Premier Stephen McNeil’s cabinet met Thursday and took questions from reporters afterward. Here’s what they talked about: Masks mandatory as of today Health Minister Randy Delorey was asked how his department intends to enforce a new policy requiring most adults and children over age 2 to wear a non-medical mask when they are inside public […]
Province announces design competition for new waterfront art gallery but still makes no mention of rising sea levels
The McNeil government is taking the next step toward building a $100-million Art Gallery along the Halifax waterfront. The Department of Transportation Infrastructure and Renewal (TIR) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) to design an “iconic” building to be built on the Salter lot across Lower Water Street from the Keith’s Brewery, where a...
With increasing sea level rise, does it make sense to build a new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia on the waterfront?
In the last three months, it’s been reported that the Greenland ice sheet is melting faster than expected, which will mean a higher rise in sea-level than earlier projected; that temperatures in Canada are warming at approximately double the average global rate; and that more flooding is predicted for Atlantic Canada over the next 50...
With increased projections of sea level rise and storm surges, does it make sense to put a Cultural Hub on the waterfront?
Question: With signs of accelerating effects from climate change, should $200-300 million of public money be invested in a new building to last less than a century on the Halifax waterfront? When it comes to a new home for both the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design...
Now that the Leibovitz collection tax scam has failed, the Nova Scotia government is going to pay Leibovitz $2.3 million
Morning File, Thursday, May 24, 2018
News 1. Fool’s Gold, Part 2 The Halifax Examiner and Cape Breton Spectator have co-published the second instalment of Joan Baxter’s investigation into mining in Nova Scotia. Click here to read Part 2 of “Fool’s Gold: Nova Scotia’s Myopic Pursuit of Metals & Minerals,” which looks at gold mining operations on the Eastern Shore. This article […]
The leaders of tomorrow: Morning File, Monday, October 16, 2017
News 1. Cap-and-trade Jennifer Henderson reports: Legislation introduced by the McNeil government to enable setting up a cap-and-trade system to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions as part of a Trudeau directive to slow climate change was debated briefly in the Legislature this week. What is missing from Bill 15 — “An Act to Amend Chapter […]
Leo Glavine won’t say if the province is going to buy out Annie Leibovitz
Nova Scotia taxpayers will have to wait a little longer to find out whether they’re on the hook for $2.3 million — about half the purchase price of the Annie Leibovitz collection of photographs donated to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS). The 2,070 iconic images feature some of the world’s biggest celebrities (Mick...
European weevil sex and other perversions: Morning File, Thursday, July 27, 2017
News 1. Tax scam rejected for fourth time “A federal tribunal has — for the fourth time — rejected the bulk of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia’s enormous Annie Leibovitz collection, raising questions about whether the prints by the famous American photographer will ever be displayed in Halifax,” reports Richard Cuthbertson for the CBC: The […]
How the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia participated in an attempted tax scam: Morning File, Wednesday, July 12, 2017
News 1. Annie Leibovitz In October 2015, I wrote the following about the Annie Leibovitz collection: In 2013, it was announced that the Annie Leibovitz collection would be donated to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, but the photographs still haven’t been put on display, and there’s no hope that the collection will be displayed before […]
People are fallible, and that’s why internet voting is a horrible idea: Morning File, Tuesday, June 6, 2017
News 1. Recounts Denise Peterson-Rafuse, the NDP candidate in the Chester–St. Margaret’s riding, has filed for a recount, I reported yesterday: Peterson-Rafuse, the incumbent, lost to Liberal challenger Hugh MacKay by just 90 votes, 3,112 to 3,022 total votes. PC candidate Julie Chiasson received 2,229 votes, and Green candidate Harry Ward received 413 votes. Thirty-four ballots were […]