News
1. Council committee recommends increase to RCMP and HRP budgets

Photo by Taymazvalley via Flickr.
Last week, Zane Woodford reported that Halifax Regional Police lied to the Board of Police Commissioners about steps taken to fix the police department’s IT security failings.
Yesterday, councillors on the city’s budget committee recommended in favour of increasing the police budget. Under their recommendations, the HRP budget would go up by 2.7% and the the Halifax-District RCMP budget by 5.6%.
Reporting on yesterday’s budget committee meeting, Woodford writes:
What came to council’s budget committee on Wednesday was the staff-recommended 2.7% increase to the budget, up to about $88.6 million, with four options over budget for council’s consideration.
The board recommended in favour of all four of those items, totalling $332,000. They are: $85,000 for a one-year term employee to write a detailed report on body-worn cameras, $101,200 for an online training technician, $60,000 for a training course, and $85,800 for a new court dispositions clerk.
Councillors left one of those items, $101,200 for an online training technician, on the table, choosing not to add it to the adjustment list for consideration, and in turn, they chose a lower budget than the Board of Police Commissioners recommended.
They added the other three items, totalling $230,800. That means the maximum HRP budget councillors could vote for now would be $88,810,800 — an increase of 2.9% over the 2020-2021 budget.
Councillors raised questions about a few individual items in the police budget, including a quarter of a million dollars on polygraphs. Let’s be clear. Polygraphs, or lie detector test, are thoroughly disproven junk science, and the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that evidence gained through their use is inadmissible. When I saw Woodford’s piece, I immediately thought of an El Jones article from last year, but Woodford beat me to it, quoting from it himself. Jones writes:
Polygraph tests, popularly known as lie detectors, are notoriously unreliable. In 1987, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the tests are inadmissible in court. In 2000, however, the court ruled that it is acceptable to use the tests to extract confessions from suspects. In other words, despite being unscientific and unproven, the police are allowed to use the tests to deceive suspects into often false confessions.
Woodford reports that, when asked about polygraphs, Halifax Regional Police chief Dan Kinsella replied:
“I’m not an expert on it. I don’t know all the details, but I do know that it is a tool that has value to our investigative ability. I’ll leave it at that. Subject to different opinions on it, or whether it’s good or bad, there are a number of police services across the country that use polygraph investigatively.”
Here is a tool whose results have been deemed inadmissible as evidence in Canada for 35 years, and the best the chief can do is say he doesn’t really have much of an opinion, but other police forces use it.
Well, that’s comforting.
Late yesterday afternoon I saw this tweet, which I presume is in reference to the proposed police budget increase, and kind of sums things up nicely.
2. Crashing the COVID-19 vaccination clinic

Danielle Sheaves, a registered nurse with the COVID-19 unit at the QEII, was the first person in Nova Scotia to receive the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, Dec. 16. Photo: Communications Nova Scotia
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. Please help us continue this coverage by subscribing.
Nova Scotia is expanding its vaccination efforts with plans to open a series of clinics across the province. The first clinic, a prototype or pilot project, is limited to people over 80, with appointments available by invitation only.
But, Tim Bousquet reports, “a kink has presented itself.”
He writes:
A “bit of a flurry” arose on the private Crichton Park neighbourhood Facebook page yesterday, a reader tells the Examiner. “Someone googling ‘NS vaccine’ info found the registration portal for the over-80 invitation-only vaccination clinic at the IWK. He signed up his elders, posted the link on facebook and others followed suit, no surprise.”
“I looked, and indeed, the registration portal did not reference the invitation-only aspect and was open to anyone to use,” the reader explained.
Read the full story, with the province’s response, here.
3. Killing SARS-COV-2 with light?

UV light array. Photo: Sterilight LLC.
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. Please help us continue this coverage by subscribing.
Could UV light play a role in stopping the spread of COVID-19?
No, not (as Donald Trump famously put it) by “hit[ting] the body with a tremendous, whether it’s ultraviolet or just very powerful light… supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way,” — but by using ultraviolet light to kill airborne particles.
Yvette d’Entremont reports on a research project aimed at determining whether UV lighting could be used in long-term care facilities and beyond, as a COVID-19- fighting strategy.
d’Entremont spoke to Dr. Kenneth Rockwood, a physician and Dalhousie University professor who is leading the study. She writes:
Rockwood said one of the challenges faced by nursing homes is that many residents are living with moderate to severe dementia. They can’t be expected to regularly and properly participate in the measures known to decrease risk, like washing their hands, maintaining social distancing, or keeping a mask on their face…
There are different kinds of UV light, and some types can cause eye and skin problems. Rockwell’s team is focusing on a type of light that should still be able to kill the virus, without damaging people nearby.
From the story:
…Research found the 222 nm UV light was just as effective at killing antibiotic resistant bacteria as conventional 254 nm germicidal UV lamps without those negative side effects…
Rockwell said much of the data on far-UVC lighting for disinfection has come from the U.S. Although exposure to this kind of UV lighting is considered safe for eyes and skin, they still must evaluate it on a long-term care population to be absolutely certain.
“There are only theoretical risks. They haven’t been shown to be the case in other applications where it’s been used, but we realize it hasn’t been used in frail older adults, and how their skin might react is not clear,” he said.
“It should work well. That being said, you can’t go by an assumption. We have to test it, so a big part of the trial is the safety arm.”
Northwood and Windsor Elms Village are both participating in the study.
Much has been written about the potential for COVID-19 to make lasting changes to our built environment, and more widespread use of UV lighting may be one of these changes.
4. Latest COVID-19 update for Nova Scotia

Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash
Nova Scotia reported four new cases of COVID-19 yesterday; of those, one is related to travel and two are under investigation, Tim Bousquet reports. In addition, yesterday evening, the province announced a case at Beaver Bank-Monarch Drive Elementary.
I am grateful to live in a place where the seven-day rolling average is under 10 cases a day so much of the time.
The province also issued the following possible COVID-19 exposure advisories:
Out of an abundance of caution and given the current testing capacity available, anyone who worked at or visited the following locations on the specified dates and times should immediately visit covid-self-assessment.novascotia.ca/ to book a COVID-19 test, regardless of whether or not they have COVID-19 symptoms. You can also call 811 if you don’t have online access or if you have other symptoms that concern you.
If you have symptoms of COVID-19 you are required to self-isolate while you wait for your test result. If you do not have any symptoms of COVID-19 you do not need to self-isolate while you wait for your test result.
Walmart New Minas (9097 Commercial St, New Minas) on Feb. 10 between 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, Feb. 24.
MIDAS New Minas (9154 Commercial St, New Minas) on Feb. 10 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, Feb. 24.
Regardless of whether or not you have COVID-19 symptoms, those present at the following locations on the named dates and times are required to self-isolate while waiting for their test result. If you get a negative result, you do not need to keep self-isolating. If you get a positive result, you will be contacted by Public Health about what to do next.
Burger King (9148 Commercial St, New Minas) on Feb. 10 between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, Feb. 24.
Walmart New Minas (9097 Commercial St, New Minas) on Feb. 3 between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, Feb. 17. **UPDATE:** Regardless of whether or not you have COVID-19 symptoms, those present at this location on the named date and time are required to self-isolate while waiting for their test result. If you get a negative result, you do not need to keep self-isolating. If you get a positive result, you will be contacted by Public Health about what to do next.
Meanwhile, Halifax Regional Police said in a release that two area restaurants got $7,500 fines for flouting the Health Protection Act. (“Flouting” is one of those words we mostly use in journalism, but I think we should start using it more in our daily lives. Good word.)
From the release:
On February 13 at approximately 8 p.m. police investigated a report that a Halifax restaurant was not following provincial regulations. Officers attended and found that the restaurant was not following regulations related to the wearing of masks….
On February 13 at approximately 10 p.m. police investigated a report that a Halifax restaurant was not following provincial regulations. Officers attended and found that the restaurant was not following regulations related to the serving of patrons and the wearing of masks.
Bafflingly — to me, anyway — the police failed to name the restaurants. I’d think it was in the public interest to name them. I mean, if I were to walk into a place and see it was too crowded or people weren’t wearing masks I would leave immediately, but it would be great to avoid going at all.
Since the Hellas Family Restaurant in Sackville have made their position on the health protection orders abundantly clear (they don’t like them), I went over to their Facebook page to see if there was anything there about them being fined or objecting to a fine. But their most recent post was from January 30… touting cryptocurrency markets.
The story about the Wonder’neath art kits is just about the neatest thing I’ve read in a long time.
My favourite Wonderneath kit was to make a kaleidoscope. So cool.
Yesterday was one of those days where I wish Natalie Borden had remained chair of the Board of Police Commissioners. She knew how to present the police budget to council and knew to remind council that they cannot pick and choose what to fund and what not to fund in the HRP budget. She always kept order at meetings.
The discussion yesterday descended into farce because new councillors wanted to put certain items in ‘the parking lot’, aka for future consideration. At the first mention of ‘the parking lot’ Councillor Lindell Smith,chair of the BOPC, should have pointed out that the responsibility of the council is to approve an amount. He did not. Nor did Mayor Savage. Nor did Councillor Waye Mason, a former member of the BOPC, and nor did the Clerk – he may have the excuse that he is new to HRM.
After the lunch break it was obvious the ‘parking lot’ had been discussed privately because at the restart council was told that the HRP budget is treated in the manner set out in the Police Act and the by-law governing the BOPC. The issue of usage of a polygraph machine was subject to the expertise of councillors Austin,Mason and Cleary. I have no opinion on the use of a polygraph other than to say there is plenty of literature to show it has some value as one of the many tools used by police departments.
Since Mayor Savage became Mayor of HRM in November 2012 he has never attended any of the 114 meetings of the Board of Police Commissioners. He did not attend the the February 26 2018 meeting when an RCMP officer gave a presentation on the subject of ‘Human Trafficking’ which included the trafficking of young girls : https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/city-hall/boards-committees-commissions/180226bopc911.pdf
So, “defund the police” turns into “re-fund the police”…and our cozy, do-the-right thing, liberal world keeps turning. If it is not our fault, it is certainly our misfortune.
So, we can’t agree on a definition on “defund-police” but we are expected to see a reduced budget? One dimensional logic!
I think the problem is that “defund” means everything from shift money into more social welfare/mental health/crisis intervention support to get rid of the police. I’d be happy with an increased police budget if more of it went to supporting those initiatives above.
I think the onus is on defund the police proponents to clearly state what they mean. And lets get some feedback from some POC and other marginalized people on how they feel about this instead of just activists and white liberals.
When you in bed a link in an article it would be better I think from The Examiner`s perspective to have that link open in a new tab not replacing The Examiner in the tab.
Just a thought.
Yes, that was a big discussion here in the office when Tim set up the new linking system. The consensus was that the majority of readers prefer that it opens in the same tab, and they rely on the “back” arrow to return them to their original spot. Many find multiple tabs confusing.
On any site I always automatically right-click on links, and choose “Open in a new tab.”
Another option :-), to not lose readers 1) if the link is internal, open in same tab 2) if the link is external, open in new tab.
It appears that most young people prefer that the link open in the same tab, whereas older people want a new tab.
So much ageism 🙂 Hey old people you might be able to open in a new tab by right clicking the link and selecting “Open in a New tab”.
I agree with Just a Guy, but your right click suggestion is excellent. I will use it everywhere now!
I forget where I learned it, but I’ve been doing it for years. You can go down any number of rabbit holes, and not lose the original one.
Re. Polygraph tests. They may be be established as junk science ruled inadmissible in court but are still allowed as a police investigative tool. Remember the police are within their rights to lie to persons of interest if they believe that will help their investigation. If we lie to them that will be used against us in court. Claiming the polygraph scientifically “proved” a suspect lied and thus committed a crime is in keeping with that. These devices and their “trained” operators are also allowed to be used in some employment vetting as well.
If you watch the video of the meeting you can clearly see the reaction of RCMP Chief Superintendent Janice Gray (officer in charge of the Halifax detachment) to opinions re use of polygraph. More importantly she points out that Nova Scotia has no policing standards. See video at 2:03:53
If Mayor Savage was a member of the BOPC he would be able to ask questions about the RCMP budget instead of complaining about not understanding why the RCMP budget has increased by 22% See at 2:05:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDfL88UFrFY&feature=youtu.be
The problem with the police (or anyone) using unreliable tools such as polygraphs is that it too often leads them to follow false scents.
Please expand on what you know about polygraph usage. The RCMP and HRP use them and no doubt are reluctant to disclose why and how they use them as part of an assortment of investigative tools. They know the pros and cons of a polygraph. Police, and journalists, follow ‘false scents’ every day.
This is exactly the paradigm that got us into this mess: ‘trust the police, they know what they’re doing and have good intentions’. I think a lot of us are done with that.
In mid-winter thoughts of spring mean baseball. Thanks for the photo although I think it is actually from the Phillies “Spring Training Ballpark” in Clearwater. Apparently that is the official name this year – the naming rights must have expired. Haha.
You are absolutely right. We did go to a game in Clearwater, and as I was adding the photo and looking at the caption, I thought that doesn’t look like TD Park in Dunedin. But then I forgot to fix it. Will correct.
I know nothing about polygraphs but it seems to me an awful lot of money.
But for the body cam thing, virtually every police service in North America has studied them to death. Halifax does not need to hire a specialist. Just make a few phone calls and ask about how they are working out.
My sense is that HR Police see their public oversight as a nuisance to be bamboozled. They need to be told to reduce not increase. If they want unnecessary frills like a body cam consultant, they need to pick something else they won’t do to fund it.
A body cam would have been useful in the Dingle case and the young man ticketed for jaywalking on Gottingen street. Private video evidence showing an officer shooting a man in a fast food parking lot in America, and video evidence of a police officer pushing a 70 year old man to the ground were deemed sufficient to cause public outrage. I don’t understand how private video evidence is deemed to be trustworthy but police bodycams are deemed to be beyond the pale.