive and trauma-informed approach.”
“You and your loved ones will be heard, supported, and treated with respect,” wrote Cst. Daniel Ronaghan with the Pictou County District RCMP.
“We want you to know that you can reach out to discuss the right process, pace, and resources.”
Supports for victims are available both through RCMP Victim Services and the Chignecto Central Regional Centre for Education.
After projecting a billion-dollar deficit in the spring budget, the province has spent an additional nearly $250 million dollars since then.
The budget estimate for the 2026-27 year is now sitting at a deficit of $1.4 billion. That is the same as the deficit for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
The largest areas of increase were about $125 million went to pay for doctors, Emergency Health Services, pharmaceuticals, and other programs. While the next largest went seniors and long-term care at about $62 million.
Finance Minister John Lohr says the government is working hard to slow the growth in their expenses, but health and seniors care are more challenging.
“When people need home care, when they need an ambulance or a prescription through seniors’ pharmacare, we will be there to provide it for them,” says Lohr.
“We have worked hard to reduce the need of family practice list and to ensure more people get the care that they need. And we have been successful, but there’s more to be done.”
The budget tabled in the spring sitting at the legislature drew criticism from across the province because of cuts to arts and culture, disability supports, and more.
The province ended up restoring some of that funding, about $53.6 million, which is factored in the deficit in this update.
Overall, that brings the province’s net debt to $24.1 billion as of March 31, 2026. That is $3.26 million higher than the same day of the previous year, and $1.48 billion higher than the government initially planned in the budget estimate.
The additional out-of-budget spending has drawn criticism from the NDP and Liberals, as well as the province’s auditor general.
A report from auditor general Kim Adair highlighted that the government had spent about $6.7 billion outside of the approved budgets over the past five years.
The auditor has suggested that the government change the Finance Act to require a vote in the legislature on any out-of-budget spending.
But the government has previously argued that they need the flexibility to respond to emergencies and unexpected events.
Sailors might be used to travelling by the sea, but you might see them running along the highway this week.
HMCS Halifax is teaming up with the Make A Wish Foundation for the 22nd annual Run for Wishes fundraiser.
A team of 16 sailors began a relay run in Sydney last week and they finish in Yarmouth early next week. They are taking shifts, running from place to place.
Hollie Quick with the foundation say it’s a lot of effort, but the sailors stay motivated.
“They get to meet different wish kids and their families. They get to spend some time with them,” says Quick.
Ship Commander James Ahlstrom says it is heartwarming to see the sailors involved.
“It is great to see that they are supporting such a vital cause and also the children of Nova Scotia,” says Ahlstrom.
They are trying to set a record of $60,000, which would grant the wishes of about 6 children.
Currently, Quick says there are about 80 on the waitlist, and their wishes would take about a year and a half to fulfill.
