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Northern Pulp says it is ‘insolvent’ and can’t pay its pension obligations, but it’s got plenty of cash to bankroll legal assaults on Nova Scotia’s government and laws

April 20, 2022 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

At the end of this month, Northern Pulp and six of its affiliates will be back in the British Columbia Supreme Court, and odds are they will ask for and get yet another extension ⁠— the seventh to date ⁠— of the creditor relief they’ve been afforded under the federal Companies Creditor Arrangement Act. Northern […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), BC Supreme Court, Biodiversity Act, Boat Harbour, Boat Harbour Act, boycott, British Columbia Supreme Court, Bruce Chapman, China, Companies Creditor Arrangement Act (CCAA), court monitor, creditor protection, creditor relief, Dartmouth East, default, Emera, environmental assessment, Ernst & Young, Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), France, Friends of a New Northern Pulp, Greenpeace, Hervey Investment B.V., Hong Kong, insolvent, John Hamm, judicial review, Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick, lawsuit, Mattell, Maurice Chiasson, mediation, Netherlands, Northern Pulp, Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corporation, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, Nova Scotia government, Nova Scotia Law Amendments Committee, Nova Scotia Power, Nova Scotia Superintendent of Pensions, nova scotia supreme court, NS Supreme Court, Pacific Harbour Resources Limited, Paper Excellence, Paper Excellence B.V., Paper Excellence Canada Holdings, Paper Excellence Corporation, Pictou, PR campaign, Public Affairs Atlantic, public relations, pulp mill, Robert Grant, Rodney MacDonald, Saint Gaudens, Sasha Irving, Shanghai, Sinar Mas Group, Statistics Canada’s Inter-corporate Ownership, Tarascon, tax haven, Terms of Reference, Thomas Cromwell, Tim Houston, Timothy Halman, Widjaja family

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

Premier Tim Houston orders ‘Friends of a New Northern Pulp’ sign removed from Minister Pat Dunn’s constituency office window

March 21, 2022 By Joan Baxter 1 Comment

  The ‘Friends of a New Northern Pulp’ sign in the window of the New Glasgow constituency office of African Nova Scotian Affairs Minister and Pictou Centre MLA Pat Dunn probably won’t be there much longer. On Friday, and then again Monday, the Halifax Examiner received photographs of the constituency office with the sign from […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: African Nova Scotian Affairs, Catherine Klimek, effluent, Elmsdale Lumber, emissions, environmental assessment, Friends of a New Northern Pulp, New Glasgow, Northern Pulp, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, Paper Excellence, Pat Dunn, PC caucus, Pictou Centre, Pictou County, pulp mill, Robin Wilber, Tim Houston, Todd Veinotte

Up close and privileged: Nova Scotia’s “One Window” process gives mining execs seats at the table in the halls of power

March 19, 2022 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

On November 1, 2018, a year after Atlantic Gold produced its first gold bar at its Touquoy open pit mine in Moose River, 11 provincial public servants gathered for a two-hour meeting with four high-level representatives of the gold mining company. Two were with Nova Scotia Environment, six with Lands and Forestry, and three with […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Beaver Dam, Cochrane Hill, corporate capture, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (DNRR), Dustin O’Leary, Eastern Shore, Energy and Mines, Environment Canada, environmental assessment, environmental charges, ESTMA reports, extractive industries, Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), Fifteen Mile Stream mine, fines, FOIPOP, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy, gold mine, Guinea, Jim Millard, John Savage, Jonathan Porter, Judge Alana Murphy, Lands and Forestry, Mi’kmaq Conservation Group, mineral development, Mineral Resources Development Fund (MRDF), Mining One Window Process, Moose River, Moose River Road, Natural Resources Canada, Northern Pulp, Northern Timber, Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Envrionment and Climate Change (NSECC), Office of L'nu Affairs, old growth forest, One Window process, one-stop-shop, open pit gold mine, Paper Excellence, Patricia Jreige, Public Accounts, public servants, regulatory capture, Sierra Leone, St Barbara Ltd, taxes, Touquoy gold mine, Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources (UINR)

Northern Pulp has a new set of “friends”

But the “friends” look familiar, and the “new” Northern Pulp sure looks a lot like the same old Northern Pulp.

March 9, 2022 By Joan Baxter 4 Comments

This is how the “Friends of a New Northern Pulp” describe themselves on their website: We are Nova Scotians who care deeply about our province, our forests, and our communities. We are the 36,000 Nova Scotians who own small and large woodlots. So, just one line in and the BS begins. The wording of the […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured Tagged With: Andy MacGregor, Asia Pulp and Paper, Boat Harbour Act, British Columbia Supreme Court, Bruce Chapman, CBC, Chief Andrea Paul, Claire Simonon, Curmae Limited, Domtar, Earle Miller, ecological forestry, Ecology Action Centre, effluent treatment, Elmsdale Lumber, environmental assessment, Fibre Excellence, Forest Nova Scotia, forestry industry, forestry sector, Forestry Transition Team, France, Friends of a New Northern Pulp, Friends of the Northumberland Strait (FONS), Great Northern TImber, Healthy Forest Coalition, Hervey Investment BV, Iris Communications, John Hamm, Les Flamants Roses du Trébon, Linda Pannozzo, low-grade wood, Mike Lancaster, Northern Pulp, Northumberland Strait, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, Paper Excellence, Paper Excellence Canada Holdings, Paul Withers, pellets, Peter Oram, Peter Spicer, Pictou County, Pictou Landing First Nation, PR campaign, pulp effluent, pulp mill, Ray Plourde, Robin Wilbder, Ryan Scott, Sinar Mas, Statistics Canada, Stephen McNeil, Tarascon, tax haven, The Netherlands, Widjaja family, wood chips, woodlot owners

Anaconda joins the gold rush on Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore

Part 2. Anaconda aims to avoid a federal impact assessment for its proposed open pit gold mine, but some say the whole regulatory process in Canada is “rigged”

February 11, 2022 By Joan Baxter 1 Comment

Gold exploration and mining companies are lining up to get at Nova Scotia’s gold, as the province undergoes a fourth gold rush. In 2017, Atlantic Gold opened the province’s first-ever open pit gold mine in Moose River, with plans to open three more along the Eastern Shore, in what it described to potential investors as […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News Tagged With: Abbé Jean-Louis LaLoutre, Anaconda Mining, Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Aurelius Minerals, Barbara Markovits, Beaver Dam, Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2012, Cape Breton Spectator, Class I environmenal assessment, Class II environmental assessment, clearcutting, Cochrane Hill, corporate capture, DDV Gold, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, Donna Ashamock, Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association, environmental assessment, Fifteen-Mile Stream, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, gold mine, gold rush, Goldboro, Goldboro mine project, green economy, Health Canada, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC), Iris Communications, Joel Bakan, John Perkins, Kevin Bullock, Kirby McVicar, Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office (KMKNO), lobbyist, Mainland Moose, Margaret Miller, Mary Campbell, Meguma Gold, Mi'kmaq, Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative, Mi’kmaw Ecological Knowledge, Mining Association of Canada, MiningWatch Canada, Moose River, Natural Resources Canada, Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries an Aquaculture, Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change (NSECC), One WIndow Regulatory process, open pit gold mine, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), regulatory capture, Seamus O'Regan, St Barbara Ltd, Stephen McNeil, Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia (SuNNS), tailings, tailings facility, The Corporation, Touquoy gold mine, Ugo Lapointe, Vernon Pitts, watersheds, Western Mining Action Network

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

Aurelius Minerals is still making false claims to potential investors about its Nova Scotia gold mine

Two months after the Halifax Examiner learned that Aurelius does not have "active and valid" environmental or industrial approval for the gold mine site on Eastern Shore, the company continues to say its site is "one of only two permitted gold mines and mills in the province."

May 22, 2021 By Joan Baxter 1 Comment

Misinformation about the status of Aurelius Mineral’s Aureus East property on the Eastern Shore is still being circulated by the company and financial publications, even after Nova Scotia Environment confirmed, once again, there have been “no changes” in the company’s permits. Aurelius CEO Mark Ashcroft sees it differently, but we’ll get to that.First, some background. […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News Tagged With: Alistair Ford, Atlantic Gold, Aurelius Minerals Inc., Aureus Gold, Barbara MacLean, British Columbia Securities Commission, David Harrison, Dufferin gold mine, Dufferin Resources, environmental assessment, gerald McConnell, Giles Gwinnet, gold, gold mining, industrial approval, Mark Ashcroft, National Instrument 43-101, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, Nova Scotia Securities Commission, Proactive Investors, Resource Capital Gold Corp., Sean Mason, Sprott Resource Lending, Steve Darling, Touquoy mine

Atlantic Gold’s imaginary conservation land

In 2008, Atlantic Gold was given provincial approval for the gigantic Touquoy open pit gold mine with the condition that within 4 years the company buy and give the province nearby land for conservation purposes. 13 years later, that condition is still unmet, and the province is making no real effort to enforce it.

May 20, 2021 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

Atlantic Gold has just announced that in “late spring/early summer 2021” it will be undertaking a new Class 1 Environmental Assessment for modifications to its open pit Touquoy gold mine in Moose River. Among other things, the company wants to expand its waste rock storage area that is already sky-high, prepare to store tailings in […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Investigation, News Tagged With: Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS Corp, Auditor General, Australian, Barbara MacLean, Barbara Markovits, Beaver Dam, Beck Gilbert, Bob Bancroft, Cabot Cliffs, Cabot Links, Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2012, CBC, Chuck Porter, Cochrane Hill gold mine, Community LIaison Committee, conservation land, DDV Gold, Department of lands and Forestry, Department of Natural Resources, Dustin O’Leary, East Coast Environmental Law Association (ECELAW), Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association, Environment Act, Environmental Approval, environmental assessment, environmental charges, Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), Fifteen Mile Stream mine, FOIPOP, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Freedom of Information request, golf courses, Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), Iain Rankin, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, industrial approval, Jamie Simpson, Jennifer Henderson, judicial review, Juniper Law, Keith Irving, Laird Brownlie, Lighthouse Links Development Company, Michael Gorman, Michael Pickup, Moose River Consolidated Project, Moose River gold mine, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Nova Scotia Environment, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, Nova Scotia Environment and Labour, Nova Scotia Nature Trust, Owls Head, Owls Head Park, proposed Beaver Dam mine, Provincial Court in Dartmouth, Rachel Boomer, Save Owls Head Provincial Park, St Barbara Ltd, Supreme Court Justice Christa Brothers, Terms and Conditions, Tim Bousquet, Touquoy mine

Tall tales about Nova Scotia gold: investors should beware of Aurelius Minerals’ spin job

Aurelius Minerals bought the old Dufferin Gold Mine, and Aurelius is now telling potential investors the site "is permitted" and ready for mining. But a provincial permit was issued to the previous company nearly 27 years ago, and even that expired in 2017. No application has been made to transfer the permit to the new owner, and it likely wouldn't meet modern environmental standards in any event.

March 17, 2021 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

“Aurelius Minerals could end up following in the footsteps of Atlantic Gold, by proving up a multi-million ounce gold resource in Nova Scotia,” boasts the headline of a March 9 feature by Alastair Ford in the online Proactive Investors publication. The article begins: “We see the opportunity for a couple of million ounces of gold,” […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News Tagged With: Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Aurelius Minerals Inc., Aureus East, Aureus Gold, Barbara MacLean, Cochrane Hill gold mine, Dufferin Gold Project, Dufferin Resources, environmental assessment, Fifteen Mile Stream mine, gerald McConnell, gold mine, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC), industrial approval, Mark Ashcroft, Nova Scotia Environment, Proactive Investors, proposed Beaver Dam mine, Resource Capital Gold Corp., Sprott Resource Lending

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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Recent posts

  • ‘Next thing I know I’m getting tased:’ Nova Scotia Police Review Board hearing into 2019 arrest on Quinpool Road underway May 26, 2022
  • Halifax committee recommends in favour of plan to move, restore, and add to historic Elmwood May 26, 2022
  • Retired Judge Corrine Sparks receives honorary degree from Mount Saint Vincent University May 25, 2022
  • Victims’ families: ‘trauma informed’ inquiry has ‘further traumatized’ us May 25, 2022
  • Public importance of private woodlots May 25, 2022

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