Halifax waterfront kiosk serves up African Nova Scotian food and facts
Dean Lucas, the owner of Freedom, says the concept of his business started after he noticed African Nova Scotian culture wasn't being represented through the waterfront's current cuisine options.
He also observed that some residents and tourists had a lack of knowledge about its history.
'I sort of started to talk with them to find out if they knew anything about African Nova Scotian history and like where we come from and the importance of it...at that point I thought, I need to kind of do something, maybe create a business,' says Lucas.
Since his kiosk debuted on Canada Day, Lucas says its garnered positive feedback.
'It's been awesome. People that come in, they love the food. They love the whole concept. I had a lady come from South Africa the other day, and she said her friend told her to stop in here,' he says.
The business hopes their dusted lemon pepper wings and East Coast deep fried pepperoni, will tempt nostalgic taste buds and promote African Nova Scotian products.
'You're teaching people about your culture, your history and just giving them a good time…you're not selling food- you're selling the experience and the history. It's all genuine pieces from African Nova Scotian artists,' says employee, Braedyn Provo.
Lucas says the name of the business was inspired by both his family, and his high hopes for the community.
'I'd love to see our communities be free, where they can build their own economies and have gas stations, stores, restaurants, have tours coming through Kevin's bus, so they don't need to rely anymore,' he says.
The business will continue serving up food and facts until October.
Freedom
Freedom, African Nova Scotian cuisine on the Halifax waterfront. (CTV Atlantic/ Vanessa Wright)
For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
29 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Making sense of markets at the midway point of the year with Mackenzie Investments' CIO
The first half of 2025 in stock markets is about as easy to summarize as the coming six months are to predict. Few investors anticipated U.S. President Donald Trump's administration going as far on tariffs as it did on the April 2 'Liberation Day' announcement, and few of those who suffered massive losses in the week that followed predicted markets would have reached new highs before the president's 90-day reprieve ends on July 9. To help make sense of the past six months, Globe Advisor spoke with Lesley Marks, chief investment officer, equities, at Mackenzie Investments. The conversation on June 26 took place in a rare quiet moment for markets this year. President Trump was still bashing Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell, but Iran and Israel had reached a truce, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on the cusp of new all-time highs, and the president wouldn't upend trade talks with Canada for another day. Ms. Marks discussed the sliding scale of uncertainty, key investment trends, and the top risk facing markets. Despite everything that's happened this year, stocks aren't far from where they were at the beginning of the year. How do you explain this? First is what I describe as the theory of relativity. While it has been very chaotic, when you compare where we are today versus where we were three months ago – for example, on 'Liberation Day' – people feel so much more certain. So, think about certainty as being relative. If that was the maximum uncertainty around the path that tariffs would take, and the fact that we have this 90-day reprieve, on a relative basis, people are feeling a little bit more certain. They've also come to almost get used to this chaotic nature of headlines we've seen. And then the second trend that has been helping markets is, as we all know, markets are forward-looking. While the near-term certainly has some headwinds, the medium-term is giving investors reason to be more optimistic. Some of the things that investors are focused on in looking through this short-term period of uncertainty are, for example, the likelihood that the Fed will move to ease [interest rates] and also the potential of stimulus that will come on the fiscal side from the passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Even if markets are at similar levels or a little bit higher than the start of the year, how is the backdrop for equities different now compared to Jan. 1? One thing that is certainly notable and should be a headwind for equities is that growth rates, when it comes to both economic and earnings growth, are actually lower now than they were on Jan. 1. But sentiment is quite strong. We went to this very low-sentiment place to basically saying, 'We've looked over the edge, we don't like what we see, and now we feel a lot better,' and investors are having more confidence that the administration is showing a willingness to pivot if things look dark when it comes to policy. The last piece that impacts both bond markets and equity markets is the outlook for interest rates. Although there's obviously concern about the future for inflation, inflation has been quite surprisingly benign. That's something that, at the beginning of the year, would have been identified as a risk that has not quite played out the way some would have expected by this point in time. Given this backdrop, what are you looking for in a stock today? You want to look for stocks that are going to benefit from the key themes or trends that are informing markets, economies, interest rates, growth, etc. For example, we've seen here in Canada a lot of interest around our resource sector, so that's a key theme. Obviously, AI is a key theme. What we're seeing today is a much greater focus on the productivity benefits of AI. That's particularly important when you think about the impact of inflation. So far, what we've seen are companies taking the brunt of the increased costs that come from tariffs, so they're very much going to rely on things such as AI to generate greater productivity. A theme that's been stealing headlines today has been related to NATO members' spending on defence as a percentage of their GDP. [It's] not just about traditional defence businesses, but also things that are strategically important, such as critical minerals – even AI. So, some of these expenditures that are great for productivity for countries are going to be included in that extra defence spending calculation. What do you think is the single biggest risk to markets going into the second half of this year? The single biggest risk is the one we're talking about today, but we haven't seen yet, which is inflation. What we've seen so far is that corporations seem to be absorbing the increase in tariffs. But just today, we saw the numbers around the tariff income into the U.S. Treasury, and the numbers are big. Billions are going into the U.S. Treasury from tariffs. It's very much a part of the budget reconciliation, the assumption that these tariffs will pay for some of the tax cuts and any of the fiscal spending. So, in that sense, tariffs are likely – in some shape or form – here to stay. Eventually, we'll see this come into consumer prices. Businesses are absorbing it today because they view it as temporary. If that proves to be false, then inflation comes back on the table, and that makes it very difficult for the Fed to make decisions about cutting interest rates to support a weaker economy. This interview has been edited and condensed.
CTV News
34 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘Buy local' momentum leads to business growth in Nova Scotia
Paul Hollingsworth has the story of a small Maritime business specializing in locally produced food reaping the benefits of the 'Buy Canada' movement. The owner of O'Bees Farm Market in Dartmouth, N.S. calls his business a made-in-the-Maritimes success story. 'I started out in 2009, and I started very small, with one table at the city market on Saturdays,' said Ian O'Brien. Sixteen years later, O'Brien's once small business has now grown into a permanent store, crammed with locally produced food, as his new, expanded store opened on Wednesday. According to O'Brien, when Donald Trump threatened tariffs and many Canadians turned their backs on U.S. made products, his business was perfectly positioned to offer customers what they wanted to buy. 'Ninety-nine per cent of the products that I have in my store are either from Nova Scotia or the Maritimes,' said O'Brien. 'It was easy to say, 'buy local', because we are local.' Shoppers like Pam Hayhurst agree. When the trade war ramped up, her shopping habits changed, and she said she is not alone. 'I definitely think there has been an awakening for that,' said Hayhurst. 'I know for myself, I like the idea of supporting local people, but knowing that everything that is going on with Trump, it is a way of helping the broader view. 'I know it's fresh and I know I am helping out the local farmers and I feel better about contributing to my community,' she added. The growth in the 'buy local' trend comes at a time when the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses has given Nova Scotia the highest score when it comes to removing internal trade barriers, which helps promote the sale of goods and services that are produced in Canada. 'I'm thrilled Nova Scotia is being recognized for making things better for businesses and workers,' said N.S. Premier Tim Houston in a news release. 'I hope it continues to encourage other provinces and territories to join us and make free trade a reality, nationwide.' Dartmouth business advocate Tim Rissesco believes the trend of supporting local businesses is just in its opening stages and he predicts more growth soon. 'People simply want to buy Canadian,' said Rissesco. 'People want to know where their food is coming from, people are looking for the quality and it is a source of national pride.' Which means business operators like Ian O'Brien can likely expect even more food sales and success, as the 'buy local' trend continues to gain momentum across Canada.
CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
Is it cheaper to live in Halifax or Toronto? This data says costs are comparable
The share of income Halifax households typically spent on housing and transportation costs in 2024 was comparable to cities like Toronto, according to recent Statistics Canada data analyzed by CBC News. Half of households in Halifax were estimated to spend about 31 per cent or more of before-tax income on those two expense categories. In Toronto, the figure was 30 per cent. With housing costs having rapidly increased over the last several years, Halifax realtor Chris Melnyk said the data lines up with what he's seen. "A lot of people have this kind of misconception that … homes are cheap," said Melnyk. Over the last few years, he's regularly received inquiries from people outside Nova Scotia who are interested in moving to the province. But, some decided not to after discovering Halifax homes were expensive. Melnyk said prices for many homes in and around the city effectively doubled from 2019 to 2022, adding that overall prices have been climbing since then following a brief decline. "The value proposition [of moving to Halifax] doesn't make that much more sense anymore relative to say, a number of years ago when it was a lot cheaper." Up until two years ago, Montreal-based musician and music teacher Rachel Sunter was living in Halifax, where she saw that change in housing prices first-hand. While renting, Sunter started to consider buying her first home just before 2020. But in only a couple of years, that was out of reach. "I could be a homeowner on one side of that [and] on the other side had no chance," Sunter said. Rising rents were one of the main reasons for Sunter's decision to move to Montreal after more than a decade living and building a career in Halifax. There, Sunter rented a house with roommates. She said she was repeatedly told for a number of years that the house would be demolished, prompting multiple searches for a new apartment. "Each year, all I could see was that there was nothing … I would be able to afford [while] paying rent and having a teaching business at the same time," Sunter said. Rents are, on average, considerably lower in Montreal, although Sunter said owning a car there has been more expensive for her due to licensing costs and other fees. The Statistics Canada data shows the median household in Toronto does spend a higher proportion of before-tax income on housing than in Halifax. But, when transportation costs are factored in, the cities are similar. By that combined measure, Halifax ranked 22 most expensive out of the 50 largest census subdivisions in Canada, which generally represent municipalities. The figures are from the statistics agency's relatively new Housing and Transportation Cost Index, which aims to provide a better sense of what it costs to live in an area as of May 2024. The idea behind the index is that even though housing in suburban areas can be cheaper than in the city's core, commuting and other transportation costs can offset that advantage and vice-versa. In Halifax since 2024, the average price of regular unleaded gas has been consistently higher than in Toronto, according to Statistics Canada. At the same time, wages in Nova Scotia were the lowest in Canada last year. Out of all the provinces, Nova Scotia was the sixth-most expensive in terms of the fraction of before-tax household income spent on housing, said Marcello Barisonzi, a senior analyst with Statistics Canada. But the province was the most expensive for transportation, pushing Nova Scotia to fourth place overall. Barisonzi said transportation costs were most expensive for those living in small towns.
