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. The last time he prayed with community was during Ramadan last year, and since then, his requests for spiritual services have been denied. Last year, Muslim prisoners at Burnside (Central […]
Fixing freedom of information in NS (and jails), pulp mill politics, and plastics – all that, and more.
Morning File, Wednesday, January 16, 2019
I’m Joan Baxter, filling in for Tim today. News 1. Freedom of Information in Nova Scotia – the failure and the fix As Tim wrote, yesterday Nova Scotia privacy commissioner Catherine Tully and auditor general Michael Pickup released their reports on the FOIPOP website security failure. Both painted damning pictures of how the government handled […]
Nova Scotia needs a JAIL hotline
Martha Paynter is a nurse, nursing PhD student, and director of Women’s Wellness Within. For one month, prisoners at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre (OCDC) have had access to a phone hotline a few hours a day to report concerns and receive support from volunteers. This is the jail where Julie Bilotta was forced to […]
Prisoners in Burnside respond to the clemency decision for Cyntoia Brown
The following is a statement issued by prisoners in the Burnside jail. We, the prisoners of Burnside, stand with all oppressed people over the world. These tyrannical times are hard on those who fight for freedom. We realize that some of these battles against criminal systems of injustice have been going on since the beginning of […]
Medjuck v. Medjuck: Harold says his brother Ralph, one of Nova Scotia’s most powerful property developers, ripped him off for decades
Morning File, Friday, December 21, 2018
News 1. Bike projects Erica Butler has Part 2 of her update on bike projects. In Part 2, she discusses the Brunswick Street/Spring Garden Road, Forest Hills Parkway, Macdonald Bridge, Bedford Highway, Vernon Street, and Oak/Allen bike projects. Click here to read “Update on ongoing bike projects, Part 2.” This article is for subscribers. Click here […]
Three months after jail protest, conditions are “worse than ever,” say Burnside prisoners
"Nobody will help us...In some ways the silence is worse than the violence."
Prisoners in the Burnside jail say that conditions are “worse than ever” since the peaceful protest that ended September 9. They are calling for independent oversight of the provincial prisons and an external review of conditions, legal aid funding for adequate representation for habeas applications, and intervention by the Human Rights Commission. They describe a […]
There are a lot of ugly buildings in Halifax
Morning File, Wednesday, December 12, 2018
News 1. Habeas Corpus Five prisoners at the Burnside jail filed more habeas corpus applications last week, claiming that they were inappropriately kept in lockdown for up to four days. As has become typical, by the time the habeas applications could make their way to a court hearing before a judge, four of the prisoners […]
Six public policy failures in one morning news recap
Morning File, Wednesday, November 14, 2018
November subscription drive Sorry to pester you again, but just a short note to say we’re in the middle of our annual subscription drive. The Halifax Examiner needs your money to make this work possible. Please subscribe. Subscription party details: Reserve Sunday, November 25 on your calendars. We have Bearly’s Tavern, 1269 Barrington Street, 4-7pm. The […]
Corrections officials came to Province House for questioning; here’s how they answered
On Wednesday morning, I attended the Public Accounts committee meeting at Province House. Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Hudson, Chris Collett Executive Director of Correctional Services, and provincial Director of Correctional Services Sean Kelly were answering questions about the Auditor General report from May, 2018. Among other concerns, the report revealed jails were not following the rules […]
Jails lose crime investigation evidence
The sensitive information has been missing for over a month, and no one has any idea where it is. The documents include crime scene photos, names of witnesses, video of statements to the police, and other evidence. The privacy of every person named in those files has been compromised.
On Tuesday, I attended Dartmouth Provincial Court for the preliminary inquiry into the murder of Nadia Gonzalez. Samanda Ritch and Calvin Sparks are charged with first degree murder. But before the inquiry could start, there were two issues. The first was that Sparks’ lawyer, James Giacomantonio, had to remove himself from the case due to […]