News 1. Nova Scotia Power fined $375,000 This item is written by Jennifer Henderson. The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) has slapped Nova Scotia Power with a $375,000 fine for failing to meet performance standards established more than five years ago. The utility filed its annual report last March and the data show […]
A quietly negotiated trade agreement with Indonesia is a bad deal for Canada
Through its subsidiary Paper Excellence, the giant Asia Pulp & Paper conglomerate already controls much of Canada's pulp industry. The company is now suing Nova Scotia for $450 million, and the new deal will expose Canadians to even more corporate litigation before judges who are not appointed by elected governments. It's the latest "bilateral trade agreement" that threatens labour and environmental protections.
Nova Scotians have a huge lawsuit hanging over their heads, but they can be forgiven for not dwelling on it in the summer of 2022, given the never-ending storm of crises swirling around them — COVID-19, the climate crisis, biodiversity collapse, runaway inflation and disaster capitalism run amok, and disintegrating democracy around the world. Still, […]
Overexposed: put down the camera and enjoy the experience
Morning File, Tuesday, June 7, 2022
News 1. The burning question: why did police fail to alert the public about the killer’s fake cop car? From Jennifer Henderson this morning: Two years ago last April, health care workers Heather O’Brien and Kristen Beaton were killed in their cars on the Plains Road near Debert by a gunman posing as a police […]
Opposition critics react to AG’s P3 report
“The auditor general has said today that governments pay a premium when they bring in private companies to build and maintain public infrastructure,” said Susan Leblanc, the NDP’s Transportation and Infrastructure critic. “Without the Public Accounts Committee or the Legislature meeting, the public doesn’t have access to the information necessary about whether this is a...
Canada, land of the gas guzzler
Morning File, Thursday, January 16, 2020
News 1. Partners for Care closes up shops Jennifer Henderson reports for the Halifax Examiner: Partners for Care, the non-profit group which ran half a dozen gift shops at the QE2 Health Sciences Centre for 25 years, abruptly closed the doors at its remaining four locations Tuesday. A charity without charitable activities to operate raises […]
Halifax councillors should tell city staff to stop dithering and adopt a living wage policy already
Morning File, Monday, January 28, 2019
News 1. Blackface Last Monday, some Dalhousie students protested at the welcoming reception for incoming interim president Peter MacKinnon. As I noted Tuesday, the students were particularly riled over MacKinnon’s book, University Commons Divided: Exploring Debate & Dissent on Campus, which included a section that downplays and excuses the wearing of blackface while mischaracterizing and sidelining those who object […]
Nova Scotia’s foolhardy use of public-private partnerships continues
Morning File, Friday, October 5, 2018
News 1. Jails lose crime investigation evidence “On Tuesday, I attended Dartmouth Provincial Court for the preliminary inquiry into the murder of Nadia Gonzalez,” writes El Jones: 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, […]
How Halifax city council screws working people: Morning File, Wednesday, December 14, 2016
News How Halifax city council screws working people Two issues of note were discussed by city council yesterday. The first was a plan to award “density bonusing” to developers who include a few units of “affordable housing” in their new buildings. I’ll return to that momentarily, but first I want to speak about the second issue […]
Will the Victoria General be replaced with a P3 hospital? The McNeil government isn’t ruling it out
“Private Deals, Public Failures” is the slogan of a campaign running on TV and social media this week launched by the Nova Scotia Health Coalition. The non-profit group which defends public health care is worried the McNeil government may choose a private company to handover the financing, building, and ownership of health-care facilities to replace...