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Prisoners, acting mostly on their own, are changing the legal landscape of Nova Scotia’s jails

August 7, 2020 By Tim Bousquet 1 Comment

Today, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Kevin Coady published a decision, saying that the way two prisoners at the Burnside Jail are being held in solitary confinement is unfair, and he wants the jail administrators to address the situation, and if they don’t within 14 days, he wants to see the prisoners in court, potentially […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: Andre Gray, Burnside jail, Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, Claire McNeil, Dylan Gogan, Dylan Roach, East Coast Prison Justice Society (ECPJS), El Jones, habeas corpus applications, Hanna Garson, Justice Elizabeth Van den Eynden, Justice Gerald Moir, Justice Kevin Coady, Justice Peter P. Rosinski, lockdown, Maurice Pratt, Rae’heem Downey, Richard Verge, segregation in prisons, Solitary confinement

What is going on at the East Coast Forensic Hospital?

August 29, 2019 By El Jones 2 Comments

The death of Greg Hiles last week at the East Coast Forensic Hospital has led to calls for an inquiry and questions about the conditions at the facility. Serious problems have been consistently raised about the state of the province’s hospitals, nursing homes, and other treatment facilities. Disability rights advocates recently won a Nova Scotia Human […]

Filed Under: Featured, Investigation, News, Province House Tagged With: apple-ing while Black, Bob Murphy, Criminal Code Review Board (CCRB), Daniel Ryan, Dr. Aileen Brunet, East Coast Forensic Hospital (ECFH), Greg Hiles, Gregory Hiles, habeas corpus applications, Howard Hyde, Howard Sapers, Jeremy Williams, Judge Anne Derrick, Justice Ann Smith, Marcel Lawrence, Mentally Ill Offender Unit (MIOU), Mike Dull, NCR, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), Pat Atherton, Ralph Atkinson, segregation in prisons, Todd Henwood

Man dies in custody at the East Coast Forensic Hospital

Two months ago Gregory Hiles challenged the East Coast Forensic Hospital in a habeas corpus application. He was found hanged in his cell last week. Now, the same people Greg challenged are responsible for explaining how he died.

August 27, 2019 By El Jones 2 Comments

On Tuesday, August 20th, Sheila Hiles spoke with her son Gregory for over an hour until around 10pm, when the East Coast Forensic Hospital locks up for the night. Nothing, she says, was out of the ordinary. Greg talked about plans he was making for the future, and discussed a recent meeting with his treatment […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Dr. Aileen Brunet, East Coast Forensic Hospital, Gregory Hiles, habeas corpus applications, Justice Ann Smith, Mentally Ill Offender Unit (MIOU), Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), Sheila Hiles, Solitary confinement

Medjuck v. Medjuck: Harold says his brother Ralph, one of Nova Scotia’s most powerful property developers, ripped him off for decades

Morning File, Friday, December 21, 2018

December 21, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 3 Comments

News 1. Bike projects Erica Butler has Part 2 of her update on bike projects. In Part 2, she discusses the Brunswick Street/Spring Garden Road, Forest Hills Parkway, Macdonald Bridge, Bedford Highway, Vernon Street, and Oak/Allen bike projects. Click here to read “Update on ongoing bike projects, Part 2.” This article is for subscribers. Click here […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Barbara Darby and Santa, Blair Rhodes, Burnside jail, habeas corpus applications, harassing smokers, Harold L. Medjuck, Hedda Medjuck, hospital smoking areas, Justice Peter Rosinski, Medjuck v Medjuck, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Ralph M. Medjuck, Smoking ban, Stephen Archibald and candlesticks, vendor disclosure statements, wrongful convictions

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

El Jones gets at the human core of the issues and people she writes about

Morning File, Tuesday, November 6, 2018

November 6, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 5 Comments

News 1. El Jones I first met El Jones when I worked at The Coast. Our meeting was not in person, but virtually — I remember that I asked her to write a guest commentary, and a couple of days later she came back with a poem, which she sent me via a Facebook message. […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Burnside explosion, Chad Harvey Leopold, Duane Eddy, El Jones, Friends of the Northumberland Strait, Grace MacCormick, habeas corpus applications, Hanna Garson, Justice Peter Rosinski, Matthew Coaker, Matthew Grimm, Matthew Lambert, Maurice Pratt, Michael Gorman, Northern Pulp Mill effluent pipe, Randolph Riley, Robert Sanford, Sarah White, Stephen Archibald and Kent Monkman, Supreme Court mootness hearing

There is nothing self-deprecating or ironic or even remotely funny about this boring headline

Morning File, Thursday, September 20, 2018

September 20, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 7 Comments

News 1. Maurice Pratt Yesterday, Justice James Chipman dismissed Maurice Pratt’s habeas corpus application. Pratt was the first of at least eight prisoners at the Burnside jail to have their habeas applications heard by Chipman. (The others are scheduled for Monday, but I’m hearing there may be a delay.) The prisoners filed their applications in […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Adam Hallett, Angie Hebb, Bill Kowalski, Brad Ross, Brendan Elliott, Burnside jail, Burnside jail death, Burnside Jail lockdown, Chronicle Herald advertorial, great white shark lobby, habeas corpus applications, Headlines, Jeff Weatherhead, Joshua Evans, Justice James Chipman, Lake Banook, Lunenburg Electric Utility, Lunenburg power outages, Mairin Prentiss, Maurice Pratt, Nancy Selig, Nova Scotia Power (NSP), Parker Donham, Sarah Gillis, Shelah Allen, Smoking ban, Stephen Archibald and Hal Forbes

Habeas corpus hearing illuminates jail conditions

September 18, 2018 By Tim Bousquet Leave a Comment

Highlights from this story: • a prison official agreed with the statement that “several” prisoners at the Burnside jail have died in the past week * (see note below) • the three-week lockdown at the jail started when an inmate allegedly said that “someone is going to die” after the peaceful protest was ended • […]

Filed Under: Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Brad Ross, Burnside Jail lockdown, Burnside jail protest, Chris Deal, Duane Eddy, Grace MacCormick, habeas corpus applications, Hanna Garson, Justice James Chipman, Kaz Cox, Leonard Greenough, Matthew Grimm, Matthew Lambert, Maurice Pratt, Nelson Callish, Randy Riley, Robert Sanford, Sarah White

Welcome to the new Halifax Convention Centre! Here’s your $100 fine for smoking on the sidewalk

Morning File, Wednesday, September 12, 2018

September 12, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 3 Comments

News 1. Burnside jail update The prisoners at the Burnside jail have ended their 20-day strike and have issued a statement, which reads in part: Dear supporters, You are commended for your work on our behalf. None of us thought that we would gain so much support by sharing our conditions with the public. The […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Burnside jail death, Burnside jail strike, Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, Charles Koch Foundation, Councillor Sam Austin, death in custody, DeSmog Blog, dry communities, Events East, Grafton Street glory Hole, habeas corpus applications, HalifaxToday website, Liquor Control Act, Matthew Lambert, Minister Karen Casey, Peter Ziobrowski, Randy Riley, Robert Sanford, Smoking ban, storm cheat sheet, Supreme Court Justice James Chipman

Five prisoners at the Burnside jail ask the court to order them released from solitary confinement

September 6, 2018 By Tim Bousquet Leave a Comment

Five prisoners at the Burnside jail have filed habeas corpus applications with the Supreme Court. The applications arrived at the courthouse yesterday, September 5. Kaz Cox, Matthew Grimm, Maurice Pratt, Steven Skinner, and Leonard Greenough each say they are wrongfully being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. It’s unclear if any of […]

Filed Under: Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Burnside jail, Duane Eddy, habeas corpus applications, Kaz Cox, Leonard Greenough, Matthew Grimm, Maurice Pratt, Solitary confinement, Stacey Adams, Steven Skinner, Supreme Court Justice James Chipman, Tracy Dominix, William Brian Farrow, Zeb Brown

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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  • Royal flush: the monarchy’s role in reconciliation and Canada today May 19, 2022
  • Dartmouth man charged with wilful promotion of hatred May 19, 2022

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