NEW HALIFAX FERRIES TO HONOUR POET AND HERO OF EXPLOSION

Halifax’s two new ferries will be named after a poet laureate of the Mi’kmaq people and a railway dispatcher who in 1917 warned trains of the coming harbour explosion. The city announced Friday one ferry will bear the name of Vincent Coleman, who stayed at his post to warn incoming trains of the danger posed by a burning ship, and died minutes later in the massive blast known as the Halifax Explosion. The other is being named after Rita Joe, a Mi’kmaq poet from Cape Breton who was known as a poet of her people.