Hi there. It’s Erica Butler at the Morningfile wheel again today. News 1. Justice department asked to please release documents, three years later The Nova Scotia justice department has been asked to release documents related to the death of Clayton Cromwell, who died of a methadone overdose in 2014 in custody at the Central Nova […]
Bad behaviour everywhere
Morning File, Thursday, August 2, 2018
1. An apology The Halifax Examiner acknowledges that the Armour Group Limited neither hired, nor fired, the janitors previously employed to clean Founder’s Square. Further, The Halifax Examiner retracts, and apologizes for the allegation that Armour Group engaged in racial discrimination in determining to no longer engage with GDI Integrated Facility Services. The original article […]
Halifax’s moral panic over the legalization of cannabis
Morning File, Wednesday, August 1, 2018
News 1. Convention centre Oh, running out of time for this… I’ll write it up today for tomorrow’s Morning File. 2. Smoking ban On Monday, Dartmouth councillor Sam Austin published a blog post saying he was reconsidering his support for the smoking bylaw, weirdly wanting to keep the provisions of the bylaw as they pertain […]
Access denied: the Nova Scotia Health Authority refuses to share the results of its transportation survey
Last November, the QE2 Redevelopment Project very wisely conducted a survey of its staff, asking about how they get to and from work. I heard about the survey from a QE2 staffer, and immediately decided to ask for a look at the results. In Halifax, we don’t have too much in the way of detailed...
Biomass, Freedom of Information and the Silence of the DNR Company Men
Part 4: The Case of the Disappearing Forest Age Class Data
This article is Part 4 in Linda Pannozzo’s series: Biomass, Freedom of Information and the Silence of the DNR Company Men. The proceeding articles are: Part 1: Reporter Linda Pannozzo discovers just how hard provincial bureaucrats worked to ignore her questions. Part 2: An Open Letter to the FOIPOP Review Officer Part 3: What Happened When This […]
Balancing budgets on the backs of the working poor isn’t fiscal responsibility; it’s exploitation. Morning File, Friday, September 30, 2016
News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. George Tsimiklis is the worst landlord in town Halifax landlord and developer George Tsimiklis preys on poor people. That’s his business model: renting out substandard housing to people on social assistance who have few options in life. Yesterday, I detailed the dozens and dozens of […]
Government officials are using private email to keep information from you: Morning File, Wednesday, September 28, 2016
News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Right to Know Week This is Right to Know Week, and today is Right to Know Day: Each year on September 28, approximately 40 countries and 60 non-governmental organizations celebrate Right to Know Day. The purpose of Right to Know is to raise […]
Halifax needs a Living Wage ordinance: Morning File, Monday, September 26, 2016
News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Halifax needs a living wage ordinance Last week, Halifax council wrestled with a contract for parking enforcement. The term for the former contractor, ISSA, had expired, but that company agreed to continue providing enforcement on a month-by-month basis until a new contract was […]
Biomass, Freedom of Information and the Silence of the DNR Company Men
Part 3: What Happened When This Reporter Got Called Down to the Office
I’ll admit I was pretty intrigued this July when I was invited to a meeting at the Department of Natural Resources office in the heart of downtown Halifax. “I recognize that there have been challenges in providing you with the information you have requested, and that you have a number of questions for us that […]
Biomass, Freedom of Information, and the DNR Company Men, Part 2: An Open Letter to the FOIPOP Review Officer
Editor’s note: In March, the Halifax Examiner published Linda Pannozzo’s investigation into biomass harvesting, “Feeding the Fire.” Pannozzo followed that up in April with “Biomass, Freedom of Information, and the Silence of the DNR Company Men,” which looked at how information is controlled and managed in the Department of Natural Resources, and how her investigation […]