As the city backs down on its call for tenters to vacate Halifax’s Grand Parade, two community members are stepping up to provide support.
Steve Wilsack and his friend Matthew Grant have set up a comfort station at the site where people can keep warm, charge their phones, and pick up supplies such as rain gear.
“We want to be the last tent here,” said Grant. “So we’re here for the duration. Whatever unfolds we’ll be here for it.”
Steve Wilsack says he had to help the community. He even met with the mayor to advocate on their behalf after the city announced plans to encourage people to leave the site for other locations such as the new winter shelter in Dartmouth.
“I love Nova Scotia. This is my home. I’ve been here all my life. I work in the film industry. We were filming … and I looked up here and I saw this,” he says with tears in his eyes. “And I was ashamed that people would see this. I had to do something about it.”
Leahann Zinck has been calling Grand Parade home for several months now. Although she and her boyfriend work, they’ve not been able to find a place to live.
“I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried offering extra money to get a place to live,” she says. “AirBnBs — that’s one thing we’re also looking at too — but it’s expensive in the long run. We’ll pay $1,600 for the month, but not be guaranteed a place, the next month.”
She says they’ve settled at Grand Parade because it’s safer than other encampments.
“There’s security, it’s more public, City Hall is right there, and of course, this place has a lot of history behind it — it’s a well-respected area,” Zinck says.
View image in full screen
Leahann Zinck is a resident of the tent encampment at Grand Parade in Halifax. Skye Bryden-Blom/Global News
Recently the city encouraged people living at the square to leave due to safety concerns around snow removal. On Wednesday, it backtracked on those plans.
Moving forward the city says it will work with the people living at the site to help cut down on the number of tents to eight.
“I am always a big believer in compromise. I believe there are things we have to do. We have to do the plowing. We have to do holiday events and whatnot,” says Bedford-area councillor Tim Outhit. “I think there’s room for both and I think while we’re helping these people to get to something better, there has to be flexibility on both sides.”
2:04 Tent community advocating for return of Remembrance Day ceremony to Halifax’s Grand Parade
Zinck says she isn’t worried.
“We’re not here to cause any problems or drama,” she says. “If they really want us out of here we’ll leave.”
News Related
-
It was a chilly morning on the Kainai Nation on Friday and emergency services staff from the Blood Tribe came out in full support of those experiencing domestic violence. The ninth annual Domestic Violence Awareness Walk put on by the Kainai Women’s Wellness Lodge saw men in the community slip ...
See Details:
‘Walk In Her Shoes’ event held in Kainai Nation
-
Today, Manitoba announced that it will temporarily reduce costs for farmers using Crown land for grazing, haying and yearly cropping. The measure will bring the reduction rate up to 55 per cent from 33 per cent for the 2024 growing season. Carson Callum, general manager with Manitoba Beef Producers, said ...
See Details:
Manitoba announces reduced rent on agricultural Crown land
-
Small businesses and climate activists are looking at what the province’s newly introduced “gas tax holiday” bill could mean for Manitobans. The bill was introduced Thursday by Finance Minister Adrien Sala, and offers to remove provincial tax from gasoline and diesel. That means 14 cents per litre will stay in ...
See Details:
Who benefits from Manitoba’s ‘gas tax holiday,’ and for how long?
-
Halifax Transit is making a push to tackle what they say has been a growing issue for their workers. During the city’s transportation standing committee meeting on Thursday, Philip Herritt, the director of transit operations for Halifax Transit, outlined a proposal to help address violent incidents happening on buses city-wide. ...
See Details:
Halifax Transit pushes to get safety officers aboard buses and ferries
-
If you’re a listener of QR Calgary on the the AM frequency, the broadcast you typically hear will be unavailable as we do some maintenance on our transmitter towers starting Friday Nov. 24 at 11 p.m. until Saturday Nov. 25 at 5 a.m. This means we’re off the air for ...
See Details:
QR Calgary 770AM will be temporarily off-air for maintenance work
-
-
The city of Saskatoon has approved recommendations allowing for more housing opportunities, hoping to access federal funds and ultimately change what housing looks like in the city. “This is a generational shift in what housing looks like. More people will have access to stable and affordable housing, with walkable services ...
See Details:
City of Saskatoon takes steps to address housing affordability
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Canadian Military trains to extinguish burning helicopters
-
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Toronto pet owners face ‘excruciating decisions’ in cost-of-living crisis
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Black Friday weekend kicks off in Kingston
-
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Doug Ford says he will waive cabinet privilege in RCMP Greenbelt investigation
-
James Busch stands atop a hill, overlooking new trainees undertaking a firefighting course. Below, navy sailors have a tall task ahead of them: extinguishing a burning helicopter. The chopper is a Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone, but it’s not a real helicopter. The near-exact replica of the chopper, in use for the ...
See Details:
Pedestrian struck and killed on Highway 3 in southern Alberta
OTHER NEWS
Ontario’s police watchdog agency has been called in by its Nova Scotia counterpart to review new information unearthed by the inquiry into the 2020 mass shooting in the Maritime province. ...
Read more »
Those travelling across the Halifax Harbour over the next two weekends can expect a lengthier commute, as the 53-year-old MacKay Bridge will be closed as it undergoes critical repairs. In ...
Read more »
The City of Toronto says it will begin to clear out an encampment in Kensington Market on Friday morning due to it being an “immediate public safety risk.” Russell Baker, ...
Read more »
Residents have been allowed to return home as stabilization works get underway on a rockslide in Penticton, B.C. A rockslide evacuated 25 homes in the Pleasant Valley Mobile Home Park ...
Read more »
As mundane urban city life churns on around them, a growing population of people are seeking shelter, trying to survive another night. Some are in tents tucked among the trees ...
Read more »
Whether it’s a big box store or online, the Black Friday weekend has been a concern for local businesses. Sarah Amies, executive director of the Downtown Lethbridge Business Revitalization Zone, ...
Read more »
A timber company working on the overdue and over-budget West Kelowna city hall project has filed a civil suit, claiming they’re owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Seagate Mass Timber, ...
Read more »