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 […]
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.
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 […]
Atlantic Gold’s lobbying blitz
The company is now in court on charges of harming the environment, regulators are casting a wary eye at its plans for future environmental protection, and investors are getting worried, so Atlantic Gold has hired a lobbyist to fast track federal approval of its Nova Scotia projects.
Last year it was a propaganda blitz. For several weeks in the spring of 2020, Atlantic Gold, which operates an open pit gold mine in Moose River in the Halifax Regional Municipality and wants to open three more along the Eastern Shore, bombarded people in Nova Scotia with its PR. Atlantic Gold’s owner, Australia’s St […]
Halifax continues to keep police services review secret
In response to a freedom of information request, Halifax is refusing to release a review of policing in the municipality tabled at regional council earlier this year. In January, council voted to accept some of the recommendations in a report by B.C. consulting firm perivale + taylor. Halifax paid nearly $200,000 for the review, designed […]
What will it take to restart film and TV production?
Morning File, Thursday, June 18, 2020
News 1. New class-action lawsuit proposed against RCMP and attorneys general of Canada, NS Families of those killed on April 18 and 19 in Nova Scotia are suing the RCMP, along with the attorneys general of Canada and Nova Scotia, for failings related to the mass murders. The suit is being brought by Patterson Law […]
Halifax releases police union’s collective agreement
When cops are accused of wrongdoing, the public pays for their legal defence.
Halifax created a new page on its website Wednesday morning, posting all of its contracts with public sector unions — including, for the first time, police. The addition follows two requests from the Halifax Examiner for the contract between the municipality and the Halifax Regional Police Association (HRPA), the union representing Halifax Regional Police officers and […]
Afua Cooper: “We need to smash those [racist] stereotypes and see the humanity in each and every one of us”
Morning File, Wednesday, May 22, 2019
News 1. Bank of Canada acknowledges that climate change will impact the economy “For the first time ever, the Bank of Canada has released a report examining the threat climate change poses to the country’s financial system,” reports Karina Roman for the CBC. The report in question is the Bank’s annual Fiscal System Review, which […]
The $722 million deal
An Australian company is buying the Vancouver company that owns Nova Scotia’s largest gold mining operation; what’s in it for us?
Here’s the deal. On Wednesday, May 14, an Australian gold mining company called St. Barbara Limited, with one gold mine in Australia and a second one in Papua New Guinea, agreed to pay $722 million for Atlantic Gold Corporation, which operates one open pit gold mine in Nova Scotia, has proposed three more along the […]
Update: HRM turns a $300,000 annual profit through police Background Checks for volunteers
On Wednesday, the Budget Committee of Halifax Regional Council will consider whether to make background checks for students and volunteers free, as they are everywhere else across the province. In Halifax, approximately 11,700 volunteers a year pay $30 to police or an online provider to determine if the individual has any prior convictions or pardons […]