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Complicated legacies

Was Lionel Desmond a victim of his war demons? Or was he a villain, a perpetrator of domestic violence who murdered his own family? Or both? We may never know.

February 3, 2020 By Stephen Kimber

  “Speak not ill of the dead man.” Spartacus “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” Shakespeare Legacies have always been complicated and fraught, of course, but never more so than today. Consider Kobe Bryant. In the first hours after news broke last month that Bryant, “one of the greatest...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Subscribers only Tagged With: Ardath Whynacht, domestic violence, Elaine Walcott, Erik Mont, Lionel Desmond, PTSD, suicide

The corporate kleptocracy takes aim at Nova Scotia

Morning File, Friday, August 31, 2018

August 31, 2018 By Joan Baxter 5 Comments

Hi, I’m Joan Baxter, a Nova Scotian journalist and author. Some of my books are actually quite upbeat, proving that I’m not always a bearer of bad news. News 1. Abandoned tidal turbine Jennifer Henderson updates the situation of the abandoned tidal turbine in the Minas Basin in this article for the Examiner. After a […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Aaron Beswick, Alfred Sorensen, Allan Murphy, Ardath Whynacht, Bianca Mercer, big oil and public money, Bruce Nunn, Burnside jail protest, climate change, Darren Porter, David Patriquin, dead porpoise, El Jones, Fracking, Glyphosate, Goldboro LNG plant, Helen Murphy, herbicide spraying, Jessica Chin, Joan Baxter, Josh Healey, Ken Summers, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Marla MacInnis, Matthew Boyd, Maurice Reed, NOFRAC Nova Scotia, Paul McLeod, Peter Watts, Pieridae Energy, prisoner protest, Robert Devet, Sandra Hannebohm, Sarah Gillis, Sarah Ritchie, Stacey Rudderham, Stephen Kimber, Swissair crash, tidal turbine abandoned, Will Weissart, worst roads in Canada

The Desmond file: belatedly untangling the threads that led to a murder-suicide

Finally, last week — just a few days before the first anniversary of the deaths — Dr. Matt Bowes, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer, announced he was recommending an official inquiry to better understand how what happened happened and, more importantly, “to make our system better..."

January 2, 2018 By Stephen Kimber

One year ago tomorrow, on January 3, 2017, 33-year-old Lionel Desmond parked his car on a logging road in Upper Big Tracadie, NS, just as the sun was setting. Armed with two rifles, including an SKS semi-automatic Soviet military weapon he’d bought a few days earlier at an outdoor sports store, he made his way...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Ardath Whynacht, domestic violence, family violence, Lindsay Jones, Lionel Desmond file, Matt Bowes, Stephen Kimber

The Andrew Younger saga: Morning File, Thursday, May 4, 2017

May 4, 2017 By Tim Bousquet 6 Comments

News 1. Andrew Younger “Independent candidate Andrew Younger has withdrawn from the provincial election race in Dartmouth East,” reports Michael Gorman for the CBC: In an interview with CBC News, Younger — a former Liberal cabinet minister — cited health and privacy reasons for the decision. He said he made the choice in consultation with his wife after the news website […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Adam Cooke, Andrew Younger saga, Ardath Whynacht, Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), David Morgan, domestic assault, Jacob Boon, John Gillis, Kyley Harris, Laurie Cranton, Liberal budget platform promises, Margaree Airport, Mary Campbell, Michael Gorman, Port Hawkesbury Municipal Airport, Port of Sydney Development Corporation (PSDC), Richard Starr, Sydney terminal development

The playground where hope goes to die: Morning File, Monday, January 16, 2017

January 16, 2017 By Tim Bousquet 18 Comments

News 1. Teachers “Officials with the provincial government and the Nova Scotia Teachers Union will resume contract talks on Monday,” reports Michael Gorman for the CBC: A day after the two sides reached an impasse, which cancelled talks that were scheduled for Sunday, the union announced in a news release they would meet with a conciliation officer again beginning […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Ardath Whynacht, Chris Cochrane, Derek Martin, El Jones, job loss, Michael Gorman, Phlis McGregor, playgrounds, Richard Starr, stadium, Stephen Kimber, teachers strike, Trump's doctor, Yvonne Kennedy

How To Be Human

October 29, 2016 By El Jones 6 Comments

The first time I go into a prison, Ardath Whynacht invites me for a poetry workshop with the women in Nova Institution. Afterwards, driving back from Truro, she tells me that one of the woman whose poetry I really loved was convicted of a notorious crime. She doesn’t know if I realized it or not, wants […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Ardath Whynacht, human rights, Innocence Canada, life in prison, Nova Institution, prison justice, prisoners

Sailor File, Friday, September 2, 2016

Haircuts, wildfires, a picture of a boat.

September 2, 2016 By Katie Toth Leave a Comment

Today’s Morning File is written by Katie Toth. I like boats but not enough to spend $80,000 on one like Florida Senator Marco Rubio did that time. Who can blame him though this things’s a beaut. News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes 1. Defence Lyle Howe suspended from the bar From CTV: A notice on the Nova […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Ardath Whynacht, Eugene Richard Daniels, Lyle Howe, Margaret Miller, Mark Peyton, Northern Pulp, Sailor Bup's Barbershop, T.H. Hatte, VisionMax

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Brian Borcherdt. Photo: Anna Edwards-Borcherdt

Brian Borcherdt came of age in Yarmouth in the 1990s. When he arrived in Halifax, the city’s famous music scene was already waning, and worse, the music he made was rejected by the cool kids anyway. After decades away from Nova Scotia, he and his young family have settled in the Annapolis Valley, where he’ll zoom in to chat with Tara about his band Holy Fuck’s endlessly delayed tour, creating the Dependent Music collective, and the freedom and excitement of the improvised music he’s making now. Plus: Bringing events back in 2021.

The Tideline is advertising-free and subscriber-supported. It’s also a very good deal at just $5 a month. Click here to support The Tideline.

Uncover: Dead Wrong

In 1995, Brenda Way was brutally murdered behind a Dartmouth apartment building. In 1999, Glen Assoun was found guilty of the murder. He served 17 years in prison, but steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2019, Glen Assoun was fully exonerated.

Halifax Examiner founder and investigative journalist Tim Bousquet has followed the story of Glen Assoun's wrongful conviction for over five years. Now, Bousquet tells that story as host of Season 7 of the CBC podcast series Uncover: Dead Wrong.

Click here to go to listen to the podcast, or search for CBC Uncover on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast aggregator.

About the Halifax Examiner

Examiner folk The Halifax Examiner was founded by investigative reporter Tim Bousquet, and now includes a growing collection of writers, contributors, and staff. Left to right: Joan Baxter, Stephen Kimber, Linda Pannozzo, Erica Butler, Jennifer Henderson, Iris the Amazing, Tim Bousquet, Evelyn C. White, El Jones, Philip Moscovitch More about the Examiner.

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Recent posts

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  • Tragedy in the Valley: woman dies while sleeping in car, man is brain-damaged January 25, 2021

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