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February 12 was a strange day for the man who two months later would murder 22 people

That snowy Wednesday morning, he had a bizarre run-in with Halifax police — one he gleefully bragged to Frank Magazine about. That evening, he was ticketed by an RCMP cop for driving 1-15 kph over the speed limit on a rural gravel road in Portapique — but the cop won't talk about it.

August 10, 2020 By Paul Palango 40 Comments

Last February 12 began as a poor-weather day in Nova Scotia. The province was pretty well shut down because of an overnight snowstorm. Schools and public buildings were closed in Halifax and Truro. The temperature was hovering around the freezing mark. More snow was forecast. It was not the kind of day to be wandering […]

Filed Under: Featured, Investigation, News Tagged With: Andrew Douglas, Bible Hill, bikers, Brink's, Catharine Mansley, Chief Dan Kinsella, CIBC Intria, Cliff Boutilier, confidential informants, Const. Duane Stanley, Const. Tracy Longpre, Ed Powers, fake RCMP car, Frank Magazine, Halifax Regional Police (HRP), Hell's Angels, LIDAR, Natasha Pace, Nicholas Andrew Dorrington, Portapique Beach Road, Portapique mass shooting murder spree, RCMP, RCMP Assistant Commissioner Larry Tremblay, RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Clarke, Red Devils, Sgt. Michael Sims, Staff-Sgt Tanya Chambers-Spriggs, Stephen Maher

Halifax police want at least $40,000 to release five years of cells data through freedom of information

August 5, 2020 By Zane Woodford 1 Comment

Halifax Regional Police want at least $40,000 in fees in order to hand over five years worth of data on people placed in their cells. That’s part of the response to a request from the Halifax Examiner through the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPOP). There’s been heightened scrutiny of the cells […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Featured, News Tagged With: cells data, Cheryl Gardner, Chief Dan Kinsella, Const. Donna Lee Paris, Const. Dylan Jackman, Const. Justin Murphy, Const. Ryan Morris, Corey Rogers, Daniel Fraser, drunk tanks, East Coast Prison Justice Society, FOIPOP, Halifax Regional Police (HRP), Harry Critchley, Insp. Greg Robertson, Jeannette Rogers, John Burke, Peter LaFitte, Prisoner Care Facility (PCF), Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), sobering centres, spit hood

Police brutality? Think globally, act locally

We're right to speak out about the murder of George Floyd and about the global pandemic of state violence against black people, but we — white people — also need to act locally. There's plenty for us to do right here in our own backyard.

June 7, 2020 By Stephen Kimber 4 Comments

Call it the dance of the dodge. • We need to wait, we need to respect the process, we need to make an informed decision based on the appropriate investigation…” — Halifax Police Chief Dan Kinsella, Jan. 20, 2020. • “After some initial investigation, it has been determined, based on medical records, the matter meets […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House Tagged With: anti-Black racism, Chief Dan Kinsella, George Floyd, police brutality, Santina Rao

Halifax police board approves $5.5 million budget cut

May 14, 2020 By Zane Woodford 4 Comments

The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. The city’s board of police commissioners is recommending in favour of a $5.5 million cut to the Halifax Regional Police budget. Chief Dan Kinsella told the board this week that there will be no impact on public safety from the reduced spending, about $4 million […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Featured, News Tagged With: budget, Chief Dan Kinsella, Dean Stienburg, Halifax city operating budget 2020/21, Halifax Regional Police, Halifax Regional Police Association

Source: Halifax police held back response to mass murderer

May 4, 2020 By Tim Bousquet 4 Comments

On Sunday morning, April 19, the Halifax Regional Police (HRP) was alerted that a gunman (GW) was heading towards the Halifax Regional Municipality in a look-alike RCMP cruiser, and was heavily armed. Despite those warnings, HRP denied a request from its Emergency Response Team that additional members be called in. Later in the morning, HRP […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: Chief Dan Kinsella, Cst. John McLeod, fake RCMP car, Halifax Regional Police (HRP), mass murder shooting spree

What did Halifax’s new police chief Dan Kinsella learn in Hamilton?

Hamilton is the hate crime capital of Canada, but instead of investigating the white supremacist and other right-wing terrorist groups targeting Black, Jewish, and the LGBTQ communities, Hamilton police trained its investigative unit on people of colour and anarchists. And, with Kinsella in an administrative position, the Hamilton police adopted new methods of surveillance of marginalized people, and bloated its budget with the purchase of militarized equipment.

September 23, 2019 By El Jones 5 Comments

Since his arrival in Halifax and swearing in this summer, Halifax police chief Dan Kinsella has been making the rounds, meeting with police and community members. As the legislature returns for the fall session, questions will resume about street checks, and how the government and police intend to address the issues raised by the Wortley […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Ameil Joseph, Caitlin Edwards, Cedar Hopperton, Chief Dan Kinsella, Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSE), Fred Eisenberger, Glenn De Caire, graffiti, Hamilton, Hamilton Police, Henri Berube, Heston Tobias, Lauri Sullivan, left wing protests, Marie Fitzpatrick, Matthew Green, police budget, police culture, predictive policing, racial profiling, street checks, systemic racism, traffic stops, white supremacy

New top cop Dan Kinsella: no racial profiling, just “some inequalities, some negative experiences”

Morning File, Wednesday, July 10, 2019

July 10, 2019 By Philip Moscovitch 9 Comments

News 1. New police chief won’t say “racial bias” Dan Kinsella, the new Halifax police chief was a guest on CBC Radio’s Information Morning today. Host Portia Clark, in her polite and persistent way, pressed him a couple of times on the question of street checks and racial profiling. Asked about street checks, Kinsella replied: […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Adventures in Bubbles and Brine, Airbnb, assholes, baseball, Bill Stewart, Chief Dan Kinsella, Felice's Barber Shop, fermented foods, Jakkar Aliso, Jean Laroche, John Walker, Masoud Alissou, Michael Dunbar, mindfulness, Neighbours Speak Up, Pam Berman, People's Party of Canada, Portia Clark, short term rentals, street checks, umpiring, William Archer, Zane Woodford

New police chief Dan Kinsella holds a degree from WalMart U.

Morning File, Tuesday, May 14, 2019

May 14, 2019 By Tim Bousquet 3 Comments

News 1. Ramadan in jail “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,” writes El Jones: The last time he prayed with community was during Ramadan last year, and since then, his requests for spiritual services have been […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 12 Wing Shearwater, Acting Halifax Regional Police Chief Robin McNeil, American Military University (AMU), American Public University (APU), American Public University System (APUS), armoured vehicle, Attorney General Maura Healey, AuraData, Blair Rhodes, Brendan Elliott, Bry’n Ross, Chief Dan Kinsella, Cop Light Bling, David Fraser, DND, El Jones, Forest Confidential, Harold Dawson, Keith Doucette, Linda Pannozzo, mary Ellen Doucet, Melanie Booth, mission creep, Paul Fain, RCMP Insp. Robert Doyle, street checks, tendering fraud, WalMart U, Zane Woodford

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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