The Mi’kmaq call the Avon River “Tooetunook,” which means “flowing square into the sea,” or more specifically, into the Minas Basin in the upper Bay of Fundy. Since 1970, when the Windsor causeway was constructed across the Avon, the river hasn’t exactly been able to “flow square” at all. That’s because the aboiteau — the […]
Accountability ain’t what it used to be
Perhaps it never was. But in these days of cascading crises, it's hard not to notice just who's missing in action, or acting without accountability, or playing games with their obligation to accountability.
ac·count·abil·i·ty | \ ə-ˌkau̇n-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē \ Definition of accountability: the quality or state of being accountable, especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions // public officials lacking accountability Merriam-Webster online dictionary Accountability. At 10:19pm Atlantic time last Friday night — after much of the business of the political media world had wrapped for the day,...
Troubled waters
There is no excuse — period, full stop — for the violence and vandalism currently taking place in southwest Nova Scotia. That said, the crisis there — and the tangled, troubled history behind it — is far more complex, nuanced and slippery that any simple hashtag-RACISM tweet can ever capture.
There is no excuse — period, full stop — for the violence and vandalism currently taking place in southwest Nova Scotia. That said, the crisis there — and the tangled, troubled history behind it — is far more complex, nuanced and slippery than any simple hashtag-RACISM tweet can ever capture. Yes, ingrained, historic racism plays […]
The fishery of frustration
The real reason for the recent confrontations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous fishers is that Ottawa has failed abysmally for more than two decades to negotiate with First Nations to define what constitutes a moderate living.
Mi’kmaw fishermen were frustrated. On Sept. 17, 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada had reaffirmed rights established in peace and freedom treaties with the British more than 200 years before. Those treaties had guaranteed them the right to fish and hunt and pursue what the court called, without explaining, a “moderate livelihood.” Two months later,...
Feeling the sting of first-past-the-post
Morning File, Tuesday, October 22, 2019
News 1. Liberals win enough seats to form minority government With national voter turnout clocking in around 65.8% (it will adjust as those who registered on election day are counted) and Nova Scotia’s turnout slightly higher at 68.8%, Canadians re-elected 157 Liberal MPs, enough to form a minority government. In Nova Scotia, Liberals held on […]