Peter Kelly’s mealymouthed nonsense: Morning File, Friday, February 5, 2016

News
Views
Government
On campus
Noticed
In the harbour
Footnotes

News

1. Yarmouth ferry

“The Portland government has asked a senator for help finding an old navy vessel to salvage the Yarmouth ferry ,” reports the CBC. Maybe the USS Arizona?

Nope.

“Multiple sources confirm that the company has set its sights on a high-speed ferry that once served the Hawaiian Islands and is now owned by the United States navy,” reports Michael Gorman:

The USNS Puerto Rico, formerly known as the Alakai, is a 106-metre ship that allows for roll on-roll off transfer. According to Wikipedia, the ship has a capacity of 866 passengers and up to 282 subcompact cars and was christened in 2007.

2. DEAD WRONG

Tomorrow at noon, I’ll be publishing the next instalment of the DEAD WRONG series.

Part 3: If Glen Assoun Didn’t Kill Brenda Way, Who Did? shows how Assoun was the likely victim of a combination of circumstance, bad luck, improper legal procedure, and conspiracy, and profiles the astounding number of violent men who preyed upon women in Dartmouth, any one of whom could’ve been the actual murderer.

The DEAD WRONG series is behind the Examiner’s paywall and so available only to paid subscribers. Click here to purchase a subscription.

3.  Mealymouthed nonsense

Peter Kelly tells Remo Zaccagna that he’s thinking about running for mayor. Of course, Kelly can’t just say “I’m thinking of running for mayor”; instead, in typical Kelly fashion, he mangles the language and spews out some mealymouthed nonsense:

“I will be taking all aspects into account before my final decision is made in terms of possibly going back into that direction,” he said.

Who talks like this? For the DEAD WRONG series I’ve been talking with a lot of former crack addicts and people with little or no education. For the most part, I like them. They’re straight shooters who speak in simple declarative statements that make sense. Kelly, on the other hand, speaks with so many conditional words and with such lack of precision that you need a white board, a pack of multicoloured markers, and a bottle of whisky in order to parse his sentences and make something like sense of them.

Zaccagna continues:

Almost exactly four years ago, in February 2012, it was revealed by journalist Tim Bousquet, formerly of the Coast, that Kelly took $145,000 from Mary Thibeault’s estate, which was on top of the five per cent he was given as executor of the will.

Kelly, who eventually reached a settlement with five of the other heirs of the estate, said that controversy will not factor into his decision on whether he will run for mayor again. 

“That issue has been fully resolved,” he said. “And there were certainly many lessons learned, and one learns from those mistakes and moves forward.”

Sigh. I’m not going to get into it, other than to say this: I spent a year of my life investigating all things Peter Kelly. Through the course of that investigation I learned all about the Thibeault estate, yes, but I also learned about a lot of other things too. I didn’t write about those other things, but I still have my notes.

I’m so done with the Peter Kelly story. I’m onto other and frankly more interesting things. I don’t want my legacy to be about reporting on the lack of accountability for a mealymouthed politician. I wish Kelly well; he’s moved back to town for whatever personal reasons he has, and good luck. But please, stay out of politics. I don’t want to go there. You don’t want me to go there.

4. Metro’s “sexiest city” article is fucked

Newspapers across the continent are failing as advertising revenue collapses, and yet for some reason Torstar, which owns Metro, every year gives a sex toy company free advertising. (The Halifax Metro website links to a Toronto story; I assume it’s in the local dead tree as well.)  Go figure.

There’s absolutely no news value in this. One company’s “What city buys the most sex toys online?” list likely doesn’t match competing companies’ sales — Company B might sell more in the cities low on Company A’s list. Further, online sales of any product likely reflect regional per capita use of the internet, and not some more titillating city-defining quality like per capita “sexiness.” And is use of sex toys really a measure of “sexiness”?

Is this just simple titillation? Maybe, but Torstar is supposed to be in the news business, not the titillation business. If Torstar wants to go down the titillation route, it should go all the way down and simply publish porn and be done with it. There’s more profit to be made from porn anyway.

Could this be an advertorial relationship? I notice that while the article in question is distributed through the “Torstar News Service,” it is bylined simply “Staff.” Was some reporter too embarrassed to put his or her name on this schlock, or is it copy written in the ad department? If the latter, there’s a more disturbing issue at play here, as the article is not labeled as advertising.

Full disclosure: I once sold an op-ed piece to the Torstar-owened Toronto Star. It was about journalist ethics.

Views

1. Leo Glavine

Health minister Leo Glavine shouldn’t resign over Geezergate, says Graham Steele.

2. Bear River

Stephen Archibald goes to Bear River:

The village spreads up steep slopes on either side of the river. It used to be branded “the Switzerland of Nova Scotia.” That confused me as a child. Actually it still confuses me.

3. Cranky letter of the day

To the Pictou Advocate:

Recently, I gazed to the right while rolling in my wheelchair along the walkway that runs between the Highland Square Mall in New Glasgow and the Walmart store. As I stared at that barren rock face, a vision of Lincoln’s head came to mind as it is carved at the Mount Rushmore Memorial in South Dakota. The Mount Rushmore rock carving likenesses of famous people was conceived by South Dakota historian Doane Robinson as an idea to promote tourism in the region.

It was a great idea! Mount Rushmore has become an iconic symbol and now attracts over two million people annually.

Frank H. Sobey came to mind as I wondered whose face would be an appropriate rock-face art carving work to adorn that barren rock face in New Glasgow. Here is why.

In September 1986, my wife Anne and I were privileged as invited guests to the launching ceremony of Harry Bruce’s book, Frank Sobey the Man and the Empire. This event was held in Abercrombie at Crombie House the former home of Frank H. Sobey.

There, I was introduced to Sobey’s collection of 19th- and 20th-century art by Canadian artists and featuring works of art by Cornelius Kreighoff, the Group of Seven and other Canadian and Nova Scotian artists, with a diversity of style, subject and interpretation. Those present on that day received a free copy of Harry Bruce’s book which now occupies a treasured spot in my library.

Frank Sobey began that wonderful art collection found now at Crombie House. And his family has continued the tradition to become patrons of art through his son, Donald, who setup the Donald R. Sobey Family Foundation and continues today through Rob Sobey.

“Since its inception in 2002, the Sobey Art Foundation has aspired to enhance the role of contemporary art in Canadian culture,” said the chair of the Sobey Art Foundation, Rob Sobey in early December of 2015. “We are tremendously grateful to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia for its efforts in highlighting and celebrating the best of Canadian contemporary art. For over thirteen years, our founding partner helped raise the award’s profile to achieve remarkable success.”

Frank Sobey left a wonderful legacy to his family but as well a legacy without precedent to us all here in Pictou County. I think it would be very appropriate for the Sobey foundations to commission a rock carving of his likeness as a fitting tribute to this great man who stands out in the history of this area.

And yes, it would also be likely to become an attraction that boosts the interest of tourists and others in our area.

Ralph Ferguson, Pictou

Government

No public meetings.

On Campus

Dalhousie

No interesting events at Dal today.

Saint Mary’s

Religious and Theological Perspectives on Climate Change and Global Justice (11:30am, Loyola Building, Room 282) — Cathy Driscoll, from the School of Business, will speak. I don’t know Driscoll, and this is probably a bit unfair, but a cursory google search tells me she’s an apologist for capitalism.

Social Change, the Peasantry, and Agricultural Production in Turkey (noon, MM 227) — Mehmet Nuri Gultekin, from the University of Gaziantep in Turkey, will speak.

In the harbour

Selfoss, container ship, Argentia, Newfoundland to pier 36, then sails to sea
Aeneas, content ship, arrived at Pier 42 this morning from New York; sails to sea this afternoon
Dinkeldiep, Saint-Pierre to Pier 36, then sails back to Saint-Pierre

Oceanex Sanderling sails to St. John’s

Footnotes

If all goes according to plan, I’ll publish a new (to the Examiner) writer later today, with two important news stories. This is quite exciting.