Last week, CBC reporter Michael Gorman noted that: Last year the government quietly removed Owls Head provincial park in Little Harbour from the province’s pending protected status list. The move was made so negotiations could begin with Lighthouse Links Development Co., which hopes to acquire the 285 hectares of coastal headland, add it to land […]
Budget cut has environmentalists worried Halifax is forgetting about Blue Mountain–Birch Cove Lakes
Environmentalists who celebrated extra cash in last year’s municipal budget for park land protection are worried a reduced budget for next year means the city is again forgetting about Blue Mountain–Birch Cove Lakes. Halifax regional council is working on the capital and operating budgets for the year ahead, meeting weekly over the next few months....
Who’s protecting Owls Head park from development? Not the provincial government
Morning File, Wednesday, December 18, 2019
News 1. Environment Minister Gordon Wilson orders two-year environmental assessment of Northern Pulp Mill’s proposed effluent treatment system Jennifer Henderson looks at what yesterday’s decision on Northern Pulp’s proposed effluent treatment system means for the future. Environment minister Gordon Wilson told Northern Pulp to produce more information and complete a full environmental assessment before he […]
Environment Minister Margaret Miller isn’t talking about Northern Pulp’s much-criticized environmental assessment
Morning File, Friday, March 15, 2019
News 1. Spill at Moose River gold mine “Atlantic Gold’s manager of environment and permitting, James Millard, calls it a ‘spill’ or a ‘loss of control’ caused by a ‘gasket failure,’” reports Joan Baxter: By whatever name, the event happened on the night of January 3, 2019, at the company’s open pit gold mine at […]
Northern Pulp’s environmental assessment “is simply not credible” says EAC
Morning File, Wednesday, March 13, 2019
News 1. Pulp Culture We’ve published Linda Pannozzo’s detailed review of how through the decades the province has oriented forest policies — and purposefully subverted science — to favour the pulp industry over the lumber industry. As a result, overcutting has resulted in smaller trees that provide less lumber, and now the sawmills are […]
Gnawing away at the vitals of this community, since 1970
Morning File, Friday, January 18, 2019
This is Erica Butler, filling in for Tim. News 1. Council defers capital budget approval As we know from last December when it first appeared on council’s agenda, Halifax’s proposed capital budget leaves A LOT out, especially just about anything to do with the city’s approved Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP), and the final years’ implementation […]
The stadium proposal deconstructed
Morning File, Monday, October 29, 2018
News 1. Stadium Tuesday, Halifax council will take up the proposal for a football stadium at Shannon Park. Specifically, council is being asked to direct staff to undertake a business case analysis of the stadium proposal and to identify financing options and legislative changes that would be required to make the proposal a reality. There’s […]
An obsessive fixation for cheap decoration, wallpaper edition
Morning File, Friday, March 23, 2018
News 1. aioTV “The tech company aioTV has ceased operations, and Innovacorp has lost its entire $1.7 million investment in the company,” I reported yesterday. The provincial government has something like $100 million invested as equity stakes in various companies (far more has been loaned, granted, and rebated). Those investments first came through Nova Scotia […]
Six steps for making the Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Park a reality
Several months have passed since Halifax Regional Council voted down a sprawling development proposal for the Birch Cove Lakes. That near-unanimous decision to save the future regional park was an important moment for the city. The mayor and councillors chose to listen to the public (1,420 letters were submitted, nearly all in favour of the […]
Gloria McCluskey could not be more wrong: Dartmouthians DO care about Blue Mountain – Birch Cove Lakes wilderness park
“Gloria McCluskey’s comments about Dartmouthians not caring about Birch Cove Lakes really bothered me,” writes Chris Miller, who is the director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and a long-time advocate for the proposed Blue Mountain – Birch Cove Lakes wilderness park. Miller has brought me out to the wilderness three times over the […]