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We’re watching Mark Lever destroy journalism in Nova Scotia

Morning File, Thursday, May 31, 2018

May 31, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 8 Comments

News 1. Fool’s Gold, Part 3 We’ve published the third instalment of Joan Baxter’s “Fool’s Gold” series. Part 3 looks at the provincial Department of Natural Resource’s efforts to open the Cobequid Hills up to gold production, and the effect prospecting and potential mining would have on the French River, which is the source of […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alexander Quon, Arthur Maddox fired, Brian Taylor, Cathy Martin, Cecil Clarke, Christina Lamey, deputy police chief Chris McNeil, Frank Cassidy, Lynn Connors, Mark Lever destroys journalism, Marlene Usher, Mary Campbell, Mary Ellen Donovan, Matt Whitman creeps Chelsea Peretti, Mayor Mike Savage, Mayor Peter Kelly, Mike Dunphy, Nijhawan McMillan, Port of Sydney Development Corporation, Quentin Casey, racism at HRM, racism at Metro Transit, Ross Klein, Saltwire layoffs, subscriber supported journalism, Unisys contract expiring, Yvette d'Entremont

Now that we’ve taken a bath on the convention centre, let’s do a stadium

Morning File, Monday, April 16, 2018

April 16, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 16 Comments

1. The Securities windfall “A $77.1 million windfall helps balance the books in this year’s provincial budget,” reports Jennifer Henderson: That’s the amount the federal government is paying Nova Scotia as incentive to disband the provincial Security Commission and join a national securities regulator. But that one-time payment comes at the cost of $15 million […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Brian Taylor, CFL stadium, defacement, Heywood Sanders, Muskrat Falls new costs, Philip Croucher, provincial web page hacked, Stadium support, StarMetro, the battle for subscriptions, Unisys

An obscure shift in Securities regulations will cost Nova Scotia down the road

A $77.1 million windfall helps balance the books in this year's provincial budget. That's the amount the federal government is paying Nova Scotia as incentive to disband the provincial Security Commission and join a national securities regulator. But that one-time payment comes at the cost of $15 million in revenue generated by the provincial commission annually, year after year. Because of the change, the province will be a net loser in just five years.

April 16, 2018 By Jennifer Henderson

A scan of the provincial government’s Budget Estimates suggests the claim of a balanced budget and $29 million surplus is dependent on two future events. The first is $20 million collected from the tax on cannabis sales which has been delayed until late summer — has been dutifully noted. The second — a “one- time...

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: $77 million windfall, Bill Black, Brian Taylor, Nova Scotia Finance Department, NS Securities Commission, provincial government’s Budget Estimates, Tim Houston

We need to start planning for the advent of autonomous vehicles

September 13, 2017 By Erica Butler

The details are nebulous, but the more you read about autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, the more one message comes through loud and clear: The development and widespread use of AV is not an “if’,” but a “when,” and most importantly, a “how.” The when of course depends on what you mean by autonomous vehicles. CEOs...

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Filed Under: City Hall, Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: autonomous vehicles, Brian Taylor, Erica Butler, Nova Scotia transportation and infrastructure renewal (NSTIR), self-driving cars

Policing and 6-foot fences: Five years in, city and province still make Open Streets too costly

July 11, 2017 By Erica Butler 6 Comments

“When you look at any city from the air, the biggest public space is the streets. And the streets belong to everybody.” That’s Gil Penalosa, formers parks commissioner of Bogota, Columbia, where he helped pioneer Ciclovia, a weekly event that sees 121 kilometres of city streets closed every Sunday morning to vehicle traffic, and opened […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Commentary, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Brian Taylor, Ciclovia, Gil Penalosa, Ross Soward, Special Events Task Force, Switch, Tim Rissesco, Waye Mason

Making highways safer without twinning

May 31, 2017 By Erica Butler

With the newly re-elected Liberals promising to twin 70 more kilometres of 100 series highways despite the enormous financial costs and the ensuing increase in number of vehicles on our highways (which is proportional to increased numbers of injuries and deaths), it seems worthwhile talking about what else we might be doing to improve safety on our...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Brian Taylor, highway twinning alternatives, Nova Scotia’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal (NSTIR)

The problem with the new Bridgetown School: It’s not just the school

Construction of an access road to the new Bridgetown school is more than $2 million over its original $1.3 million dollar budget. A friend of Stephen McNeil's is the beneficiary of the work, and has been fined for illegally building a boat ramp on nearby public land.

May 24, 2017 By Tim Bousquet 10 Comments

One of the first orders of business for the newly elected Liberal government in 2013 was to announce the construction of new schools in Bridgetown and Tatamagouche, in the ridings of Premier Stephen McNeil and Education Minister Karen Casey respectively. The two schools jumped from #26 and #28 on the new school construction list to be included among 10 school […]

Filed Under: Featured, Investigation, News, Province House Tagged With: Albert Rice, Annapolis River, Brian Taylor, Bridgetown School, Department of Environment, Faye Road Extension, Gary Burrill, illegal boat ramp, Jamie Baillie, Krista Higdon, Michael Pickup, Premier Stephen McNeil, Rachel Brighton, Stephen McInnis, Tim Houston, TIR

Yet again, the province sticks it to city planners

April 25, 2017 By Erica Butler

Last Thursday the Nova Scotia government announced the site of a new outpatient centre designed to replace some of the services currently offered at the Victoria General Hospital, which is slated for demolition by 2022. The new centre will be built in Bayers Lake, a retail business park known for inaccessible design and traffic congestion....

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Filed Under: City Hall, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Bayers Lake Outpatient Centre, Brian Taylor, Integrated Mobility Team (IMP), Rod MacPhail

The Grafton Street Glory Hole and other obscenities: Morning File, Wednesday, October 5, 2016

October 5, 2016 By Tim Bousquet 11 Comments

News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Convention centre opening delayed… again The Halifax Convention Centre will not open as scheduled on April 1. A new opening date has not yet been established, but Trade Centre Limited is rescheduling conventions booked through the end of June; seven national and international conventions […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Brian Taylor, carbon pricing, Convention centre, D.M. Bulger, due diligence, Ecology Action Centre, George Armoyan, Joe Ramia, Karen Casey, Liette Doucet, Lil MacPherson, Margaret Miller, Marla MacInnis, Mike Campbell, Mike Savage, NSTU, Stephen Thomas, Suzanne Fougere, TCL, The Carleton, The Grafton Street Glory Hole, World Trade & Convention Centre, WTCC

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Mo Kenney. Photo: Matt Williams

Episode #18 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne is published.

Mo Kenney’s new record Covers is a perfect winter companion — songs from across the rock spectrum that she’s pared down to piano or guitar and turned them into sad ballads. She joins Tara to talk about choosing and arranging them, and opens up for a frank discussion of the alcohol dependency it took a pandemic for her to confront. Plus: Movies are back (again).

This episode is available today only for premium subscribers; to become a premium subscriber, click here, and join the select group of arts and entertainment supporters for just $5/month. Everyone else will have to wait until tomorrow to listen to it.

Please subscribe to 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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