Nancy Wigston's visit to Quebec’s Grosse-Île reveals some disturbing and haunting memories when passengers on immigrant ships were forced to spend time there recovering from illness.

HALIFAX - Dusk lingers, picture-perfect, over Halifax Harbour; a silver moon on the rise, a lighthouse blinking in the distance, skies glowing purple and pink. All along Harbourwalk, a 10-city-block-long path stretching from Casino Nova Scotia in the north to Pier 21 in the south, buskers perform their final shows before dark descends. Fiddle and horn players, accordionists, creators of giant balloons — they all attract holiday crowds.