Neighbours call for public meeting in wake of rowdy street party near Dalhousie campus
CBC
Residents of a south-end Halifax neighbourhood near Dalhousie University are calling for action after hundreds of students gathered in the area for a large street party on Sunday.
The unsanctioned party, dubbed "FOCO" by some students, as in fake homecoming, took place from around 11 a.m. AT Sunday until it was broken up by police around suppertime.
An official homecoming event planned by the university is scheduled for next weekend, but because many will be away for Thanksgiving, some students organized their own unsanctioned street parties Sunday.
Since 2017, they've become an annual occurrence in the student-heavy residential area around Larch, Jennings and Preston streets, a short walk away from the university's campus, even as neighbours, school officials, local police and the city have worked to prevent them.
"We know that students are going to have parties, and certainly they're entitled to do that, it's really just when it's out of control and starts to really impact other people that it's a problem," said Caitlin Lees, who lives in the neighbourhood with her family and two children.
Lees is part of a group of 14 households that issued an open letter Monday asking for a public meeting with Halifax's mayor, the interim police chief and Dalhousie's president.
"Despite assurances from your institutions of 'zero tolerance' this year, and in your knowing the date and location of the party well in advance, your institutions again failed our community," the letter stated.
Lees said this year's party was less intense than last year, where thousands were in attendance, one person was stabbed, and the event continued well into the evening, but still problematic.
There were hundreds of people milling about the residential area, with many carrying alcohol, some of whom were visibly intoxicated. Lees said the music nearby was so loud her house was shaking and that she witnessed some students urinating on her home.
"The response that we got yesterday was very much inconsistent with what has been planned for the entire prior year," said Lees. "I think we want to understand what happened and how we move forward and make sure that this doesn't happen again."
One particular concern, Lees added, was the number of city resources, including many police officers and emergency vehicles, required to keep the party under control.
"I think that it's one thing for me to stand here and say that this was a bad day for me in my neighborhood, but everybody in this province who might have needed emergency medical care or police assistance yesterday would have had delays in accessing that, and that's a problem."
Harry McInroy is a third year exchange student from England studying music at Dalhousie.
He hosted a party with his roommates, but said they tried to keep things under control by warning their neighbours in advance, and having people go inside their house and around to the backyard, instead of loitering in the street.
Experts are constantly warning the public to be on guard for new and increasingly convincing scams, but police say the holiday shopping season is especially fraught with risk.
A surgeon who used to work at Flin Flon's hospital says residents in the northwestern Manitoba city have been left in a precarious situation after more than five years without general surgery services.
Moubarak Bokhit Ali's memories of his home country of Sudan are punctuated by flashes of violence.
The man behind the Moose Jaw health centre that has claimed “a 100 per cent success rate in stopping the progression and in restoring function of people with ALS” says a recent CBC story about his company is evidence that he is seen as “a direct threat to the ALS drug industry.”
The Neighbour to Neighbour Centre’s trans and non-binary grocery program, which offers free food and household products to community members once a month, began with a simple question: how do we get free menstrual products to trans people without being awkward?
Bill Van Vugt is living a life that's unlike most other people his age, and one which has seen him turn a longtime hobby into championship gold.
The provincial government is taking steps toward improving Alberta's lucrative sand and gravel industry.
As medical labs across Ontario remain understaffed, one medical association is calling on the province to expand labs’ capacity for student placements by funding positions to train them.
The year wrapping up means it's getting closer to tax season, and the federal Community Volunteer Income Tax Program will once again be offering free filing services for Islanders with modest incomes.
It's not so easy to remove a politician from office between elections in Canada.
Natasha Martin-Mitchell says creating art gives her a sense of calmness that acts as a medicine during stressful times.
Gabriel Vilardi scored twice and star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves in his first game back from injury to power the Jets to a 5-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday that snapped Winnipeg's three-game losing skid.
Alberta’s auditor general Doug Wylie says his office's budget will be $1.5 million short next fiscal year.