Written by Victoria Goodday, Editorial Intern at Corporate Knights
The A. Murray MacKay Bridge looms behind local politician Jerome Downey; a small memorial is all that marks the community destroyed for its construction. Photo by Paul Trussler.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a small port city rich in Maritime history and down-home hospitality. Known for its hard-partying students and sailors, the city’s lively cultural scene has earned it the nickname of “the New Orleans of the East”. The similarities between the two cities don’t stop there. Like New Orleans, Halifax has an urban core characterized by a sharp racial divide and a population plagued by racial tension.
A history tainted by discriminatory policy decisions has left Nova Scotia’s capital fighting to achieve an inclusive society. Home to the largest proportion of Canadian-born blacks in the country, its racially disparate downtown and isolated black neighborhoods challenge Canada’s “cultural mosaic” moniker.