News
1. St. Patrick’s Alexandra decision reversed
The Court of Appeals has reversed a 2012 decision by Justice David MacAdam quashing the sale of the north end school site to Jono Developments. What this means is that the three community groups aiming to use the site have lost the opportunity, and the $3 million sale to Jono will move forward. Oh, and also, the appeals court is requiring the community groups to pay court costs.
The three-judge appeals court split on the decision. Justice David Farrar wrote the decision, with Justice Peter Bryson concurring. Chief Justice Michael MacDonald wrote a dissenting opinion.
Read the entire decision here. This article is behind the Examiner pay wall and so available only to paid subscribers. Click here to purchase a subscription.
2. Driver who killed pedestrian ticketed
On September 6, 81-year-old Lorraine Peters was struck by a car while walking across Herring Cove Road. The next day she died. A Halifax police release yesterday explains:
On September 6 at 3:40 p.m., officers responded to a collision between a car and a pedestrian at the intersection of Williams Lake and Herring Cove Roads. A car turning right from Williams Lake Road onto Herring Cove Road collided with a pedestrian walking south across Williams Lake Road in a marked crosswalk. The investigation determined that the vehicle was proceeding to turn right on a red light. The 81-year-old female pedestrian sustained life-threatening injuries and passed away in hospital the following day.
The 73-year-old male driver was requested to provide a sample of his breath at the scene which resulted in the suspension of his driver’s license for seven days for having a blood alcohol level between 50-80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (mg%). An unsealed and half-full bottle of alcohol was also seized from the vehicle.
Earlier this afternoon, investigators met with the 73-year-old male driver at police headquarters and issued him two summary offence tickets. One under the Motor Vehicle Act for failing to yield to a pedestrian on turn at a red light and one under the Liquor Control Act for illegally possessing liquor. These tickets carry fines of $176.45 and $463.95 respectively upon conviction.
Peters’ family is understandably upset at what they consider the under-charging of the man. “The family is very overwhelmed and hurt as to the charges that were laid,” Denise Lorraine Wilson, Peters’ daughter, told the CBC. “We do not understand why the driver was not charged with manslaughter.”
The police release went out late in the day, so reporters didn’t have time for follow-up. But since the Linda Mosher incident, police have changed their policies and have said they will now release the names of people given summary offence tickets, when asked. I will do exactly that this morning and report back as soon as possible.
Update, 1:30am: The driver was John David Corning, 73, of Halifax.
Incidentally, yesterday afternoon the police issued another release concerning an elderly driver hitting a pedestrian:
Shortly after 2 p.m., police responded to a pedestrian/vehicle collision in the parking lot of Costco, located at 230 Chain Lake Drive in Halifax. A car driven by a 79-year-old woman backed out of a parking spot and collided with a woman in her forties. The vehicle continued on and hit two other cars in the parking lot before coming to a stop.
The pedestrian suffered non-life threatening injuries and was transported to hospital by EHS. The driver wasn’t injured. No charges have been laid and this collision remains under investigation.
3. Affidavit: Serial killer Michael McGray knew Brenda Way
An affidavit signed by a retired RCMP officer working as a private investigation claimed that serial killer Michael McGray knew murder victim Brenda Way and lived in a north Dartmouth apartment just blocks from where Way’s body was discovered. This article is behind the Examiner pay wall and so available only to paid subscribers. Click here to purchase a subscription.
4. Freedom of information
Jamie Baillie is right. The PC leader introduced a bill yesterday that would make the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Review (FOIPOP) office report directly to the legislature. Currently the office reports to the Justice Department and so arguably can be politicized—Baillie points at the delays and high costs associated with the PCs’ request for documents related to the Yarmouth ferry. Former FOIPOP officer Dulcie McCallum has also called for such a move, and Nova Scotia and Quebec are the only provinces where the office falls under the bureaucracy. Premier Stephen McNeil rejected Baillie’s bill.
5. Environmental racism
One-hundred and eighty people met at Dalhousie University Wednesday evening to discuss environmental racism in Nova Scotia. Reporter Hilary Beaumont was there and relates what was discussed. This article is behind the Examiner pay wall and so available only to paid subscribers. Click here to purchase a subscription.
Views
1. Exhibition Hall
Stephen Archibald reminds us of Halifax’s first Exhibition Hall, a lovely building constructed in 1879 across the street from Victoria Park. Back in the 1970s, Archibald recreated in the building with the above print. Today, he fills in some of its history.
2. Panhandling
Business owner Gordon Stevens is proposing that Halifax convert a few surplus parking meters into vehicles for people to donate to charities, which he thinks will reduce panhandling downtown because shoppers will drop money into the meters instead of giving it to the live people asking for it. That’s unlikely. But besides, as Lezlie Lowe says, “there’s insight to be gained in being confronted by someone in need. It makes us aware of our privilege. It can make us uncomfortable. And I don’t think that’s bad.”
Government
City
No public meetings.
Province
Legislature sits (9am-1pm, Province House)
On Campus
Dalhousie
Chemistry (1:30pm, Chemistry 226)—Alan Doucette from the department of Chemistry will talk on “New Strategies for Proteome Analysis.”
Saint Mary’s
International Development Studies speaker series (noon, McNally Main 226)—Eduardo Gudynas, a visiting prof from the Latin American Centre of Social Ecology in Montevideo, Uruguay, will talk on “The New Extractivism: Inclusionary State Activism and Sustainable Natural Resource Development in Latin America.”
Noticed
The last few days I’ve been engrossed in the Serial podcast, the latest project from This American Life. TAL host Sarah Koenig takes us on a season-long series of podcasts examining just one story, in this case the murder of a teenager in Baltimore, Maryland. Two episodes are posted each week (#3 came out yesterday), with each coming from a different and surprising angle. It’s seriously good podcasting.
In the harbour
(click on vessel names for pictures and more information about the ships)
Arrivals
Europa, cruise ship, Charlettown to Pier 20
Bahri Hofuf, con-ro, Baltimore to Pier 31
Departures
Yantian Express to New York
Bahri Hofuf to Livorno (Florence, Italy)
CSL Tacoma to sea
Fusion to Saint-Pierre
Oceanex Sanderling to St. John’s
Footnotes
That red moon the other night seems to have driven everyone slightly crazy. Hope things return to normal soon.
As long as I have lived in Halifax the past 22 years I have watched the reports of pedestrian crossings and the fine punishment of around $625 issued time and time and time and time again. Particularly upsetting when the pedestrian is killed. I do not understand the limits of the law on this matter. Is new legislation needed? It seems so obvious that The financial fine is one thing to go with the infraction, but surely that cannot be it. I do not understand why the Police do not use the manslaughter charge. They talked about that back in the 1990’s when persons were killed on Crosswalks. Surely there would be fewer accidents if the law were applied recognizing the value of a human life and not the rigidity of a provincial ( or municipal) traffic infraction.
I’m not a fan of the recent journalistic practice of inviting family members to vent following criminal convictions for offences against their loved ones. This trope inevitably elicits emotional pleas for greater vengeance, with the most emotional family member demanding the most extreme vengeance taking centre stage. It’s a kissing cousin to the journalistic practice of weighing the degree of “closure” a certain link in the chain of events following a tragedy might or might not have. It’s not enlightening. It distorts the justice system, which, at it’s best, is not primarily a vehicle for retribution. I’m skeptical that it’s in any way helpful to victims of crime.
Agree with Peters’ family on egregious under-charging, given details in your piece. This cries out for an investigative piece, e.g. who made the charging decision? a Crown? the police in consultation with a Crown, or in a vacuum? Public confidence in our justice system is imperative. For too long in Canada, as opposed to the U.S., our justice system has been paternalistic in attitude. Our justice system may and should be administered and executed by professionals, but that does not negate its need for transparency and accountability. Undercharging of vehicle-pedestrian accidents has been a constant for much too long. We need transparency on the process, and if anyone has the guts and ability to do it, it’s you, Tim.
I agree 100%. Guts and ability! You’re the ONLY man for the job.