News 1. Halfway River aboiteau In 2017, the Halfway River aboiteau collapsed. The aboiteau was essentially a dike or dam that at low tide allowed water to flow out to the Bay of Fundy but restricted the flow of water back into the river at high tide. It was an ancient construction — I haven’t been […]
Despite government assurances to the contrary, no one knows what the abandoned tidal turbine is doing to the environment
Morning File, Friday, August 9, 2019
I’m having computer problems, and so this is a short version of Morning File. News 1. Who are we building bike lanes for, anyway? “After the announcement about $25 million in funding towards a minimum bike grid for central Halifax and Dartmouth, there was a lot of talk about who would benefit from such an investment,” […]
The abandoned tidal turbine still sits on the bottom of the Minas Basin, and taxpayers are probably on the hook for removing it
The future of a massive, five-storey high tidal turbine sitting on the bottom of the Bay of Fundy off the coast of Parrsboro continues to represent a financial sinkhole for Nova Scotia taxpayers. Yesterday, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Peter Rosinski officially accepted a letter from the lawyer representing Grant Thornton, the receiver appointed by...
Poverty mentality… poverty reality
Morning File, Thursday, February 28, 2019
News 1. Poor kids On Tuesday, Statistics Canada released its most recent Canadian income survey, covering 2017. The agency uses two tools to calculate poverty, the Low Income Measure (“defines an individual as having low income if their adjusted after-tax income falls below 50% of the median adjusted after-tax income”) and the Market Basket Measure […]
Great white sharks are killing people and they’re coming to Nova Scotia
Morning File, Wednesday, September 19, 2018
News 1. Deaths in custody Yesterday morning, I reported that an official at the Burnside jail had testified in court that “several” prisoners at the jail have died over the past week. I knew about the death of Joshua Evans, a man with a mental disability who took his own life, but no other deaths […]
Tidal energy investors and fish: the Minas Basin is full of sharks
Morning File, Wednesday, September 5, 2018
News 1. Nursing home legislation An NDP proposal would legislate minimum nursing home staffing levels and make public inspection reports, reports Jennifer Henderson. 2. Damage control at Cape Sharp Tidal Yesterday, Cape Sharp Tidal and Stacy Pineau of Emera issued the following statement: Cape Sharp Tidal continues to take positive steps in the process to establish ongoing […]
The corporate kleptocracy takes aim at Nova Scotia
Morning File, Friday, August 31, 2018
Hi, I’m Joan Baxter, a Nova Scotian journalist and author. Some of my books are actually quite upbeat, proving that I’m not always a bearer of bad news. News 1. Abandoned tidal turbine Jennifer Henderson updates the situation of the abandoned tidal turbine in the Minas Basin in this article for the Examiner. After a […]
Eleven more security failures… are we going to arrest Google?
Morning File, Tuesday, May 1, 2018
News 1. Eleven more security failures Yesterday, the provincial Department of Internal Services announced that it has discovered 11 more potential security failures related to the Freedom of Information website: Work is progressing on addressing the privacy breach of government’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) website. To date the province has: — […]
Roll up the ZIM: shipping firm cuts back on Halifax service
Morning File, Thursday, March 22, 2018
1. Low Income Transit Passes “Halifax Transit wants to limit participation in its Low Income Transit Pass program to protect the agency from an outlandishly argued worst-case scenario,” writes Examiner transportation columnist Erica Butler. “Here’s hoping councillors, starting with the Transportation Standing Committee on Thursday, can see through the absurdity.” Click here to read “Mind […]
Creatures in the ocean are trying to kill us: Morning File, Tuesday, July 25, 2017
News 1. Stop the Johannesburgization of Halifax’s north end Yesterday, I should’ve been working on two large research projects, or finishing up a crime story that seems to have been missed by the rest of the media, but instead I walked around the north end taking photos and sitting in Julien’s writing. The result is a […]