Be the change

By | Oct 29, 2010

At Halifax Magazine, we make no bones about the fact that we love this city. We  believe Halifax’s unique location, rich history and vibrant culture make this an ideal place to call home. And while we proudly celebrate the best of Halifax, we also fear for its future.

Many Haligonians have lost faith in their city. With every proposed new development, every bold vision for the future, there is a chorus of nays, prophesizing failure before the endeavour has even begun. Our city is suffering from a crisis of confidence. We seem to see ourselves lagging in comparison to our peers.

The latest blow to our ego came in early autumn, when organizers announced that the biannual made-in-Halifax college football party the Uteck Bowl was moving to Moncton’s spanky new stadium. (And this on the heels of Moncton’s highly successful hosting of a regular-season CFL game, the first in Atlantic Canada.)

The debate over the new convention centre has dragged on. Now that the province has thrown its support behind the project, the next round of sniping and counter-sniping will focus on the building’s design. Change seems to come slowly to our city, with much second-guessing and acrimony.

We can’t change age-old attitudes overnight but we can work together to make our city a better place. In most debates about Halifax’s future, there is much middle ground. We believe that if we take more pride in our city and stop relentlessly eating our livers, we’ll do much to improve our collective lot. We’re thrilled with the attention that our “Visions for Halifax Harbour” essay contest received on our website. Congratulations to winner Tony Whitchurch (see page 16), chosen as the winner by our readers. His essay was a positive picture of how Halifax Harbour can be better used to make the city more prosperous.

But beyond the big picture, we’re also urging Haligonians to take pride in their own patch of the city. In our Afterthought column on page 58, publisher Sheila Blair-Reid announces a new program, spearheaded by Halifax Magazine, to encourage property owners to do their fair share in cleaning up the downtown. We believe a few simple steps—and a bit of peer pressure—will improve Halifax to the benefit of all citizens.

We’re also going to continue covering the quest for justice for Africville. After our editorial, “Stand with the Hermit” in the October issue, we received word of a soon-to-be-launched social-media campaign  to pressure government to keep its promises to former residents. We’ll keep an eye on that and let you know how it unfolds. And regular contributor Jon Tattrie, author of The Hermit of Africville, is working on a sure-to-be-controversial story for our January issue on governments’ broken promises.

With this issue of Halifax Magazine, we’re pleased to welcome designer Jay Hiltz back to our fold. He’s made several subtle tweaks to our design and he art directed that striking cover photo of singer Ryan MacGrath. Accompanying that photo is the story “He’s got the look”—writer Nicole Trask explores a unique partnership between MacGrath and fashion designer Louanna Murphy. As always, we want to know what you think—send your thoughts to tadams@metroguide.ca.

Trevor J. Adams, Editor

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