To frack, or not to frack Nova Scotia? That seems to be the question. Again. There’s been a de facto moratorium on fracking — more specifically on “high-volume hydraulic fracturing in shale” — in the province since 2014, and oil and gas companies haven’t exactly been beating down our doors to get it lifted, demanding...
Outlines of the stadium proposal emerge
Morning File, Wednesday, July 11, 2018
News 1. Stadium details Yesterday, Bedford councillor Tim Outhit posted details of the stadium proposal on his Facebook page: Next Tuesday Regional Council will be asked to give direction to the CAO to officially enter into investigations and preliminary negotiations with the private group looking to bring a regional CFL team to Halifax. They will […]
Women Get Out The Vote: Examineradio, episode #110
It’s election time in Nova Scotia, and the Liberal government reeled out of the gate like a drunk student leaving The Dome at last call. First was the botched rollout itself, followed by Premier McNeil’s head-scratching comments about supporting women candidates in ‘meaningful’ ridings. Add to that the rehiring of convicted abuser Kyley Harris as their […]
David Hendsbee, Shadow Chaser: Morning File, Wednesday, March 22, 2017
News 1. Liberals double-down on IBM deal they criticized four years ago as a “huge clusterfuck” Back in 2012, I reported on the then-NDP government’s decision to outsource the province’s SAP operations to IBM: By handing 73 union jobs to the notoriously anti-union IBM, Nova Scotia’s NDP has turned its back on its core support in […]
Gone like the wind
In a bid to salvage something positive from the collapse of the Bowater mill in Brooklyn, the province bought a $2 million equity stake in LightSail Energy. The compressed air energy storage company was started by Dartmouth whiz kid turned Silicon Valley darling Danielle Fong, who promised to build a renewable energy demonstration project at the former mill site. But the company has burned through $70 million, Fong's credibility is questioned, and the Brooklyn project may never materialize.
“Creating a system that can store large amounts of renewable energy will have a positive impact all over the world.” That’s what then-Energy Minister Andrew Younger gushed in July 2014, as he stood outside the former Bowater Mersey paper mill in Brooklyn to announce the defunct plant would be where LightSail Energy would test its […]
The McNeil government’s deceitful, ham-fisted, and mean-spirited attack on teachers: Morning File, Tuesday, December 6, 2016
News 1. The McNeil government’s deceitful, ham-fisted, and mean-spirited attack on teachers I almost felt sorry for cabinet minister Michel Samson yesterday. As with the rest of his government, events had overtaken him. He stood before a room full of reporters who were repeatedly calling him out on his contradictions and his uninformed spin. “You say […]
Muskrat Falls is all about power: Morning File, Monday, October 24, 2016
News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Muskrat Falls “An ongoing blockade against the Muskrat Falls hydro project in Labrador took a dramatic turn on Saturday as land protectors stormed and occupied the Muskrat Falls work site itself,” reports Justin Brake, editor of the Newfoundland and Labrador Independent: As about 200 […]
Commonwealth Games Investigation part one: Halifax 2014 big plans
Game over: An air of secrecy surrounded Halifax’s bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, even after the bid’s very public collapse in March. For the first time, we reveal a complete picture of what was happening behind the scenes. by Tim Bousquet Seven months after Halifax’s Commonwealth Games bid collapsed, there still hasn’t been […]