HALIFAX ECONOMY |
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The city still serves a major military purpose, as home port for the
Atlantic Fleet of the Canadian Navy, and as such maintains Canada's largest
naval base and the nation's largest military complex in terms of stationed
personnel at CFB Halifax which is comprised of HMCS Dockyard and the
Stadacona facilities.
The waterfront witnesses the brawny marine commerce of the North Atlantic
Great Circle route with two major container terminals, a small oil refinery,
as well as general cargo piers and more specialized cargo handling piers for
products such as automobiles and gypsum. Port facilities are also seeing
increased use for logistics support of offshore natural gas production
platforms near Sable Island, and for ongoing oil and gas exploration. The
port has a modestly active shipyard and is also home to a Canadian Coast
Guard base and the internationally-renowned Bedford Institute of
Oceanography. In recent years, the port has witnessed an increased number of
cruise ships. The port is also the eastern terminus of the transcontinental
Canadian National Railway which maintains extensive facilities throughout
the waterfront areas. |
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One of Halifax's first mayors, Alexander Keith, was a brewer and produced
Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale. The city also has a number of locally
brewed beers, including Garrison's Brown and Red Ales, the Clancy's line,
Propeller Extra Special Bitter and their sodas, and the products of the
various brewpubs, such as the Granite Brewery, the Rogue's Roost, and the
(quite new) Olde Halifax Alehouse.
The economy of Halifax has done relatively well in the 1990s and since the
turn of the century. Unemployment is low and construction projects have
multiplied in those years. One result has been the "gentrification" of some
areas of Halifax, for example the North End. The formerly working class area
which was reconstructed following its devastation in the disaster of 1917 is
now home to many more affluent people, with the resulting change in
character of some of its neighbourhoods. The South End, which has
traditionally been quite wealthy has remained so.
Another change in Halifax in recent years has been the extensive
redevelopment of the waterfront. Traditionally the waterfront was used by
industry and to service the ships coming into port. However, with changes in
the industry the large ships now use large container terminals in different
parts of the harbour. The older areas have now been converted for commercial
use, mostly to lure tourists. |
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