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Port Wallace Gamble: the real estate boom meets Nova Scotia’s toxic mine legacy

Part 2: the suburb proposed to be built in the shadow of Montague Gold Mines 

March 2, 2020 By Joan Baxter 3 Comments

This is a story about the toxic legacy from historic gold mines in Nova Scotia, which its citizens will be paying many millions of dollars to try to clean up, and how the contamination at just one of these sites — Montague Mines in HRM — is still affecting us today.  This, the second in […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Environment, Featured, Investigation, News, Province House Tagged With: AECOM, Barry's Run, Blue Chip, Brian Palmer, CAO Jacques Dubé, Clayton Developments, councillor Shawn Cleary, councillor Tony Mancini, Doug Skinner, Frank Whebby Limited, gold mining, Lake Charles, Lake Loon, Marina Hamilton, mine tailings, Mitchell Brook, Montague Mines, Paul Morgan, Port Wallace, Richard Butts, Shaw Group, Shubenacadie Lakes, Shubie Park, toxic tailings from historic gold mines, w. Eric Whebby Limited, watersheds

Port Wallace Gamble: the real estate boom meets Nova Scotia’s toxic mine legacy

Part 1: The making of a toxic mess and the uncalculated costs of previous gold rushes.

March 1, 2020 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

This is Part 1 of a three-part story about the toxic legacy from historic gold mines in Nova Scotia, which its citizens will be paying many millions of dollars to try to clean up, and how the contamination at just one of these sites — Montague Mines in HRM — is still affecting lives today, […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Environment, Featured, Investigation, News, Province House Tagged With: Alexander Heatherington, arsenic from mining, Atlantic Gold, Barry's Run, Canadian Extractive Industries Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), Clayton Developments, Cochrane Hill gold mine, Damas Touquoy, Department of Energy and Mines (DEM), Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), Francis Paul, gold mining, gold mining pollution, Goldenville, James Paul, John Drage, John Hartlen, John Pulsiver, Kerry Rowe, Lake Charles, Lake Loon, Linda Campbell, Lisa Jarrett, mercury, Michael Parsons, mine tailings, Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS), Mitchell Brook, Montague Mines, Moose River gold mine, Nova Scotia Auditor General Michael Pickup, Nova Scotia Lands, Paul Paul, Raymond Plourde, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, St. Barbara Limited, Touquoy mine

The Lantz interchange, Richard Butts, and suburban sprawl

Morning File, Friday, June 21, 2019

June 21, 2019 By Tim Bousquet 6 Comments

News 1. Yarmouth Ferry is a bust “Nova Scotia Transportation Minister Geoff MacLellan admitted under questioning from reporters following a Cabinet meeting Thursday that the province has no idea if or when the Yarmouth ferry will operate this summer,” reports Jennifer Henderson: “Certainly we are worried about this season and our tourism operators,” said Minister […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Armco Capital Inc, Clayton Developments, Doug Barron, Francis Campbell, Lantz interchange, Minister Geoff MacLellan, New Riders of the Purple Surf, Richard Butts, Shaw Group Ltd, sidewalk clearing RFP, stadium, Yarmouth ferry

Halifax CFL team: the Richard Butts connection

Morning File, Friday, November 2, 2018

November 2, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 7 Comments

November subscription drive Today, I could write a long thing telling you about how important your subscription is, or you could read what I wrote yesterday and today I’ll just post a picture of a cute dog: Your dog can also wear a Halifax Examiner T-shirt, but only if your dog buys an annual subscription. […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Allscripts, Anthony Leblanc, anti-Black racism and the CFL, Canada Games Centre renovation, Cerner, CFL team, Chief Bob Gloade, Clayton Developments, Evelyn White, Health records contract, Irving Shipyard, John McPhee, Maritime Football Limited, Mayor Mike Savage, Millbrook First Nation, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), Pam Berman, Paul Schneidereit, Richard Butts, ship maintenance contracts, subscription drive, Terry Jones

The stadium proposal deconstructed

Morning File, Monday, October 29, 2018

October 29, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 7 Comments

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 […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Andrew Barroway, Anthony Leblanc, Bruce Bowser, Canada Lands, CFL stadium proposal, Chris Miller, Clayton Developments, container ports modernization, Darrell Jackson, David Baker, Denise Schofield., Dennis Welch, Gary Bettman, Gary Drummond, Jerry Blackwood, Joanna Cagan, Kelly Denty, Maritime Football League Partnership (MFLP), Millbrook First Nation, MP Darren Fisher, Neil deMause, Nova Centre, Pam Berman, Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

Richard Butts, Clayton Developments, and the Purcells Cove backlands: Morning File: Wednesday, August 17, 2016

August 17, 2016 By Tim Bousquet 15 Comments

News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Richard Butts, Clayton Developments, and the Purcells Cove backlands Let’s have a quick refresher on the Purcells Cove backlands, which is that stretch of undeveloped land roughly between Spryfield and Purcells Cove. The backlands are the site of two large lakes — Colpitt and […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Allan Shaw, Annapolis Group, Anton Selkowitz, Barry Dalrymple, Bob Bjerke, Clayton Developments, Craig Smith, Jodrey, John Risley, Linda Mosher, Morning File, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Purcells Cove backlands, Reg Rankin, Richard Butts, Stephen Adams, Stephen Kimber, Yarmouth ferry

What’s the state of the union at the Chronicle Herald? Examineradio, episode #59

April 29, 2016 By Russell Gragg Leave a Comment

  On Sunday April 24 Solidarity Halifax organized a public meeting to discuss the strike at the Halifax Chronicle Herald, currently dragging into its fourth month. Striking Chronicle Herald news editor Pam Sword, Saint Mary’s labour professor Judy Haiven and the Halifax Examiner’s own Tim Bousquet spoke to a standing room-only crowd. Examineradio is happy to present the […]

Filed Under: Featured, Journalism Tagged With: Allan Shaw, Chronicle Herald, Clayton Developments, Examineradio, labour, podcast, Purcells Cove, Richard Butts, strike

Richard Butts has a gigantic conflict of interest

City Hall's top bureaucrat quits and goes to work for Halifax's biggest developer, underscoring the need for laws against the revolving door for lobbyists.

December 9, 2015 By Tim Bousquet

Today, Halifax CAO Richard Butts abruptly announced he is resigning from City Hall. Butts will stick around for a few weeks as the job “transitions,” but effective immediately City Solicitor John Traves “will assume the authority and responsibilities of the CAO Office,” said city spokesperson Breton Murphy in a press release. The choice of Traves — and not Deputy...

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Filed Under: City Hall, Featured, News, Subscribers only Tagged With: Clayton Developments, lobbyist, Richard Butts

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Brian Borcherdt. Photo: Anna Edwards-Borcherdt

Brian Borcherdt came of age in Yarmouth in the 1990s. When he arrived in Halifax, the city’s famous music scene was already waning, and worse, the music he made was rejected by the cool kids anyway. After decades away from Nova Scotia, he and his young family have settled in the Annapolis Valley, where he’ll zoom in to chat with Tara about his band Holy Fuck’s endlessly delayed tour, creating the Dependent Music collective, and the freedom and excitement of the improvised music he’s making now. Plus: Bringing events back in 2021.

The Tideline is advertising-free and subscriber-supported. It’s also a very good deal at just $5 a month. Click here to support 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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Recent posts

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  • More federal money might help seniors in Nova Scotia, but the province is slow on the uptake as Liberal leadership candidates stake out their positions January 20, 2021
  • Atlantic Gold is going to court January 20, 2021

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