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Northern Pulp and its wealthy owners seem intent on taking Nova Scotians to the cleaners

But the Pictou pulp mill has had plenty of Nova Scotian accomplices helping them fleece the province.

April 4, 2022 By Joan Baxter 3 Comments

On April 1, in the British Columbia Supreme Court, Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick issued an order that forces Nova Scotia into a “mediation” process in the BC court, where Northern Pulp and six related companies have been enjoying creditor protection since June 2020. The process will be handled by a “court appointed” monitor that Northern Pulp […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), BC Premier John Horgan, Bernie Miller, Biodiversity Act, Boat Harbour Act, Brazil, British Columbia Supreme Court, Bruce Chapman, Catalyst Paper, Companies" Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), Competition Bureau of Canada, creditor protection, Darrell Dexter, default, deforestation, Domtar, Eldorado Brazil Celulose, environmental assessment, environmental assessment report, GI Smith, Hervey Investment B.V., Indemnity Agreement, Jackson Widjaja, John Hamm, John Savage, Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick, Kamloops, Kirby McVicar, lawsuit, Maurice Chiasson, mediation process, Netherlands, Northern Pulp, Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change (NSECC), Nova Scotia Pension Benefits Act, Nova Scotia Superintendent of Pensions, nova scotia supreme court, Ontario, Paper Excellence, Paper Excellence Canada Holdings Corporation, Paper Excellence Group, Pensions, Pictou County, Public Affairs Atlantic, pulp mill, Quebec, Robert Grant, Robert Stanfield, Rodney MacDonald, Sasha Irving, Sinar Mas Group, statment of claims, Stephen McNeil, tax haven, Unifor, Widjaja family

Proposed Wentworth Valley wind farm gets blowback

While local group fears negative effects, Northern Pulp stands to profit from the giant wind project because it’s on Northern Pulp land purchased with a loan from Nova Scotians.

December 6, 2021 By Joan Baxter 1 Comment

Let’s start with a quick Nova Scotia quiz. Question #1: What do the following three things have in common? (1) A large new wind farm proposed for Wentworth Valley, (2) an open pit gold mine at Moose River in Halifax Regional Municipality that is owned by Australia’s St Barbara Ltd and operated by its subsidiary […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: 3G Energy, Amherst, Angus Doane, Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining Nova Scotia (AMNS), Beaver Dam gold mine, carbon dioxide, climate change, climate crisis, Community LIaison Committee, Dan Eaton, Darrell Dexter, Duff Montgomerie, electricity generation, Elemental Energy, Enercon, fossil fuels, Garfield Moffatt, Germany, government loan, greenhouse gas emissions, Gregor Wilson, Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), Higgins Mountain, Higgins Mountain Wind Farm, Kejimkujik National Park, Lunenburg, Maryam Baksh, Moose River, Moose River gold mine, Muskrat Falls, NDP government, Neenah Paper, Northern Pulp, Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corporation, Northern Timber, Nova Scotia Power Inc. (NSPI), Paul Pynn, Peggy's Cove, Protect Wentworth Valley, renewable energy, Sean Lewis, Shawn Duncan, solar energy, South Canoe, St Barbara Ltd, Stevens Wind Ltd, Strum Consulting, Supreme Court of British Columbia, Wentworth ski hill, Wentworth Valley, wind energy, wind farm, wind turbine

Expansion of gold mining on the Eastern Shore meeting with stiff resistance

The public and Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia have until December 16 to comment on this latest round, but in a letter from June, Millbrook First Nation said they "do not support" the mine on the Eastern Shore.

November 26, 2021 By Joan Baxter 3 Comments

Atlantic Mining Nova Scotia (AMNS) looks bound and determined to mine paradise, blast a giant hole deep into the earth at Beaver Dam in a rural part of the Halifax Regional Municipality just over an hour’s drive from downtown Dartmouth, and extract 56 million tonnes of material from the bowels of this small province between 2023 […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: acid rain, Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining Nova Scotia (AMNS), Australia, Barbara Markovits, Beaver Dam, Beaver Lake Reserve, British Columbia Supreme Court, Chief Robert Gloade, climate change, climate crisis, Cochrane Hill, Community LIaison Committee, Crown land, D.D.V. Gold, Darrell Dexter, Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal (TIR), diesel fuel, Duff Montgomerie, Dustin O’Leary, Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association, Environmental Impact Statement, Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), Fenwick Towers, Fifteen-Mile Stream, First nations, fuel tax rebate, gold mine, greenhouse gase (GHG), Halifax, Halifax Regional Municipality, Highway 224, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC), Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), James Millard, Jim Kuipers, Killag River, land disturbance, lime, Lloyd Hines, Management and Solutions Environmental Science (MSES), Mark Parent, Mi'kmaq, Millbrook Chief and Council, Millbrook First Nation, Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS), Montano School of Mines, Moose River, Moose River Consolidated Project, Mooseland Road, NDP government, Northern Pulp, Northern Timber, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change (NSECC), Nova Scotia Salmon Association (NSSA), open pit gold mine, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Public Works, rmiddiond, Sheet Harbour Reserve, Simone Ryder-Burbidge, soil organic carbon, St Barbara Ltd, St. Mary's River, tax revenues, Touquoy gold mine, Wiidjaja family

Northern Pulp is demanding it be given “more than $100 million” from the province

October 20, 2021 By Joan Baxter 3 Comments

Northern Pulp — a Paper Excellence company that belongs ultimately to the billionaire corporate empire of the Widjaja family of Indonesia — is giving the Nova Scotia government two months notice that it intends to start legal proceedings to get “more than $100 million” from the province, which it claims represents the losses it has […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured Tagged With: Asia Pulp and Paper, Boat Harbour, Boat Harbour Act, British Columbia Supreme Court, Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCA), Darrell Dexter, Domtar, Jean-Francois Guillot, John Hamm, John Savage government, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Northern Pulp, Paper Excellence, Pictou County, Pictou Landing First Nation, premier John Savage, Premier Tim Houston, Sinar Mas, Stephen McNeil, Tim Houston, Widjaja family

What are Paper Excellence’s real plans for Northern Pulp?

This week two men presented the company’s plans for a “complete transformation” of the the mill at a special Pictou Town Council meeting. They faced persistent questions and made some telling comments that do not bode well for Nova Scotia.

July 21, 2021 By Joan Baxter 10 Comments

Paper Excellence is on a desperate charm offensive in Nova Scotia, trying to build “trust,” get support to refit and re-open its Pictou County Northern Pulp mill, make people believe that the company has somehow transformed itself overnight, and convince us all to forget its many egregious environmental, social, and political transgressions and bullying tactics. […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: A’se’K, Biodiversity Act, Boat Harbour, Boat Harbour Act, Bowater lands, British Columbia, Caribou Harbour, Chief Andrea Paul, COunty of Pictou Council, creditor protection, Crown land, Cumberland Forestry Advisory Committee, Dale Paterson, Darrell Dexter, Duff Montgomerie, Effluent Treatment Facility, Environmental Liaison Committee, Forest Nova Scotia, GI Smith, Graham Kissack, Jerry Dias, Jim Ryan, Ken Swain, Melinda MacKenzie, Nadine LeBlanc, NDP government, Northern Pulp, Northern pulp creditor protection, Nova Scotia Lands, Paper Excellence, Pedro Chang, pension plan, Pensions, Pictou, Pictou Harbour, Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN), Pictou Town Council, pipeline, pulp effluent, pulp mill, Resolute Forest Products, Robert Stanfield, Scott Maritimes Limited Agreement Act, Stellarton Town Council, Stephen McNeil, Supreme Court of British Columbia, Unifor, Wagner Forest Management, Wentworth Valley, WestFor Management, Westville Town Council

Paper Excellence holds a media show and piles on the PR

Northern Pulp’s owner is working on a $350 million “complete transformation” for the mill in Pictou County, but doesn’t say whether any of that money will be public, or why Nova Scotians should trust them.

July 16, 2021 By Joan Baxter 7 Comments

On the morning of July 15, Iris Communications’ Sean Lewis sent out a press release on behalf of Paper Excellence. It was chockablock with carefully calibrated and curated PR, informing us that Northern Pulp’s 54-year-old pulp mill in Pictou County was set to become “a “best-in-class operation” and “one of the world’s cleanest, most environmentally […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News Tagged With: AP&P, Asia Pulp & Paper, Boat Harbour, CBC, Chief Andrea Paul, Class I, Class II, clearcutting, Companies" Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), Dale Paterson, Darrell Dexter, Domtar, Effluent Treatment Facility, Eldorado Brasil Celulose, environmental assessment, Environmental Liaison Committee, Fibre Excellence, forestry, France, Graham Kissack, herbicide, Iris Communications, Lahey report, Mi'kmaq, Michael Gorman, no pipe, Northern Pulp, Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Environment, Paper Excellence, Paper Excellence B.V., Paper Excellence Canada Holdings Corporation, Pictou, Pictou County, Pictou Harbour, Pictou Landing First Nation, pulp mill, Sean Lewis, Sinar Mas, Supreme Court of British Columbia, Widjaja family

Who benefits from Atlantic Gold’s Nova Scotia operations?

Firm with gold mines on the Eastern Shore pays no taxes and low wages to its employees while it gets large government subsidies and maximizes profits. Oh, and it will leave toxic mine tailings that will be with us forever.

June 21, 2021 By Joan Baxter 3 Comments

In mid-May, Laird Brownlie, head of external affairs for Australia’s St Barbara Ltd that acquired Atlantic Gold and its mining operations in Nova Scotia in 2019 for $722 million, sent out an email — a “special bulletin” — about the company’s proposed modifications at its Touquoy open pit gold mine in Moose River. Brownlie’s message […]

Filed Under: Featured, Investigation Tagged With: Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Australia, Barb Bryden, Brenna Reynolds, Burkina Faso, Charlier Parker, clay borrow pit, Cochrane Hill, corporate taxes, Craig Hudson, Darrell Dexter, DDV Gold, Deborah Bayer, Department of Energy and Mines (DEM), Dustin O’Leary, Earthworks, Eastern Shore, Ellen Moore, Environment Act, Environmental Approval, environmental charges, Environmental Impact Statement, Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), Fifteen Mile Stream mine, Fisheries Act, FOIPOP, Frances Willick, Freedom of Information request, fuel taxes, gold mine, Highway 7, IAMGOLD, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC), industrial approval, information session, James Wilt, Jennifer Henderson, Jim Millard, John Perkins, KPMG, Laird Browlie, land expropriation, Leonora mine, LinkedIn, Lloyd Hines, MacGregors Industrial Group, Mario Fortunato, Mi'kmaq, mine tailings, Mineral Resources Development Fund, Minerals Incentive Program, Moose River, Moose River Consolidated Project, Moose River Gold Mines Provincial Park, Moose River Road, Natural Resources Canada, NDP, net smelter royalty rate, net value royalty rate, Nova Scotia Environment (NSE), NS Power, open pit gold mine, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Paul Palmeter, Pieridae Energy, PNG Mineral Resources Authority, PowerPoint, proposed Beaver Dam mine, RCMP, Robert Grant, royalties, Sara Wallace, Sherbrooke, Simberi mine, St Barbara Ltd, St. Mary's River, Stantec, Steve Streatch, Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia (SuNNS), tailings management facility (TMF), taxes, The Narwhal, Touquoy mine, Transportation and Active Transit (TAT), United Nations Human Development Index, United Steelworkers union, waste rock storage area

Public engagement, future of the forestry, and the Harvest Plans Map Viewer

Activists says the online tool where Nova Scotians can submit feedback on what happens to the forests on public lands is inaccessible and lacks historical data.

June 10, 2021 By Joan Baxter 11 Comments

In December 2020, Mike Lancaster was invited to attend an online meeting of the Western Region Stakeholder Interaction Committee, which he describes as a venue for those holding forestry licences on Crown land and “other key stakeholders to engage with the Department of Lands and Forestry on forestry and planning issues for the western region […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Province House Tagged With: accountability, Annapolis Royal & Area Environment & Ecology, Bev Wigney, Bowater, Bowater Mersey, clearcuts, clearcutting, Crown land, Crown land licensee, Darrell Dexter, Deborah Bayer, Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), Department of Natural Resources (DNR), facebook, forestry, forestry industry, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Freeman Lumber, Harvest Plan Map Viewer (HPMV), Harvest Plans Map Viewer (HPMV), Healthy Forest Coalition, individal tree selection, internet, internet access, Lahey report, Lahey Report on Forestry, Linda Pannozzo, Marcus Zwicker, Medway Community Forest Cooperative, Mike Lancaster, Natural Resources Strategy, NDP, Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corporation, Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry, NS NDP, old growth trees, overstory removal, Port Hawkesbury Paper, Resolute Forest Products, The Path We Share, transparency, variable retention, Washington Post, Western Region Stakeholder Interaction Committee, WestFor

How the Biodiversity Act was killed

Forest Nova Scotia, which represents the biggest forestry players, gets an awful lot of public money — including millions of dollars to administer a forest roads program panned by the auditor general. It also has a paid lobbyist swaying the policies of the very government that funds it, and who started working on its behalf just as the Biodiversity Act was gutted.

April 20, 2021 By Joan Baxter 11 Comments

Last month Forest Nova Scotia, an industry group representing the most powerful shapers of forestry policy in this province, spearheaded a propaganda campaign against the Biodiversity Act, which the Liberal government of Iain Rankin had introduced on March 11, calling it legislation that would “preserve and protect Nova Scotia’s unique ecosystems, wild animals, plants, lakes […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Investigation, News, Province House Tagged With: All Terrain Vehicle Association of Nova Scotia (ATVANS), Andrew Fedora, ARF Enterprises, Astroturf, Auditor General, Bill 4, biodiversity, Biodiversity Act, Bowater Mersey, Brian Taylor, Canadian Federation of Forest Owners, Canadian Woodlands Forum, Cassie Turple, CBC Information Morning, Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia, Chronicle Herald, climate crisis, Concerned Priavate Landowner Coalition, Cumberland Forestry Advisory Committee, Darrell Dexter, Darrin Carter, Dean Produce Co-op, Debbie Reeves, Department of lands and Forestry, Department of Natural Resources, Downey Thompson, Elmsdale Lumber, Extinction Rebellion, Federation of Nova Scotia Woodland Owners, Forestry Nova Scotia, Forestry Transition Fund, Forestry Transition Team, Gas Tax Access Program, Great Northern TImber, Harry Freeman and Son, Howard Epstein, Ian Johnstone, Jacob Fillmore, JD Irving, Jeff Bishop, Jeff Black, Jim Ketterling, Jim Meek, Jonathan Porter, Kevin Saunders, Krista Fulton, Ledwidge Lumber, Leitha Haysom, Linda Pannozzo, Louisiana Pacific, Maibec CanExel, Marcus Zwicker, Mark Baillie, Mayor Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, Michael Pickup, Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, Neenah Paper, Nina Newington, Noel Sampson, Northern Pulp, Northern Timber Nova Scotia Corporation, Nova Scotia Landowners and Forest Fibre Producers Association, Paper Excellence, Port Hawkesbury Paper, Premier Iain Rankin, Public Affairs Atlantic, Resolute Forest Products, Richard Freeman, Rick Archibald, Round Table on Environment and Sustainable Prosperity, Ryan Cameron, Sasha Irving, Scotia Investments, Scotsburn Lumber, Scott Paper, Sean Lewis, Snowmobilers Association of Nova Scotia (SANS), Stephen Marsters, Stephen Thompson, Stop Bill 4, Taylor Lumber, Timberland Holdings, Todd Burgess, Wagner Forest Management, WestFor Management

The French Connection

People in southern France are battling pollution at a paper mill owned by a corporate behemoth: Paper Excellence Canada, the owner of the Northern Pulp Mill in Nova Scotia

February 24, 2021 By Joan Baxter 1 Comment

They call their association the “Les Flamants Roses du Trébon” or LFRT (Flamingos of Trébon), and it’s a collective of residents in southern France who are fighting to have the six-decades-old Fibre Excellence Tarascon pulp mill in the province of Alpes-Côte d’Azur clean up its environmental act.  French media report that the mill is owned […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: A’se’K, Asia Pulp and Paper, bankruptcy, Boat Harbour, Bouches-du-Rhône, British Columbia, Catalyst Paper, Crofton, Darrell Dexter, Fibre Excellence Tarascon, Flamingos of Trébon, France, French President Emmanuel Macron, Haute-Garonne, insolvency, Jean-Francois Guillot, Les Flamants Roses du Trébon (LFRT), Michel Dufy, Nature Comminges, Northern Pulp, Paper Excellence, Paper Excellence B.V., Paper Excellence Canada, Pictou Landing First Nation, pollution, Port Alberni, Powell River, pulp mill, receivership, Saint-Guadens, Seveso, Sinar Mas, Stephen McNeil, Supreme Court of British Columbia, Tarascon, Tax Justice Network, Widjaja family

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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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