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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 5 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

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

What are Paper Excellence’s real plans for Northern Pulp?

This week two men presented the company’s plans for a “complete transformation” of the the mill at a special Pictou Town Council meeting. They faced persistent questions and made some telling comments that do not bode well for Nova Scotia.

July 21, 2021 By Joan Baxter 10 Comments

Paper Excellence is on a desperate charm offensive in Nova Scotia, trying to build “trust,” get support to refit and re-open its Pictou County Northern Pulp mill, make people believe that the company has somehow transformed itself overnight, and convince us all to forget its many egregious environmental, social, and political transgressions and bullying tactics. […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: A’se’K, Biodiversity Act, Boat Harbour, Boat Harbour Act, Bowater lands, British Columbia, Caribou Harbour, Chief Andrea Paul, COunty of Pictou Council, creditor protection, Crown land, Cumberland Forestry Advisory Committee, Dale Paterson, Darrell Dexter, Duff Montgomerie, Effluent Treatment Facility, Environmental Liaison Committee, Forest Nova Scotia, GI Smith, Graham Kissack, Jerry Dias, Jim Ryan, Ken Swain, Melinda MacKenzie, Nadine LeBlanc, NDP government, Northern Pulp, Northern pulp creditor protection, Nova Scotia Lands, Paper Excellence, Pedro Chang, pension plan, Pensions, Pictou, Pictou Harbour, Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN), Pictou Town Council, pipeline, pulp effluent, pulp mill, Resolute Forest Products, Robert Stanfield, Scott Maritimes Limited Agreement Act, Stellarton Town Council, Stephen McNeil, Supreme Court of British Columbia, Unifor, Wagner Forest Management, Wentworth Valley, WestFor Management, Westville Town Council

Communications specialist: “hundreds of thousands of dollars” were spent to produce “blatant lies” for the campaign against the Biodiversity Act

April 15, 2021 By Joan Baxter 11 Comments

Last month Forest Nova Scotia, an industry group representing the most powerful shapers of forestry policy in Nova Scotia spearheaded a propaganda campaign against the Biodiversity Act. The Liberal government of Iain Rankin had introduced the Act on March 11, calling it legislation that would “preserve and protect Nova Scotia’s unique ecosystems, wild animals, plants, […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: advertising, advertising code, advertising standards, Astroturf organization, Bill 4, Biodiversity Act, CBC Information Morning, Center For Media and Democracy, Chronicle Herald, Chuck Porter, Concerned Private Landowners Coalition, Department of Lands and Forests, Department of Natural Resources, Forest Nova Scotia, Jeff Bishop, Law Amendments Committee, Premier Iain Rankin, Preston Mulligan, propaganda, R&G, SaltWire, Saltwire Network, Sarah Riley, Species at Risk, Stephen Kimber, Stop Bill 4 campaign

Well, that didn’t take long

Iain Rankin's descent from the smiling selfie of our future-facing face of generational change and environmental salvation to the big reveal only a mini-month later that the shiny new was just one more in a long line of old-style pols in the welcoming embrace of all the usual corporate interests. And it will only get worse.

March 28, 2021 By Stephen Kimber

Well, that didn’t take long. From the smiling selfie of our future-facing face of generational change and environmental salvation to the big reveal only a mini-month later that the shiny new was just one more in a long line of old-style pols in the welcoming embrace of all the usual corporate interests. Phew. Quick indeed....

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Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Biodiversity Act, Forest Nova Scotia, Iain Rankin

The Northern Pulp saga is a “really, really, really, really difficult time” for Pictou Landing First Nation

Morning File, Friday, December 20, 2019

December 20, 2019 By Tim Bousquet and Joan Baxter 7 Comments

News 1. A “really, really, really, really difficult time” Joan Baxter wrote this item. About 300 people gathered yesterday in the school gymnasium at Pictou Landing First Nation for a rally to support the Boat Harbour Act. That legislation, passed in 2015 by Premier Stephen McNeil’s Liberal government with support of the Progressive Conservatives and NDP, […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: A’se’K, Boat Harbour Act, Brian Baarda, Chief Andrea Paul, Clean the Mill, convention centre hotel, Derek Ross, Dr. Richard Strauss, Elizabeth McMillan, Forest Nova Scotia, Haley Ryan, Jaddus Joseph Poirier, Linda Little, Lt. Derek de Jong, Michael Patrick McNutt, Murray Prest, Northern Pulp, Nova Centre, Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry, Nova Scotia Woodlot Owners and Operators Association, Paper Excellence, Philip Croucher, Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN), Premier Stephen McNeil, Ralph Francis, Renee Ross, Scott Maritimes, Star Halifax, Stirling McLean, Sutton Place Hotels, Taryn Grant, Unifor, Utility and Review Board, Wade Prest, Yvette d'Entremont, Zane Woodford

Truth Be Told: Nova Scotia’s forest department hires a PR firm with forest industry ties to help it with transparency

May 10, 2019 By Linda Pannozzo 5 Comments

Cover photo: recent drone shot of a clearcut located between Kejimkujik National Park and Lake Rossignol. Photo courtesy Jeff Purdy. The Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF) recently hired DG Communications, a public relations firm, to assess the department’s progress in meeting the recommendations of William Lahey’s Independent Review of Forest Practices, specifically […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, Investigation, Province House Tagged With: clearcut, clearcutting on Crown lands, DG Communications, Ecology Action Centre (EAC), Forest Nova Scotia, Forest Products Association of Nova Scotia, Harvest Plans Map Viewer (HPMV), Jeff Purdy, Keji, Kejimkujik National Park, Lahey report, Lake Rossignol, Lisa Jarrett, Mike Lancaster, Natural Resources Strategy, Northern Pulp, Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), Pam Davidson, Ray Plourde, St. Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Association

Northern Pulp says it “cares” — but for whom and for what?

February 21, 2019 By Joan Baxter 4 Comments

“We care,” says Northern Pulp on the website it has created to spread the word that it “cares about forestry families of Nova Scotia.” The site is a vehicle for the company’s letter-writing campaign to get people in the forestry sector to contact Premier Stephen McNeil, their MLA, MP, or even Canadian Senators to ask […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Boat Harbour closure, Brian Hebert, Chief Andrea Paul, Effluent Treatment Facility, Forest Nova Scotia, former Premier John Hamm, Friends of the Northumberland Strait (FONS), JoAnn Alberstat, Justice Timothy Gabriel, Kathy Clouthier, Marla MacInnis, Minister Lloyd Hines, Minister Peter Mackay, Northern Pulp, Northern Pulp loans, Northern Resources Nova Scotia Corporation, Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN)

The Lahey Review of Forest Practices is published; what does it mean?

August 21, 2018 By Jennifer Henderson 3 Comments

Bill Lahey’s prescription was sweeping: “We need a new paradigm to manage our forests.” That’s what the University of King’s College president told journalists after handing the McNeil government the results of a year-long review of forestry practices in Nova Scotia. McNeil appointed Lahey last August after choosing not to implement key recommendations of the […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Bill Lahey, clearcutting, Forest Nova Scotia, Iain Rankin, Jeff Bishop, Jennifer Henderson, Raymond Plourde

Forest fairy tales and other frightening stories of Nova Scotia

Morning File, Friday, May 25, 2018

May 25, 2018 By Tim Bousquet and Joan Baxter 11 Comments

News 1. Motor Vehicle Act “The province has put out an open call for input on a new Traffic Safety Act to replace the much-amended and much-maligned Motor Vehicle Act (MVA),” writes Examiner transportation columnist Erica Butler: The call-out is remarkably open ended, simply asking people to read over the current MVA and “tell us what […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Aecon Group Inc., Albert Barbusci, Bruce Clarke, China Communications Construction Company, current state and future of forestry industry in Nova Scotia, Dirty Dealing Part 4, Emma Hoffman, Forest Nova Scotia, Halifax council's Transportation Committee, Jeff Bishop, Joan Baxter, Linda Pannozzo, Lu Shaye, Marcus Zwicker, Mary Campbell, ND Forest Notes, Northern Pulp, Paul Vienneau, Port of Sydney Development corp., Quad C, Side guards on trucks, Standing Committee on Resources, Sydney container terminal, Tom Ayers, Tony Walker, Town Clock tender, WestFor, William Mahody

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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

A young white woman with dark hair and a purple shirt lies on a large rock at dusk, looking up at the sky and playing her banjolele.

Episode 85 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne, is published.

Logan Robins (writer/director/composer) and Katherine Norris (star/composer) of the Unnatural Disaster Theatre Company are on the show this week ahead of their provincial tour of HIPPOPOSTUMOUS, Robins’ musical exploration of invasive species, colonization, environmentalism, and history. Hear how Pablo Escobar’s personal hippos have invaded and are ruining a section of Colombia, why Robins was intrigued to make a show about it, and all the places you can catch it this July. Plus Norris cracks out the banjolele to perform one of the show’s songs. And the new jam from Beauts!

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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