News 1. In a lawsuit, Fatouma and Abdoul Abdi allege years of abuse while they were children in care Remember Abdoul Abdi? The Government of Canada wanted to deport him after he was convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to prison. Abdi was not a citizen, and under rules brought in under the federal immigration […]
Council rejects staff recommendation, agrees to $750,000 for Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes land purchase
Halifax regional council unanimously rejected a recommendation from staff and voted on Tuesday to spend $750,000 to help the Nova Scotia Nature Trust fill a big gap in the Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes wilderness area. Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes is the picturesque area between Bayers Lake and Hammonds Plains. Within that area, 1,700 hectares, or...
While everyone is tied up with COVID-19, what skulduggery is government up to?
Morning File, Friday, April 17, 2020
News 1. The latest Yesterday, we learned that 30 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, bringing the total to 579. Eleven people are currently hospitalized, four of them in ICUs; 176 people have fully recovered. Three have died. A big chunk of the increase in positive cases comes from nursing homes, […]
Me and the Buddhists: Morning File, Wednesday, November 29, 2017
How local news survives Earlier this week, Torstar and Postmedia announced a deal that will result in the closure of more than 30 community newspapers and the firing of 290 people, mostly journalists. Reports H.G. Watson for J-Source: Postmedia is acquiring 24 newspapers, among them Metro Ottawa and Metro Winnipeg. Of them, only one — […]
Council preview: It looks like the Shaw Group is over-charging for the Purcells Cove Backlands
At tomorrow’s meeting, Halifax council will take up a staff recommendation to purchase the Purcells Cove Backlands: On April 26 2016, The Shaw Group and Nature Conservancy of Canada (Shaw/NCC) presented a proposal to Regional Council for HRM to acquire lands (subject lands) located in Purcell’s Cove for an Urban Wilderness Park. Staff has been completing the...
Gloria McCluskey could not be more wrong: Dartmouthians DO care about Blue Mountain – Birch Cove Lakes wilderness park
“Gloria McCluskey’s comments about Dartmouthians not caring about Birch Cove Lakes really bothered me,” writes Chris Miller, who is the director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and a long-time advocate for the proposed Blue Mountain – Birch Cove Lakes wilderness park. Miller has brought me out to the wilderness three times over the […]
Military Madness: Morning File, Monday, September 12, 2016
News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Examineradio, episode #78 John Wesley Chisholm is a successful television producer and Juno Award-winning musician. Now he’s throwing his hat into the ring as the Progressive Conservative candidate for Halifax Chebucto in the next provincial election. Find out what Front Line Fever means and […]
The wilderness park is saved: Morning File, Wednesday, September 7, 2016
I’m back in Halifax. Many thanks to the guest writers of Morning File over the past two weeks: Lewis Rendell, Katie Toth, Erica Butler, Selena Ross, and Russell Gragg. Russell and bookkeeper extraordinaire Iris also kept the shop running in my absence — no small feat — and for that I’m eternally grateful. I enjoyed […]
While Halifax council debated the Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness, Matt Whitman was on a Chinese travel junket
Arguably, the proposed Blue Mountain – Birch Cove Lakes wilderness park is the single most important issue faced by the current city council. For one, it’s a huge piece of land; the proposed park comes in at 4,152.9 acres — about 25 per cent larger than the Halifax peninsula. It is majestic territory, complete with a...