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Can we finally hope to hope?

We have a new provincial government that at least seems to be making the right progressive noises. COVID-19 vaccines are headed our way. And spring is in the air...

March 7, 2021 By Stephen Kimber

The first hint that the change of Nova Scotia government might be more than a simple shuffling of shop-worn deck chairs did not come from the new government. It landed on the day before Iain Rankin was even sworn in as premier. On Feb. 22, Bay Ferries Ltd. issued a “media advisory,” publicly releasing information...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Bay Ferries, Dr. Robert Strang, Iain Rankin

‘The rest is for the seagulls’

We may never know all the complex factors that led Lionel Desmond to murder his wife and family, and then kill himself. But we're learning. It's complicated.

February 28, 2021 By Stephen Kimber

On the evening of Jan. 3, 2017, Lionel Desmond, a 32-year-old former Canadian soldier, murdered his 31-year-old wife, Shanna, their 10-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, and his 52-year-old mother, Brenda, in their home in tiny Upper Big Tracadie, N.S. Then, he turned the rifle on himself. In the immediate aftermath of that horrific quadruple murder-suicide, we as...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Subscribers only Tagged With: domestic violence, Lionel Desmond, PTSD

New Premier Iain Rankin should revisit costly and environmentally harmful biomass directive

February 23, 2021 By Jennifer Henderson 1 Comment

When the new premier and cabinet are sworn in today, one item on their agenda should be a return visit to a directive the McNeil government gave to Nova Scotia Power last May.  The directive has led to increased burning of biomass (aka “trees”). According to a decision released by the Utilities and Review Board […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, News, Province House

Iain Rankin says he’s listened and learned. Now it’s time to lead

On Tuesday, Rankin will get his first chance as premier to make his first lasting impression on Nova Scotians. What will he say? What should he say?

February 21, 2021 By Stephen Kimber

After Nova Scotia Lieutenant-Governor Arthur LeBlanc performs his ceremonial and socially distanced laying on of hands at the Halifax Convention Centre on Tuesday morning — instantly transforming Iain Rankin, the twice-elected MLA for Timberlea-Prospect, into Iain Rankin, the suddenly unelected premier of all he surveys — our 29th premier will get a first chance to...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Premier Iain Rankin, Stephen McNeil, Yarmouth ferry

Atlantic Gold says it is getting “into the halls of government” in Nova Scotia, but it has no registered lobbyist

February 18, 2021 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

Craig Jetson, CEO and Managing Director of St Barbara — the Australian company that owns Atlantic Gold that in turn owns the Touquoy open pit gold mine in Moose River and plans to open three more gold mines along Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore — says that he has lined up “quite a few meetings over […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Investigation, News, Province House

COVID-19 underscores the many failures of imprisonment

February 15, 2021 By Martha Paynter 4 Comments

Today, February 15, is a relatively new statutory holiday, called Family Day in half of the provinces and Heritage Day in Nova Scotia, although of course here too those of us who can do so are home with our families.  For the most part, the people in prison in Canada have now gone 11 months […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured

The Wayne Hankey case

When former King's College professor Wayne Hankey was charged in an historic sexual assault case earlier this month, it raised questions about what happened — and why — after he was accused of similar behaviour 30 years ago.

February 14, 2021 By Stephen Kimber Leave a Comment

I can still remember where I was when I heard the news: in the Senior Common Room at the University of King’s College, staring across the quad at the beautiful, new, soon to be opened university library. At the time, which was the spring of 1991, King’s was still small enough that faculty meetings were […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: historic sexual assault, sexual assault, Wayne Hankey

Is Iain Rankin the voice of ‘the next generation’?

He's young. He offers up progressive platitudes. But can he 'be the change?' We shall see.

February 7, 2021 By Stephen Kimber

My colleague, Jennifer Henderson, summed it up best. “This was perhaps the dullest political leadership convention in Nova Scotia history,” she wrote. “I’ve been to wakes that were more fun.” My wife and I chose to have dinner at a pub instead. All the screens in the pub showed sporting events. No one seemed to...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Iain Rankin, Liberal leadership 2021

Atlantic Gold’s lobbying blitz

The company is now in court on charges of harming the environment, regulators are casting a wary eye at its plans for future environmental protection, and investors are getting worried, so Atlantic Gold has hired a lobbyist to fast track federal approval of its Nova Scotia projects.

February 5, 2021 By Joan Baxter 5 Comments

Last year it was a propaganda blitz. For several weeks in the spring of 2020, Atlantic Gold, which operates an open pit gold mine in Moose River in the Halifax Regional Municipality and wants to open three more along the Eastern Shore, bombarded people in Nova Scotia with its PR. Atlantic Gold’s owner, Australia’s St […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Aaron Beswick, Alex Barkley, Archibald Lake, Archibald Lake Wilderness Area, Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency (ACOA), Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Beaver Dam, CBC, Chronicle Herald, Cochrane Hill gold mine, Craig Jetson, Credit Suisse, Darmouth Provincial Court, DDV Gold, Department of lands and Forestry, Dustin O’Leary, Eastern Shore, Environmental Impact Statement, Fifteen Mile Stream mine, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Freedom of Information request, Friends of the St. Mary’s River, Goldman Sachs, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, J.P. Morgan, Joel Bakan, John Perkins, Krista Gillis, lobbyist, Lobbyists Registration Act, Margaret Anne McHugh, Maryse Belanger, Mi'kmaq, Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS), Mitchell Glawson, Mogran Stanley, moose, Moose River, Moose River Consolidated Project, Narrative Research, NATIONAL Public Relations, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), NOPE campaign, Nova Scotia Environment, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, open pit gold mine, Ottawa, proposed Beaver Dam mine, protected wilderness areas, Sean Kirby, Sherbrooke, St Barbara Ltd, St. Mary's River, The Corporation, Tiéoulé Traoré, Touquoy mine, Tracy Barron, Wilderness Areas Protection Act

Save our forests? Not now. We’re too busy destroying them

A lawyer for logging contractors says there's a time and place to discuss concerns about forest harvesting practices. But the courtroom isn't either. Which begs a few questions. What is the time? Where is the place?

January 31, 2021 By Stephen Kimber

A protester in Santa costume at the Nova Scotia forestry blockade. (Facebook) “There is a time and place to debate [the validity of protestors’ concerns about forest harvesting practices], and this courtroom is not it.” Ian Dunbar Lawyer for WestFor Forest Management January 26, 2021 *** If you met Sandra Phinney, the last words that...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: clearcutting, Endangered Species Act, forestry, Lahey Report on Forestry

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The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Keonté Beals. Photo: Keke Beatz

Episode #21 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne is published.

The young R&B artist Keonté Beals — Tara’s former NSCC student, by the way — started out singing in church in North Preston and performing popular covers before digging into who he is an artist. On his debut album KING, he sings about love, loyalty, and authenticity. He zooms in for a chat about its creation, his children’s book, and how not even a pandemic can keep him down.

This episode is available today only for premium subscribers; to become a premium subscriber, click here, and join the select group of arts and entertainment supporters for just $5/month.

Please subscribe to The Tideline.

Uncover: Dead Wrong

In 1995, Brenda Way was brutally murdered behind a Dartmouth apartment building. In 1999, Glen Assoun was found guilty of the murder. He served 17 years in prison, but steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2019, Glen Assoun was fully exonerated.

Halifax Examiner founder and investigative journalist Tim Bousquet has followed the story of Glen Assoun's wrongful conviction for over five years. Now, Bousquet tells that story as host of Season 7 of the CBC podcast series Uncover: Dead Wrong.

Click here to go to listen to the podcast, or search for CBC Uncover on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast aggregator.

About the Halifax Examiner

Examiner folk The Halifax Examiner was founded by investigative reporter Tim Bousquet, and now includes a growing collection of writers, contributors, and staff. Left to right: Joan Baxter, Stephen Kimber, Linda Pannozzo, Erica Butler, Jennifer Henderson, Iris the Amazing, Tim Bousquet, Evelyn C. White, El Jones, Philip Moscovitch More about the Examiner.

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Recent posts

  • 2 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Wednesday, April 14 April 14, 2021
  • It ain’t easy bein’ green April 14, 2021
  • Atlantic Bubble likely will be postponed; 6 new cases of COVID-19 are announced in Nova Scotia on Tuesday, April 13 — all involving travellers April 13, 2021
  • Pieridae’s pipe dream April 13, 2021
  • What’s the Big Idea? April 13, 2021

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