Mainstreet Halifax

Today, the East Coast Prison Justice Society released a series of calls to action, including ending police deployment to wellness checks and to launch a civilian crisis response team. This comes after two deaths in HRM where police attended wellness checks and a conducted energy weapon (aka taser) was deployed to subdue the individual. Sheila Wildeman is the chair of the East Coast Prison Justice Society and a professor of law at Dalhousie University. El Jones is one of the authors of the 2022 report, Defunding the Police: Defining the Way Forward for HRM and a professor at MSVU. Jamie Livingston is a criminology prof at SMU. They all spoke with Alex Guye about the calls to action, in particular the civilian crisis team, just before we went to air.

In this extended audio file, guest host Alex Guye speaks with Cheryl Maloney, a member of Sipekne'katik First Nation who used to teach political science at Cape Breton University, and lawyer Bill Gallagher who wrote "Resource Rulers: Fortune and Folly on Canada’s Road to Resources."

Ken Hansen is a former naval commander, former chair of the Maritime Studies Program at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, and an independent defence analyst. He speaks with guest host Alex Guye.

A vigil is happening tomorrow, for Nova Scotians to mourn recent victims of intimate partner violence. It's happening outside Dalhousie University's Schulich School of Law. It's called, "From Grief to Action". There will be guest speakers including survivors and family members of women who recently died as a result of intimate partner violence. The event is being put on by the Elizabeth Fry Society. Kylee Nunn is the abundance program manager at the Society. Robin Cummings is the development coordinator at Elizabeth Fry. They dropped into the Mainstreet living room today.

She speaks with Mainstreet's producer Alex Mason.

Rob speaks with Mainstreet's producer, Alex Mason.

Barbara Emodi, Chris Lydon and Michelle Coffin speak with guest host Alex Guye. Also included -- Alex Mason's conversation with Asa McKercher, Hudson Research Chair in Canada-US Relations at St. Francis Xavier University, about Canada's options if the US aligns itself even more with Russia and less with NATO.

A rally on Tuesday was held in support of 12 janitors who are going to their jobs at Alderney Gate on March 1st. This happened after the HRM council selected a new, non-union contractor, Imperial Cleaners. Service Employees International Union Local 2 that represents 20,000 workers around Canada were calling on HRM mayor, council and CAO to require Imperial to hire these janitors. Tina Oh, an organizer and coordinator with the union, spoke with our colleague Meig Campbell. A statement from the city to CBC says: On Feb. 28, 2025, the Halifax Regional Municipality received notice that a judicial review has been filed by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2 on the matter of janitorial services for Alderney Gate. As this matter is now before the courts, no additional information or comment is available at this time.

Dalhousie University is holding an event tonight at 7 p.m. to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Frantz Fanon. It's called, Liberation Dialogues: Decolonization, Reparations and New Worldmaking and will feature a conversation with Mireille Fanon-Mendès France. She is the daughter of Frantz Fanon, an activist and the chair of the Frantz Fanon Foundation. Mireille spoke with Alex Guye ahead of the event, starting with how relevant Fanon's works still are.

Truro Police Services Constable Brent Bowden has been on medical leave since June 2024, in relation to an incident he says was rooted in racism. A banana peel was thrown on the windshield of his personal vehicle while parked at his workplace, which is Truro Police Services. Since then, the station has also looked into this and organized meetings, including a mediated conversation with the officers responsible. One of them described putting the banana peel on Bowden's truck as a joke. Alex Guye gave Brent a call to hear more. She also reached out to Truro Police Services and the Town of Truro and was given a statement back.