Hi, I’m Erica Butler, your Examiner transportation columnist, filling in for Tim today and tomorrow. News 1. Film industry Writes Stephen Kimber: IATSE Local 849, the union that represents most film technicians in the province, has statistics showing its members worked 40,687 days in 2014, earning $11,120,665 in gross pay and pensions. In 2017, those […]
The dog days of summer, but don’t name the dog
Morning File, Wednesday, August 15, 2018
News 1. Tufts Cove oil spill Yesterday, Nova Scotia Power (NSP) issued a news release about its cleanup efforts at the Tufts Cove oil spill. For the first time, the release defines the full extent of the spill, and as I predicted, it was much larger than originally reported. The company now says that in […]
893 city employees make more than $100,000 annually and yet janitors cleaning city buildings are paid poverty wages
Morning File, Tuesday, August 7, 2018
News 1. Oil spill Friday morning, I criticized Nova Scotia Power (NSP) for its press release related to the oil spill from the Tufts Cove Generating Plant. The press release called it a “limited” spill; I wrote: “Limited” is PR spin. Every oil spill is “limited” in some sense — the Deepwater Horizon spill that destroyed […]
Bad behaviour everywhere
Morning File, Thursday, August 2, 2018
1. An apology The Halifax Examiner acknowledges that the Armour Group Limited neither hired, nor fired, the janitors previously employed to clean Founder’s Square. Further, The Halifax Examiner retracts, and apologizes for the allegation that Armour Group engaged in racial discrimination in determining to no longer engage with GDI Integrated Facility Services. The original article […]
Like a turtle crawling out of a mulch pile
Morning File, Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Hi folks. Erica Butler here, filling in for Tim today. News 1. Al-Rawi asks for second assault charge to be quashed Reporting for the CBC, Blair Rhodes recaps the history of sexual assault investigations and charges against former Halifax cab driver Bassam Al-Rawi. While his first charge from a 2015 incident will be re-examined in […]
Lincolnville and the case for reparations: Morning File, Tuesday, February 13, 2018
News 1. Susie Butlin Jennifer Henderson reports: Judge Al Bégin signed a no-contact order to keep Junior Duggan away from Susie Butlin. Duggan is now charged with murdering Butlin. Should Judge Bégin recuse himself from hearing the murder case? Click here to read “Judge may be asked to step away from Butlin murder case.” This article […]
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair! Morning File, Wednesday, January 3, 2018
News 1. Nova Scotians in the Paradise Papers In November, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists began reporting on a trove of leaked documents it called the Paradise Papers: The Paradise Papers documents include nearly 7 million loan agreements, financial statements, emails, trust deeds and other paperwork from nearly 50 years at Appleby, a leading offshore law […]
Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria! Morning File, Wednesday, December 27, 2017
News 1. Yarmouth ferry “The [U.S.] federal border protection agency has offered a reprieve that may allow the Portland-Nova Scotia ferry to return to Maine next year, if the city can find up to $2 million for upgrades to its ferry terminal,” reports Jake Bleiberg for the Bangor Daily News: The Cat ferry’s 2018 season appeared […]
A Nickel and a Nail: Morning File, Friday, October 6, 2017
News 1. Energy East “TransCanada Corp. has pulled the plug on its controversial $15.7-billion Energy East Pipeline proposal, after slowing oil sands growth and heightened environmental scrutiny raised doubts about the viability of the project,” reports the Globe & Mail: In a terse statement Thursday morning, TransCanada said it has reviewed the “changed circumstances” and […]
Beware of rats in Bedford: Morning File, Thursday, October 5, 2017
News 1. Transit Priority Lanes on Bayers Road and Gottingen Street “Consulting engineers WSP have proposed three options for Bayers Road, the most ambitious of which calls for road widening to allow for two new dedicated bus lanes running from Windsor Street to just past Romans Avenue,” writes Examiner transportation columnist Erica Butler: The most surprising […]