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PLUS: WHAT CAN HALIFAX LEARN FROM RURAL AUSTRIA? MORE THAN YOU’D THINK P. 7 EMBRACE THE DARK SIDE—DOWNTOWN DARTMOUTH IS THE CITY’S HOTTEST NEIGHBOURHOOD P. 38 DEBUNKING THE RUMOURS SWIRLING AROUND TAYLOR SAMSON’S MURDER P. 46

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riginally created as a drop-in program for clients of mental health support services, LakeCity Woodworkers helps their clients acquire skills and much-needed confidence to re-enter the workforce. A non-profit, the business has been part of the community since 1982. Now, some 35 years later, LakeCity has flourished, expanding to be a place for skills development, a retail furniture store and a conduit for job placement with more than 400 individuals working out in the field with support.

At LakeCity Woodworkers’ retail store, the focus is on high-quality solid wood

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furniture, handcrafted by experienced furniture builders along with assistance from trained mental health clients.

When customers choose LakeCity Woodworkers they are supporting their local community and getting the best quality furniture for their money.

“Buying solid wood furniture is not as expensive as people think. Our prices are very affordable and competitive,” says business manager Gus Brushett.

“Often the furniture at big box stores has some solid wood components or wood veneers, but a lot of it is made of particle board and/or MDF. At LakeCity

Woodworkers you are getting quality solid wood furniture that will last for years to come.”

The furniture maker offers customers a wide range of product to choose from in their large storefront that is ready to take home. They can also do custom work. Customers can choose the type of wood and there is a wide selection of stains/colours available. They can even match the stain colour of an existing piece. LakeCity stands by the quality of their furniture and offer a one year warranty, which will cover repairs and even replacement if need be.

On our cover Kelly Costello leads Good Robot’s home-brew program, giving up-and-coming brewers a place to share their creations.

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CONTENTS

PHOTO: CAITRIN PILKINGTON

Vol. 17 No. 7 | September 2017 FEATURES

48

42

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20 | THE NOVA SCOTIA CRAFT BEER GUIDE Halifax Magazine’s opinionated craftbeer guide is back!

Kim Hart Macneill has expert advice from Nova Scotia’s top brewers

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36 | FILL ’ER UP...IF YOU CAN Full-serve gas stations aren’t just convenient—for some people, they’re necessary. Phil Moscovitch reports

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Downtown Dartmouth has become the city’s hottest neighbourhood.

Lindsay Jones explores

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42 | HALIFAXES AROUND THE WORLD Our city shares its name with communities around the world. Phil Moscovitch looks at what we have in common—and how we differ

DEPARTMENTS 7 | EDITOR’S MESSAGE Public art, transit that works, and embracing our ruralness—a tiny Austrian state holds fascinating lessons for Halifax. Editor Trevor J. Adams shares insights from a recent visit 12 | CONTRIBUTORS Meet the writers and photographers who work on Halifax Magazine 14 | CITYSCAPE Exploring Halifax from on high, cataloguing this region’s rich biodiversity, and the latest essay from Harry Bruce 48 | DINING: FAMILY FIRST The Rinaldos breathe new life into a popular Windsor Street space, sharing Italian-American family favourites 50 | OPINION: LADY’S CHOICE Alana Canales worried women felt unsafe in Halifax taxis, so she came up with a solution

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stories?

32 | STRAIGHT OFF THE FARM After an upset election win, Alana Paon leaves her pastoral paradise to pursue politics in Halifax. Marjorie Simmins shares her story

46 | THE UGLY TRUTH Despite sensational rumours, organized crime wasn’t involved in Taylor Samson’s murder—reality is simpler, but just as brutal. Kayla Hounsell shares insights from the trial

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EDITOR’S MESSAGE

Lessons from rural Europe

BY TREVOR J. ADAMS, EDITOR PHOTOS BY TAMMY FANCY I didn’t know Vorarlberg, Austria existed until I went to the Getting Things Done exhibition at the Dalhousie architecture school last spring.

The exhibition visited Halifax as it toured around the world, showcasing the state’s distinctive (and beautiful) architecture.

The more I learned about Vorarlberg, the more it fascinated me. In July, state tourism agency Visit Vorarlberg hosted photographer Tammy Fancy and me as we explored the state for six days. It’s a rural, largely mountainous region, geographically isolated on the far edge of its country, and still heavily dependent on traditional natural resources. For a Nova Scotian, it sounds relatable.

But rural Vorarlberg thrives in a way rural Nova Scotia hasn’t for generations. Centuries-old farming towns are growing steadily, not withering away. Multi-generational family farms sell traditional products such as cheese and sausage alongside internationally-sought botanicals and innovations like spruce honey and artisanal vinegar.

As it has been for more than a millennium, forestry is king. Most buildings are wooden, most homes burn wood for heat. Yet workers harvest the wood sensibly and sustainably. I never saw a bald and scarred mountain, ravaged by a clear cut.

“We would never do that,” said guide Helga Rädler. “The laws don’t allow it and, if they did, the people would be so mad. It would wreck the environment. The trees and forests are for everyone. No one can destroy them.” Tree harvesters must tell government officials which trees they intend to cut. Those inspectors review the plans, often vetoing their choices. Even cutting trees on private property requires approval. The result is lush forest everywhere you look and a sustainable, ongoing forestry industry.

Around the town of Krumbach, there are seven bus stops giving an even clearer example of how things are different. In 2014, a local architectural association invited seven architects from around the world to design bus stops as public art around the town. For payment, the architects got free holidays in Vorarlberg. Locals donated most the material. At a minimal cost, the area got a permanent art installation called BUS:STOP. These seven beautiful pieces of public art have made Krumbach an international tourist destination.

It began with a few activists. “Innovative community citizens have developed this project together with friends from the architecture

scene,” explained Krumbach mayor Arnold Hirschbühl in an email after my visit. “Not all inhabitants were enthusiastic about BUS:STOP. A project like BUS:STOP is only possible if a network of idealists—culture interested people, architects, sponsors, craftsmen, etc.—are working hand in hand. And very important: if they put personal/individual interests behind the collective. The project has to be totally put in the foreground.”

It reflects the community’s values and aspirations. “Krumbach has already proved courage,” he said. “The world is not developing further if all people only allow established ideas…

Krumbach is very brave when it comes to public participation, in taking care of the land, with architecture and with many other topics. With each decision that is being made it has to be considered what kind of impact it could have for the next generation.”

Through that lens, BUS:STOP makes sense.

“Government funds for cultural projects are

tadams@metroguide.ca Halifax Magazine @HalifaxEditor @HalifaxMagazine

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always hard to argue at the time of the implementation,” Hirschbühl said. “Even three years after the opening, a lot of tourists are coming [to the region] just because of BUS:STOP. But when they are here, they experience far more

than only BUS:STOP. They experience that the region and the village has much more to offer.”

The lesson: public art and good architecture matter. In Vorarlberg, there are strict building codes that create a cohesive, attractive, and welcoming community. Even chain stores and supermarkets are designed to fit the region’s traditional architectural style. New houses must follow the same rules.

You’d never see a row of historic houses demolished to make way for a glass-andconcrete block of condos. Officials reject building plans that are ugly and unwelcoming, bad for the wider community. The idea isn’t to impose a new aesthetic on the community, it’s to build on its heritage.

Architects call the philosophy the “New Vorarlberg School.” Its essence: every building should be attractive, accessible, functional, and benefit the whole community.

Wolfgang Fiel, curator of the exhibition that visited Halifax in the spring, told me about it. “The local culture and its traditions are being reflected in the continued evolution of [architecture],” he said. “I believe the notion of social sustainability is something

other communities can learn from Vorarlberg.

What this means is that a joint commitment to high-quality architecture is more likely to yield the kind of spaces that are beneficial for a wider public.”

BUS:STOP also shows how much transit matters. In Halifax, vandals destroy bus stops for no reason. In Vorarlberg, people make them into art. In Halifax, if you tell someone your primary mode of transport is the bus, they’ll react as if you’ve just announced you live in a box and dumpster dive for dinner. Nowhere is the class divide more apparent.

When I first met our host, Visit Vorarlberg’s Andrea Masal, she was staying at a bed and breakfast in Purcell’s Cove and puzzling over how she was going to return there after the exhibit opening. “I thought we could take the bus home after dinner,” she said. “But we cannot.

It stops running very early and the other buses go nowhere near the spot.” I warned her she faced an expensive taxi ride. Ultimately, another guest at the exhibit was going in the same direction and offered her a drive. But “you can always depend on the kindness of strangers” is a pretty lousy transit system.

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Accustomed to the mysteries of Halifax Transit, I didn’t understand why Andrea was so blindsided until I went to Austria. There’s no stigma attached to transit in Vorarlberg. Bus service is frequent and routes crisscross the state. With some free time on the second day of our visit, we decided to go hiking in the mountains. Without any planning beyond a cursory glance at a timetable we didn’t really understand, we walked out of our hotel, found the on-time-to-the-minute bus, and made an easy trip to the trailhead.

Right now, I assume some Internet commenter is typing “Yeah, but that’s Europe! Their system is entirely different.” Vorarlberg wasn’t always like this; it’s the result of deliberate choices. Its transit system began taking this shape in 1989.

Roads were becoming crowded and unsafe, bus service was unpopular. Policymakers wanted to change direction; they developed the “Vorarlberg Transport Concept.”

• Transport policy must serve the general interests of the whole population.

• Transport-related pollution must be reduced.

• Non-motorized passenger traffic (bikes, for example) should be given preference wherever suitable.

• Public transport must be organized as a competitive alternative to motorized individual transport.

• A minimum level of quality service must be provided for people depending on public transport.

• Routes, timetables, and fares of public transport must be structured to create demand for the service.

• Promising trials with unconventional approaches must be supported.

Or simply: cars aren’t the most important things on the road, and bus service should be

good enough that people don’t want or need cars.

Try to live in rural Nova Scotia for a week without a car, and you’ll see a difference.

And in a place where it’s easy to get around, where people aren’t working to support cars, where people take pride in their homes and the buildings around them, where the natural environment is cherished rather than pillaged, a remarkable thing happens. The rural economy thrives and with it, urban areas also rise. Traditional crafts such as farming and shingle-making are viable careers with bright futures. People buy local

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products because they’re abundant, good quality, and competitively priced.

Even in the smallest towns, we found fantastic restaurants, showcasing seasonal local food.

At the Biohotel Schwanen in the tiny farming town of Bizau, we had a seven-course food-andwine-pairing dinner that’s among the best meals I’ve ever had. The mastery of local ingredients has turned Bizau into a gastronomical destination. Throughout the visit, I met people who gushed about travelling for hours through the mountains just to dine there.

We often saw the name Metzler in store windows on meat, cheese, and botanicals.

Hearing it’s one of the most popular familyfarm businesses, we decided to visit. It’s mostly remarkable for being unremarkable. A small, simple family farm, environmentally sustainable, retailing traditional foods and innovative botanicals. Its products are easy to get, whether you have a car or not. They’re no more expensive than imported alternatives, but much higher quality.

One of the most popular grocery chains in the state is Sutterlüty. It’s a multi-generational family chain; think of it as Austria’s Sobeys. It emphasizes local products, providing regular reports to customers on sales volumes and where each product comes from. When numbers dip, customers give the owners an earful, making suggestions on how they can improve the situation. Last year, all of Sutterlüty stores went 100% climate neutral.

Chamber of commerce types and big-business advocates tell us that activist governments and stiff regulations stifle economic growth.

10 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

They’re wrong.

In Vorarlberg, such policies combine with activism and public pressure to make the whole state, rural and urban, an attractive place to live.

Unemployment rates are staggeringly low. (Two government officials quoted an almostunbelievable unemployment rate of about 2.5%).

There’s no fear of a brain drain, no worries about sagging birthrates and a greying population; young people see the state as a stylish, progressive place to live. Many leave to pursue higher educations, but most come back, often with spouses and offspring in tow.

Vorarlberg has embraced its ruralness. It has three bustling cities, but they don’t bustle at the expense of the state’s rural roots. By making rural Vorarlberg a great place to live, the whole state has prospered. Tradition and innovation work hand-in-glove.

In Vorarlberg, you don’t hear a lot of talk about being world-class. When you’re doing things right, you don’t have to say that.

Editor’s note: Visit Vorarlberg paid for Trevor and Tammy’s trip to Austria; Halifax Magazine didn’t promise editorial coverage of any sort.

MPG FULL PAGE

PHOTO: MIKE DEMBECK

CONTRIBUTORS

12 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

SARAH SAWLER Cityscape Sarah is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in such publications as Halifax Magazine, Quill & Quire, Atlantic Business Magazine, and ParentsCanada.

Nimbus Publishing released her first non-fiction book, 100 Things You Don’t Know About Nova Scotia, in April 2016.

KIM HART MACNEILL Cover story, “The Nova Scotia craft beer guide” Kim is a freelance journalist and editor with East Coast Living. Read her weekly beer column on HalifaxMag. com and follow her on Twitter. @kimhartmacneill

HARRY BRUCE Cityscape Harry has been a journalist for 61 years, working in Halifax for most of the last 46 years. His many awards include an Atlantic Journalism Award Lifetime Achievement Award.

MARJORIE SIMMINS “Straight off the farm” Marjorie is the author of the non-fiction works Coastal Lives and Year of the Horse (Pottersfield Press, 2014 and 2016). She works as a freelance journalist and writing instructor in Nova Scotia and British Columbia, calling both coasts home.

CAITRIN PILKINGTON “Family first” Caitrin recently completed her Bachelor of Journalism from the University of King’s College. She writes for Halifax Magazine, The National Post, and The Signal. She has experience in writing, editing, podcasting, and radio.

PHILIP MOSCOVITCH “Fill ’er up, if you can” “Halifaxes around the world” Philip is a regular contributor to Halifax Magazine, East Coast Living, and Saltscapes. His story on small-town wrestling for The Walrus was nominated for a National Magazine Award.

KAYLA HOUNSELL “The ugly truth” Kayla is an award-winning journalist, based in Halifax. Originally from Newfoundland, she has worked in four other Canadian provinces, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Liberia. She’s currently writing a true crime book for Nimbus Publishing.

LINDSAY JONES “Embrace the Dark Side” A freelance journalist based in Halifax, Lindsay contributes to The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Flare, Atlantic Books Today and The Chronicle Herald (prior to the newsroom strike). @Lindsayleejones

BRUCE MURRAY Photos for cover, cover story Bruce has been creating food and lifestyle photography for more than 20 years in the Maritimes and in his original studio in Vancouver. visionfire.ca.

TAMMY FANCY Photos for Editor’s Message Tammy has shot for East Coast Living, Bedford Magazine, Profiles for Success, and Our Children magazines, plus two cookbooks from Formac Publishing. fancyfreefoto.com

CITYSCAPE HALIFAX FROM ABOVE

The view from above STORY AND PHOTOS BY SARAH SAWLER

In a working day, Tim L’Esperance sees more of Halifax than most of us see in a month. The Vision Air Services pilot offers helicopter tours of the region, ranging from Hubbards to the Eastern Shore to points ever further afield.

When I went up with him, I arrived at Vision Air Services at 11:00 a.m. L’Esperance arrived a few minutes later with his clients: a man and his 13-year-old daughter, visiting from Toronto. She looked confused, and I found out why a couple of minutes later when her dad asked her if she wanted to go on a helicopter ride.

It was a surprise.

L’Esperance took the three of us to the helicopter and, after going through all the safety routines, we climbed in. We spent a little more than an hour in the air, covering huge swaths of territory that included parts of Halifax, Dartmouth, Peggy’s Cove, and Hubbards.

It was a clear day, and we saw a herd of seals swimming and playing in the ocean, and a couple of shipwrecks. We found the Bluenose II in Terence Bay. “We combined about five day trips into one,” L’Esperance says.

About halfway through the flight, we stopped on Betty Island.

While the others explored the island, L’Esperance told me about his work with Vision Air Services.

“It’s a very mixed bag,” he says, “everything from tourism to film photo shoots.”

His favourite job was a film shoot for Canada Over the Edge, an aerial documentary series exploring Canada’s shores. “It involved filming throughout the Maritimes, which was an eye-opener for me as it extended my knowledge,” he recalls. “We basically covered every little bit of coastline. The little surprises on that trip were amazing; from seeing people out enjoying their beautiful areas to seeing a blue whale from a helicopter and knowing that you’ve captured something pretty magical on film.”

He also talked about working on the salvage of the MV Miner, a ship that ran aground on Scaterie Island in 2011.

“It was a place you love to hate,” he says. “It was a beautiful wilderness area, but it was also the most challenging flight environment we’ve ever had to deal with over a 12-month period.

Everything from fog and very high winds, to quick changes in the environment for flying. So that was a very rewarding project to be involved in.”

L’Esperance is animated when he talks about “showing off the province” to tourists and locals. He refers to the people flying with us. “They’re excited to have a surprise within the family, and to show off the province,” he says. “Sometimes, we get to meet other people who come into the province to golf and want to get there quickly but then we’re also able to show off the province and share our knowledge of some of the history and current events.”

It’s educational for locals, too. The flight offered me a view of the province from a whole new perspective, and my appreciation of Nova Scotia is richer for it.

Flying with Vision Air, Tim L’Esperance has a unique perspective on rural and urban Nova Scotia.

14 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

THE PITCH

Ecology Action Centre: HaliBlitz In this space, Halifax Magazine invites local non-profit organizations to share what they do, and how readers can help. If you know an organization that would like to share its story, email tadams@metroguide.ca.

Come explore wilderness and coastline spaces in Halifax as part of HaliBlitz, a BioBlitz150 event happening from September 11 to 17.

HaliBlitz connects biodiversity experts with anyone interested in our natural world, working together to identify the wildlife in our parks and wilderness spaces, celebrating local biodiversity.

We’re asking people to join us in learning about the different plant, insect, fungi, birds, and other species you can find in Point Pleasant Park and Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area (the proposed site of an urban Regional Park nearly 25 times larger than Point Pleasant). Join us for species identification and guided hikes at Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area throughout HaliBlitz week, and for our main festival at Point Pleasant Park on September 16.

The Ecology Action Centre and Canadian Wildlife Federation host this event as part of a national movement to inventory species through 35 official BioBlitz events. This inventory helps shape conservation decisions to protect wildlife habitat and choices related to climate change and loss of biodiversity.

Join us at HaliBlitz to celebrate Canada’s natural heritage, wildlife, biodiversity, and love of our parks and protected areas. To learn more or sign up, surf to ecologyaction.ca/bioblitz.

SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 15

CITYSCAPE OPINION

Compared to autonomous vehicles, you’re all bum drivers

BY HARRY BRUCE

Think ahead. At 5:05 on a black December evening, a blizzard lashes cars and trucks as they creep across the bridges to Halifax, and then inch their way into gridlocks, and onward to grizzly entanglements at rotaries. But nobody in this entire mess leans on a horn even once, and nowhere to be seen is a cop directing traffic.

That’s because there’s no human driver in any of these vehicles, nor steering wheels or foot pedals. All those aboard are passengers, and entirely free to avoid even glancing at what’s ahead. They’re cleaning up the day’s deskwork, eating early dinners, watching television, trimming fingernails, playing chess, getting drunk, having sex, or ... well, who knows?

No, you won’t see any totally self-driving or “autonomous” vehicles this year or next but, far sooner than you’ve probably ever

16 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

expected, the first will cause a sensation on, say, Quinpool Road, and after that they’ll begin to shove off our streets and highways everything we’ve ever known as a car, taxi, bus, delivery truck, or 18-wheeler.

Elon Musk, creator of the headlinegrabbing Tesla electric sedan, predicts that within “about two years,” those who used to be drivers will be able to sleep safely in his latest models from start to destination.

More than a year ago, Steven Mahan, a blind man, cruised around Austin, Texas, by himself, in a completely automatic car.

Shaped like a gumdrop and concocted by Google, it had neither steering wheel nor pedals. “I had so much fun being aware it was navigating intersections, and that I was really in good hands, perfectly safe,” he said.

After working on autonomous vehicles for nearly a decade, Ford expects to have its own little fully automatic car on the

road by 2021. Built for ride-hailing and sharing, it, too, will be without hand or foot controls, or any way for a human to take over as its driver.

The motor vehicles department of California recently proposed scrapping its rule that, no matter how automatic a vehicle might be, it must have a steering wheel, foot controls and a human backup driver. For the first time then, totally driverless cars may soon legally zip along the state’s public roads.

This will give a fabulous boost to the whole autonomous-vehicle industry.

California boasts the fifth biggest economy in the world and, among U.S. states, the biggest population and biggest influence as a cultural trend-setter. It also chalks up the most car sales, and the change its highway officials now plan may well turn white-hot the already red-hot race to dominate the

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halifaxmag.com driverless-car business. The prize? A $35-billion US industry within eight years.

The competitors include Tesla, the big old automakers, Uber Technologies, various artificial intelligence outfits, the likes of Google and Apple and, all in all, no fewer than 27 companies that already have permits to test nearly autonomous vehicles on California roads.

The technology for fully autonomous models is ready to go, and if safety-conscious governments relax their regulations as California plans to do, totally driverless cars may even be on the market next year.

Some industry experts expect that within a decade millions of completely automated autos and trucks will already be out on North American roads. In Halifax, they’ll likely be as commonplace as Toyotas, Hondas, Fords, and Chevys are now. Their total monopoly of road traffic is inevitable, and promises both enormous health benefits, and horrendous social troubles.

Running on electricity, they’ll wipe out virtually all the air pollution that petroleumpowered vehicles have been emitting for generations. They’ll thus shrink the number of deadly afflictions that filthy air causes and, at the same time, help in the war on global warming.

But they’ll also kill millions upon millions of jobs. In Halifax, they’ll throw out of work not only cab drivers (good-bye Casino Taxis, Yellow Cab, and all the others) but the drivers of Halifax Transit buses, snow plows, dump trucks, and delivery, transport, courier-service and tow trucks. Gas stations, driving schools, auto repair shops, and probably auto-insurance companies will all vanish like the once-thriving Hollis Street livery stable, and take with them countless jobs.

While negotiating clogged rotaries, zipping up Highway 102 to the airport, or going anywhere else, automated cars will never get drunk, drowsy, enraged, or distracted, and will therefore eliminate the more than 90% of traffic accidents caused by human error.

Wonderful news, to be sure, but what will Halifax hospitals do with an unprecedented oversupply of skilled physiotherapists and, in emergency rooms, highly-trained trauma staff?

As for me, I’m 83 and knowing I face the end of my driving days, I can hardly wait to summon my car from its garage, climb inside and, while I peruse the morning’s New York Times, have this obedient magic carpet take me downtown and neatly back itself into a parking spot near SteveO-Reno’s. There, I’ll down a cappuccino and a warm blueberry muffin with butter, and thank heaven for artificial intelligence.

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ENTERTAINMENT Our picks for the hottest things to see and do in Halifax this month

SEPTEMBER 16

Word on the Street CONTINUING THROUGH SEPTEMBER

Art Gallery of Nova Scotia A century ago, Canadian troops won a historic First World War victory at the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The exhibition Vimy Ridge: Artists Document the First World War shares poignant works of art by the soldiers who lived through the war’s horrors. artgalleryofnovascotia.ca

Returning to the Halifax Central Library on Spring Garden Road, this one-day festival is heaven for bibliophiles. Vendors offer dozens of titles, while authors discuss their works, do Q&A sessions, meet fans, and sign autographs. This year’s highlights include political cartoonist Michael deAdder (You Might Be From Canada If...) and acclaimed poet and author Shauntay Grant (The Walking Bathroom). thewordonthestreet.ca/halifax

SEPTEMBER 21 TO 23

Live Art Dance Productions Drawing on her cultural roots, choreographer Santee Smith explores the intersection of indigenous and new dance performance with Kaha:wi Dance Theatre. Live Art presents Re-Quickening at the Dalhousie Arts Centre on University Avenue. liveartproductions.ca

SEPTEMBER 22 TO 24

Hal-Con 2017

SEPTEMBER 12 TO OCTOBER 1

Neptune Theatre Well known to Canadian TV fans, Eric Peterson (Street Legal, Corner Gas) joins Neptune Theatre for the taut docudrama Seeds, about a fight over genetically modified crops. Hang on—it’s more exciting that it sounds: it’s about Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser and his landmark 1998 Supreme Court fight with Monsanto, which accused him of planting patented genetically modified seeds. neptunetheatre.com 18 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

Atlantic Canada’s largest sci-fi, comic, and gaming convention returns to the World Trade and Convention Centre on Argyle Street. The schedule includes autograph signings and photo sessions, panels, gaming sessions, cosplay galore, dozens of vendors, and more. Guests include Mitch Pileggi (The X-Files), James Marsters (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel), Samuel Anderson (Doctor Who), and several Degrassi High cast members for some reason. hal-con.com

We’re

things up.

aily d s t e f f Bu at starting

$9.99

COMING IN SEPTEMBER

smaller and craftier HALIFAX’S BREWERIES EXPERIMENT WITH FLAVOURS, FINE-TUNE NEW BEERS, AND ENCOURAGE BEER LOVERS TO BREW THEIR OWN

BY KIM HART MACNEILL PHOTOS BY BRUCE MURRAY/VISIONFIRE STUDIOS

20 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

When Kelly Costello started working at Good Robot Brewing’s Gastro Turf beer garden last summer, the pace was hectic. Busy days bled into busy evenings. When things slowed in the autumn, she took stock.

“I thought, ‘I’m here, I work at a brewery, how do I make the most of this?’” she says.

Costello started studying while working the retail area to take the Certified Cicerone Beer Server exam, the first step to becoming a Certified Cicerone, a designation for trained beer professionals. Learning about beer encouraged her to learn to make it.

She was hooked after her first brew day last November. “I kept asking: can I use it again? Can I use it again? Can I use it again?” she says. “I was driving [co-owner] Doug nuts.”

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SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 21

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Good Robot operates a sporadic program to encourage new and home brewers to brew small batches on its pilot system, and through her keenness, Costello became the program’s coordinator. Since last winter, CommuniBrew has grown into a weekly program, booked months in advance.

Costello works with would-be brewers to refine their recipe and then come to Good Robot to brew the 38-litre (nearly one-keg) batch with her. “It all starts with me asking what they enjoy drinking,” she says. “I believe you should never make a beer you wouldn’t drink because it will probably never sell.”

Lately, the program is attracting brewing virgins. “If someone is completely new to brewing what I’ll often say is here are the ingredients I’m going to use and why,” she says. “We’re going to use oats for body and

22 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

barley for sugar.” She adds that working with people on their first brew is a thrill. Plus, participating is practically free.

The brewery supplies the ingredients and Costello’s know-how, and in return for four to five hours of brewing time, participants receive a Good Robot gift card, some of their beer to take home, and the bragging rights of having a beer on the tap room wall.

Like Good Robot, 2 Crows Brewing always has a small-batch beer on the board, often more than one. For head brewer Jeremy Taylor, it’s a way to keep brewing fresh while meeting demand for cans and kegs of his core line-up.

“It’s fun for me to experiment with wild yeasts and other ingredients that would take a bit of time to mature and tie up a big tank,” he says. “I can do something that’s slightly

| COVER STORY |

out there and I’m not 100% sure that we would sell 4,680 liters of. If I just make 80 litres, I know there are enough beer nerds out there who would get jazzed on trying it.”

Taylor is known in the city for his off-beat Brettanomyces-laced beers (“brett” is a type of yeast that gives beer a uniquely funky aroma and taste) but his small-batch system lead to one of his newest big batches in a popular style.

“I always wanted to try doing a super juicy IPA, but didn’t really have the tank space,” he says. In April, he brewed the 80-litre double IPA Promiseland. It sold out quickly.

(But will be back. See page 25.)

One of the city’s oldest breweries, Propeller Brewing Co., was long known for its small- batch program, the One-Hit Wonder series. Head brewer Cameron Crerar has been tweaking the program (now called the Gottingen Street Small Batch Series) since joining Propeller in April.

“Propeller has always been a conservative brewery that sticks to traditional beer

styles,” he says. “The small- batch program still reflects that. We’re looking to showcase classic recipes that have some histor y and some backstor y.” Not all of the styles are well known, like his summer brew of a Hopfenweisse, a German-style wheat IPA, but they fit into Propeller’s theme.

Like Taylor, Crerar discovered one of his first seasonal releases in a small batch.

He brewed two slightly different takes on a Califonia Commons-style beer: one with low alcohol and low bitterness, the other with a higher ABV, more bittering hops, and a selection of specialty malts to bump up the flavour.

“Then we had them in the tap room sideby-side to see what the response from customers was,” he says. “There’s a new direction with the Gottingen Small Batch Series. It’s more about testing recipes and fine-tuning them. We’re creating a demand for a product, fine-tuning it, and hopefully even finding a new release.”

HOP TO IT Want to brew at Good Robot?

Contact Kelly Costello at Kelly@goodrobot.com.

hellbaybrewing@eastlink.ca hellbaybrewing.com

We take great pride in brewing each small batch of beer.

Every recipe is created on-site using only top quality ingredients.

Our ales are unfiltered, unpasteurized, contain no preservatives, and are vegan. The combination of each of our methodical brewing steps results in ONE HELL OF A GREAT BEER! We offer a $5 sample tray that consists of 3x4oz samples.

Brewery tours can be scheduled by appointment.

38 Legion Street, Liverpool, Nova Scotia

SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 23

| COVER STORY |

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GUIDE LOCAL BREWERS AND HALIFAX MAGAZINE READERS SHARE THEIR MUST-TRY BEERS

BY KIM HART MACNEILL

new brews for fall AS SUMMER SLOWS SO DO BEER SALES, GIVING BUSY BREWERS A MOMENT TO CATCH THEIR BREATH AND DREAM UP NEW RECIPES. HERE ARE FIVE WE’RE WAITING FOR.

PHOTOS: TREVOR J. ADAMS

Festbier

Propeller Brewing Company Halifax Cameron Crerar is hitting his groove as Propeller’s head brewer and bringing plenty of new flavour to the taps. This Germanic brew “is going through an extended maturation to produce the clean lager character with a medium-low bitterness,” he says. Watch for a dry finish with toasted malt overtones.

Foraged series

Sober Island Brewing Sober Island, N.S. Starting this fall, Sober Island will release 800-litre batches of beers highlighting an island-grown ingredient. The recipes weren’t confirmed at press time, but owner and brewer Rebecca Atkinson says to expect styles outside the brewery’s core English ale line-up. Find it in crowlers at the brewery and on the beer truck at various farmers markets.

24 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

NACHTical Illusion (schwarzbier) Uncle Leo’s Brewery Lyon’s Brook, N.S. Expect mild chocolate, coffee, and vanilla notes in this dark German-style lager. Grab this limited-time brew at NSLC between Oct. 2 and Nov. 19 in a four-pack with Uncle Leo’s flagship beers.

Island Time (Munich helles)

Breton Brewing Sydney, N.S. For those who worry the session sippers will all disappear with the sun, Island Time offers 4.3% ABV and 14 IBU. Co-brewer and co-owner Bryan MacDonald says this easy drinking lager will feature malty and bready notes.

Berliner Weisses

Tatamagouche Brewing Co. Tatamagouche, N.S. Hot on the heels of the returning Philomenaroma cherry Berliner Weisse, Tata plans to launch two yet-to-be-named fruit Berliner Weisses before October. Watch for the passion fruit and peach/apricot versions of this sharp and sour beer.

Returning champs WHEN SWEATER SEASON RETURNS, A BEER-LOVER’S HEART SEEKS OUT FRESH HOPS, FULL-BODIED BREWS, AND SEASONAL FAVOURITES.

Full Service Brew Store Over 80 varieties of hops and over 45 types of grain.

PLUS OMEGA YEAST

wineemporium.ca | omegayeast.com/homebrew

NOW IN STOCK

The Next Chapter (rye IPA)

Boxing Rock Brewing Company Shelburne, N.S. This is one of my favourite seasonal beers.

It’s over 30% rye malt for a massive, spicy punch, and generously hopped to create a beer that’s big on flavour.

Rise ‘n’ Stein (hefeweizen)

Garrison Brewing Company Halifax This German-style wheat beer won a gold medal at the 2015 Atlantic Canadian Brewing Awards so we have high hopes for the yearthree edition. Expect haze, clove and banana notes, and a persistent cloud of foam.

Check out our website for regular online exclusive beer coverage HALIFAXMAG.COM/BEER

Promiseland (double IPA)

2 Crows Brewing Halifax Head brewer Jeremy Taylor knocks out so many beers in a month that you can be excused for missing one. This juicy double IPA is dry-hopped with Citra and Simcoe.

It made its first appearance in May and promptly sold out. Don’t worry, this time there’s 4,800 litres.

Homegrown (pale ale)

S H E L B U R N E , N O VA S C O T I A

BOXINGROCK.CA

Meander River Farm and Brewery Ashdale, N.S. Keep an eye on this brewery’s Facebook page in early September for the annual invitation to the hop harvest.

The fresh hops will go into a brew within 24 hours. Last year’s batch was crisp and refreshing with light citrus hop aroma and flavour, and a mild bitterness.

Portland Street Porter Brightwood Brewery Dartmouth, N.S. Complainers be heard! Co-owner and co-brewer Matthew McGrail says customers grumbled about this dark brew being shelved for the summer. It’s on the dessert side of the porter scale, backed up by rich coffee and chocolate notes.

SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 25

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The great pumpkin-beer debate LOVE IT OR HATE IT, YOU CAN’T ESCAPE FALL’S BOUNTY OF PUMPKIN BEER. FOR THE LOVERS: EXPECT A MIX OF CLASSICS RECIPES AND NOVEL NEW ENTRIES. HATERS: JUST DRINK SOMETHING ELSE.

Kelticdevil Pumpkin Spiced Latte Porter

Smokin’ Jack It

Roof Hound Digby, N.S. Coming in at 8% ABV, this creamy, spicy brew is meant for sipping and sharing. But fear not, there will be plenty to share.

After running dry prematurely last year, brewery owner Les Barr says he’s making extra this year, and plans to bottle it.

Double Jack (strong dark ale)

Garrison Brewing Halifax Munich and Crystal malts lend this pumpkin beer sweetness, that combined with a liberal dose of spices and Howard Dill’s famous giant pumpkins, create pie in a bottle. Like the pumpkins, this beer is big (8% ABV), so share it around.

Big Spruce Brewing Nyanza, N.S. This brewery and farm is back this year with its organic housesmoked and squash and pumpkin beer. If that wasn’t enough, it’s conditioned on a rum-based spice tincture.

Harvest Pumpkin Spiced Ale

Nine Locks Brewing Dartmouth, N.S. This was my favourite pumpkin beer last year. It’s full-bodied and sweet with the right mix of malt flavours to keep the pumpkin in the background. Let it warm a bit after taking it out of the fridge.

Jack’d Up Pumpkin Ale

Breton Brewing Sydney, N.S. This easy drinking 5.5% ABV ale bucks the trend of high-alcohol pumpkin beers but doesn’t skimp on taste. The 2016 edition contained over 100lbs of Cape Breton pumpkin and fall spices aplenty.

ova scot en ia th

GUIDE

The brewer’s beer fridge YOU MIGHT EXPECT BREWERS’ FRIDGES ARE STOCKED WITH RARE BEERS TRADED WITH DISTANT BREWERIES, BUT YOU’D BE WRONG. NOVA SCOTIAN BREWERS DRINK CLOSER TO HOME.

Dynamite Trail Ale (hefeweizen)

Saltbox Brewing Mahone Bay, N.S. “Perfect,” is how Chantell Webb of Lunn’s Mill Beer Company describes this wheat beer. The Bavarian wheat yeast lends spicy clove and banana flavours, while dried orange peels add a hint of burnt citrus.

Beyond Reality (wheat beer)

Trailway Brewing Fredericton, N.B. This one made several brewers’ lists. Sober Island brewer Rebecca Atkinson says she’s not normally a fruit beer fan, but this one grabs her. The fresh raspberries are present but not overwhelming—the wheat flavour shines.

Enigmatic India Saison

Tidehouse Brewing Halifax Like the name suggests, you won’t find this beer often, but Angus Campbell, co-owner of Good Robot, cites it as a favourite regardless. This 26 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

unique beer presents IPA-style malt characteristics with a Belgian yeast profile to confuse and delight your taste buds.

Killick Session Lager

Spindrift Brewing Dartmouth, N.S. Halifax brewers cited this most often as the beer in their fridges. That it’s clean and smooth, with only 4.7% ABV, meaning you can have a few while, say, brewing is probably key to its popularity.

Sour Apple (kettle sour)

Hell Bay Brewing Co. Liverpool, N.S While Firkinstein Brewing co-owner and co-brewer Devin Fraser admits he mostly sticks to Boxing Rock Brewing, he says Hell Bay’s Sour Apple is amazing.

Kettle soured with the addition of yogurt, and conditioned Pazzazz apples, this beer will tickle your tongue.

Cellar dwellers Stashing away a bottle or six used to be only for serious beer fans, but as craft beer grows in popularity so does cellaring. Unlike wine, beer is more forgiving of small temperature fluctuations, but you still want to keep your savers at a cool, constant temperature in a dark location to avoid spoilage. When choosing beers to age, look for the words bottleconditioned, reserve, and barrel-aged on the label. An expiration date, “drink fresh,” or an abundance of hops suggest not to cellar. When a beer looks like a candidate for cellaring, buy several and drink them over time to see how it evolves.

Ra Ra Rasputin (Russian imperial stout)

Big Spruce Brewing Nyanza, N.S. “I was able to get a single bottle and thought about keeping it to age, but got thirsty and drank it,” says Propeller’s Cameron Crerar. “If I can get my hands on a few more bottles and a bit of self-restraint, I’d love to store it for 12 months and see how the flavours develop.”

Belgian Tripel

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GUIDE

PEOPLE’S CHOICE As we prepared this guide, we created an online poll where Halifax Magazine readers could tell us about their favourite beers and brewers.

Check out HalifaxMag.com/beer for their choices.

2 Crows Brewing Halifax This sweet, Old World-style ale was one of the first fermented in 2 Crows’ Calvados foeders. The brewery acquired the massive wooden barrels earlier this year for long-term fermenting. Jeremy Taylor says after a few months of aging, he’s aiming at 9% ABV for this highly carbonated, slightly spicy beer with notes of apple and pear. Watch for it this fall.

SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 27

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GUIDE

Cider made from our very own heritage varieties of apples.

Grown, picked and pressed to uphold the crisp bold cider traditions of the Annapolis Valley.

There is a Noggins Cider for every taste & occasion!

Ol’ Fogburner (barley wine)

Try our Brilliant Pear and Vintage Apple. please visit our website

www.nogginsfarm.ca/cider nogginscider@gmail.com 902 542 5515

Garrison Brewing Halifax Gahan House Harbourfront brewmaster Kyle Jepsen suggests aging both the 11.5% ABV barrel-aged and 10.5% ABV non-barrel aged versions of this barley wine. ”It is one of the best yearly releases we have available to us that can be cellared. Buy a few each year so you can do a vertical tasting on a cold day,” he says.

Barrel-aged Mississippi Goddamn Barley Wine

Good Robot Brewing Co. Halifax Watch for this limited release around Christmas. The Robots are borrowing a bottling set-up for this one-off, which will be aged in Buffalo Trace Kentucky bourbon barrels. Try some on tap now at the brewery to have something to compare with your aged bottle.

Oyster StoutShipbuilders Cider blend

“Did you know both of our locations have 100 percent NS craft beer and cider on tap?! We support 12 breweries, with 10 taps in Dartmouth (one rotating) and 11 in Halifax.”

Garrison | Uncle Leo’s | Granite | Propeller | Bad Apple | Big Spruce | Spindrift Nine Locks | Bulwark Cider | Good Robot | Meander River | Tatamagouche

Halifax Location 1707 Grafton Street | (902) 444-3844 28 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

Dartmouth Location 305-40 Alderney Drive | (902) 466-3100

Sober Island Brewing and Shipbuilders Cider Sober Island, N.S/ Windsor, N.S. What do you get when you blend 1,100L of oyster stout with 900L of cider? A gargantuan Black Velvet.

Rebecca Atkinson of Sober Island says, “Both products come through nicely with a hint of apple and the smooth salty stout behind it.” This limited quantity release will be available in 750ml bottles at the brewery and select events through the fall.

| ADVERTISING |

I

I

craft beer of Nova Scotia sober island brewing co.

A small-town brewery with big ideas. Inspired by an Oyster Stout, this style is our flagship ale, brewed with whole fresh Pristine Bay Oysters to add a true taste of the sea! With a recent expansion, we are forging ahead towards our ultimate goal of a destination-focused microbrewery on Sober Island itself.

22478 HWY 7, SHEET HARBOUR, NS 902-719-9463

Gahan House Located on the Halifax Waterfront, there’s no better place to enjoy a handcrafted ale with an incredible view. Our beers are brewed on site by our Brewmaster Kyle Jeppesen and are available on tap and in Crowlers to take home. With two local taps, rotating Gahan seasonals, and a barrel aged program, we have something for every beer lover out there.

GAHAN HOUSE HARBOURFRONT, HISTORIC PROPERTIES, 1869 UPPER WATER STREET, HALIFAX, NS 902-444-3060

Nine Locks Brewing Co. Nestled in Dartmouth, Nine Locks Brewery brews in small batches – taking their time, and only using the highest quality malt and hops possible to ensure they craft the finest beers possible.

Offering a wide range of beers for tasting, it’s the perfect place to discover your next favourite brew.

219 WAVERLEY ROAD, DARTMOUTH, NS 902-434-4471 ninelocksbrewing.ca

Garrison Brewing Co. Since 1997, Garrison has strived to create exceptional craft beer – real beer made with passion, hard work, and East Coast pride.

Garrison beers are premium, distinctive, and always full of flavour, with an exceptional range – crafted in the historic and vibrant Halifax Seaport.

From clean and crisp brews like Tall Ship East Coast Ale to boundary-pushing specialties like Spruce Beer, each Garrison flavour is distinctive in taste and experience. Celebrating 20 years in 2017, this year will be filled with parties, special brews, and other assorted hoopla, so come visit us downtown in the Halifax Seaport!

1149 MARGINAL ROAD., HALIFAX NS 902-453-5343

| ADVERTISING |

Rockbottom Brew Pub Best brewpub in Atlantic Canada, according to the Atlantic Canadian Beer Awards. Hand crafted beer and hand crafted food come together for the perfect experience. Constantly changing seasonal beers and nightly specials, live entertainment and a weekly Firkin make for the perfect craft beer experience.

5686 SPRING GARDEN ROAD, HALIFAX, NS [UNDER YOUR FATHER’S MOUSTACHE] 902-423-2938 rockbottombrewpub.ca

Propeller Brewing Co. Propeller Brewing Company is Halifax’s original North End craft brewery. Full cold-beer store at the Windmill road facility in Dartmouth. Packaged beer, growler fills, samples and pints available at the historic Gottingen Brewery location in Halifax.

Keep an eye out for specialty cask releases on Friday nights!

2015 GOTTINGEN STREET, HALIFAX NS drinkpropeller.ca @PropellerBeer

Schoolhouse Brewery The Schoolhouse Brewery is committed to crafting uncompromising quality beers in an environmentally responsible way. Started in 2013 in the basement of Falmouth School #9, Schoolhouse Brewery now teaches the lesson of good beer from its classroom taproom in downtown Windsor.

“The Beer With Class”

40 WATER STREET, WINDSOR, NS 902 472 4677

Uncle Leo’s Brewery Uncle Leo’s Oktoberfest Sampler 4-pack Available October 2 - November 19 at select NSLC stores & at the Brewery Featuring: 2017 Canadian Brewing Award Gold Medal, 2014 Atlantic Canada Brewing Award Gold Medal & 2016 ACBA Silver Medal Winner Uncle Leo’s Vohs Weizenbier.

2015 ACBA Silver Medal & 2016 Gold Medal Winner Uncle Leo’s Altbier.

And introducing Uncle Leo’s NACHTical Illusion.

2623 HWY 376, LYON’S BROOK, NS 902-382-BREW uncleleosbrewery.ca

| ADVERTISING |

I

I

craft beer of Nova Scotia Boxing Rock Since 2013, Boxing Rock has been brewing our legendary Nova Scotia Craft Beer on the South Shore.

Visit us to enjoy samples of our beer in our hospitality room - try our award-winning Vicar’s Cross Double IPA, our Hunky Dory Pale Ale, or one of our many seasonal brews. Shop in our retail store, enjoy beer samples on our outdoor deck in the summer or even stay for a brewery tour (weekends only, by appointment).

78 OHIO ROAD, SHELBURNE, NS 902-494-9233 boxingrock.ca

FirkinStein Brewing Inc. What started out as a home brew competition between two friends grew to become FirkinStein Brewing. They decided to put their skills together to build a brewery.

Every part of FirkinStein was built with their passion.

That same passion can be tasted in every batch they create. Try a FirkinStein, “Firkin good beer” today!

673 KING ST., BRIDGEWATER, NS 902-530-5400

TRIDER’s craft beer Trider’s Craft Beer is a family owned and operated microbrewery located in beautiful Amherst, Nova Scotia. Founded in 2016, we take pride in producing easy drinking ales and tend to brew more traditional styles so that every beer lover can enjoy one of our many beers. Raise your glass to a beer worth sharing!

46 ANSON AVE #3, AMHERST, NS 902-614-8983

saltbox brewing company At Salt Box Brewing Company, we celebrate the development of the skills and artistry required to create fresh, full-flavoured beer for consumption by the local community.

Our motto: “think social, and drink local”

363 MAIN STREET, MAHONE BAY, NS 902-624-0653 saltboxbrewingcompany.ca

| FEATURE |

Straight off the

farm Alana Paon and her son Gharrett at Province House on the day she was sworn in as an MLA. 32 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

| FEATURE |

AFTER AN UPSET ELECTION WIN, ALANA PAON LEAVES HER PASTORAL PARADISE TO PURSUE POLITICS IN HALIFAX

BY MARJORIE SIMMINS

After her unexpected win in the recent provincial election, MLA Alana Paon is spending much of her working time in Halifax. She’s a Cape Bretoner at heart, but Halifax isn’t new territory.

“My world exists between Halifax and Isle Madame,” says Paon. “and has ... for a very long time.” Beating veteran Liberal cabinet minister Michel Samson in the May 30 election, Paon unexpectedly won the Cape Breton-Richmond seat for the Progressive Conservatives.

She grew up in Cape Breton. She had severe asthma, so Paon and her mother rode the rail from Port Hawkesbury to Halifax once every month or two to see a specialist. This lasted until her teenage years, when she “grew out of” the asthma. “So I always loved Halifax,” she says, “from knowing it as a child.”

Paon is one of five children, all raised in the Acadian family home in the village of Poulamon on Isle Madame. Her parents, Marie and Alfred Paon, are in their 80s. The three live together, she says, when she is not in Halifax, where she now has an apartment downtown, close to Province House.

Paon’s siblings are all much older, which sometimes made her feel like an only child as she grew up. At 47, she now finds it funny. “I was the last hurrah,” she laughs. Paon herself is mother to one child, son Garrett, 27, who graduated from Dalhousie with a Bachelor of Commerce on the same date as his mother won her seat.

With Garrett, too, Paon travelled to Halifax, the first time as his 19-year-old single mother.

There she found a job, set up an apartment, saved funds, and a year later went to Dalhousie, baby in her lap. It was not an easy time, she says frankly, but mother and child thrived.

Paon would go on to a successful career as a consultant, specializing in youth leadership, entrepreneurship, community economic development, and outdoor experiential education.

And she’s a sheep farmer. “It’s a rough industry,” says Isle Madame neighbour and campaign manager, Lois Landry. “But Alana is very good at facing down adversity, and recalibrating afterwards.”

Landry sees that in Paon’s surprising election win too. “Alana never gives up,” she says. “If you say it can’t be done, Alana gets more determined. A 14-to-16-hour day? Easy! She’s a workhorse.”

Optimism aside, Paon was a long shot. “There’s only been one other PC MLA in Richmond County in 43 years,” Landry says. “It’s astounding that Alana won, period, not just won over Michel Samson.” (The win, by a mere 20 votes, spawned a local nickname: “Landslide Paon.”)

Landry attributes Paon’s business and problem-solving skills in part to her last five years as a farmer: “That farm, those sheep and lambs, that was her employment, her livelihood.”

Located in Antigonish Country, the farm is about 50 hectares. Prior to entering politics and hiring a farm manager, Paon looked after every aspect of a farm that is home to 42 purebred North Country Cheviot sheep. This included the daily care and feeding, barn and field management, the heavy and often heart-breaking work of lambing season, and overseeing livestock sales.

“It was an extraordinary undertaking to start the farm from scratch,” says Paon. The property had been a dairy farm, she explains, and needed a new business model, for one person running all operations related to sheep farming. Then there were the grimmer aspects to farming.

“There is an old expression about these animals: ‘sheep love to die,’” she says. “They really can’t defend themselves on the ground, from coyotes and such.” Parasites and difficult births are also problems. The work is hard, at times heart-breaking. The love of animals and new challenges keep Paon going.

SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 33

| FEATURE |

Paon impresses longtime local farmers. “I admire her gutsiness,” says Sarah Nettleton of Rockloaf Farm in Arichat, on Isle Madame. She knew Paon from early years on the island, and then reconnected with her at a shearing-school weekend, on the farm. “Here’s this stylish, articulate woman who is 41 years old when she started with the sheep,” she recalls. “Who decides to get into sheep at that age? And she took it on full steam.”

Nettleton runs the farm with help from her family. She’s clear-eyed about farming. “When the stock die, you have to deal with it. Alana does this, on her own.”

Paon isn’t on her own anymore, though. “I feel blessed to be a part of such an amazing caucus,” she says. She has never held public office before, and proudly took the oath of office in her native French. “I take this very seriously,” she adds. “It’s a huge privilege to be a member of the legislature.”

PC leader Jamie Baillie expects Paon to have a big impact. “She’s an amazing person, and is very strong, with a big brain and heart,” he says.

“You cannot help but be impressed with Alana. She’s a single mum, a small business woman, knowledgeable about the film industry, architecture, traditional Nova Scotia industries such as food and sheep farming, life in the city, and in rural communities.”

But running her against incumbent Michel Samson in Cape BretonRichmond? “The odds were long in the beginning,” says Baillie, “but I thought if anyone could win, it would be Alana. I knew we were in the game when we held a nomination meeting in D’Escousse, on Isle Madame. Alana was the only, uncontested candidate. And 170 people showed up.”

Baillie has chosen Paon as the party’s business and tourism critic. “I wanted a strong, fresh set of eyes for this,” he says. “I picked Alana because of her intelligence. She has a very bright political career ahead.”

Paon is once again settling into working life in Halifax. “I love that Halifax feels like a small town,” she says. “It’s so Nova Scotian. On any given day, you’re bound to bump into someone you know. It’s no different from Isle Madame.”

34 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

“MY WORLD EXISTS BETWEEN HALIFAX AND ISLE MADAME AND HAS ...

FOR A VERY LONG TIME.” —ALANA PAON

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| FEATURE |

BY PHILIP MOSCOVITCH

FILL ’ER UP...

IF YOU CAN

FULL-SERVE GAS STATIONS AREN’T JUST CONVENIENT— FOR SOME PEOPLE, THEY’RE NECESSARY

36 | halifaxmag.com halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

| FEATURE |

Paul Vienneau can pump his own gas if he wants to, but it might take him 10 or 15 minutes.

He’d rather pay more and use a full-serve station.

“For me to get the chair out of the car, put gas in the car and then go inside to pay is kind of a pain in the ass, and in winter when it’s slushy it can be dangerous,” says Vienneau, a photographer, community-college instructor, and disability/inclusion advocate.

But the number of service stations in Halifax offering full-serve has dropped dramatically in the last five years: from 25% to 11%, according to Jason Parent of the Kent Group, a fuel industry analytics and consulting firm. He says that’s in line with national trends.

That drop has made life harder for some people.

Darrell Robar is a social worker with the Canadian Paraplegic Association who uses a wheelchair. He lives in Clayton Park, about a 15-minute drive from the nearest full-serve station. “I certainly think it makes it difficult,” he says. “Pumping gas is not an option for some people. You could find yourself in a place where the only way to get gas is to call a spouse or a friend and see if they are free to come and pump it for you.”

Former cabinet minister Jerry Lawrence, who also uses a wheelchair, says a gas station near his Bedford home recently removed its full-serve pumps. “I’ve asked people if they are willing to put $20 or $30 worth of gas in my car for me, and they’ll do it,” he says. “But I shouldn’t have to ask.”

Lawrence also says some stations require drivers to ring for service “but the button is five feet away from you, on a pole.”

Robar can get his wheelchair in and out of his van fairly quickly, but there are other issues with self-serve gas. “Because I don’t have full handuse, I can’t pull the [debit or credit] card out with one hand,” he says. “You’ll find that a lot of those machines are not accessible to people with minimal hand-use.”

While full-serve stations may make life easier for people with disabilities, Vienneau believes they’re important for a lot of people. “My dad has really bad knees, so ... it might be a pain in the butt to make the walk inside,” he says. “The full-serve works for elderly people, or if you have kids in the car; you don’t have to leave them there. It’s a personal touch.”

Canadian Fuels Association spokesman Bill Simpkins, who lives in Halifax, says there are several reasons for the decline in full-serve stations, including busier sites and fancier cars.

“PUMPING GAS IS NOT AN OPTION FOR SOME PEOPLE.” —DARRELL ROBAR “I think it’s a consumer preference,” he says.

“There are still a fair number of full-serves around, but one of the key things is that with people buying more expensive cars, they like to serve themselves. They don’t like to have their cars handled in any way. And certainly in hightraffic areas, people want to fill their vehicles and get out very quickly. They don’t like to wait in line.”

Asked if gas stations are cutting full-serve to save on staffing costs, Simpkins insists that “the issue remains consumer preference” and that stations don’t necessarily save money, because they may be adding staff to fill other duties.

“Dealers don’t want to turn away business, so they want to make sure they are fully staffed for clients coming to their sites.”

Simpkins says the major fuel companies only operate about 15% of the stations selling gas under their name. In Nova Scotia, many Esso

stations are run by Wilson’s, while Sobeys operates several Petro-Cans. He says locally owned stations tend to be responsive to customer demand, and that people wanting full-serve should let them know.

He suggests looking online to see which stations offer full-serve or calling ahead to stations that don’t to see if an employee can pump gas. “We expect dealers to do their best to accommodate people with mobility issues,” he says, but admits that “the issue may be that there’s only one person behind the cash” who may have “many many duties”—making it a challenge for them to pump gas too.

At the Wilson’s in Tantallon, Ken Charsley fills up a car and wipes the windshield clean. He says business at the station’s lone full-serve pump (there were two until recently) is “pretty steady.

I’m busy all day long.” Most of the clientele is elderly, but “you never know who’s going to use it. Sometimes kids use it too.”

If you rely on full-serve, there is a lot to think about before heading out. “Every time I do a new full-serve, I always ask first to make sure they have a wireless debit machine,” says Robar, “because if they don’t, then I have to go inside. And if I’m doing self-serve but it’s not pay at the pump, I have to see if I can get in, because some of the older stations are not wheelchair accessible.”

Vienneau notes that some stations are accessible in theory, because they have curb-cuts for wheelchairs, but they “stack firewood and washer fluid on the sidewalk leading to the door,” making it impassable. Robar also checks the hours, since full-serve is generally only available some of the time, and if he is going on a longer trip, makes sure to carry enough cash so he can pay for his gas from his vehicle.

“If you’ve got a vehicle and you’ve got a disability you’ve really got to think about what you’re doing and plan ahead,” Robar says.

SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 37

| FEATURE |

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DOWNTOWN DARTMOUTH THRIVES AS THE CITY’S HOTTEST NEIGHBOURHOOD

BY LINDSAY JONES Erin Ferguson’s handiwork nicely reflects the transformation of downtown Dartmouth.

Her Harbourside Designs’ hangings, ornaments and pocket mirrors celebrate Dartmouth as a hip, super-tight neighbourhood with a playful nod to the notion that it used to be a lesser place to live.

Ferguson makes the pieces, which sell at shops in downtown Dartmouth, from a hand-carved rubber stamp of the Tufts Cove smokestacks with cheeky remarks like “I would cross the bridge for you,” “Is my darkside showing?” and “Just a Dartmouth girl living in a Hali world.”

“It’s all in jest. When you live in Dartmouth you’ve got to develop a little bit of a thick skin because you’re referred to as the ‘dark side’ or you live in darkness,” says Ferguson, a mother of three from Crichton Park.

“I think we all have the ability to laugh at that, especially because we’re seeing a lot of positive things happening in Dartmouth.”

Left: Harbourside Designs’ Dartmouth-proud pocket mirrors, hangings and ornaments sell on Etsy and in craft shows and downtown Dartmouth shops like Kept and The Trainyard General Store.

Until recently, downtown Dartmouth didn’t have a great rep—there were few shops and restaurants, and no one was calling it a happening place to live or work. But the neighbourhood has evolved, a change Haligonians noticed when Two if By Sea café and bakery opened on Ochterloney Street in 2009. A community hub for coffee and croissants, and communal dinners by award-winning chef René Lavallé, downtown Dartmouth suddenly had something fresh and cool to offer. (It also sells Dartmouth-pride gear like T-shirts, toques, and mugs.)

Lavallé has expanded the business to larger digs and now offers brunch and dinner.

Recently, some 10 new businesses opened in downtown Dartmouth. And a steady stream of young families and first-time homebuyers are choosing downtown Dartmouth over pricier peninsular Halifax.

The average price of homes sold in downtown Dartmouth so far this year is $246,000, whereas in Halifax, a home in the North End is $315,000 and the West End is just under $400,000. More space for their buck is a key attraction, with downtown Dartmouth homeowners paying

$185 per square foot, versus $224 in North End Halifax and $238 in the West End in this quarter.

Claudia Chender , a self-described Dartmouth convert and NDP MLA for Dartmouth South, migrated from North End Halifax to Dahlia Street. After living there for a while with her husband and three kids, she decided it was poised to be the next Agricola Street. She and Biscuit General Store owner Wendy Friedman got in on the action, buying the old Fisher’s Stationary building on Portland Street which they rent to two small businesses: a yarn store and a yoga studio.

“There’s just a cool community of people here and there’s lots of young, interesting business owners who are really connected to the community and that’s totally inspiring for me,” says Chender.

Peter Burbridge and his wife Rozina Darvesh had a similar awakening. They needed a bigger home for their two young children and moved from West End Halifax over the bridge for a bigger, more affordable house. Now, the couple behind North Brewing Company also own a business in downtown Dartmouth: they co-own Battery Park Beer Bar & Eatery.

“We just fell in love with the neighbourhood around downtown Dartmouth,” Burbridge says.

“I grew up in Halifax. I never really spent much time in Dartmouth, except for the occasional trip over to Mic Mac Mall or Burnside, so it’s kind of an eye opener. I would never move back to the peninsula because you have the best of everything within walking distance here.”

Longtime Dartmouth resident and realtor Mark Mullane says the Dartmouth migration is definitely a trend among young families and first-time homebuyers, with some even requesting it as a destination.

“I always used to call Dartmouth the new Brooklyn,” says Mullane, a father of one who lives on the edge of downtown Dartmouth. “It just makes sense to me that if Halifax is Manhattan, then Dartmouth is the cool other side of the water.”

“We were the underdogs for so long and there’s always somebody that wants to root for the underdog, and that just builds up more and more pride. People are just so proud. Everyone’s got Dartmouth posters on their wall. Everyone’s got something that says Dartmouth in their closet. It’s super cool to see.”

SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 39

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| FEATURE |

AROUND THE W

42 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

| FEATURE |

WORLD FROM PENNSYLVANIA TO AUSTRALIA, THERE ARE HALIFAXES AROUND THE GLOBE— AND THEY HAVE SOME COMMON THREADS

BY PHILIP MOSCOVITCH There are townships named Halifax in Ontario and Quebec, there’s a Halifax Island in Saskatchewan and Namibia, and towns sharing the name on three continents. You can find various lakes, creeks, coulees, and even a mountain range and a shoal bearing the name.

Every so often Halifax Magazine gets messages from people in other Halifaxes, most recently a British emailer saying the magazine doesn’t focus enough on the rest of West Yorkshire. And that got us thinking about the other Halifaxes out there.

A HALIFAX BY ANY OTHER NAME HALIFAX, QUEENSLAND “Not everybody can live in Halifax. Sometimes I think we’re privileged to have this beautiful little place,” says Andrew John Lancini, councillor for Halifax in the Shire of Hinchinbrook, Queensland.

Located on the Herbert River (watch out for the crocodiles) in northeastern Australia, Halifax is home to about 500 people, but features shops, a service station (owned by Lancini, who has been on council for 19 years) hotels, police and ambulance services, plus Halifax Homebrew and Tackle. “We’ve got everything,” Lancini says, including mango trees down the middle of the main street.

Swedish settler August Anderssen bought the land where the town stands in 1884 for growing sugarcane. Slaves, imported from Vanuatu and nearby Pacific islands, worked (in part) the plantations in the area. That practice ended in 1904.

Some of their descendants, known as Australian South Sea Islanders, still live in the area.

Lancini says he’s always thought the town should have been named Anderssen. “The name wasn’t selected by us, but by our masters,” he says. “We only had English brutality here that ran the country. Lord Halifax probably wouldn’t know where Halifax is.”

Halifax and nearby Ingham used to be equally important, but then the railway ran through Ingham, sidelining its neighbour. Sugarcane continues to be the main industry, with a nearby mill as the largest employer.

We get hurricanes, they get cyclones. Cyclone Larry clobbered the area in 2006 and Cyclone Yasi in 2011.

Flooding completely isolated the town for 10 days. And, like councillors everywhere, Lancini has complaints about higher levels of government. “The state government in Queensland at the moment is Labour and they do a lot of cost-shifting,” he explains. “The feds—you can’t complain too much, they try their best.

And we have a senate, but they’re useless.”

SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 43

WHO WAS HALIFAX ANYWAY?

| FEATURE |

Our Halifax is named for George Montagu-Dunk, the second Earl of Halifax (1716–1771). The title disappeared after his death, but was revived in 1944. The current earl is Charles Edward Peter Neil Wood, who was born in 1944 and lives at Garrowby Hall, part of the 8,100-hectare Halifax estate. He is the former husband of Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. (Lord Halifax was travelling and wasn’t available for an interview.)

MAKING A STAND IN THE RUST BELT HALIFAX, PENNSYLVANIA Founded in 1794, the Borough of Halifax is a quiet bedroom community of 900 in central Pennsylvania. Just outside town lies the site of Fort Halifax, a short-lived wooden stockade that British settlers built in 1756.

“I’m the mayor of Halifax,” says Jeff Enders, who’s held the volunteer position for 17 years.

“That’s as big as it gets! It’s almost like a volunteer fire chief, but it comes with a whole lot more headaches.”

Like many towns in the northeastern U.S., Halifax thrived in the industrial era. The borough lies on the Susquehanna River, once a major artery for shipping coal. It had a train station and was home to a large shoe manufacturer supplying the U.S. military. Train tracks still run parallel to Front Street, along the riverfront, but the town’s industrial days “are long past,” Enders says.

As in much of the Rust Belt, drug use has hit Halifax hard. Enders says opioids and fentanyl blew through the region relatively quickly. “The big problem we’ve been dealing with in our county is the heroin epidemic,” he says. “It touches us like it touches everyone and it kills.”

Today, many residents work in Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania capital, about a 30-minute drive away. The pressing local issues are development, infrastructure upgrades, and traffic.

“Our small town has a budget of $300,000 a year but upgrading water or sewer infrastructure on any one street is a million dollars,” Enders says. “And in any small town or village, everyone wants some nice things. They want the nice little shopping plaza, but not next to them or within a half mile of them.”

But most of the complaints he has to deal with as mayor are relatively uncomplicated (“my neighbour hasn’t mowed his grass in 44 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

three weeks”) and it helps that he knows everyone in town.

Enders’ day job is assistant director in the Dauphin County Department of Public Safety.

“We often get calls for your Halifax,” he says.

“People will call the police department and leave a message because they’ve looked up Halifax online, and sometimes we get mail for up there.

It’s always entertaining for us.”

THE MOTHER OF ALL HALIFAXES HALIFAX, WEST YORKSHIRE Welcome to Halifax, where a new central library just opened and film and TV workers are busy with high-profile productions shooting locally.

No, you haven’t travelled back in time—you’re in Halifax, England.

The largest town in the amalgamated municipality of Calderdale, Halifax has a population of just under 100,000. It’s been the site of settlement since at least the 12th century.

The name means “area of coarse grass in the nook of land” in Anglo-Saxon.

The Bronte sisters grew up nearby, and Emily taught in a village that’s now part of Halifax.

During the Industrial Revolution the town had a thriving textile industry, dominated by massive carpet factories, but they closed years ago.

Robin Tuddenham fell in love with Halifax the first time he visited in 2009: “There’s a sense in England that the north has less money and less investment and that’s true,” he says. “But there’s also a resilience and determination and confidence that’s inspiring.” Six months later he moved there from London; he’s now chief executive of the municipality.

While we’ve been tearing down heritage buildings, Tuddenham says one of the things that drew him to Halifax was the historic buildings. “Some of the planning of the ‘60s and

‘70s had much less effect here,” he says. “We’ve protected a lot of our architecture. We have a very old traditional barrow market, and we have a range of listed [protected] buildings, which are fabulous.” Many date from the Georgian and Victorian periods.

Tuddenham enthuses about two major revitalization projects: the Dean Clough textile mills and Piece Hall, a trading hub for cloth merchants dating from 1779. The mills fell into disrepair, but after a 34-year renovation project two of them now house offices, small businesses, theatre companies, and six art galleries.

As for Piece Hall, which opened in August: “It’s a very special building that’s been in a state of decline for a number of years, and we have been on a journey to restore it,” Tuddenham says. “[It] will become our destination for shopping, retail and telling our story for the north of England.”

Tuddenham says Canadians he met in Winnipeg last year were shocked at the state of library funding in the U.K. But he says Halifax saw value in a “totally redesigned new library” that’s welcoming and energy efficient. It opened beside Piece Hall this summer too.

Banking is the biggest employer. Tuddenham says the region suffered during the financial crisis. Other challenges include poverty, the outmigration of young people to nearby Leeds and Manchester, affordable housing, and “shockingly poor” public transit.

One of the bright spots in the local economy is the film industry, with shows like Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley (you can see them both on Netflix). The new BBC/HBO drama Shibden Hall is coming next year, based on the life of Halifax renegade Anne Lister.

“There is a knock-on effect, because we are getting more and more requests for film and television shows,” Tuddenham says. “It’s created opportunities for us.”

If only we’d thought of that.

Rinse & Repeat.

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| FEATURE |

THE UGLY TRUTH

Taylor Samson

BY KAYLA HOUNSELL

DESPITE SENSATIONAL RUMOURS, ORGANIZED CRIME WASN’T INVOLVED IN TAYLOR SAMSON’S MURDER— THE TRUTH IS SIMPLER, BUT JUST AS BRUTAL

46 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

Justin Blades and Pookiel McCabe were getting ready for a night out in downtown Halifax—drinking, smoking dope, and listening to music. In the summer of 2015, they had no idea their fun was about to turn to fear, a fear that would dramatically change their lives and forcing McCabe to flee the province and sending Blades into hiding for more than a year.

The young men stumbled onto a gory murder scene across the hall. The killer was one of their best friends, their fear based on their belief that he was working for the Hell’s Angels.

“I felt like my life was in danger,” Blades would tell a jury nearly two years later.

William Sandeson was about to start medical school at Dalhousie University when he lured fellow Dal student Taylor Samson to his South End Halifax apartment. Samson was going to sell him 20 pounds of marijuana for $40,000.

Instead Sandeson shot 22-year-old Samson in the back of the head and cleaned up the scene. Police haven’t found Samson’s body but there was enough physical evidence for a jury to convict Sandeson of first-degree murder, sentencing him to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Blades and McCabe would eventually tell police they saw a man bleeding from his head,

slouched over on a chair in Sandeson’s apartment with “pints and pints of blood,” bloody money, and drugs all over the place.

But for 14 months they maintained they saw nothing.

Gossip and rumours erupted in Halifax as armchair criminologists set about cracking the case. People assumed there was no way Sandeson had acted alone, talking to online forums, insisting he must have been connected to organized crime.

“I also have a hard time believing that a university student would be able to… make a body disappear so completely that no trace of it has ever been found,” mused one anonymous commenter.

“This is why I think there was someone else in on it,” declared another. “Maybe he owes money or a favour to the guy or guys above him.” It went on, and on.

Police quickly rejected those theories. “I can tell you right now that if you’re concerned about the Hell’s Angels that he has no connection to the Hell’s Angels,” Cpl. Jody Allison told Justin Blades when he explained why he didn’t tell the truth the first time.

“I want to believe you,” Blades says in that October 2016 interview.

| FEATURE |

THE HELL’S ANGELS, WHEN THEY DO DEAL IN POT, DEAL IN TONS, NOT POUNDS.” —STEPHEN SCHNEIDER

“I can tell you that whatever he was telling people, or whatever people believe, I can tell you that is not the case,” Allison told him.

“There is no connection. If there was they would have come after his family for the money and all that. They could have got him in jail if they wanted to.”

“Yeah,” is all Blades offers.

“I’m not saying that some of the stuff that he didn’t buy somehow made it to them,” Allison goes on, “or some of the money didn’t, but I can tell you right now that the stuff he had, you can get from people that have no affiliation to the Hell’s Angels right here in this city.”

“Just basically people are growing in their basements,” says Blades.

“Right,” agrees Allison. “They wouldn’t deal with him anyway, you know what I mean.”

“I just heard... they needed someone smart like Will, like it just made so much sense when you looked at it,” Blades says.

Counters Allison: “They usually look for dummies.”

Stephen Schneider has been researching organized crime in Canada since the late 1980s.

He teaches it at Saint Mary’s University and has written three books on the subject, including Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada.

He says historically it was true that the Hells Angels weren’t necessarily looking for intelligence but says times have changed.

“They wanted people to kind of fit their stereotype, big, tough-looking, intimidating, but increasingly they are looking for smart people because they’re moving away from the kind of knuckle-dragging, biker group and

they’re now more of a sophisticated well-oiled criminal machine,” he explains.

Still, Schneider points out there are no fullpatch Hell’s Angels members in Nova Scotia, and there haven’t been since the chapter shut down in 2003. He acknowledges they are in the process of converting an affiliate club and there could be members here before the end of the year.

It seems many of the rumours that William Sandeson was involved with organized crime came from Sandeson himself. Blades told police Sandeson had told him a story about going to Montreal to do a deal with the Hell’s Angels.

“I can tell you that they wouldn’t be dealing with him,” Allison says. “I can guarantee they would not.”

Schneider doesn’t buy Sandeson’s story either. “If he was dealing with the Hell’s Angels, he wouldn’t have gone necessarily to Montreal,” says Schneider. “He would have gone to Ontario because Halifax and Nova Scotia was being controlled by the Gatekeepers [an affiliate club] out of London, Ontario.” He adds that the Angels are well represented in Quebec but deal mostly in hash and cocaine there.

Schneider also says the Angels have distanced themselves from street level trafficking to focus on more profitable angles.

“They tend to be more just involved with financing of grow ops, things like that, and most of the marijuana trafficking that the Hells Angels do is exported to the United States. They don’t do a lot of trafficking in Canada, because they get bigger money in the U.S., double what they would make here.”

The gossip also seems to have grown from the average citizen’s understanding of drug deals.

“A patched Hell’s Angel member’s not going to deal in 20 pounds of weed,” Cpl. Allison tells Justin Blades back in the fall of 2016, “not even a hundred pounds of weed. If you’re bringing in maybe 50 keys of coke, they wouldn’t even touch it themselves.”

“It’s not worth it for them?” Blades asks.

“It’s not worth it for them,” Allison confirms.

“Plus they don’t want to go to jail.”

Schneider agrees. “The Hell’s Angels, when they do deal in pot, deal in tons, not pounds,” he says. “If you had 20 pounds of heroin or fentanyl or cocaine, then yeah, that’s huge, but not marijuana.”

Schneider says the Angels have learned from the past and would now have three to four intermediaries between them and a street-level dealer. “They would be so far removed that generally speaking I can’t see any full-patch member of the Hell’s Angels in Quebec or Ontario having a relationship with this guy,” he says. “There is nothing that we have found in any part of this investigation that would lead us to think that there’s anybody from the Hell’s Angels or any other criminal organization that’s interested in him,” Allison told Blades.

Halifax Regional Police declined to explain further, citing William Sandeson’s plans to appeal his conviction. At press time, no date was set for the appeal. He’s currently serving a life sentence.

SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 47

DINING

THE RINALDO BROTHERS SHARE THEIR FAMILY’S CULINARY JOURNEY AND BRING NEW LIFE TO A POPULAR DINING SPOT

FAMILY FIRST 48 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

DINING STORY AND PHOTOS BY CAITRIN PILKINGTON Ever since the Good Food Emporium on Windsor Street closed earlier this year, regulars have wondered what would come next. The café had been a gathering place for parents, students, young people and a variety of eccentric visitors. Tony and Sam Rinaldo stepped up to fill that “community hub” gap, moving into the space with their new restaurant Rinaldo’s.

Carole LeBlanc, former owner of Good Food, said the choice to pass on the space to the Rinaldos was easy. “They’re sweethearts,” she told The Signal in February.

The Rinaldos are brothers from a long line of pizza makers: their father is Salvatore Rinaldo, the original owner of Salvatore’s New York Pizza. Their space reflects those Italian-American ties: photos on the wall of their father as a child at his first communion and enjoying an American Thanksgiving. The restaurant décor is nostalgic; the neon signs and red checkered tablecloths are throwbacks to ItalianAmerican restaurants of the 1980s. Tony ’s brother-in-law, James Rothenberg, designed the sign and logo.

This restaurant has been in the works for a long time. “My brother and I have been planning to open a restaurant since we were 12, 13 years old,” says Tony Rinaldo.

The brothers honed their skills, together and apart, in Las Vegas, Alberta, Toronto, Montreal, New York, and France.

Finally, after a time spent in Lyon, France, receiving classical French training in cooking, Tony Rinaldo decided to return to Halifax. “Rinaldo’s” came next. They partnered with Steven Haines, a longtime family friend, and opened a stall in the Seaport Market. From there, began serving their food at The Other Bean, Propeller, and Good Robot. They knew they wanted to open their own place, but took their time deciding where.

“We didn’t want to settle in just any location,” says Tony. “This happened to be the perfect one for us. We grew up around the corner, we used to come here when it was a cafe, we used to get out haircuts at Phat’s, rent movies at Showtime Video down the street. This is our neighbourhood. So it ended up working out perfectly.”

They’re not worried about the distance from downtown. “I think the trend is going towards opening up restaurants in the North End,” says Tony.

“People don’t have to drive all the way downtown and worry about parking. They can just eat right here in their neighbourhood.”

The food at Rinaldo’s is all Italian-American: buffalo wings, New York pizza and the housespecialty meatball heroes. “Our menu is based on that journey our family took from Sicily, on all the ingredients they would have found when they arrived in New York,” says Tony. “This is the good we’ve always been passionate about. I’ve travelled and Sam’s travelled, but this is the food that we love. The recipes we always come back to.

We’re a big cooking family. We’re very passionate about food.”

And that’s what they want diners to take away from Rinaldo’s. “I think Halifax just has a small-town family vibe,” says Tony. “I think people just want a place where they feel welcome, where they feel at home, and where they can have a nice meal, you know? We offer unpretentious service. Comfort food.”

Rinaldo’s announced on Facebook at the beginning of June that they will be open as a cafe in the mornings due to popular demand, bringing the location back to its morning java roots. “I think we’re just really excited... to have everyone able to try our food,” Tony says. “Sam and I worked really hard to build this place—I think that’s pretty much it.”

Tony (left) and Sam Rinaldo.

SEPTEMBER 2017 halifaxmag.com | 49

OPINION

LADY’S CHOICE ALANA CANALES WAS WORRIED WOMEN FELT UNSAFE IN HALIFAX TAXIS, SO SHE CAME UP WITH A SOLUTION

BY RYAN VAN HORNE How often have you heard someone start a sentence with “The government should …” when suggesting a solution to some problem.

Too often, the government will not do anything, and, almost as often, the solution won’t be all that effective. So, what can you do when you want to fix something?

The acquittal of Halifax taxi driver Bassam Al-Rawi in March outraged Alana Canales.

She worried about the safety of women riding alone in a cab.

One night, she came up with the idea for #HaliLadyCab, a Twitter hashtag. “There should be a Halifax twitter lady hashtag to identify those of us who would be a ‘cab’ for local ladies who need it #HaliLadyCab,” she tweeted.

The hashtag took off; she encouraged women to put it in their Twitter bios to show their willingness to help a friend in need.

Friends on the social-media site could then contact them to arrange a ride. About a dozen women joined. “Which is wonderful,” she says, “as it’s a way of identifying ourselves as willing to help others.”

More importantly, says Canales, it started a conversation, one that ranged from outrage over the judge’s decision to whether such a service was needed. The acquittal of the taxi driver, which the Crown is appealing, sparked widespread condemnation because of the circumstances. “It was not a he-said, she-said situation,” Canales said. “It was discovered by a cop. What other reasonable conclusion could you reach?”

50 | halifaxmag.com SEPTEMBER 2017

Many taxi drivers also condemned the verdict and tried to assure people that incidents like that are rare. Others called the outrage an overreaction and defended the profession, saying it was safe to take a cab and that #HaliLadyCab was not needed.

But women are using #HaliLadyCab. Canales says she hasn’t kept a record of how many people availed themselves of the offer, but the number of requests has decreased.

“The height of it has definitely passed,” she says. “I did provide some rides for some local ladies incident-free and I’m pretty pleased with the amount of conversation it blustered up.”

Putting herself in the public eye has made her a target at times, though. “I had everything from taxi drivers being angry at me for “implying” they were unsafe, to people suggesting I’m seeking fame,” she says. “And some even claiming I was breaking the law and they would report me.”

But she got many more expressions of support and many of those were made publicly, which makes a difference. Too often, people will protest loudly in public and some are reluctant to show support. That wasn’t the case with #HaliLadyCab. “It helped me to know that speaking up in a caring way mattered to people,” she says.

Despite its name, it is neither a cab service, nor a business. Riders don’t pay ; #HaliLadyCab is intended as a last resort. “It’s like borrowing a cup of sugar,” Canales says.

“If you need it, it’s there, but only if necessary.

I only picked up people who I knew directly, or had a friend in common with them. I verified with the common connection in all cases for my own safety purposes.”

There are no obligations on rider or passenger. It’s up to them to decide if they’re comfortable with each other. The victim of sexual assault in the taxi-driver case was drunk, but people don’t have to be out drinking in order to request a drive. The issue of safety doesn’t depend on the sobriety of the passenger, Canales says, adding that women sometimes feel unsafe in taxis even when they’re sober.

Since Canales started the conversation in March, an airport limousine company called LadyDriveHer has launched. It offers women drives to the airport with exclusively women drivers. That company, too, drew criticism, even though it was a smart business decision that identified a clear market niche.

Perhaps instead of complaining about the women who are doing something to make sure women feel safe in cabs, those complaining should direct their anger to the people responsible for the fear.

RYAN Van HORNE Ryan is a Halifax journalist, playwright and documentary film director. His work appears in magazines and newspapers from coast to coast and at ryanvanhorne.com.

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