Halifax has some urban wildlife areas. You see all sorts of spots around Halifax where little islands of nature eke out an existence oblivious to our busy schedules and never ending development. They go unnoticed by our backhoes and saws and gravel trucks and asphalt spreaders. Some are remnants of a long-ago city and some are new incursions of nature where we have plunked down a garden or where a property manager didn’t set up a grounds maintenance program and a piece of dirt was able to host trees and plants and allow a little habitat to thrive.

I’m almost afraid to describe the following area because someone might notice and the next thing you know someone’s Grounds Maintenance Plan has been updated to prune the bushes and clean away the thick growth and then the whole mini-ecosystem is disrupted. There’s no way I want to be responsible for that.

It reminds me of a science fiction time travel story where someone travels back in time to some prehistoric era. In their temporal journey they’re allowed to explore an area but with very strict instructions to stay on a boardwalk. One of the time travelers steps off however, crushing a little butterfly. No big deal eh? Au contraire; when the scientist returns to present-day life there are a several profound and horrible differences all arising out of that tiny interference in a previous timeline. That’s why I have this hesitation, but here goes.

Visit the corner of Monastery Lane and Yale Street where the power company has a brick building roughly the size of a renovated west end prefab. Not one of the two story renos mind you, but a beefed up story-and-a-half. Look at the front. It has two huge juicy looking evergreens that have to be 4 meters tall. They probably started as regular nursery plants but over the years grew up to massive trees with almost year round sparrow activity. Some days it’s a veritable warblefest. It’s like the trees in Point Pleasant Park where multigenerational bird populations swoop down to peck seeds from the hands of the regulars. Other days it’s as quiet as a mediaeval forest grove.

In walks around the city between home and work or to something downtown, or from Steve-a-Renos or the library I’ve encountered some other urban mini habitats. Most of the crow hangouts have been occupied for decades. For instance check out the pair at the base of Citadel Hill right across from the upper police station parking lot. There’s a groundwater drain in the area where even in the coldest weather there’s usually a little trickle. These birds are smart to hang around there. They hop around and look at you in case you might be a source of food or something.

Nearby between the police station and the Citadel Inn, and the next door mixed use office building there’s a sort of neglected no-mans-land that hasn’t seen a mower, saw or rake for a long time. The crows pull back to this mini-grove in high winds. Maybe it’s like their permanent roost in that daytime neighbourhood. I wonder if they join up with extended family near the Mount Saint Vincent motherhouse in the evenings.

Keep your eyes open for these little patches of nature in the concrete and asphalt jungle of the urban core. Observe, move on. Repeat as necessary to maintain a good mental health exercise program.

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Quinpool Road in 1899, with the Monastery of the Good Shepherd, St. Ann's College and the Catholic orphanage

In 1893, Archbishop Cornelius O’Brien acquired 15 acres (6 hectares) of land on Quinpool Road, five of which were used for the building of Holy Heart Seminary to be run by the Eudist Fathers. The seminary occupied that part of Quinpool from Chebucto (Monastery Lane) to Vernon Street, and was a familiar landmark from its opening in 1895 until it closed in 1970 and the property was sold. The buildings were razed and the Quinpool Center was built in their place.

The remaining 10 acres (4 hectares) acquired by Archbishop O’Brien between Windsor Street, Quinpool Road and the seminary was used for the new campus of St. Mary’s College in 1903 and remained at that site until 1951, when it moved to its present site on Robie Street.  St. Patrick’s High School and St. Vincent’s Guest House were then built on formerly occupied by the college.

(This article relies heavily on a section by Cyril Burne in Halifax Street Names, An Illustrated Guide edited by Shelagh MacKenzie)

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DARLING, Peter Duncan, QC, LLM

Peter at one of our musical weekends

The family is saddened to announce that Peter died on Sunday, November 2, 2008, in Halifax, following a courageous battle with cancer. The son of Barbara (MacPherson) and the late Frank Darling, Peter was born in Vancouver, B.C., and grew up in Calgary, Winnipeg and Montreal. He studied law at Dalhousie University (LLB in 1981) and McGill University (LLM in 1989). Peter and his law partners built the firm of Huestis Ritch, in Halifax. His legal interests were wide-ranging, with particular focus on admiralty and insurance litigation. Alongside his mother, Peter is survived by his wife, Nancy (Cameron), and his children, Sascha (Philippe Clermont), St. Jerome, Que., and Alanna and Rob, at home. Peter is also survived by his four sisters and their families: Francis (Pete Leckie), Duncan, B.C.; Marcia (Mac Scott), Toronto, Ont.; Barbara (David Crowther), Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., and Mary (Mike Schepp), Los Angeles, Calif. Many friends supported and encouraged Peter and his family throughout his long illness. We thank you. His family offers its thanks to the medical team of the Cancer Care Program, in particular his primary doctor, Wojciech Morzychi; to the doctors and nurses of Palliative Care, in particular to his primary nurse, Monica Flinn; to his nurses and LPNs of the VON, and to his personal caregivers of the Red Cross, for the wonderful care he received.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, November 6, in The Cathedral Church of All Saints, 5732 College St., Halifax, with a reception in the church hall to follow. There will also be a service celebrating Peter’s life in Duncan, B.C. The family is grateful for the kind thoughts of friends and colleagues, but asks that no flowers be sent. If desired, donations to Peter’s favourite charity, The Salvation Army, are appreciated.

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A hot topic in the news this week was the firing of former Conservative candidate Rosamond Luke from her position as as executive director of the All Women’s Empowerment and Development Association in Halifax.

According to new reports the association was awarded a $142,700 federal government grant and a $40,000 grant from the IWK Health Centre.

Excuse me? A grant from the IWK? I thought that the meagre donations my wife and I made over the past several years went toward tiny baby heart valves, and cotton wrappings for little legs, and antibiotics and other, well… hospital things.

The IWK Foundation’s website however shows that they make available $300,000 to community outreach in the following areas of need. They want a healthy population and good partnerships in the community. It makes sense and these all seem very reasonable to me.

• Supporting the healthy growth and development of children 0-6 years
• Preventing child/youth obesity
• Supporting parents of children 0-16 years in their parenting role
• Addressing the needs of “at risk” youth
• Improving women’s wellness across the adult and senior years

But according to the Government of Canada Status of Women website the grant money was for “a pilot project designed to enable and integrate low-income immigrant women in Nova Scotia society through entrepreneurship, self-employment and micro enterprise projects”. That was for the federal grant and I can only assume the IWK grant was for the same purpose, which strikes me as unrelated to women and children’s health, but then again I’m no expert in the matter so should probably avoid any inferences. I just thought my $20 this year was going to little tiny medical things, not to help people set up businesses.

(Please leave comments at http://myconnect.ca/read/80/33362)

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Men are tough, right? We cut ourselves - no big deal. We get insulted at work - laugh and ignore the bozo. A pal tries to pick a fight while out a little too late some night - who cares - it was the beer talking and you’re still pals. We don’t go looking for issues in relationships. We bond with each other over lawnmower repairs, a crappy golf game and how many donairs we ate last year - the most basic and simple things - no complications. A parent dies - we’re philosophical about it. Our daughter leaves home for university in another city - we cry. WE WHAT???!!!

Yes indeed my dear friends… a tear was shed last night while yours truly was alone at his camp to do some carpentry. It came right outta the blue and shocked me to the point that I came home a day early. Me cry? Good lord it must be a virus or something right? Maybe mental illness.

The situation is simple. My daughter, the eldest of two is leaving home in three days to go to university in Montreal. She’ll be moving into an apartment with her boyfriend. She loves Montreal, the BF is a terrific person, her university is one of the best, she will have a few friends there and she has an uncle and aunt a few streets away to keep an eye out and act as surrogate parents. What a great situation for a young person and what parent could have any complaints about how this is turning out?

Why then the angst? I don’t know - maybe it’s common, maybe not, but for me it’s very real and, hopefully short lived as we see her adjust and adapt and use her resourcefulness to build a new life.

We have a social duty and a duty as parents to encourage our young to leave the nest. Children need to be supported in making life-decisions that are not be under the full supervision of the parental safety net. The protective nature of the father-daughter relationship cannot survive once the child is ready and capable of living separately. The protection of parenting must be relaxed and it must pass control over to the child as they become a fully self-sufficient adult. It’s hard to do though; the bedroom of their youth is empty, the secret rituals are stilled, and the family unit altered forever.

It’s a change cycle and maybe the fact it signals parental aging or a major life stage drawing to a close makes it tied to the unexpected emotional response of yours truly. It’s not like getting a new car, or moving to another house. The team is smaller, the parent feels almost superfluous. The baby doesn’t need you any more and you fear diminished love.

Trying to put this in perspective seems to help. I think of all the divorce situations, the families where a shortage of money is a daily issue, or where serious or terminal illness strains every resource or where a parent has died. I face none of these things, my life is charmed in every way. My kids seem perfect, and this transition is the most natural and normal thing we could experience at this stage. So maybe I’ll just be tough about it. I must have a speck of dust in my eye though, so toughness will have to wait a minute.

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Have you seen what’s taking place on Chebucto Road now that the headlines have stopped and the protests are a memory? It must be a pure horror-show for anyone living in that stretch across from St. Agnes Church. I just can’t imagine what it muct be like. Crews are digging with heavy machinery more or less right on these people’s doorsteps.

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Could this be tested in Halifax at the Liquor Dome?

Calgary club owner ordered to stop scanning patrons’ driver’s licences
Sean Myers
Calgary Herald

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
CALGARY - A Calgary night club owner is vowing to appeal a decision to stop the practice of scanning the driver’s licences of patrons as they walk in the door.

Alberta privacy commissioner Frank Work ordered Tantra Nightclub and its parent company Penny Lane Entertainment to stop scanning licences and to destroy any information that has been collected.

Penny Lane owner Paul Vickers said he has spent millions of dollars installing the scanning equipment in his Calgary and Edmonton venues and they’ve proven to reduce criminal activity in his clubs.

“This is one of the things that keeps the bad guys out,” said Vickers. “Our sole purpose in scanning is the protection of our staff, patrons and property.

“I’m not going to sit idly by on this.”

In his order, Work wrote that at best, Penny Lane “offers conjecture that collecting driver’s license information of patrons may act as a deterrent to violent behavior.”

He said Penny Lane failed to offer any evidence to back up its claims that Tantra was made safer by the scanning practice.

The original complaint was made in 2005 by a University of Calgary law student.

After Penny Lane chose not to comply with a voluntary request to stop scanning, the matter went before the privacy commissioner for a binding decision.

The ruling is binding only on Penny Lane and Vickers has 50 days to appeal.

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On my slither to work a couple of weeks ago I saw a small Ziploc baggie duct taped around the dangling cable of a broken down old payphone… Can you guess where it is?The message visible through the plastic was

“In case of poetic emergency break seal - write / draw / express”

…and there was a piece of paper and a little golf-style pencil inside. I chuckled and felt good that someone had done this, but I just carried on to the cubicle farm without acting.

Today as I passed I saw it was still there! So instead of passing by I broke the seal and left a poem and it felt good. It seemed like protection from the approaching day in its sealed office with emails and papers and photocopies and the various annoyances that seem extra obvious on a Monday morning. Even better was seeing on my way home that someone else left words! Very cool.

Over my many years of walking around the city I’ve seen many similar street art projects and wondered about who and why, and what it means. Was it done while laughing? Is it a subversion of mainstream art? Is it a repurposing and replatforming of corporate or municipal infrastructure? The phone was broken after all; why not turn it into a frame for this piece of interactive public art? Reclaim it and change it from a piece of useless junk into a place to express yourself.

Here’s a Wikipedia entry for Street Art

I might make a little sketch tomorrow. Hope you can find it and make your own contribution.

Cheers,
John

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A few months ago this was a cesspool of green sludge. Look at it now!

I was out walking in the balmy 6 degree and sunny weather at lunch today (balmy for the beginning of January in Halifax anyway), and was astounded at the condition of Halifax Harbour. It’s amazingly clear.

Never before have I seen such clean water in the harbour. It’s apparent and obvious all along the boardwalk, but most especially apparent and obvious near the wave sculpture, where for so many years an almost opaque green sludge spewed forth from submerged concrete pipes, and various flushed flotsam and jetsom (and then-some) disgorged from the most filty-of-filthys, the Halifax sewer “system”.

Now, you can look down at that exact same spot and count individual starfish and urchins. The ducks dabble and you don’t feel so sorry for them. There’s a clear sparkle to the waves as they lap at the muscle and barnacle encrusted rocks.

At some spots you can make out interesting features. There are old mounds of ballast marking the graves of important warves of the days of sail. I imagine around these mounds are probably all sorts of things lost overboard, or tossed by stevedores and dock workers. So many ships have come and gone with the tides in Halifax Harbour. It was a major port for commerce and military activity. Ships came from all over the world to unload trade goods from far off places, and to take on board lumber, fish, furs and various other items.

There must be cannon and shot and articles from broken barrels; the main shipping container of the past.

We came across an old bicycle someone had pulled up. It was rusted to bits and broken where soft metal had corroded to nothing, but a couple of stainless steel nuts were like new and there was still air in the front tire.

What will summer be like now? It will surely smell better. Will we see sea life at wharf edge? Will seals swim about? Some friends speculate that the water is less attractive now to marine life due to the loss of nutrients. Nutrients? Yuck! I don’t think the previous centuries of sewer and other waste would have held any attraction to marine animals. Will the Sackville River salmon population rebound? Wouldn’t that be cool.

I’ll be posting follow up articles from time to time and welcome your comments as well. Go check it out of you can.

Cheers,
John

Originally posted in my Halifax Herald MyConnect blog

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“Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.”

The current buzz is that the Owners of The Dome, a nightclub in Halifax recently shut down for a few days by regulators after a large brawl in which 38 people were arrested, and where a week earlier a door security staff allegedly assaulted a patron resulting in serious head trauma, intend make a series of changes to their operations including doubling the number of surveillance cameras.

The owner of The Dome says that the Halifax Police will be able to monitor the CCTV video feed (presumably online from police headquarters).

Is this a first in Canada? It’s probably commonplace in our prisons, but are there other bars in Canada with live police monitoring?

The Dome property has been one of the most heavily CCTV surveilled spots in Halifax for several years. The building’s exterior bristles with cameras at each corner and at entrances and other spots. The entire public space around the property is covered.

(Next door at the World Trade Center, the Halifax Police have a permanent pan, tilt and zoom camera mounted in a plastic bubble conveniently located to be able to watch the many bar areas and also the Grand Parade, where citizens often hold peace rallies, etc.)

No one regulates this. No regulatory agency has authority to say whether or not a private company can keep a public area under surveillance with privately owned video surveillance systems.

Over the past few years the situation seemed to have set a precedent. It led the way as other businesses followed suit. Although none look quite as fortress-like, many have similarly blanketed the public space surrounding their property with private surveillance systems.

The public quietly accepted this proliferation of private surveillance and as a result, and after the murder of Damon Crooks in 2006 outside a downtown bar, the Halifax Police Service was able to install their own real-time CCTV systems throughout the downtown with little public discussion of the privacy implications. You can see them at Pizza Corner, above Neptune Theater and on either side of Summit Place on the waterfront, high up on the top floor. There are several others as well and likely many more to come.

In Chicago the Police operate cameras that raise an alert when someone “lingers” outside a public building. Imagine that… Is Halifax on this track?

Unless the public takes an interest in challenging the currently unchallenged proliferation of electronic surveillance systems we will soon resemble a police state. Will crime rates drop? Probably not, but we are sure to feel the chilling effect of Big Brother watching in case you “linger”.

Now that the Dome is establishing a new precedent with the Halifax police, by allowing real time video surveillance of their customers, how long will it be before this becomes the standard in other clubs?

As some people say, if you’re not doing anything wrong you should have nothing to be concerned about. OK if that’s the case let’s have police cameras in all stores. How about in schools, libraries and restaurants; hotels, sports fields and beaches?

Heck, let’s just get it over with and implant every newborn with a GPS locator chip at birth for real-time tracking of your movements.

How much of this is appropriate for public safety and how much is simply to facilitate convenience for police and profit making by a private business owner? Where does public safety override our rights to privacy and our right to limit police control over law abiding citizens.

“Too many wrongly characterize the debate as “security versus privacy.” The real choice is liberty versus control. Tyranny, whether it arises under threat of foreign physical attack or under constant domestic authoritative scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty requires security without intrusion, security plus privacy. Widespread police surveillance is the very definition of a police state. And that’s why we should champion privacy even when we have nothing to hide.”

~ Bruce Schneier, CTO of Counterpane Internet Security and the author of Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World. blog

It’s time the provincial government enacted some legislation governing the deployment and use of CCTV in public places.

 http://myconnect.ca/read/80/27767/27767#msg-27767

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