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Ka-ching. Ka-ching. Your tax dollars at work covering government butt

As Justice David Farrar summed up the appeal court ruling in the Alex Cameron case: “It would be manifestly unfair to allow the province to hide behind solicitor-client privilege while at the same time impugning the conduct of its solicitor.” But that didn't stop the McNeil government from trying. And trying.

May 18, 2019 By Stephen Kimber

Last week, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal instructed the McNeil government to stop hiding behind the skirts of solicitor-client privilege in order to hobble a lawsuit brought against it by a former government lawyer who claims the government impugned his conduct and attacked his character and reputation. Alex Cameron, a 26-year veteran of the...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Alton Gas, Freedom of Information, justice, Stephen McNeil

The authoritarian state starts with oppression of minorities today

Morning File, Thursday, May 16, 2019

May 16, 2019 By Tim Bousquet 13 Comments

News 1. Racism costs City Hall $600,000 The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission issued this press release yesterday: The chair of an independent human rights board of inquiry into the matter of Y.Z. v. Halifax Regional Municipality issued her decision on remedy today, May 15. Lynn Connors found discrimination had occurred and issued her decision […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Boer War monument, Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), Cape Breton Spectator, City Hall, civil rights, Clarke Ellis, Croatia, Daniela Rogulj, Emera, Freedom of Information, governance by surveillance, HMCS Toronto, John Phelan, Julia-Simone Rutgers, Kent Bailey, Lynn Connors, Mark Bettens, Mary Campbell, Mayor Cecil Clarke's trip to China, Memorial Cup, Michael Karanicolas, Minority Report, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, Racism, racism at Metro Transit, Sierra Club

Stunting 101: The games Bay Ferries plays

Bay Ferries says its Yarmouth ferry service's real problem has nothing to do with the government's over-subsidization or its own over-pricing. Blame it on the "nasty" opposition.

March 31, 2019 By Stephen Kimber

Mark MacDonald knows which donkey to pin the blame on for the fact his Bay Ferries Ltd.’s money-sinking pot of a Yarmouth-Maine ferry service isn’t winning the accolades he believes it deserves from Nova Scotia taxpayers. Forget the $61,187,310 in previously announced subsidies, grants and other goodies those same taxpayers have shovelled into the service...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Bay Ferries CEO Mark MacDonald, Freedom of Information, Government secrecy, Minister Lloyd Hines, PC leader Tim Houston, Yarmouth ferry

The Cat can’t come back… to Portland

But the money-sucking ferry service will continue to suck Nova Scotia tax dollars. That's good news for columnists, bad news for taxpayers.

February 10, 2019 By Stephen Kimber

The good news for need-to-always-be-even-more-shocked-and-yet-more-appalled columnists is that the Yarmouth ferry is the gift that keeps on giving. The bad news for taxpayers is that it is also the ferry that keeps on taking. I’ve been writing about the always-sinking-but-never-finally-sunk ferry service between Yarmouth and assorted ports in Maine since at least 2007. “Ferry Bad...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Economic Development, Freedom of Information, Stephen McNeil, Yarmouth ferry

There are a lot of ugly buildings in Halifax

Morning File, Wednesday, December 12, 2018

December 12, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 17 Comments

News 1. Habeas Corpus Five prisoners at the Burnside jail filed more habeas corpus applications last week, claiming that they were inappropriately kept in lockdown for up to four days. As has become typical, by the time the habeas applications could make their way to a court hearing before a judge, four of the prisoners […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Auditor General Michael Pickup, Azmi Arnaout, Burnside jail, Burnside Jail lockdown, Canada Post injunction, councillor Steve Adams, David Tanner, Dunbrack Street development, Freedom of Information, George Armoyan, habeas corpus applications, Hospice Society, IWK Health Centre, James Hardiman, Joan Baxter, Justice John Bodurtha, Justice Joshua Arnold, Link Performing Arts Centre, Matt Fitzgerald, Michael Gorman, Michael Paglia, NS Department of Energy and Mines, Patrick Sisson, property taxes, Shannon Kerr, Stephen Archibald and Petit Paris, YMCA funding

Sydney port backers use bogus arguments and bullshit numbers: Morning File, Thursday, January 11, 2018

January 11, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 5 Comments

News 1. The megaport delusion An article published yesterday in the Cape Breton Spectator is a must-read for anyone who thinks Sydney or Melford or Halifax for that matter can become a significant transshipment port operation. Because international shipping is such a gigantic industry, there is much research, reporting, and academic work looking at and […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: advertorial in Chronicle Herald, Barbara Darby, Brian Slack, CFL economics, CFL franchise in Halifax, Colin Chisholm, free advertising, Freedom of Information, marketing bullshit, Mary Campbell, MV Asterix, Nova Scotia Textiles building, Stephen Archibald New York, The megaport delusion, Wolf in sheep's clothing, Zane Woodford

A series of segues: Morning File, Thursday, July 6, 2017

July 6, 2017 By Tim Bousquet 9 Comments

News 1. Corey Rogers Yesterday, the Public Prosecution Service issued this rather cryptic release: The Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has asked the Manitoba Prosecution Service to provide legal advice to the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) on its ongoing investigation into a 2016 death in Halifax Regional Police cells. On June 16, 2016, […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: $3000 FOIPOP, Aly Thomson, Bill Turpin, Corey Rogers, Dan MacRury, Dave MacDonald, death in police custody, Dennis Theman, FOIPOP: successful WIPSI funding applications, Freedom of Information, Gary Basso, Ghost the cat, Jerri Southcott, Martin Herschorn, Mary Campbell, More on the PPS (Public Prosecution Service), Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service (PPS), osprey nest Lunenburg County, Ray Ivany, Ron Fetterly, Ron J. MacDonald, Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), Tiffany Chase, Workplace Innovation and Productivity Skills Incentive (WIPSI)

Halifax councillors need to make a living wage ordinance a priority: Morning File, Monday, November 21, 2016

November 21, 2016 By Tim Bousquet 9 Comments

November Subscription Drive Click here to purchase a subscription to the Halifax Examiner. News 1. Just how low, and how bad, can the Chronicle Herald get? In a bid to restart negotiations between the Chronicle Herald management and its striking newsroom employees, the union sent the company a request for a meeting. But the company […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: BAE, Ben Eoin, candidates' answers, Chronicle Herald strike, conquered people, Danish warship HDMS Peter Willemoes, Danny Paul, David Pugliese, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Dennis Kutchera, Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, Freedom of Information, Georgina MacLeod, Halifax Transit, Imperial Cleaners, IMTB, Irving Shipbuilding, It's More Than Buses, Joan Weeks, John Demont, Lisa Blackburn, living wage, living wage ordinance, Mark Cunningham, Marlene Usher, Mary Campbell, Michael Merritt, Mike Savage, Moving Forward Together, Port of Sydney, Richard Zurawski, Sackville Sports Stadium, Sam Austin, Sean Previl, Shawn Cleary, Stephen Kimber, Steve Streatch, Waye Mason

Government officials are using private email to keep information from you: Morning File, Wednesday, September 28, 2016

September 28, 2016 By Tim Bousquet 7 Comments

News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Right to Know Week This is Right to Know Week, and today is Right to Know Day: Each year on September 28, approximately 40 countries and 60 non-governmental organizations celebrate Right to Know Day. The purpose of Right to Know is to raise […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: access to information, Anne Bertrand, Catherine Tully, Clarence Bennett, Fliss Cramman, Freedom of Information, Jean Laroche, job ad, Karissa Donkin, Merlin Nunn, Michael Gorman, NB Liquor, Premier’s Delivery Unit, Right to Know, Senior Delivery Officer

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

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