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Halifax man and ‘trailblazer’ admired for love of wearing high heels has died at 86

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HALIFAX – Harold Anderson, a Halifax man known and admired for the elegant stilettos he wore on his jaunts around the city, has died at the age of 86.

His longtime friend Lisa Cochrane says the fashion-lover who challenged gender norms will be remembered for his brave self-expression and style.

“He really didn’t like the term cross-dresser. He didn’t like the labels that were put on people. He’d say: ‘women wear pants all the time, why aren’t they called cross-dressers?’”

“He just didn’t have time for any of that. He didn’t think his fashion choices should be defined by his gender. He really was a sort of trailblazer,” Cochrane said in an interview.

Cochrane, an artist and filmmaker, first noticed Anderson walking around Halifax in the 1980s, wearing a suit and four-inch heels — either yellow or red. She felt drawn to the man who seemed so happy, and in the early 2000s she introduced herself. Shortly after, she started working on a documentary film about Anderson, which she dropped when she realized Anderson had become nervous about how such a documentary might impact his work as a security guard.

Then, more than 10 years later, she wrote a play about a filmmaker and a reluctant documentary subject who wears elegant high heels and reached out to Anderson to see what he thought. This time around, he was happy with the idea, and the play called “Well Heeled” was commissioned by the Halifax-based LunaSea Theatre Company. It ran as a workshop production, though it didn’t go on to a full production, and Anderson and Cochrane were good friends from then on.

Cochrane continued to film Anderson throughout his life, and she intends to make a film about friendship inspired by her fashionable friend.

On Tuesday, Cochrane attended a small celebration of life that was held for Anderson in Middle LaHave, N.S., where he was born. Anderson’s brother Borden Anderson and his brother’s wife Bev Anderson were in town from Ottawa for the occasion.

Borden Anderson said he’ll remember his older brother for his kind nature and love of country music, something they shared and bonded over.

He and his wife learned about Harold’s affinity for feminine fashion and high heels just 10 years ago.

Bev Anderson said they noticed that for years every time they visited Harold would wear the same slacks and men’s dress shoes. They figured he was short on cash, and sent him a cheque.

Harold called the couple and told them he needed to return the money, and that in fact he had plenty of clothes — a collection of pencil skirts, hosiery and high heel shoes. “We said: ‘So what? Makes no difference to us,” Bev recalled.

Borden, who was a longtime member of the Canadian military, said, “being in the military, these kinds of things would have been kept hush-hush, so I imagine that’s why he never told me about it.”

“It didn’t change the way we looked at him,” Bev added. “And you know, dressing as a woman really suited him.”

From that point on, Harold wore his high heels and skirts when he was out with his brother and sister-in-law.

Cochrane said Harold’s shoe collection is massive, and he didn’t mind being approached on the street. “He loved attention, he loved compliments,” she said.

Harold’s death sparked a wave of activity on social media, with many Haligonians sharing their memories of the fashionable man. Many posts describe him as a “fixture” of the city and an “icon” who was friendly and always smiling. One person shared that he could be seen wearing his sky-high stilettos in all weather, even during a 2004 blizzard known as White Juan.

Bev Anderson said his affection for high heel shoes continued until the end of his life. As recently as last week, about two weeks after Harold suffered a stroke, she was visiting him in the hospital and he pointed to his shoes to ask that she put them on him in his hospital bed.

“He was so happy to have his high heels on while laying in his bed,” she said.

Harold Anderson died in hospital on Sunday.

Throughout his life, he never gave any indication that he was LGBTQ+, Cochrane said, and he always said his desire to wear high heels sprang from a love of fashion.

“And what he liked most were stilettos, elegant, minimum three inches. And he never expressed any discomfort wearing them … he wore them from the minute he got up until he went to bed,” Cochrane said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2024.

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RCMP end latest N.B. search regarding teenage girl who went missing in 2021

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BATHURST, N.B. – RCMP in New Brunswick say a weekend ground search for evidence related to the disappearance of a teenage girl in 2021 didn’t reveal any new information.

In an emailed statement, the RCMP said 20 people participated in the search for evidence in the case of Madison Roy-Boudreau of Bathurst.

The release said the search occurred in the Middle River area, just south of the girl’s hometown.

Police have said the 14-year-old’s disappearance is being treated as a homicide investigation.

The RCMP said the search “did not reveal any new information regarding the circumstances of her disappearance.”

There are no plans for another search until police receive a tip or a lead pointing to a new search area.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

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Man Tasered after trespassing in Victoria school, forcing lockdown

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VICTORIA – A middle school in Victoria was forced into a lockdown after a man entered the building without permission, and police say they had to use a stun gun to make an arrest.

Victoria police say officers received multiple calls around noon on Monday of an unknown male entering Central Middle School, leading staff to set off emergency procedures that put the building under lockdown.

Police say its emergency response team arrived within minutes and found the suspect, who “appeared to be in a drug-induced state,” in the school’s library.

A statement from police says the suspect resisted arrest, and officers had to use a Taser to subdue the man.

He’s being held by police and has been assessed by emergency medical staff.

Police say the man was not armed and there were no continuing safety concerns for students and staff following the arrest.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

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B.C. Greens’ ex- leader Weaver thinks minority deal with NDP less likely than in 2017

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VANCOUVER – Former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver knows what it’s like to form a minority government with the NDP, but says such a deal to create the province’s next administration is less likely this time than seven years ago.

Weaver struck a power-sharing agreement that resulted in John Horgan’s NDP minority government in 2017, but said in an interview Monday there is now more animosity between the two parties.

Neither the NDP nor the B.C. Conservatives secured a majority in Saturday’s election, raising the prospect of a minority NDP government if Leader David Eby can get the support of two Green legislators.

Manual recounts in two ridings could also play an important role in the outcome, which will not be known for about a week.

Weaver, who is no longer a member of the Greens, endorsed a Conservative candidate in his home riding.

He said Eby would be in a better position to negotiate if Furstenau, who lost her seat, stepped aside as party leader.

“I think Mr. Eby would be able to have fresh discussions with fresh new faces around the table, (after) four years of political sniping … between Sonia and the NDP in the B.C. legislature,” he said.

He said Furstenau’s loss put the two elected Greens in an awkward position because parties “need the leader in the legislature.”

Furstenau could resign as leader or one of the elected Greens could step down and let her run in a byelection in their riding, he said.

“They need to resolve that issue sooner rather than later,” he said.

The Green victories went to Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.

Neither Botterell nor Valeriote have held seats in the legislature before, Weaver noted.

“It’s not like in 2017 when, you know, I had been in the (legislature) for four years already,” Weaver said, adding that “the learning curve is steep.”

Sanjay Jeram, chair of undergraduate studies in political science at Simon Fraser University, said he doesn’t think it’ll be an “easygoing relationship between (the NDP and Greens) this time around.”

“I don’t know if Eby and Furstenau have the same relationship — or the potential to have the same relationship — as Horgan and Weaver did,” he said. “I think their demands will be a little more strict and it’ll be a little more of a cold alliance than it was in 2017 if they do form an alliance.”

Horgan and Weaver shook hands on a confidence-and-supply agreement before attending a rugby match, where they were spotted sitting together before the deal became public knowledge.

Eby said in his election-night speech that he had already reached out to Furstenau and suggested common “progressive values” between their parties.

Furstenau said in her concession speech that her party was poised to play a “pivotal role” in the legislature.

Botterell said in an election-night interview that he was “totally supportive of Sonia” and he would “do everything I can to support her and the path forward that she chooses to take because that’s her decision.”

The Green Party of Canada issued a news release Monday, congratulating the candidates on their victories, noting Valeriote’s win is the first time that a Green MLA has been elected outside of Vancouver Island.

“Now, like all British Columbians we await the final seat count to know which party will have the best chance to form government. Let’s hope that the Green caucus has a pivotal role,” the release said, echoing Furstenau’s turn of phrase.

The final results of the election won’t be known until at least next week.

Elections BC says manual recounts will be held on Oct. 26 to 28 in two ridings where NDP candidates led B.C. Conservatives by fewer than 100 votes after the initial count ended on Sunday.

The outcomes in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat could determine who forms government.

The election’s initial results have the NDP elected or leading in 46 ridings, and the B.C. Conservatives in 45, both short of the 47 majority mark in B.C.’s 93-seat legislature.

If the Conservatives win both of the recount ridings and win all other ridings where they lead, Rustad will win with a one-seat majority.

If the NDP holds onto at least one of the ridings where there are recounts, wins the other races it leads, and strikes a deal with the Greens, they would have enough numbers to form a minority government.

But another election could also be on the cards, since the winner will have to nominate a Speaker, reducing the government’s numbers in the legislature by one vote.

Elections BC says it will also be counting about 49,000 absentee and mail-in ballots from Oct. 26 to 28.

The NDP went into the election with 55 ridings, representing a comfortable majority in what was then an 87-seat legislature.

Jeram, with Simon Fraser University, said though the counts aren’t finalized, the Conservatives were the big winners in the election.

“They weren’t really a not much of a formal party until not that long ago, and to go from two per cent of the vote to winning 45 or more seats in the B.C. provincial election is just incredible,” he said in an interview Monday.

Jeram said people had expected Eby to call an election after he took over from John Horgan in 2022, and if he had, he doesn’t think there would have been the same result.

He said the B.C. Conservative’s popularity grew as a result of the decision of the BC Liberals to rebrand as BC United and later drop out.

“Had Eby called an election before that really shook out, and maybe especially before (Pierre) Poilievre, kind of really had the wind in his sails and started to grow, I think he could have won the majority for sure.”

He said he wasn’t surprised by the results of the election, saying polls were fairly accurate.

“Ultimately, it really was a result that we saw coming for a while, since the moment that BC United withdrew and put their support behind the conservatives, I think this was the outcome that was expected.”

— With files from Darryl Greer

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

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