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Nova Scotia has laid charges for 32 environmental infractions against Atlantic Gold

Citizens raise concerns about environmental impacts of gold mining in Nova Scotia's moose country.

December 23, 2020 By Joan Baxter

Much attention is focused on Crown land in Digby County that is threatened by logging operations. And last week, nine people from Extinction Rebellion were arrested while trying to prevent contractors in the employ of the WestFor consortium from accessing the public forest and moose habitat slated for cutting. But in another part of the...

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Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Subscribers only Tagged With: 15-Mile Stream, Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Beaver Dam, Betty Belmore, biodiversity, Bob Bancroft, Caribou, Cochrane Hill gold mine, Dave Gunning, Deborah Bayer, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), Dustin O’Leary, Eastern Shore, endangered species, erosion, Extinction Rebellion, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, James Millard, Krista Gillis, Mitchell Glawson, moose, Moose River, Moose River Consolidated Project, Moose River gold mine, Mooseland, Mooseland Road, Nature Nova Scotia, Northern Pulp, Northern Timber, Nova Scotia Environment (NSE), proposed Beaver Dam mine, Rachel Boomer, salmon, Save Caribou group, Scraggy Lake, sedimentation, Sherbrooke, St. Barbara Limited, St. Mary's River, Touquoy mine, trout, Veronica Chisholm

“Nature won”

Supreme Court ruling orders province to meet the obligations of the Endangered Species Act.

May 30, 2020 By Jennifer Henderson

“Nature won.” That’s how retired wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft reacted to a judge’s decision on Friday which essentially orders the Department of Lands and Forestry to obey provincial law when it comes to protecting endangered, threatened, and vulnerable species. There are 60 plants and animals identified under Nova Scotia’s Endangered Species Act. But the judicial...

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Blomidon Naturalists Society, Bob Bancroft, Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), East Coast Environmental Law Association (ECELAW), Endangered Species Act, Federation of Nova Scotia Naturalists, Halifax Field Naturalists, Jamie Simpson, Jeremy Smith, Justice Christa Brothers, Lahey Report on Forestry, Lisa Jarrett, Nature Nova Scotia, Richard Beasley, Soren Bondrup-Nielsen, Species at Risk Act, Western Canada Wilderness Committee

A community rallies to save Owls Head

Morning File, Tuesday, February 4, 2020

February 4, 2020 By Suzanne Rent 10 Comments

News 1. Zane Woodford Tim Bousquet wrote this item. After a month covering City Hall for the Halifax Examiner, Zane Woodford is leaving to write for SaltWire. He’ll be working on their new weekly newspaper, SALT. [Insert your joke here.] While we’ve seen good subscription growth from Zane’s writing, the Examiner is unable to hire […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alexander Quon, Barbara Markovits, Bob Bancroft, Caitlin Porter, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), Chris Miller, Chris Trider, councillor Waye Mason, Eastern Shore Cooperator, Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association, Jacque Dubé, Jamie Simpson, Jeremy Lundholm, Matt Dagley, Michael Gorman, Middlemore Home, Owls Head Park, Pamela Wile, Paul LaFleche, QEII redevelopment, robbery Cranberry Crescent, SALT, Sheila Martin, Sydnee Lynn, Zane Woodford

“Who speaks for the mainland moose and Canada warbler?” asks judge

September 24, 2019 By Jennifer Henderson

Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Christa Brothers will decide whether the Minister of Lands and Forestry has failed to live up to the obligations set out in the Endangered Species Act to protect wildlife in the province. “We seek the Court’s assistance as a last resort,” said lawyer Jamie Simpson, representing the Federation of Nova...

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Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Bob Bancroft, Department of Lands & Forestry (DLF), East Coast Environmental Law (ECELaw), Endangered Species Act, James Gunvaldsen Klaassen, Jamie Simpson, Jeremy Smith, Justice Christa Brothers, Lahey report, Mainland Moose, Richard Beasley, Soren Bondrup-Nielsen

The Archaeology of Loss

How industrial logging in the Mi’kmaq heartland is destroying a lot more than trees 

June 14, 2019 By Linda Pannozzo 1 Comment

“We were in wonderful moose country now.” At least this is how Albert Bigelow Paine described the Nova Scotia landscape he and three others journeyed through in his 1908 book The Tent Dwellers. The book tells the true story of a June trout fishing trip led by two guides, Charlie Charlton and Del Thomas, who […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Alain Belliveau, Albert Bigelow Paine, Alces alces Americana, archaeological site, Black ash, Blomidon Naturalists Society, Bob Bancroft, Boreas Heritage, chain pickerel, Charlie Charlton, clearcutting, Dawn Makarowski, Del Thomas, Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), Donna Crossland, East Coast Environmental Law (ECELaw), eastern ribbon snake, Federation of Nova Scotia Naturalists, Forest Act, Forest and Range Practices Act, Forest Planning and Practice Regulations, Halifax Field Naturalists, Heritage Conservation Act, Indian Gardens, Jamie Simpson, Jeff Purdy, Jonathan Porter, Kejimkujik Lake, Kejimkujik National Park, Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office (KMKNO), Lisa Jarrett, Little Tobeatic Lake, Lord Dunraven, Mainland Moose, Mersey paper Company, Mersey River, Mi’kmaq archaeology, Mi’kmaq artifacts, Mi’kmaq reserves, Minister Iain Rankin, Netukulimk, Northern Parula, Ogômgigiag, Provincial Wilderness Areas, Randy Milton, Rossignol Lake, Sam Glode, Sara Beanlands, Special Places Protection Act, Thomas Millette, Tobeatic Wilderness Area, Tobeatic Wildlife Management Area, WestFor, wildlife sanctuaries, William Lahey

The Donner Prize is part of a larger effort to reimagine Canada as a right-wing American Libertarian fantasy

Morning File, Monday, April 8, 2019

April 8, 2019 By Tim Bousquet 3 Comments

1. Donner Prize “Peter MacKinnon’s book, University Commons Divided: Exploring Debate and Dissent on Campus, has been shortlisted for the Donner Prize,” writes El Jones: In an article I wrote for the Halifax Examiner about MacKinnon’s defense of blackface, I identified how MacKinnon’s arguments lack a scholarly basis. He frequently does not quote or misleadingly quotes […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alan Lomax, Allan Gotliev, Association for Cultural Equity, Backstory NS, blackface, Bob Bancroft, Canadian Constitution Foundation, clearcutting, Costas Halavrezos, designated smoking receptacles, designated smoking zones, Donner Canadian Foundation, Donner Prize, El Jones, Fraser Institute, Greg MacVicar, Hillsdale College, Ken Whyte, Patrick Luciani, Peter MacKinnon, R. Emmett Tyrell Jr., sidewalk clearing, Thomas Walkom, Vera Hall, William H. Donner Foundation, William Henry Donner, Woman Hailing a Cab

“We are down to our last month’s rent”: naturalists say clearcutting is accelerating

April 8, 2019 By Jennifer Henderson 1 Comment

“I worked at the Bowater-Mersey mill for 38 years, and our provincial government makes Bowater look like an environmentalist!” said Brian Muise. Muise, a member of the Queens County Fish and Game Association, made his comment at the annual meeting of the Nova Scotia Federation of Anglers and Hunters in Truro on Saturday. Muise is […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Abraham Lake Nature Reserve, Biodiversity Act, biomass, Bob Bancroft, Bowater-Mersey mill, Brian Muise, Brooklyn Energy, clearcutting, Department of lands and Forestry, Donna Crossland, Endangered Species Act, Genuine Progress Index on Forestry, Global Forest Watch, Jonathan Porter, Lahey report, Mainland Moose, Minister Iain Rankin, Nova Scotia Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Queens County Fish and Game Association, Ron Colman, Travis McLeod

Poverty mentality… poverty reality

Morning File, Thursday, February 28, 2019

February 28, 2019 By Philip Moscovitch 8 Comments

News 1. Poor kids On Tuesday, Statistics Canada released its most recent Canadian income survey, covering 2017. The agency uses two tools to calculate poverty, the Low Income Measure (“defines an individual as having low income if their adjusted after-tax income falls below 50% of the median adjusted after-tax income”) and the Market Basket Measure […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Aaron Beswick, Alex Cooke, Andrea Gunn, Andrew Stevens, Blomidon Society of Naturalists, Bob Bancroft, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), Canadian income survey, Chronicle Herald advertorial, Copyright Act, Darren Porter, Denise Corey, Endangered Species Act, fair dealing in copyright law, Federation of Nova Scotia Naturalists, Four Feet Up, Fresh 21, Halifax Society of Naturalists, John Degen, Michael Gorman, Nance Ackerman, Paula Gallant, poverty, poverty in Nova Scotia, rural library system, Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard, Shaina Luck, Stephen Archibald and a seaside cemetery, Thomas Baekdal, tidal turbine retrieval, Trevor Tombe, Writers' Union of Canada

Naturalists sue province for failing to protect endangered species

February 28, 2019 By Jennifer Henderson

Another branch of the McNeil government is being taken to court, this time for not doing enough to protect and preserve endangered species such as the mainland moose, barn swallow, monarch butterfly, and hoary willow. A judge will review the alleged failure of the Lands and Forestry Minister to take actions mandated under the Endangered...

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Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Bill Lahey, Black ash, Blomidon Society of Naturalists, Bob Bancroft, Canada warbler, East Coast Environmental Law Association (ECELAW), Eastern wood peewee, Endangered Species Act, Federation of Nova Scotia Naturalists, Halifax Society of Naturalists, James Klassen, Lahey Report on Forestry, Lands and Forestry Minister Iain Rankin, Mainland Moose, Ram’s-head lady slipper, Wood turtle

Department of Lands and Forestry employees are lobbying the government to delay cleanup of Boat Harbour

Morning File, Friday, January 25, 2019

January 25, 2019 By Tim Bousquet Leave a Comment

News 1. Scott Brison Writes Jennifer Henderson: “Being the President of the Treasury Board is a bit like peeing in a dark suit,” chuckles Scott Brison.“It gives you a warm feeling, but nobody notices.” Brison, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Kings-Hants, resigned his Cabinet post a couple of weeks ago and, after 22 years […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Boat Harbour, Boat Harbour Act, Bob Bancroft, Cheryl Rudderham, David Steeves, Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), Derek Gilby, East Coast Environmental Law Association, Healthy Forest Coalition, Ian Gunn, Jamie Simpson, Jim Rudderham, Northern Pulp Mill effluent, Nova Scotia Forest Notes, Nova Scotia Forest Technicians Association (NSFTA), Rick Andrews, Soren Bondrup-Nielsen

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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

  • I wanted to help Public Health assuage people’s concerns about the pace of the vaccine rollout, but they declined to speak with me January 15, 2021
  • Halifax council candidates blithely broke the new campaign contribution rules, and the municipality didn’t do anything about it January 14, 2021
  • 6 new cases of COVID-19 are announced in Nova Scotia on Thursday, Jan. 14 January 14, 2021
  • Nova Scotia provides little detail on vaccine plan for provincial jails as advocates call for action January 14, 2021
  • Free food and the failure of neo-liberalism January 14, 2021

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