PRESS RELEASE: Solidarity Halifax to hold contest to rename the Oval

Emera’s Profiteers rally organized by the Power to the People campaign in June 2012.

For Immediate Release
February 13, 2013

Halifax, NS – Halifax Regional Council should never have allowed the Oval to be named for Emera/Nova Scotia Power, one of the biggest corporate bullies in the province, says Solidarity Halifax, an anti-capitalist organization in the city. To challenge Council’s decision, Solidarity Halifax will be holding a contest to rename the Oval. Full contest details available at: http://solidarityhalifax.ca/campaigns/power/nameouroval/

“Emera/Nova Scotia Power has drained $2 billion in profits out of our province since it was privatized in 1992,” says Brian Crouse, a member of Solidarity Halifax’s Power to the People Campaign. “Emera cuts off families’ heat in the winter, charges some of the highest rates in the country, and is dragging its feet on green energy – they don’t deserve to have a public facility named after them.”

Solidarity Halifax has also produced a two-page handout that explains how Emera got the right to name the Oval, details on financials and the back-room meetings HRM Council held to make this awful decision. The analysis piece can be found here: http://solidarityhalifax.ca/analysis/renaming-our-oval/

The public is encouraged to propose alternative names for the Oval and make nominations for the contest. Nominations will run from Wednesday, February 13 until Thursday, February 21. Finalists will be announced on Saturday, February 23 and voting will run from February 23 to March 7. The winner will be announced on March 9.

“HRM Council should cancel the contract with Emera/Nova Scotia Power, rename the Oval and adopt a new policy for how public facilities are named,” says Crouse. “Beyond that, the province needs to step in and put an end to private, for-profit electricity by bringing Nova Scotia Power back under democratic, public ownership.”

Weather permitting, Solidarity Halifax members will leaflet the public at the Oval on Wednesday, February 13 at noon to start the conversation about the contest.

For more information please contact:

Brian Crouse
Mobile – (902) 222-1564
brianccrouse@gmail.com

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