Environmentalists who celebrated extra cash in last year’s municipal budget for park land protection are worried a reduced budget for next year means the city is again forgetting about Blue Mountain–Birch Cove Lakes. Halifax regional council is working on the capital and operating budgets for the year ahead, meeting weekly over the next few months....
New police chief Dan Kinsella holds a degree from WalMart U.
Morning File, Tuesday, May 14, 2019
News 1. Ramadan in jail “Malik is calling from the jail asking for the numbers of any Muslims he can contact just to talk to, maybe hear some Quran from,” writes El Jones: The last time he prayed with community was during Ramadan last year, and since then, his requests for spiritual services have been […]
How and why electric buses will (probably) come to Halifax
Halifax’s first electric buses won’t hit the road as soon as planned, but don’t blame your local city councillor or the leadership at Halifax Transit for the delay. Blame Doug Ford. Among Ford’s many post-election climate change policy reversals was the cancellation of two funding contributions to electric bus pilot projects in York Region and […]
People are secretly plotting to lie to you about the stadium
Morning File, Wednesday, January 9, 2018
News 1. Weather There’s weather today. 2. Stadium Reportedly, last week the Maritime Football people delivered a “business case” for a stadium to City Hall. I’m presuming that councillors have seen that business case. I don’t know why the rest of us can’t see it, but that’s how this town rolls. It’s like that report […]
Province amps up its unwise and discredited biofuel efforts
Morning File, Thursday, December 13, 2018
News 1. Biofuel Last year, in her article “Life After Pulp,” Linda Pannozzo showed how as the old pulp industry is collapsing, the government is chasing two other forest dreams — biomass and biofuel. On the latter, she wrote: In 2012, when the Dexter government announced the defunct paper mill would become a business hub […]
Former Halifax cop Chris Mosher has received a cash payout and a new job from the city
After he was charged with sexual assault and then for repeatedly violating the conditions of his release, Halifax cop Chris Mosher was fired last year by the Halifax police department. But Mosher has successfully appealed his firing, and has received a cash payout from the city and a new job working with either the city’s […]
There is nothing self-deprecating or ironic or even remotely funny about this boring headline
Morning File, Thursday, September 20, 2018
News 1. Maurice Pratt Yesterday, Justice James Chipman dismissed Maurice Pratt’s habeas corpus application. Pratt was the first of at least eight prisoners at the Burnside jail to have their habeas applications heard by Chipman. (The others are scheduled for Monday, but I’m hearing there may be a delay.) The prisoners filed their applications in […]
The contradiction of being Councillor Cleary
Shawn Cleary is the chief flag-waver for the city's most unpopular high-rise proposal — and its developer. But he refuses to accept campaign donations from developers, and is promoting municipal campaign finance reform. He dismisses the significance of the fact the developer's chief lobbyist is a good friend, yet he is spearheading a proposal for a municipal lobbyist registry. Only in Halifax you say...
“We don’t build buildings because of public opinion. We build them for good planning… And so I think this is a good thing for us… In terms of the design, I think we’ve mitigated most of the concerns…” —Councillor Shawn Cleary June 19, 2018 Shawn Cleary’s suitcase of sophistry requires a little unpacking. Councillor Cleary […]
Morning File: the changing Sackville fire narrative
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
News 1. Fire department re-assigns cause of fatal Sackville fire In a press release issued yesterday, the Halifax fire department is now saying that the March 3 fatal fire in Sackville was started by “smoking materials”: Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency (HRFE) investigators have completed the investigation of the fatal house fire in Lower Sackville. […]
What’s going on with LED Roadway Lighting?
The company has received at least $22 million in public money, but no one will tell the public what the status of the company is.
Sometimes, chasing a story that runs into a brick wall can be revealing. Two weeks ago, I decided to do an update on LED Roadway Lighting, the Nova Scotian company completing the changeover of the Halifax Regional Municipality’s 37,000 street lights into fixtures that consume sixty per cent less energy and are supposed to deliver...