History is writ large on the face of Halifax and its harbour on the Atlantic Ocean. You can see evidence of great changes here from the end of the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago to the current geological age, the Anthropocene, which is described as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.

 

Like almost every capital city in Canada, Halifax was once an Indigenous settlement, a trading place and a ground for ceremonies since it was easily reached by water and river networks. The original name for Halifax was Kjipuktuk, meaning the Great Harbour in the Mi’kmaw language, which was anglicized to Chebucto. Before it was seized from the Indigenous people and settled, the lands around the harbour of Kjipuktuk were part of Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral land of the Mi’maq, a territory which included all of the present day Maritime Provinces, parts of Newfoundland and the Gaspé Peninsula.

 

 The area of downtown Halifax up to Point Pleasant Park was known to the Mi'kmaq as “Amntu'kati”, which in English means, “spirit place” or “the place of spirits”. This is also the place where Mi'kmaq believed the Great Spirit Fire sat whose sparks gave birth to the seven original families of the Mi'kmaq people

 

Colonial Halifax had its beginnings as a fortress town. The town is the obvious child of conflict and war beginning with the early wars for colonial dominance waged between the French and English followed by long campaigns to subdue Indigenous people, then the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, the American Civil War, Wars in South Africa, and other parts of the British Empire, the two World Wars, which were global conflicts where Halifax played a pivotal role
 

In more recent times the city was a ground zero target during the Cold War when Soviet nuclear submarines were hunted and tracked by NATO navies just off its Atlantic coast.

 

Halifax has indeed transformed itself over nearly three centuries but in some ways it has stayed the same harbour town from its founding as a strategic outpost of the British Empire. It served for many years as both a military garrison and major naval base. It was given the heroic description of “The Warden of the North”, by Rudyard Kipling. Military spending remains today as much a significant part of the local economy as it did back in the beginning of this fortress town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family Group in the Public Gardens

 

These days Halifax is changing and is an increasingly multicultural city, rooted in Europe but open to

the world. It is the location of four universities, important medical and ocean research centres, part of a global shipping network, home to a vibrant art and music scene, and one of the most rapidly growing metropolitan areas in Canada.

 

The relationship between the Mi’kmaq people who hunted and fished on its shores and the British

did not get off to a good start.

 

The British General, Jeffrey Amherst suggested spreading smallpox infected blankets among the savages, as they called them. The first Governor of the City, Edward Cornwallis, offered a substantial bounty for each one killed. It was not until four years ago that a statue honouring Cornwallis was removed from a public park and his reputation shifted from pioneer statesman to infamy. With truth and reconciliation things may change.

 

It is often forgotten that there was once a slave market in Halifax where Black men, women and children were sold. People of the African Diaspora have been present from the first settlement and this community later grew with the arrival of Black Loyalists during the American Revolution. The Loyalists were promised much for their support for the Crown but given little. Nova Scotia has perpetrated forms of systemic racism, including outright segregation throughout its history, methods of oppression which were often disguised behind a benevolent face.

 

In recent years, Halifax has worked toward reconciliation and reparation of some of the darker aspects of this history with the indigenous and Black people of Nova Scotia but echoes of oppression remain of troubled and tragic experiences which continue to wound many in these communities today. It will take years of good will and intent to heal the wrongs inflicted throughout our history.

 

In the past, and indeed right up to the present, Halifax was never a good place to be poor or homeless. White wealthy male indifferent elites reigned. Poor men were once executed for petty property crimes, their bodies left hanging in full public view. A settler women who stole some cooking utensils to pawn and feed her starving family, only escaped hanging by the intervention of the clergy who pleaded to have her punishment reduced to two months in jail combined with branding with a hot iron with the letter “T” for thief.

 

Women fought to the right to vote and stand for office, many of whom were villainized for daring to run for public office. When wealthy white women gained the right to vote in 1918, and became Persons under Canadian law in 1929, Indigenous, Black and Asian women remained without constitutional rights.

 

Thankfully, times have changed and the city has seen many great reformers and able
politicians over the years. It was the first location for responsible government and democratic reforms in British North America and home to independent exemplars of journalism and a free press like Joseph Howe. Lately, it has been out in front with issues like homelessness, sustainability and the environment, and the City’s plans to deal with climate change and sea level rise are envied and being emulated by other cities around the globe. It’s a city not known only for its foresight in these areas but also for creating one of the safest, inclusive and most liveable places in North America.

 

The project, Halifax - the City will document the city through still photography as it appears now. This is the city we are interested in. Not the city of the past. It will show how the city is governed and how its multiple public services are provided and managed. We will see what makes a city like Halifax tick in the modern age. Who the employees of the city are. Where they work. What type of work do they do? Who makes the decisions and plans? What do they look like? Where do they come from? Who polices the streets, puts out the fires, collects the taxes, trims the trees, grows the flowers, removes the snow, runs the ferries and busses - day in and out - all year round for the benefit of their fellow citizens?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most inclusive Halifax City Council ever​​​​​

​

In important matters of governance, who are the people who serve as City Councillors? What is the role of The Office of the Mayor? What do the interior chambers of the Historic City Hall look like? Who makes sure there is good drinking water, sewage disposal and storm and waste water treatment? What structures and people are behind taking care of the parks, gardens and recreational facilities, fire stations, police stations, garbage, recycling, the library system (which is the oldest in Canada), welcoming new arrivals, running the transit system - busses, ferries, repair garages, arts and culture, public art, and the maintenance of streets and sidewalks, cycling paths, parks and trails, and more. Often these people are totally hidden in their daily tasks and the ordinary citizen knows little about them until some disruption happens and they are suddenly appreciated for the essential services they provide. Hopefully this project will give a glimpse behind the scenes.

 

 

​