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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)

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

Part 1. What do we know about its plans for a new open pit mine in Goldboro (and haven't we been here before)?

February 10, 2022 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

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 peddled to investors as its […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: acid rock drainage, Anaconda Mining, arsenic, Atlantic Gold, Atlantic Mining NS, Aurelius Minerals, CN Tower, corporate capture, Dartmouth, Department of Energy and Mines, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, Eastern Shore Forest Watch, ESTMA, expropriation, Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), focus report, Fogarty’s Cove, FOIPOP, Geological Survey of Canada, gold, Gold Brook Lake, gold mine, Goldboro, Goldenville, historic tailings, history gold mining districts, Howard Richardson, Joan Kuyek, Joel Bakan, Kevin Bullock, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Lloyd Hines, man camp, Margaret Miller, Maritime Launch Services, Meguma Gold, mercury, Mi’kmaq Grassroots Grandmothers, Mike Parsons, mine tailings, Mineral Resources Act, Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS), MiningWatch Canada, Montague Mines, Moose River, Morien Resources, Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG), Natural Resources Canada, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, open pit gold mine, Pieridae Energy, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), reclamation plan, regulatory capture, St Barbara Ltd, Stan Rogers, The Corporation, Toronto, Touquoy gold mine, Transport and Infrastructure Renewal, Unearthing Justice, Vernon Pitts, Vulcan Resources, waste rock

“Yacobo O’Hanley” and some other old boys have hurt fee-fees about protecting Tatamagouche’s water supply

January 27, 2022 By Joan Baxter 16 Comments

That didn’t take long. On Tuesday, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change granted protected status to the French River watershed that provides the village of Tatamagouche with its water, which means that henceforth mineral exploration and mining will be prohibited in the watershed. The Halifax Examiner covered the decision to protect the watershed almost immediately, and […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured Tagged With: CBC, climate change, Cobequid Hills, Department of Energy and Mines, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, FOIPOP, French River watershed, Garth DeMont, geology, George O’Reilly, Geoscience and Mines Branch, gold, Haley Ryan, Jacob Hanley, mineral exploration, Mineral Resources Development Fund (MRDF), Municipality of the County of Colchester, NIMBY, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, Nova Scotia Registry of Claims (NovaROC), Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), Saint Mary's University, Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia (SuNNS), Tatamagouche, Warwick Mountain Project, water supply

New protected status for Tatamagouche water supply means an end to mineral exploration, mining in the watershed

Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia "delighted" with the decision from the province, but says work continues to stop five other large-scale gold mining projects that are ongoing or planned for Nova Scotia.

January 25, 2022 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

It took close to two years, and a change of government, but the province has now approved protection of the French River watershed, which provides Tatamagouche with its water. According to the press release today from Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change: Environment and Climate Change Minister Tim Halman designated the French River watershed as […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Anaconda Mining, Atlantic Gold. St Barbara Ltd, Atlantic Mining NS, Beaver Dam, Cochrane Hill, Department of Energy and Mines, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, Don James, Earltown, Fifteen-Mile Stream, FOIPOP, French River watershed, gold, gold exploration, gold mining, Goldboro, John Perkins, Mi’kmaq Grassroots Grandmothers, Michael Gregory, Michelle Boudreau, Mining Asssociation of Nova Scotia (MANS), Moose River, Municipality of the County of Colchester, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, protected status, Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia (SuNNS), Tatamagouche, Warwick Mountain Gold, water supply, Wentworth

Woo and sue: Northern Pulp’s strategy in Nova Scotia

Colchester County Mayor Christine Blair accuses the Halifax Examiner of publishing "misinformation" about the county's wastewater agreement with Northern Pulp, but won't tell us what we supposedly got wrong.

October 31, 2021 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

Item number 15 on the agenda of last week’s council meeting of the Municipality of the County of Colchester County was “Northern Pulp Misinformation.” Four hours into the meeting, held on Zoom, the item finally made the floor. The municipality’s director of public works, Michelle Boudreau, told Council she had put together a “Frequently Asked […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured Tagged With: Andy MacGregor, Bay of Fundy, Boat Harbour Act, British Columbia Supreme Court, Canadian Institute of Forestry, Central Colchester Wastewater Treatment Facility, Companies" Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), Earle Miller, Elmsdale Lumber, FOIPOP, Forest Nova Scotia, Forest Products Association of Nova Scotia, Friends of a New Northern Pulp, litigation, Maurice Chiasson, Maurice Rees, Mayor Christine Blair, Michelle Boudreau, Municipality of the County of Colchester, Northern Pulp, Paper Excellence, Peter Spicer, Phillip Redden, Registered Professional Foresters Association of Nova Scotia, Robert Grant, Robin Wilber, Ryan Scott, SaltWire, Scott Fraser, The Shoreline Journal, wastewater, Widjaja family

Worse than Russia: Access to information in Nova Scotia places 66th in world rankings

One expert says the FOIPOP Act needs improvements, but that isn't all: "We need an attitude change within the public sector, in which people would see themselves as servants of the people, working for the people, and being open and transparent with the people."

September 24, 2021 By Joan Baxter Leave a Comment

This, the second of a two-part series about the state of the public’s “right to know” in Nova Scotia, looks at what options are available to those dissatisfied with a Freedom of Information (FOIPOP) result, and how the province’s access to information ranks internationally — spoiler alert: rather poorly — and what should be done […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: access to information, Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP), Arilea Sill, Brad Johns, Centre for Law and Democracy, FOIPOP, Freedom of Information, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, French River watershed, Information Access and Privacy (IAP), Information and Privacy Commissioner, Michelle Boudreau, Municipality of the County of Colchester, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC), public interest, redactions, Right to Information, Right to Know, Right to Know Week, Supreme Court of Canada, Tim Halman, Tim Houston, Toby Mendel, Tracy Barron, Yarmouth ferry

The “Right to Know” in Nova Scotia often goes right to “no”

It’s almost “Right to Know Week” in Nova Scotia, but that doesn’t mean that access to information in the province is something to celebrate, as a recent freedom of information request illustrates.

September 23, 2021 By Joan Baxter 3 Comments

In this article, Part 1 of a two-part series about the state of the public’s “right to know” in Nova Scotia, the focus is on what happened when the Halifax Examiner submitted a Freedom of Information (FOIPOP) request to the province about whether it would agree to protect the French River watershed — the water […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: access to information, arsenic, Cape Breton Spectator, CBC, Cobequid Hills, Darth DeMont, Department of Energy and Mines, Department of lands and Forestry, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Don James, Earltown, FOIPOP, Frances Willick, Freedom of Information, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, French River, French River watershed, Geoscience and Mines Branch, gold, Gordon Wilson, Information Access and Privacy (IAP), Information Access and Privacy Commissioner, International Right to Know Day, Jim Vibert, Mary Campbell, Mi’kmaq Grassroots Grandmothers, Michelle Boudreau, MIchelle Newell, Mike Allen, mineral exploration, mining, Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS), Municipality of the County of Colchester, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, NSE, Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC), Right to Know, Right to Know Week, SaltWire, Sarah Kirby, Sean Kirby, Sustainable Northern Nova Scotia (SuNNS), Tatamagouche, Tatamagouche (French River) Source Water Protection Advisory Committee, the Coast, Tim Bousquet, Warwick Mountain Gold, Warwick Mountain Project

Wastewater from Northern Pulp’s hibernating paper mill is being discharged into the Bay of Fundy

September 7, 2021 By Joan Baxter 13 Comments

Wastewater from Northern Pulp’s mill is being discharged into the Bay of Fundy. Since July 2020 Northern Pulp has been shipping run-off and “landfill leachate” from its hibernating pulp mill site on Abercrombie Point in Pictou County to Colchester County’s municipal sewage treatment facility in Lower Truro, which discharges into the Bay of Fundy. Invoices […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News Tagged With: Abercrombie Point, allnovascotia, asbestos, Bay of Fundy, BC Supreme Court, bismuth, Boat Harbour, Bruce Chapman, Canso Chemicals, Central Colchester Wastewater Treatment Facility, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), creditor protection, Don Cameron, FOIPOP, Fracking, hydraulic fracturing, industrial wastewater, landfill, leachate, Lower Truro, Maurice Rees, mercury, Michelle Boudreau, MIchelle Newell, municipal sewage treatment, Municipality of the County of Colchester, Northern Pulp, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change, Paper Excellence, Paper Excellence Holdings Corporation, Pictou County, Scott Fraser, The Shoreline Journal, Tom Taggart, treatment, trichloroethane, wastewater, 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

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

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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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Recent posts

  • RCMP Chief Supt. Chris Leather is being investigated concerning decision to not alert the public about the mass murderer’s fake police car May 17, 2022
  • City camping: Toronto teaches Halifax another lesson about tents, parks, and homelessness May 17, 2022
  • Halifax police board moving slowly on defunding report recommendations May 16, 2022
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