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“There was no care.”

Fatouma Abdi is suing the province. Today, she is ready to tell her story.

September 2, 2020 By El Jones 2 Comments

This article contains descriptions of the abuse and sexual assault of minors.  It is a cold January night in 2018, in a gym at Sackville High School. Justin Trudeau is holding a town hall meeting, one of a series he will hold across Canada. Outside, protestors have gathered to resist the deportation of Abdoul Abdi, […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, News Tagged With: Abdoul Abdi, Adsum, anti-Black racism, Black motherhood, Black women, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), child welfare system, Children’s Aid, Dayspring Children’s Centre, deportation policy, Desmond Cole, Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia, Emma Halpern, Fatouma Abdi, Gal foster home, group homes, Holly House, Idil Abdallihi, Immigration, Minister Jason Kenney, Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children, OmiSoore Dryden, sexual abuse, sexual violence, social workers, Somalia, Wood Street Secure Centre

We need to keep talking about racism

Morning File, Tuesday, June 16, 2020

June 16, 2020 By Philip Moscovitch 10 Comments

News 1. Board of police commissioners’ meeting cancelled and other tales of non-transparency and lack of accountability El Jones writes about the cancellation of today’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting, ostensibly because — three months into the pandemic — they can’t figure out how to use Microsoft Teams. Jones writes: As the movement to defund […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Adrian Harewood, anti-racist, Ashley Thompson, body cameras, Capt. Jenn Casey, Catherine Wright, Chief Allan Adam, Christine Genier, coronavirus, COVID-19, David Pugliese, Desmond Cole, ejection seat, Gabbie Douglas, Halifax Board of Police Commissioners, Kentville Police, Kim Wheeler, long term care (LTC), Magnolia residential care home, Martin-Baker, Mike Harris, non-racist, Northwood, Nova Scotia Policing Policy Working Group, nursing homes, Pam Berman, pandemic, police violence, Racism, racism in journalism, RCMP violent arrest, Rhonda Britton, Shaina Luck, Sharisha Benedict, Sherri Borden Colley, Snowbirds crash, speed bump vs speed hump, Terence McKenna, Waubgeshig Rice

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

Tank rethink: ‘Buyer’s remorse’ has councillors reconsidering armoured vehicle for Halifax police

June 4, 2020 By Zane Woodford 11 Comments

Halifax councillors who voted in favour of an armoured vehicle for police are considering cancelling the purchase in the wake of protests over the latest police violence against Black people. The purchase of an armoured vehicle was approved during the fiscal 2019-2020 budget process at a cost of $500,000. Police presented the idea to the […]

Filed Under: City Hall, Featured, News Tagged With: acting Chief of Police Robin McNeil, armoured vehicle, body-worn cameras, community response officer (CRO), Councillor Lindell Smith, councillor Shawn Cleary, Councillor Tim Outhit, councillor Tony Mancini, councillor Waye Mason, COVID-19, Deputy Mayor Lisa Blackburn, Desmond Cole, Halifax city operating budget 2020/21, Halifax Regional Police (HRP), Mayor Mike Savage, militarization of police, police brutality, Police Chief Dan Kinsella, Policing, tank

Black people already struggle to breathe in Canada. Ignoring us during this COVID-19 crisis will only make it worse.

April 3, 2020 By El Jones 3 Comments

The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. Black women are concentrated in frontline health care work. The agricultural industry employs large numbers of Black migrant workers who are affected by border closures. New State of Emergency declarations raise concerns about the intensification of racial profiling directed at Black communities. Black people make […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Anthony Morgan, anti-Black racism, Beverley Bain, Black community, coronavirus, COVID-19, COVID-19 while Black, Desmond Cole, Halifax Regional Police (HRP), Ibram X. Kendi, Louise Delisle, pandemic, Police Chief Dan Kinsella

Hateful slurs disrupt online gatherings

As racialized and marginalized communities move online in response to COVID-19, they are increasingly the targets of organized racist and sexist attacks.

April 1, 2020 By El Jones Leave a Comment

The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. The social isolation measures around COVID-19 have caused communities to adapt quickly to new forms of interacting. As in-person gatherings have shut down, online platforms have become popular places not only for business meetings and university lectures, but also for music performances, information forums, protests, […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Alex Khasnabish, Alexander McClelland, alt-right, Black Canadian Studies Association, Charlie Kirk, coronavirus, COVID-19, Desmond Cole, online classes, online harassment, online racist attacks, Racism, Robyn Maynard, social distancing, Stacey Gomez, Val Marie Johnson, white supremacy, Zoom

Puzzling developments with Cape Breton’s non-existent container terminal

Morning File, Monday, January 20, 2020

January 20, 2020 By Tim Bousquet and Jennifer Henderson 2 Comments

News 1. Walmart incident “When a young black woman accused the Halifax police of racially profiling and abusing her in connection with an alleged shoplifting incident at Walmart last week, officials did what officials do,” writes Stephen Kimber. “They obfuscated, they passed the buck, they pretended to take it seriously.” Click here to read “Can […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Brookfield Asset Management, Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway (CBNS), Desmond Cole, Egyptian artifacts, Emma Davie, facebook, Frank McKenna, Genesee & Wyoming, Geoff MacLelllan, Jack Julian, Jim Pomeroy, King's Co-op Bookstore, Marla MacInnis, Mary Campbell, mummies, Museum of Natural History, new Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS) RFP, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Paul MacKay, Peter Bigelow, racial profiling, Russian Internet Research Agency, Santina Rao, Sydney container terminal, YMCA

Halifax woman says she was racially profiled by Wal-Mart employees who wrongfully accused her of theft, then beaten by police

January 16, 2020 By El Jones 18 Comments

Santina Rao was at the Walmart at the Halifax Shopping Centre on Wednesday when she was accused of stealing by store staff, assaulted by the police, and arrested. Rao was shopping with her two young children, age 3 and 15 months. She paid for $90 worth of items in the electronics department. The cashier told […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: African United Baptist Association, Andrella David, Desmond Cole, Halifax Regional Police (HRP), Mayann Francis, police brutality, Police Chief Dan Kinsella, Santina Rao, shopping while Black, Sobeys, Walmart

The collapse of legacy newspapers: don’t blame the internet; blame deregulation of finance and the corporate raiders of the 1980s and 1990s

Morning File, Monday, June 10, 2019

June 10, 2019 By Tim Bousquet 9 Comments

News 1. A loss for energy efficiency “EfficiencyOne has lost a battle with Nova Scotia Power to spend more of ratepayers’ money on energy conservation programs,” reports Jennifer Henderson: Today was supposed to be the day E1 made its case before the Utility and Review Board seeking a budgetary increase from $105 million to $129 […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: ACOA loan, Alakai, Alexander Quon, Bay Ferries, call centres and ambulances, CBRM travel expenses, Conrad Black, Convergys Call Centre, Deborah Campbell, Desmond Cole, Editors Canada, Imagining Black Justice, legacy newspapers, Mary Campbell, MLA Lenore Zann, newspaper industry collapse, Paul Godfrey, Sydney Call Centre, The New Reality: Online news, Yarmouth ferry, Yarmouth ferry delay

All-white Donner Prize jury shortlists book by white man defending blackface

April 7, 2019 By El Jones 3 Comments

Peter MacKinnon’s book, University Commons Divided: Exploring Debate and Dissent on Campus, has been shortlisted for the Donner Prize. The selection criteria for the prize identifies three areas of scrutiny: The importance of the subject; The soundness and originality of the analysis in terms of identifying and defining the issues in question and presenting authoritative analysis […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Black Liberation Collective, blackface, Cheryl Thompson, Dalhousie University, David A. Dodge, Desmond Cole, Donner Canadian Foundation, Donner Prize, Eric Lott, George Elliott Clarke, Helen McClean, Henry Parada, Jean-Marie Dufour, Ken Whyte, Lawrence Stordy, Peter MacKinnon, Peter Nicholson, Rinaldo Walcott, Sherry Naylor, white supremacist improv

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The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Mo Kenney. Photo: Matt Williams

Episode #18 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne is published.

Mo Kenney’s new record Covers is a perfect winter companion — songs from across the rock spectrum that she’s pared down to piano or guitar and turned them into sad ballads. She joins Tara to talk about choosing and arranging them, and opens up for a frank discussion of the alcohol dependency it took a pandemic for her to confront. Plus: Movies are back (again).

This episode is available today only for premium subscribers; to become a premium subscriber, click here, and join the select group of arts and entertainment supporters for just $5/month. Everyone else will have to wait until tomorrow to listen to it.

Please subscribe to 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

  • Councillors approve staff plan to reduce — but not eliminate — use of pedestrian push buttons February 25, 2021
  • 8 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Thursday, Feb. 25 February 25, 2021
  • A sidewalk runs through it February 25, 2021
  • The French Connection February 24, 2021
  • Not in their backyard: Halifax councillors throw out neighbours’ appeal of five-storey development February 24, 2021

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