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An independent, adversarial news site in Halifax, NS

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Halifax councillor seeking ‘broad review’ exploring ‘alternatives to policing’

July 22, 2020 By Zane Woodford 5 Comments

At its next meeting, Halifax regional council will debate a proposal for a review of policing in the city with an eye to having civilians handling mental health calls, traffic enforcement and more. Coun. Waye Mason gave notice of motion at the end of Tuesday’s council meeting that he’ll make a motion at the next […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Featured, News Tagged With: alternatives to policing, councillor Waye Mason, defund police, traffic enforcement

HRM: 5,490 square kilometres, 20 public toilets

Morning File, Wednesday, July 8, 2020

July 8, 2020 By Philip Moscovitch 4 Comments

News 1. Council needs to step up on fighting anti-Black racism, says Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard In a half-hour presentation to council yesterday, Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard called on the city to go beyond statements and act on combating racism, Zane Woodford reports: The presentation, titled “Unpacking Anti‐Black Racism in the HRM: Creating Sustainable Change […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: abolish nuclear weapons, Ashoka Mukpo, Carolyn Ray, Councillor Lindell Smith, councillor Tony Mancini, defund police, depression, domestic violence, factory farming, food systems, Ian Mosby, Joseph Rotblat, living wage policy, Marcus Gee, mental health, mental illness, municipal public toilets, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), public toilets, Pugwash Peace Conferences, school reopening, Shannon Proudfoot, Stephen Augustine, Thinkers Lodge Pugwash, Uncover: Dead Wrong podcast, World Bank

Halifax police board to discuss defunding, body cameras, making policies public

July 2, 2020 By Zane Woodford 1 Comment

For the first time since the movement to defund police took hold across North America, Halifax’s board of police commissioners has scheduled a meeting. The city previously cancelled all the board’s meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, aside from those dealing with the budget in early May. El Jones reported last month that that the […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Featured, News Tagged With: body cameras, councillor Tony Mancini, COVID-19, defund police, Deputy Mayor Lisa Blackburn, Halifax Board of Police Commissioners, Wortley report

In the midst of a crisis over policing, Halifax’s police commission has cancelled its scheduled meetings and is declining to accept public input

I've got 99 problems; Microsoft Teams ain’t one of them.

June 15, 2020 By El Jones 6 Comments

In the midst of sustained protests about policing, and facing increasing questioning about their role and responsibilities, the Board of Police Commissioners cancelled their meeting planned for today. Members of the Board indicated to Harry Critchley that the reason for the cancellation was that not everybody on the Board was set up to use Microsoft […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Commentary, Featured Tagged With: COVID-19, defund police, Desmond Cole, East Coast Prison Justice Society, Halifax Board of Police Commissioners, Halifax Regional Police (HRP), Harry Critchley, Martha Paynter, Microsoft Teams, militarization of police, pandemic, police boards, Police Chief Dan Kinsella, police violence, Toronto Police Service, transparency, Women's Wellness Within

Black Lives Matter in prison, too

June 14, 2020 By El Jones 3 Comments

A group of federally incarcerated Black prisoners have written the following statement. It was read to El Jones, and has been slightly edited for length and clarity. We have been watching the Black Lives Matters protests and the conversations about police violence. We have been taking part in our own conversations with prisoners of all […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Black Lives Matter (BLM), defund police, life in prison, police brutality, police violence, racism in the justice system and in prison, Rodney Levi, Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard

Tanks but no tanks: Halifax councillors vote to cancel armoured vehicle, reallocate funding

June 9, 2020 By Zane Woodford 3 Comments

Halifax regional councillors voted on Tuesday to cancel the purchase of an armoured vehicle for the city’s police and reallocate the funding to diversity and inclusion, public safety, and fighting anti-Black racism. Councillors voted to redirect $53,500 to city’s office of diversity and inclusion to make up for a planned cut this year; a total […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Featured, News Tagged With: Coun. Shawn Cleary, Councillor Lindell Smith, councillor Shawn Cleary, councillor Steve Adams, defund police, Deputy Mayor Lisa Blackburn, El Jones, Halifax city operating budget 2020/21, Maggie-Jane Spray, Police Chief Dan Kinsella, Rebecca Thomas, Scot Wortley, tank armoured vehicle, Terradyne

Putting body cameras on cops won’t solve the problem of police violence

Morning File, Monday, June 8, 2020

June 8, 2020 By Tim Bousquet 8 Comments

News 1. Police violence Stephen Kimber speaks to white people: Still, we — white people again — are at least in a more honest place today than where we were before May 25 when a Minneapolis cop named Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against George Floyd’s neck and squeezed the life out of him. The […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alexander Coppock, armoured vehicle, Asaf Rashid, body cameras, body-worn cameras (BWC), defund police, Jason Forcillo, Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, Pictou jail, police violence, prisons, restorative justice, Sammy Yatim, tank

Defund the Halifax police

With calls around the world to redirect police resources, Halifax city councillors are tripping over themselves to see who can be most "pro police"

June 6, 2020 By Harry Critchley 5 Comments

Since the widely publicized death of George Floyd at the hands of MPD officer Derek Chauvin (what some commentators have called a “televised lynching”), calls for police accountability and even abolition have been growing, with protestors taking to the street in cities across North America, including Halifax. These calls are beginning to be heard and […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: anti-Black violence, anti-Indigenous racism, budget committee, Caora McKenna, councillor Steve Adams, councillor Tony Mancini, defund police, El Jones, Halifax city operating budget 2020/21, Halifax Police budget, Halifax Regional Police (HRP), Hyde Inquiry, Leah Genge, street checks, taser, Wortley report

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

  • Real estate agents gone bad: from storming the Capitol to violating COVID regulations to stealing dogs January 19, 2021
  • Compassion fatigue: when the helpers need help January 19, 2021
  • Halifax police board hits pause on body-worn cameras January 18, 2021
  • Zero cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Monday, Jan. 18 January 18, 2021
  • Self-help groups seek essential service status January 18, 2021

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