Hundreds brave the rain to get their elbows up in Nova Scotia
Several hundred hardy souls braved the rain at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth on Sunday to attend Nova Scotia's first Elbows Up,Canada! event.
Organizers bill the events as "family-friendly, non-partisan gatherings celebrating Canada's strength, unity and resilience."
The rallies feature speeches and musical performances. Similar events have already been held in Ontario and British Columbia.
Despite persistent downpours the Halifax event kicked off as scheduled at 2 p.m.
Many members of the enthusiastic crowd waved Canadian flags while others settled for sheltering under Maple Leaf- emblazoned umbrellas.
The event included musical performances by Jah'Mila and Blueberry Grunt, comedian Shaun Majumder, and celebrity appearances by Robb Wells and Mike Smith — Ricky and Bubbles on the television show Trailer Park Boys.
Speakers included Juanita Peters, executive director of the Africville Museum and Halifax mayor Andy Fillmore.
People attending the event said it was important to show solidarity and pride in Canada in the face of recent challenges coming from the United States and President Donald Trump.
Darlene Richardson said Sunday's rain didn't bother her compared to the threats Canada was facing from what she described as "the villain at the door."
"If you don't stand up, we're going to lose it all," she said.
Candace Longway shared a similar sentiment noting that the event was as much an anti-Trump event as it was a show of national unity.
"What is happening in the south is unheard of. It's unprecedented. It's uncalled for," she said.
Jo-Ann Grant said the inclement weather was nothing compared to the recent U.S. tariffs which, she said, are not just a threat to Canada but the entire world.
"There's something really nefarious going on there," Grant said. "I don't think we even have a clue about what the actual outcome is going to be."
Zoey Sampson, 11, huddled under an umbrella with her mother taking in the onstage entertainment.
Sampson said she doesn't want to be part of the U.S. and doesn't like Trump.
"Canada shouldn't be for sale and the United States shouldn't take it from us," she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
22 minutes ago
- CBC
Weight of traditional knowledge discussed at public hearing for Diavik's water licence
A handful of Indigenous governments want to see more criteria enshrined in the conditions of Diavik diamond mine's new water licence, to determine that water will be safe for cultural uses. The Wek'èezhìi Land and Water Board (WLWB) is holding a public hearing about the company's application for a 10-year water licence renewal, at the cultural centre in Behchokǫ, N.W.T.,̀ this week. The Tłı̨chǫ government, the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the Łutsel K'e Dene First Nation and the Deninu Kųę́ First Nation are all participating in the hearing, along with representatives of the federal and territorial governments and an environmental monitoring board. Violet Camsell-Blondin, who presented Wednesday morning on behalf of the Tłı̨chǫ government, told the hearing that both Western science and Indigenous traditional knowledge should be used to assess the water of Lac de Gras, the tundra lake in which Diavik operates, about 300 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. "Cultural use criteria should not have a lower status or less clout in measuring successful closure and influencing the return of security deposits," she said. The WLWB has already required Diavik to incorporate traditional knowledge and cultural use criteria in its plans – but the Tłı̨chǫ, the Łutsel K'e Dene and the Yellowknives Dene want it to have the same weight as scientific monitoring and for it to be tied to the return of security deposits. What are cultural use criteria? An amendment to Diavik's current water licence required that cultural use criteria be developed for dumping processed kimberlite back into the open pits which will eventually, as part of closure, be filled with water and reconnected to Lac de Gras. A letter from the Tłı̨chǫ government to the board during that amendment process a few years ago describes cultural use criteria as the clarity, temperature, colour, smell and taste of the water, as well as whatever unnatural material might be in it. Diavik held workshops with Indigenous partners to establish that criteria and summarized in a report afterwards that healthy water would look clear, feel cold, smell clean, taste fresh and sound alive. "A lot of times science will say the water is good, you could drink it, but they won't drink it," said Patrick Simon, a Deninu Kųę́ First Nation councillor participating in the hearing, adding that scientists also use numbers that are hard to understand to communicate that water is safe. "If I told you, as an Indigenous person, the water is good, you can drink it, I will not only drink it but I'll show you the freshness of the water and the vibrancy, the clarity and even the feeling …. When we're around bad water it don't feel good. When we're around good healthy water, we feel alive, we feel connected. It's part of us." Simon said cultural use criteria will help Indigenous people decide whether they want to drink the water and harvest the animals in and around Lac de Gras once Diavik has closed. 'Flexibility should be maintained,' Diavik says A decision for the WLWB to make, once the hearing is over, is whether traditional knowledge and more cultural use criteria should be enshrined in the conditions of the licence – or whether those will be discussed further as part of the mine's closure plan. Diavik has expressed preference for the latter, stating in its presentation this week that it "strongly recommends that flexibility should be maintained" by discussing cultural use criteria through the final closure and reclamation plan and not establishing "fixed" licence conditions. Diavik is already in the process of creating a traditional knowledge monitoring program with its Indigenous partners that'll be submitted to the land and water board for approval. "Adding licence conditions might restrict the program that's in development. [The program] that really, at the end of the day, communities are developing for us," said Sean Sinclair, Diavik's manager of closure. "Potentially putting that in a box through licence conditions … we don't think it would necessarily be helpful and that it could be more flexibly managed through the closure plan." In a letter to the board ahead of the hearing, Diavik also said that there's uncertainty about how cultural use criteria would be evaluated for regulatory compliance. Diavik is trying to set itself apart from a history of abandoned mines in the N.W.T by closing responsibly. Its existing water licence expires at the end of the year, and it needs another one to wrap up production in March 2026, carry out closure, and start initial post-closure monitoring up until 2035. The hearing wraps up in Behchokǫ̀ on Wednesday.
Montreal Gazette
41 minutes ago
- Montreal Gazette
National Assembly needs a ‘rational voice,' new Canadian Party of Quebec leader says
By The National Assembly needs voices that aren't nationalist, the newly acclaimed leader of the Canadian Party of Quebec says. The federalist, anglophone-rights-focused party unanimously acclaimed Joe Cianflone as its new leader Saturday at a convention in Pointe-Claire — and voted in resolutions supportive of splitting Quebec in two. Cianflone officially replaces Colin Standish, who stepped down as leader in February. Standish, once an Eastern Townships language activist, founded the Canadian Party of Quebec in 2022, aiming to defend minority rights following the adoption of the Coalition Avenir Québec's sweeping language reforms under Bill 96. The party fielded its first slate of candidates in that year's election, running in 20 constituencies and scraping together just under 1,300 votes provincewide. Standish left Quebec after stepping down as leader, becoming a Crown prosecutor in Manitoba, with Cianflone announced as his replacement. The National Assembly is made up of 'four nationalist parties,' Cianflone said, leaving no option for voters who don't identify with Quebec nationalism. 'We just need to have a more moderate and rational voice,' he said. 'We're all about Canadian exceptionalism,' he said. 'At the end of the day, this is not an ethnically or linguistically or religiously or racially defined country or province.' Members of the nascent party adopted two resolutions Saturday concerning partitioning Quebec — as a response to the current government's repeated, pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause and as a potential countermeasure should a sovereignty referendum be successful. Though a recent Léger poll showed only 33 per cent of Quebecers favour separation, Cianflone said he still considers separatism a real threat. Parti Québécois Leader Paul-St-Pierre-Plamondon, who is leading in the polls, has promised to hold a referendum should he win. 'Once they declare a referendum, we see the same thing we saw in the '90s,' Cianflone said. 'Misinformation, disinformation and ultimately a very emotive and difficult vote.' Quebecers opposed to separation should have the option to stay in Canada, Cianflone said, which he said could mean the creation of a new province. Like in 2022, the party doesn't plan to field a full slate of candidates in the next election, he said, and will only appear on the ballot in select ridings. 'Our job is not to try to come in to be the party in power. Our job is to add one voice to the National Assembly, if not a few, that will stop voting unanimously for every nonsense piece of legislation that's proposed.'
CTV News
44 minutes ago
- CTV News
Canada invites United Arab Emirates to G7 summit, Brazil says Carney invited to COP30
United Arab Emirates Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speaking during the Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) OTTAWA — Canada has invited the United Arab Emirates to attend the G7 summit in Alberta, The Canadian Press has learned. While UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan could end up attending the summit, which starts Sunday in Kananaskis, Abu Dhabi has not said whether it has accepted the invitation. A Canadian government official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about Canada's list of invitees, confirmed the invitation. The office of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva says Prime Minister Mark Carney will attend the COP30 summit in the Amazon region city of Belém this November. The Canadian Press has asked Carney's office to confirm his attendance. Canada also has invited Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the G7 summit, and Riyadh has not indicated whether it has accepted the invitation. The confirmed list of leaders attending the G7 as guests includes the heads of government from Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa and Ukraine, all of whom have said they will attend. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025. Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
