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Non-resident property tax increase: gone before the ink was dry

On the one hand, I’m not sure what to make of Tim Houston’s full-frontal face plant last week. On the other hand, I know exactly what to make of it. Same old, same old. Still. Again. Always.

May 9, 2022 By Stephen Kimber 7 Comments

On the one hand, I’m not sure what to make of Tim Houston’s full-frontal face plant last week. “So, today I will put my personal pride aside,” our premier declared Thursday as he humble-pied his way through a humiliating and complete run back of his government’s month-old, ink-barely-dry plan to hike taxes on non-resident property […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Economy, Featured, Province House Tagged With: affordable housing, CBC, Chester, deed transfer tax, Halifax, housing, housing crisis, Michael Gorman, non-resident property tax, non-residents, Nova Scotia, Premier Tim Houston, Stephen Kimber

Housing Trust of Nova Scotia changing tack, abandoning development plan and buying hundreds of apartments

May 2, 2022 By Zane Woodford 3 Comments

The Housing Trust of Nova Scotia is changing up its strategy, moving to sell its property on Maitland Street and buy hundreds of existing affordable rental units. The trust, a nonprofit founded by developer and consultant Ross Cantwell in 2009, used to own two nearby properties between Gottingen Street and Maitland Street, with plans for […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Featured, News, PRICED OUT Tagged With: Angela Bishop, CBC, Centre Plan, Coun. Sam Austin, Halifax, Halifax Water, housing, housing crisis, Housing Trust of Nova Scotia, Maitland Street, Nova Scotia Nature Trust, Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, PRICED OUT, Ross Cantwell, Taryn Grant, Zane Woodford

Banned and challenged: it’s not wokeness gone wild that’s behind books being removed from libraries

Morning File, Wednesday, April 27, 2022

April 27, 2022 By Philip Moscovitch 5 Comments

News 1. Sam Austin blames volunteers for crisis shelter assault Last Saturday morning, members of the anonymous volunteer group Mutual Aid Halifax erected a crisis shelter in Starr Park in Dartmouth. On Monday, Halifax Regional Police say, someone living in the shelter assaulted a local resident who had knocked on the shelter. In a post […]

Filed Under: Featured, Morning File Tagged With: Amy S. Bruckman, Associate Deputy Minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs, Banned Book Week, Bluenose Inn and Suites, Cape Breton Spectator, CBC, CBRM, child poverty, children and youth, crisis shelters, Elon Musk, Ethan Molick, Georgia Tech, health, homelessness, housing, John Ghosn, libraries, Mary Campbell, Mass Murders, Mutual Aid Halifax, Nora Young, Portapique, Sam Austin, Sara Kirk, Spark, Starr Park, Twitter, Wentworth Park, Wharton University

New Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act passes despite concerns

Advocates say the bar for involuntary hospitalizations should be high, while psychiatrists worry fewer people will receive necessary treatment.

April 26, 2022 By Philip Moscovitch 1 Comment

As the mother of a young man with mental illness, Joanne knows how hard it can be to get much-needed mental health treatment for a family member, especially when that person doesn’t think they need it. Joanne (not her real name) lives in rural Nova Scotia, where there is limited access to crisis teams and […]

Filed Under: Featured, Health, Province House Tagged With: Anna Mehler Paperny, Anna Quon, Bill 120, Brian Comer, CBC, Dalhousie Universit, Dr. Jason Morrison, Hello, I Want to Die Please Fix Me, involuntary hospitalization, Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act, Jean Laroche, Lisa Lachance, mental health, mental health treatment, mental illness, Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Early Psychosis Program, Nova Scotia Health, Office of Addictions and Mental Health, Patricia Arab, Philip Moscovitch, psychiatric care, psychosis, substitute decision-makers, wellness check

Public paying the price to clean up old gold mines

Anaconda Mining says the province indemnified it from any liabilities associated with the toxic historic tailings in Goldboro, and plans to mine around them, while Nova Scotians pay to clean them up.

March 23, 2022 By Joan Baxter 1 Comment

  The gold rush in Upper Seal Harbour near Goldboro began with the discovery of gold in 1892 by a fellow named Howard Richardson. For the next 65 years, gold miners dug rock out of the earth in what was known as the “Richardson Belt” on the banks of Gold Brook Lake in Guysborough County. […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Anaconda Mining, arsenic, CBC, Dartmouth, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR), Department of Public Works, Eastern Shore, Gold Brook, Gold Brook Lake, gold mining, Goldboro, Goldenville, Guysborough County, historic mines, Howard Richardson, indemnification, Kevin Bullock, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Lower Seal Harbour gold district, mercury, Michael Gorman, Mike Parsons, mine remediation, mine tailings, Montague gold mines, Municipality of the District of Guysborough, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change (NSECC), Nova Scotia Lands, Orex Exploration, Pieridae Energy, SEDAR, Sherbrooke, Upper Seal Harbour gold mining district

Exploiting pandemic measures for profit

Morning File, Tuesday, March 22, 2022

March 22, 2022 By Philip Moscovitch 3 Comments

News 1. You mean MLAs aren’t supposed to be corporate shills? Last week, it came to Joan Baxter’s attention that there was a Friends of New Northern Pulp sign up at MLA Pat Dunn’s constituency office. Dunn is the MLA for Pictou Centre and minister of African Nova Scotian Affairs. Baxter wondered whether this was […]

Filed Under: COVID, Economy, Featured, Morning File Tagged With: BP, Bridgewater, Catherine Klimek, CBC, Chief Dan Kinsella, Chris Wortman, Colorado, Colorado Public Radio, David Mitchell, dentists, Denver, direct billing, fraud, Friends of a New Northern Pulp, Geoff Martin, Greater Plutonio, GW, Hannah Main, insurance, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Jennifer Henderson, Joan Baxter, Lezlie Lowe, light rail, Lisa Banfield, Matthew Byard, Medavie Blue Cross, Nathaniel Minor, New Horizons Baptist Church, Northern Pulp, offshore, oil, pancake machine, Pastor Rhonda Britton, Patt Dunn, Paul Wortman, Portapique, Rhonda Britton, Richard Woodbury, Rob Csernyik, Sarah Sawler, Scotiabank, Tim Houston, transit

Northern Pulp has a new set of “friends”

But the “friends” look familiar, and the “new” Northern Pulp sure looks a lot like the same old Northern Pulp.

March 9, 2022 By Joan Baxter 4 Comments

This is how the “Friends of a New Northern Pulp” describe themselves on their website: We are Nova Scotians who care deeply about our province, our forests, and our communities. We are the 36,000 Nova Scotians who own small and large woodlots. So, just one line in and the BS begins. The wording of the […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured Tagged With: Andy MacGregor, Asia Pulp and Paper, Boat Harbour Act, British Columbia Supreme Court, Bruce Chapman, CBC, Chief Andrea Paul, Claire Simonon, Curmae Limited, Domtar, Earle Miller, ecological forestry, Ecology Action Centre, effluent treatment, Elmsdale Lumber, environmental assessment, Fibre Excellence, Forest Nova Scotia, forestry industry, forestry sector, Forestry Transition Team, France, Friends of a New Northern Pulp, Friends of the Northumberland Strait (FONS), Great Northern TImber, Healthy Forest Coalition, Hervey Investment BV, Iris Communications, John Hamm, Les Flamants Roses du Trébon, Linda Pannozzo, low-grade wood, Mike Lancaster, Northern Pulp, Northumberland Strait, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, Paper Excellence, Paper Excellence Canada Holdings, Paul Withers, pellets, Peter Oram, Peter Spicer, Pictou County, Pictou Landing First Nation, PR campaign, pulp effluent, pulp mill, Ray Plourde, Robin Wilbder, Ryan Scott, Sinar Mas, Statistics Canada, Stephen McNeil, Tarascon, tax haven, The Netherlands, Widjaja family, wood chips, woodlot owners

Dalhousie University’s decision to source “sustainable biomass” from J.D. Irving and Wagner a “piss-off”

News that Emera’s Brooklyn biomass plant is out of commission is making waves in Nova Scotia, while Dal’s biomass facility in Truro garners little publicity.

March 1, 2022 By Joan Baxter 3 Comments

In May 2021, Dalhousie University issued a tender for “sustainable biomass” to feed the bioenergy plant on its agricultural campus in Truro. At the end of July 2021, the university quietly awarded the contract — worth $1,318,187.50 — to J.D. Irving and Wagner Forest NS. This marked a departure for Dalhousie’s biomass plant, which for […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: agricultural campus, Anne McInerney, Atlantic Star Forestry Ltd, Bermuda, Biodiversity Act, biomass, biomass energy, biomass facility, Brooklyn Energy, Bruce Livesey, carbon accounting, CBC, clearcutting, climate change, climate crisis, Colchester County, Community Feed-in Tariff (COMFIT) Program, Cumberland County, Dal News, Dalhousie University, David Patriquin, ecological forestry, greenhouse gas accounting, greenhouse gas emissions, Greg Watson, Independent Review of Forest Practices In Nova Scotia, JD Irving, Jennifer Henderson, KC Irving, Lahey report, Michael Gorman, National Observer, Neenah Paper, New Brunswick, North Nova Forest Owners Co-operative, Nova Scotia Forest Notes, Nova Star Forestry Ltd, pulp mill, renewable energy, Rochelle Owen, sawmill residue, Scott Maritimes, soil carbon, Sproule Lumber, Stephanie Rogers, tax haven, Tom Miller, triad model, Truro, Wagner Forest Management, Wagner Forest NS, William Lahey

Richard Preston: “The founder of the Black Nova Scotian community”

Preston, who started the African Chapel, the African United Baptist Association of Nova Scotia, and the African Abolition Society, is one of the public's suggestions for names to replace Cornwallis Street.

February 7, 2022 By Matthew Byard, Local Journalism Initiative reporter Leave a Comment

One name the public suggested for the renaming of Cornwallis Street in Halifax is Richard Preston, who was the founder and first reverend of the newly named New Horizons Baptist Church, located on Cornwallis Street. Originally called the African Chapel — and later the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church — the church was founded on April […]

Filed Under: Black Nova Scotia, Featured, Profiles Tagged With: Abolition Act of 1833, African Abolition Society, African Chapel, African United Baptist Association, Black Cultural Centre, Black Cultural Centre of Nova Scotia, Black Loyalists, Black Refugees, CBC, Cornwallis Street Baptist Church, Edward Cornwallis, Frances Willick, Isaac Saney, John Burton, Mi'kmaq, New Horizons Baptist Church, Preston, Richard Preston, War of 1812

“Yacobo O’Hanley” and some other old boys have hurt fee-fees about protecting Tatamagouche’s water supply

January 27, 2022 By Joan Baxter 16 Comments

That didn’t take long. On Tuesday, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change granted protected status to the French River watershed that provides the village of Tatamagouche with its water, which means that henceforth mineral exploration and mining will be prohibited in the watershed. The Halifax Examiner covered the decision to protect the watershed almost immediately, and […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured Tagged With: CBC, climate change, Cobequid Hills, Department of Energy and Mines, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, FOIPOP, French River watershed, Garth DeMont, geology, George O’Reilly, Geoscience and Mines Branch, gold, Haley Ryan, Jacob Hanley, mineral exploration, Mineral Resources Development Fund (MRDF), Municipality of the County of Colchester, NIMBY, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, Nova Scotia Registry of Claims (NovaROC), Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), Saint Mary's University, Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia (SuNNS), Tatamagouche, Warwick Mountain Project, water supply

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PRICED OUT

A collage of various housing options in HRM, including co-ops, apartment buildings, shelters, and tents
PRICED OUT is the Examiner’s investigative reporting project focused on the housing crisis.

You can learn about the project, including how we’re asking readers to direct our reporting, our published articles, and what we’re working on, on the PRICED OUT homepage.

2020 mass murders

Nine images illustrating the locations, maps, and memorials of the mass shootings

All of the Halifax Examiner’s reporting on the mass murders of April 18/19, 2020, and recent articles on the Mass Casualty Commission and newly-released documents.

Updated regularly.

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.

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Two young white women, one with dark hair and one blonde, smile at the camera on a sunny spring day.

Episode 79 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne, is published.

Grace McNutt and Linnea Swinimer are the Minute Women, two Haligonians who host a podcast of the same name about Canadian history as seen through a lens of Heritage Minutes (minutewomenpodcast.ca). In a lively celebration of the show’s second birthday, they stop by to reveal how curling brought them together in podcast — and now BFF — form, their favourite Minutes, that time they thought Jean Chretien was dead, and the impact their show has had. Plus music from brand-new ECMA winners Hillsburn and Zamani.

Listen to the episode here.

Check out some of the past episodes here.

Subscribe to the podcast to get episodes automatically downloaded to your device — there’s a great instructional article here. Email Suzanne for help.

You can reach Tara here.

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Recent posts

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  • Halifax police board moving slowly on defunding report recommendations May 16, 2022
  • There’s no meaning in mass murder May 16, 2022

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