- Search and Rescue workers agonize they didn’t get to James Delorey in time
- Melting gold teeth for profit
- SOCAN pressures children’s gymnastics clubs to pay fees for music
- $1.3-million L’Arche house empty for six months amid staffing debate
- Taxi zones in Halifax
- Woman rescues American dogs from death
- Climate change protest
- Owner of local organic restaurant going to United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen
- Free Christmas trees for military families
- Local woman wins $14-million
- Literary festival loses funding
- Tweeting from the past
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$1.3m home for disabled empty amid staffing debate
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Wed. Nov 25, 2009
A new $1.3-million home built for disabled people has stood entirely finished, but empty, for about six months on the corner of Sullivan and Gottingen streets.
Ongoing negotiations between L’Arche Halifax and the Nova Scotia Community Services Department have put a halt to the moving plans of eight people.
Shawn Moulton has been waiting since June to move into the house. He has cerebral palsy.
His mother, Joy, said her son is happy to wait at home with her for the negotiations to be resolved, but some other people are being seriously inconvenienced.
One woman has been staying with a neighbour for months, having originally expected to move into the house in late May. Another woman has been waiting in hospital.
“We want it over,” said Ms. Moulton. “It’s been proposal back and forth, back and forth since back in May, June.”
L’Arche and Community Services have resolved several issues over the months, but the current point of disagreement is over how many staff members the house needs.
Nancy Gilbert, the L’Arche Halifax board chairwoman, said Community Services made a proposal in late October, but the board didn’t agree with it. Ms. Gilbert says the board wants the operating budget to allow for an additional two or three staff members.
“We have staffing guidelines that we use and apply with all service providers across the province,” said Lorna MacPherson, of Community Services.
She said she has received no formal response to the proposal.
Ms. Gilbert said the L’Arche board, without knowing the specifics about these guidelines, cannot respond to the proposal.
“We couldn’t really say yes or no because we didn’t have the pertinent information.”
Despite these setbacks, Ms. Gilbert said she’s hopeful everything will be resolved soon.
“I think we’re very, very close, and I don’t think it’ll be much longer before we’ll be able to open the home.”
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Keep taxi zones on track - cabbie
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Fri. Nov 27, 2009
Doug Brine doesn’t want the Halifax Regional Municipality to do away with taxi zones.
Mr. Brine, a taxi driver, says business in Halifax is floundering, and things will be worse without taxi zones.
HRM is divided into three zones: Halifax, Dartmouth and Halifax County.
It’s illegal for a taxi driver to pick up a passenger in a zone unless they’re licensed there.
Weekends are the exception; the zones are open to help deal with the large volume of passengers.
The Chronicle Herald reported two weeks ago that regional council proposed axing the three taxi zones, leaving one unified zone.
Mr. Brine works in the Halifax zone. He’s also president of the Halifax taxi drivers association.
Drivers met at the Halifax Forum on Tuesday night to discuss the zones. Mr. Brine said most of his fellow drivers agree the zones should remain in place for now.
Mr. Brine said a lot of taxi drivers’ wages are down 20 to 25 per cent. He said if the zones are done away with, Halifax will be overrun with taxis and other areas will be neglected, resulting in less business for everyone.
Another matter is safety.
“Dartmouth drivers know their city, the same as Halifax drivers know their city. We know where the bad places are. We know where to stay away from.”
Bob Woods, a driver in the county zone, disagrees.
“We all know the city fairly well and we understand where problem areas may exist,” Mr. Woods said. “And there’s a lot of intercommunication going along regarding safety issues in this industry.”
Mr. Woods also disagrees that there will be less business.
Mr. Brine said Halifax drivers will oppose axing the zones when council holds a public hearing.
“We’re not going down with just 10 or 20 people. We’re coming in with the whole industry.”
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Music industry pressuring gymnastics clubs to pay up
Non-profit groups can’t believe SOCAN wants to charge kids royalties for tunes
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Sat. Nov 28, 2009
Coach Susie Gallagher helps 11-year-old gymnast Jessica Levesque with her floor routine while other members of the Titans gymnastic club look on during a practice in Dartmouth on Friday. (PETER PARSONS / Staff)
WHEN GYMNAST Jessica Levesque performs her floor routine, a piece of music she calls Robot plays in the background.
The 11-year-old has been competing for three years and that music has always been free.
But now, a national organization representing songwriters wants royalties.
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) has been pursuing gymnastics clubs across the country to pay for the music they use — clubs like the Titans Gymnastics and Trampoline Club in Dartmouth, where Jessica trains.
SOCAN initially tried to get Gymnastics Canada to pay for a national licence. When Gymnastics Canada said no, SOCAN began a telephone and fax campaign at the provincial level.
“From a standpoint of a small, non-profit organization making use of the occasional song to help a six-year-old do a rudimentary floor routine, going for a cash grab at that level … there’s a little bit of immorality in it,” said Titans president Byron Topp.
According to SOCAN’s website, the annual fee is calculated by taking the “average number of persons per week per room multiplied by $2.14.”
For a dance studio with 500 people per week, the annual fee would be $1,070.
Titans head coach Susie Gallagher said about 1,100 people come to a class each week, but fewer than 80 use music. For 80 people, the yearly fee would be $171.20.
SOCAN also wants 0.09 per cent of the ticket sales at competitions. Mr. Topp said competitions generally do not make a profit.
Ms. Gallagher said the fees wouldn’t make or break the Titans, one of the larger clubs in Nova Scotia.
“But the smaller clubs, it would definitely affect them,” she said.
Angela Gallant, executive director of Gymnastics Nova Scotia, said SOCAN told her that each club in Nova Scotia would only have to pay a $64 annual fee, regardless of size.
Not so, SOCAN says.
“There must be some miscommunication there,” said Tim Hardy of SOCAN’s Dartmouth office.
He said there are no exceptions for non-profit organizations.
“We would never tell them not to use music,” he said. “The main thing would be to ensure that they could pay it. Whatever their issue was financially, we would work with them to ensure that they abided by the copyright law.”
Ms. Gallant said paying even a $64 fee would be difficult for some of the smaller clubs that struggle to make ends meet.
Mr. Topp said he doesn’t dispute SOCAN’s legal right to collect the fees, “but to me, that’s similar to asking the parent of a kid at a birthday party for a royalty when playing music for musical chairs.”
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Teeth to earrings: A golden chance to make a buck
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Mon. Nov 30, 2009
If it’s gold, Ashwani Rai wants it. He buys 500 grams of gold each day, some from chains, some from earrings — even some from teeth.
“I had a lady that her husband died and she sold me his teeth… . I get a lot of teeth lately. Gold teeth. A lot of people don’t realize those teeth are worth a lot of money.”
Mr. Rai said he pays about $85 for a gold tooth.
“One of the local dentists, just from him alone, I bet you I bought $50,000 worth of teeth in the last year. He sold me enough gold to buy himself a BMW.”
Mr. Rai is even buying back his own gold chains.
“The gold chains I sold about five years ago for $1,000, I’m buying them back at $1,500 now. As scrap gold.”
He melts down the gold and sculpts it into chains, and other jewelry.
At Ash Jewelers, his store on Quinpool Road, most of his gold comes from people who walk in off the street and are selling unwanted or broken jewelry.
Mr. Rai says most of the jewelry items he buys are earrings that were gifts from ex-boyfriends or ex-husbands.
Cheryll Bambrick gets a lot of gold from daughters who don’t share their mothers’ tastes in jewelry. Ms. Bambrick owns a consignment and auction company in New Minas, called Easy Sell, which also buys gold. She thinks people have so much gold to sell because of a generational shift — people used to be more formal.
“A lady went out for the evening, she wore a long gown, and she wore her finest jewels. (For) Sunday dinner, you brought out your fine china. And it’s just that things have changed and we’re casual now.”
As a result, Ms. Bambrick says, there’s a whole lot of gold jewelry that people don’t want to keep, and with gold being worth so much, now is the time to sell it.
The Royal Canadian Mint produces gold bullion coins, and they have seen steady demand for the coins since last year.
“We are operating at full capacity,” said Alex Reeves, manager of communications for the mint. “We are producing as much as we can supply.”
Mr. Reeves said in these economic times, there is “a lot of uncertainty in the market. And people are looking for a hard, tangible store of value, and there aren’t many options left out there.”
Like Mr. Rai and Ms. Bambrick, the mint also buys scrap gold to melt down. With gold so lucrative, new businesses buying old jewelry have cropped up, like Cash4Gold, which advertises on TV and asks customers to mail in their gold.
But Mr. Rai said he can’t imagine gold will keep going up in value.
“I wish I knew when gold was going to drop, so I don’t get stuck with a lot of gold.”
Gold was trading for US$1,177 an ounce Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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Dartmouth woman rescues unwanted U.S. pooches
In Atlanta area alone, more than 90,000 healthy dogs euthanized annually
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Mon. Nov 30, 2009
Doug and Joyce Lamb of Lower Sackville enjoy their German shepherd Max, who was rescued by Leah Parsons of Dartmouth from death at a shelter in Georgia. (Peter Parsons / Staff)
DARTMOUTH — She calls them “the Georgia 12.”
Leah Parsons brought 12 dogs across the border to save them from being euthanized by overloaded and overwhelmed animal shelters in the United States.
Parsons runs the East Coast German Shepherd Rescue from her home in Dartmouth. She says German shepherds are a misunderstood breed, and for 3 1/2 years, she’s dealt with local German shepherds that have been mistreated or end up homeless.
She says she’s found homes for over 100 of them. But this is the first time she’s brought dogs into the country.
Parsons says the situation for dogs is dire in Georgia, and the only way to keep many of them from death is to move them.
“For some reason, (the shelters are) just overflowing,” said Parsons. “They can’t keep up.”
Joan Sammond, the director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Georgia, says that in just the Atlanta metropolitan area, more than 90,000 healthy animals are euthanized each year. The euthanasia rate is higher in rural areas. And it’s getting worse because of the economic situation.
Donations to the SPCA have dwindled and foundations aren’t granting them as much money. People are losing their homes and giving up their pets.
“The inflow of animals has increased, but the amount of donations has not,” said Sammond.
To bring so many dogs into Canada, Parsons had help from volunteers to transport the dogs, in several trips, and to take care of them when they got here. In an effort to save as many dogs as possible, five of the Georgia dogs weren’t German shepherds.
Parsons says she has room for the dogs because dog problems are modest in Halifax Regional Municipality.
“We don’t have a huge overpopulation of dogs. The metro shelter is really good at moving dogs out of the shelter into homes.”
The Georgia dogs are up for adoption on the East Coast German Shepherd Rescue website, www.nsgsrescue.com. Four of the dogs have been adopted so far, but Parsons says there are more dogs on the way.
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Campus protests are heating up
Dal demonstrators ready to get down to basics for climate
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Tue. Dec 1, 2009
Protesters representing Canadian youth carry a banner Monday advocating action on climate change through Dalhousie University’s campus in Halifax. The group wants Ottawa to work toward a strong global climate treaty during the international climate change convention this month in Copenhagen. (Peter Parsons / Staff)
They want climate justice, and they’re willing to pull their pants down to get it.
A group of about 25 students marched across the Dalhousie University campus Monday with a large banner that read Climate Action Now.
It was cold, so the group members kept their pants up. But in past demonstrations, they have walked across campus with their pants around their ankles and a sign that read: More Embarrassed about Canadian Climate Policy than Public Nudity.
The unnamed group of loosely organized students has demonstrated every Monday for six weeks.
“We did a climate strip mob,” Emily Rideout said Monday.
She said the group blended in with other students at Dalhousie’s Killam Memorial Library until one stood up and said, “Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?”
“And then we all started taking off our clothes, down to our bathing suits, and we sang the climate change song, which I won’t embarrass myself with right now,” Ms. Rideout said. “And then we all ran away.”
The group has been trying to raise awareness about the United Nations Climate Change Conference that begins next Monday in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ms. Rideout said the group follows up its demonstrations with calls to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and members of Parliament.
On Monday, they stood in front of the Henry Hicks Academic Building and called the prime minister’s office on their cellphones.
Tom Stayner left a message asking the prime minister to do more than just attend the UN conference.
“We need Stephen Harper to go along with three-quarters of Canadians who are embarrassed about our current position on climate change and we need him to commit to a strong global agreement,” Mr. Stayner said.
Meghan Larson, another demonstrator, said she wants to be part of a green future, with an economy based on clean energy.
The Canadian Press reported Monday that UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said Canada needs more ambitious targets for combating climate change.
“The largest lacking part is still the political will,” he said.
Robert Leth, president of Breton WindWorks of Dartmouth, will be one of the Nova Scotians at the UN conference. He said in a telephone interview that the conference is significant because “everybody’s at the table. The entire planet.”
Mr. Leth said there is potential for great change, and young people should continue to let the prime minister know what they want for their future.
The student demonstrators at Dal say they will continue their protests while the UN conference is taking place.
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Organic-restaurant owner going to climate conference
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Wed. Dec 2, 2009
Lil MacPherson, co-owner of the Wooden Monkey restaurant, stands on a Barrington Street sidewalk on Tuesday. Ms. MacPherson is paying her own way to attend next week’s climate conference in Copenhagen as an observer. (Peter Parsons / Staff)
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be there. U.S. President Barack Obama will be there. And Lil MacPherson, co-owner of the Wooden Monkey restaurant in Halifax, will be there.
Ms. MacPherson is paying her own way to Copenhagen, Denmark, next week for the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
“For me, it’s like going to Woodstock,” she said.
The conference begins Monday but Ms. MacPherson won’t arrive until Wednesday.
She said she has been passionate about environmental issues for six years, since just before the Wooden Monkey opened. Her restaurant serves organic food made from locally produced ingredients.
“I’m all about saving the planet, but agriculture affects climate change, and climate change affects agriculture,” she said. “I’m really concerned about the future of food.”
Ms. MacPherson said Nova Scotia imports so much food that we neglect our own food production, which becomes a problem when suppliers in other countries have droughts or floods as a result of climate change.
“We’ve got to take care of ourselves,” she said.
Ms. MacPherson said she’s going to the UN conference as an observer and hopes to bring back ideas she can apply here.
Accreditation for the conference and accommodations in Copenhagen are hard to come by because of the throngs expected to attend. Ms. Macpherson said she contacted Thomas Rankin of the provincial Environment Department and told him she would pay her own way if there was a spot available for her to go with the government contingent. It turned out there was.
Ms. MacPherson said she’s very excited that Premier Darrell Dexter is also going.
“It shows that he cares,” she said.
Dan O’Connor, the premier’s chief of staff, said Mr. Dexter hopes to share the province’s experience with cutting emissions and to increase awareness of Nova Scotia tidal power. The premier will do a presentation at the conference.
Mr. O’Connor said the government wanted to be at the conference because the discussions and negotiations will potentially affect the future economic environment of Nova Scotia, and every other jurisdiction in the world.
If agreements are reached in Copenhagen and later put into writing, “Nova Scotia will have faced the question as to whether we sign on or not,” Mr. O’Connor said. “Knowing clearly and first-hand exactly what went into it, what’s intended by it, will be important.”
Ms. MacPherson hopes the conference leads to real change.
“I know we can lead this country,” she said. “Nova Scotia can be the greenest, most sustainable province in Canada, and the world. We can be leaders of this world.”
Ms. MacPherson and several other Nova Scotians going to the conference will hold a panel discussion on climate change Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Hub on Barrington Street in Halifax. Click here for details.
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Trying to help lonely Christmas families
Military resource centre focuses on those away for holidays
By VINCENZO RAVINA and IAN FAIRCLOUGH Staff Reporter
Sat. Dec 5, 2009
Wayne Moore shows off a wreath as he helps unload trailers of donated trees. (Tim Krochak / Staff)
Greg Mooney and his children Amber, 12, Chase, 5, and Oriana, 14, pick up a donated Christmas tree at the Windsor Park military family resource centre in Halifax. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)
Cynthia Douglas’s husband, Leading Seaman Kerry Douglas, is going to be spending his Christmas on the HMCS Fredericton, far away from his family.
She said her family will get through it, though, because of help and support from the military.
“We’ve had many long deployments,” said Ms. Douglas, “but this is the first over Christmas, so it’s going to be different.”
The hardest part is her husband missing the Christmas concerts and her son’s hockey games, she said. She will be taking lots of pictures and video so Leading Seaman Douglas doesn’t miss too much.
“Oh, say this without crying,” Ms. Douglas said. “He’s going to be there as best as he can without actually being there.”
The Halifax & Region Military Family Resource Centre offers Christmas parties, daycare services and parcel delivery to deployed family members. And on Friday, the Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia donated 150 trees to military families through the resource centre.
Ms. Douglas received the very first tree at Windsor Park. She repeatedly thanked Jim Webber, president of the council, as the tree was put on top of her car.
Mr. Webber’s organization started the Christmas tree giveaway, which is in its third year. The initiative has expanded to military bases across the country through the Canadian Christmas Tree Growers Association.
Trees were also being given away Friday at Canadian Forces Base Greenwood.
Capt. Scott Spurr, the CFB Greenwood spokesman, said the military family resource centres offer a lot of support over Christmas.
“It’s there to help them with anything they need over the holiday season, whether their hot water tank blows up or they need babysitting, or even if they need someone to go get them a turkey.”
Loved ones can also communicate with Forces members posted overseas through video teleconferencing throughout the year.
Jerry Billard is able to talk to his son, Master Bombardier Bobby Billard, every now and then if his son is in a safe area.
Mr. Billard received the second tree at the Halifax giveaway and, while tying it to the roof of his car, said his son will be coming home for Christmas. The plane lands Dec. 24.
“His wife just had a baby boy last month,” Mr. Billard said. “He hasn’t seen the boy yet. That’ll be a big Christmas gift for him.”
Mr. Billard said the Christmas tree giveaway is fabulous, and that Nova Scotia has bragging rights for starting it.
“Within the next two weeks, almost every deployed soldier’s family — or navy or air force person — will have a Christmas tree donated by Christmas tree associations across Canada. And that’s a lot of trees,” said Mr. Billard.
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Dartmouth woman wins $14 million
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Tue. Dec 8, 2009
Geraldine White of Dartmouth gives Santa Claus a peck on the cheek as her husband Ed and other members of their family pick up the $14,315,616 Lotto 6-49 win at the Atlantic Lottery Corporation in Moncton on Monday. (Moncton Times & Transcript / CP)
Geraldine and Ed White are Dartmouth’s newest multimillionaires.
As of Saturday, they’re $14 million richer.
Ms. White, 66, buys lottery tickets twice a week at Lawtons Drugs on Primrose Street in the north end.
Checking her tickets from home, Ms. White was rendered mute when she saw that her Insta Pik Lotto 6-49 ticket was worth $14,315,611.
Her husband, 64, thought she might be having problems with her diabetes medication.
“She was just out of breath, just couldn’t get the words out. All she could do was point at a ticket, and I figured she had four numbers. And she shook her head and I said, ‘OK, you got five.’ She shook her head. And then she started saying, ‘Look! Look!’ I finally got it out of her. ‘Look, look!’ And then I looked at it and, lo and behold, there was six numbers.”
Mr. White worked as a pipefitter at the Halifax Shipyard but is on workers’ compensation because of his injured knees.
He said the compensation was going to run out in the new year. His wife doesn’t work.
“We were just living on the money we were saving till now,” said Mr. White, “so it did come at a good time.”
His wife said that after getting over the shock of winning, she started calling her children to tell them she was a millionaire. None of them believed her.
“I had to convince all of them. Then I called my mother-in-law and she didn’t even believe me.”
Ms. White said she hasn’t given much thought to what to do with the money yet.
“I always wanted a house. So I can buy my house. And my husband can have a new car.”
But she said she is not going to make any big purchases yet. She won’t even be using the money for Christmas.
“I’ve got all my shopping done. But this’ll be put in the bank and held over till New Year’s. We’ll decide then what we’ll do.”
Mr. White said they’re just going to take it easy for a while.
As for his wife, winning the lottery doesn’t mean she has to stop playing.
“I won’t stop buying the tickets. I’ll keep buying my tickets.”
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Searchers agonizing they didn’t get to boy in time
Crews had looked in same spot where James was found
By TERA CAMUS Cape Breton Bureau and VINCENZO RAVINA
Wed. Dec 9, 2009
MATT DEMPSEY (Staff)
James Delorey (Facebook photo)
Blair Doyle, search director for the Halifax search and rescue team, answers questions Tuesday about the search for seven-year-old James Delorey in the woods of Cape Breton. (Eric Wynne / Staff)
Cape Breton Search and Rescue workers never stopped looking for James Delorey on the weekend, even as other volunteers went home to their warm beds.
Yet the group’s leader, Paul Vienneau, said searchers are agonizing over the fear that they didn’t do enough, soon enough, to find the boy.
“The only way to explain it is we’re on a roller-coaster ride at the moment,” Mr. Vienneau said Tuesday. “From the highest of highs, to being so ecstatic yesterday, to the lowest of the low when we got the news this morning (that James had died), and all of us feel the same way. We’re all very emotional about this.”
He said searchers had been at the exact spot where the seven-year-old was eventually found, about 1.5 kilometres behind his South Bar home near Kilkenny Lake, about 13 hours earlier. He said he is sure the boy wasn’t in the thick brush there at that time.
Mr. Vienneau said the hero of the story is the family dog Chance, who stayed with the autistic boy from Saturday afternoon until Monday morning before returning home.
“The little fella didn’t like that dog,” Mr. Vienneau said. “The dog loved the little fella, and they were only together six months, but dogs know if there’s a handicap there and he took care of him. The dog followed that boy, the boy wouldn’t follow that dog. The dog wouldn’t leave him alone.”
Before searchers could retrace the dog’s fresh tracks to try to find James, a Halifax Regional Search and Rescue team that had arrived Monday morning to relieve Cape Breton crews stumbled upon him under brush and snow by Kilkenny Lake. He was unconscious but still alive.
Blair Doyle, leader of the Halifax team, said the stormy weather hindered searchers.
“We were 100 metres away with our whistles, actually approaching the find site, and the sound wouldn’t go through the woods,” he said.
Mr. Doyle said the boy was found lightly covered in snow and in the fetal position. There was a depression in the snow next to him where the dog had been. Mr. Doyle said the dog was too small to have provided much warmth.
The woods were so thick that the teams had to cut a hole through the trees to extract James. Mr. Doyle said that’s part of the reason why it took two hours to get the boy out of the woods.
“We always hope for faster. Nothing’s ever soon enough,” he said. “We work hard and we have to know that we did the best job we could, and the results are the results.”
Still, his Cape Breton counterpart, Mr. Vienneau, said he can’t help but go over details of the search in his head.
“We did our job but I just wish we’d done it a lot sooner,” Mr. Vienneau said, his voice breaking. “You wouldn’t believe what’s going through our minds right now, but everything was done the way it was supposed to be done.
“Unfortunately it turned out this way.”
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Word on the Street beset by red ink
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Thu. Dec 10, 2009
Doretta Groenendyk reads I’m Writing a Story to a group of children during the 2009 Word on the Street festival at the Cunard Centre. (Ingrid Bulmer / Staff)
The Word on the Street literary festival has lost funding and organizers are scrambling to find a way to keep the pages turning.
For 15 years now, Word on the Street has celebrated literacy by organizing a free one-day festival with book readings, signings and panels in four cities.
In past years, the Halifax festival has received a grant from the Tourism, Culture and Heritage Department. This year, it didn’t.
“We’re in a bit of a crisis situation right now,” said Marie-France Leblanc, the festival’s executive director.
She said the festival is running a deficit and had to cut back its 2009 event, which happened in September.
“We weren’t extravagant this year,” Ms. Leblanc said. “Other years, we’ve gotten authors from all over the place (and) we didn’t this year. We stayed very local this year.”
Word on the Street has been held at the Cunard Centre at Pier 23 since 2006. About 35,000 to 40,000 people attend each year, according to the festival’s website.
With less money at its disposable, Heather Fegan, vice-chairwoman on the festival’s board, said organizers might look at a smaller venue or have fewer events at the 2010 festival.
Cancelling the festival would punch a hole through the Atlantic literary community, said Mary Jane Copps, former president of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia.
Ms. Copps said the festival is unique, in that it brings together authors, publishers and readers — three groups that wouldn’t necessarily spend a lot of time together.
“Word on the Street really puts you face to face with the people that are reading your books or are interested in your books,” she said.
Book sales also get a major boost at the festival. Ms. Copps said it’s the book readings and “hearing the author talk about the research they did or why they wrote that story that makes a big difference in terms of sales.”
Festival organizers said cancellation is a distant possibility.
“We’re banking on there being a 2010 festival,” said board chairwoman Jasmine Walsh. “That’s our expectation. However, in order for us to get there, we need to get some fundraising in play.”
Ms. Walsh said the yearly cost of the festival is $60,000 to $75,000. Its fundraising goal is $20,000.
The organizers are soliciting donations from the public, in a blog post on Halifax Magazine’s website. Donors are offered the incentive of being put in a draw to participate in the Word on the Street book club. The authors of the books being discussed will attend the meetings.
Ms. Leblanc said festival organizers are also asking prominent Haligonians to donate as well as solicit donations from others.
“It’s sort of a pyramid fundraiser. We’re quite confident that we’ve got a good business plan now that will rely less on government funding and more on fundraising and community partnerships.”
Although next year’s festival might be smaller or in a different place, Ms. Leblanc said “the spirit of the festival remains the same.”
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Hillier mum on abuse
Former top soldier in Halifax for book signing, won’t comment on allegations of Afghan prisoner mistreatment
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Sat. Dec 12, 2009
Retired general Rick Hillier signs a copy of his new book, A Soldier First, for Cpl. Shaun Fevens, a soldier wounded in Afghanistan, and his wife Lana. (CHRISTIAN LAFORCE / Staff)
Rick Hillier, formerly Canada’s top soldier, isn’t commenting about the recent revelations that Canadian-captured prisoners transferred to Afghan authorities were later tortured.
“I haven’t followed it,” Mr. Hillier said Friday in Halifax.
“I’m really not even in the mood or the ability to comment upon it, at this point, because I have not followed it in detail.”
Three weeks ago, Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin made allegations that the military ignored warnings that prisoners transferred to Afghan authorities were beaten and given electrical shocks in 2006 and early 2007. Mr. Colvin said the Red Cross tried for three months in 2006 to tell the Canadian army what was happening, but no one would “even take their phone calls.”
The Harper government denied there was evidence of torture before 2007 and repeatedly attacked Mr. Colvin’s credibility.
But, on Wednesday, Gen. Walter Natynczyk, Mr. Hillier’s successor, revealed that there was evidence a Canadian-captured prisoner was abused by Afghan authorities prior to 2007, directly contradicting government assurances.
These abuses would have happened between 2005 and 2008, while Mr. Hillier was still the chief of defence staff.
Mr. Hillier was in Halifax signing copies of his autobiographical book, A Soldier First, at the Chapters bookstore in Bayers Lake Business Park.
Just before beginning his signing, Mr. Hillier refused to comment on the recent developments regarding Afghan abuse.
“I’ve had my say publicly many times in great detail,” he said.
His “public say” two weeks ago before a special Commons committee was that Mr. Colvin’s allegations were “ludicrous.”
“We didn’t base our work on things like reports written in May or June 2006, which said nothing about abuse, nothing about torture or anything else that would have caught my attention or indeed the attention of others,” Mr. Hillier said then.
But Mr. Colvin’s allegations spurred opposition parties to question how much the government knew about Afghan abuses. Gen. Natynczyk’s newly revealed evidence caused Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff to call for Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s resignation.
On Thursday, the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois passed a Commons motion ordering the Conservative government to release the uncensored prisoner transfer documents.
The controversy did not dampen the enthusiasm of about 45 people who showed up early at Mr. Hillier’s event. Within a half-hour of the beginning of the signing, about 90 people had showed up, and some purchased multiple copies of Mr. Hillier’s book.
Many of those standing in line were in the military. Some, like Cpl. Shaun Fevens, were in uniform.
Cpl. Fevens was severely injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan nearly three years ago. The explosion killed six of his comrades, fractured his right tibia, broke his left ankle in three places, threw shrapnel into his right wrist and tore a chunk out of his right thigh.
He’s met Mr. Hillier on several occasions but came down to shake hands, have his book signed and update Mr. Hillier on his recovery.
“When (Mr. Hillier) left, I was still freshly broken,” Cpl. Fevens said. “In 2010, I’ll finally get my transfer into the air force.”
He said it was good to see Mr. Hillier again.
Regarding the torture allegations, Cpl. Fevens said, “I never seen it. I think this stuff may be higher than my pay grade.”
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New market boon for Alderney Landing
Many of departed Eastern Front Theatre’s dates have been replaced
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Mon. Dec 14, 2009
Bea MacGregor, executive director of Alderney Landing Cultural Convention Centre, is framed by colourful artwork at the centre’s Craig Gallery. (Staff)
DARTMOUTH — With increased competition and lost bookings, it looks like tough times at Alderney Landing Cultural Convention Centre.
But what appear to be setbacks may actually be a boon.
Harbourview Weekend Market opened near the Dartmouth convention centre in the summer, direct competition for Alderney Landing’s Dartmouth Farmers Market. But Bea MacGregor, executive director at Alderney Landing, said instead of Harbourview being a setback, it’s been a big help.
“You know how car dealerships locate next to car dealerships? Same thing. It’s been great. We’ve experienced about 30 per cent growth over last year.” MacGregor said the farmers market has reached capacity at 75 vendor tables, and the number of customers keeps going up.
“It’s fabulous. Now there are two markets to go to, and they’re both quite different,” she said. “Overall, Alderney Landing is growing.”
Also, even thought Eastern Front Theatre has pulled out of the Alderney Landing’s theatre after 10 years of calling it home, MacGregor said that there have been little to no financial repercussions from the move.
Replacing Eastern Front isn’t proving too difficult, as it only booked Alderney Landing’s 300-seat theatre for 70 nights last year.
“So we had 70 nights that basically we needed to be able to fill,” MacGregor said. “We have pretty much done that.”
She said if they aren’t filled already, they will be filled.
Right now, they’re putting on an Alderney Landing-produced dinner theatre called My Hometown Elf, which MacGregor says has been a smashing success.
Although Alderney Landing is a not-for-profit convention centre and is partially government funded, MacGregor said only 20 per cent of its finances come from government.
“Eighty per cent self-funding for a community arts cultural facility is a pretty good track record,” she said.
More shows produced by Alderney Landing, as well as new community theatre productions, can be expected in the new season, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
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Tweeting about the past (Part of the Herald’s Top 20 in their 20s profiles)
By VINCENZO RAVINA
Wed. Dec 30, 2009
LAUREN OOSTVEEN
Age: 24
Specialty: communications
Lauren Oostveen is bringing Nova Scotia history to the Twitter crowd.
Tweeting from @NS_Archives, she posts archive material like images of Argyle Street piled with coffins after the Halifax explosion or Christmas decor in Guysborough circa 1915.
At the Nova Scotia Archives, Oostveen is project co-ordinator for its film digitization project, preserving fragile, historically important film.
She’s always had an interest in history.
“As a kid, my favourite tape to watch was an old VHS of World War II newsreels that they used to play before movies. I thought they were the most awesome thing ever.”
Oostveen studied public relations at Mount Saint Vincent University, graduating in 2007. She spent a summer applying for jobs and landed at the archives, where she pushed to make Twitter part of her job.
“These are the new tools that people want you to use to communicate with them and if you’re going to do your written statement once a month through controlled media, then people aren’t going to think that’s enough.”
Through Twitter, she updates people on the progress of the digitization project and posts interesting content, keeping Nova Scotia history alive. She also blogs archive material for Spacing Atlantic. Oostveen has a separate personal Twitter account and blog where she writes about werewolves in media and reviews movies.
For her personal and professional tweets, the Coast weekly named her Halifax’s best Twitterer.
“We have a great social media community in Halifax,” she said. “I certainly enjoy what I do and I’m glad other people enjoy it, too.”
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