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How the Biodiversity Act was killed

Forest Nova Scotia, which represents the biggest forestry players, gets an awful lot of public money — including millions of dollars to administer a forest roads program panned by the auditor general. It also has a paid lobbyist swaying the policies of the very government that funds it, and who started working on its behalf just as the Biodiversity Act was gutted.

April 20, 2021 By Joan Baxter 11 Comments

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

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, Investigation, News, Province House Tagged With: All Terrain Vehicle Association of Nova Scotia (ATVANS), Andrew Fedora, ARF Enterprises, Astroturf, Auditor General, Bill 4, biodiversity, Biodiversity Act, Bowater Mersey, Brian Taylor, Canadian Federation of Forest Owners, Canadian Woodlands Forum, Cassie Turple, CBC Information Morning, Christmas Tree Council of Nova Scotia, Chronicle Herald, climate crisis, Concerned Priavate Landowner Coalition, Cumberland Forestry Advisory Committee, Darrell Dexter, Darrin Carter, Dean Produce Co-op, Debbie Reeves, Department of lands and Forestry, Department of Natural Resources, Downey Thompson, Elmsdale Lumber, Extinction Rebellion, Federation of Nova Scotia Woodland Owners, Forestry Nova Scotia, Forestry Transition Fund, Forestry Transition Team, Gas Tax Access Program, Great Northern TImber, Harry Freeman and Son, Howard Epstein, Ian Johnstone, Jacob Fillmore, JD Irving, Jeff Bishop, Jeff Black, Jim Ketterling, Jim Meek, Jonathan Porter, Kevin Saunders, Krista Fulton, Ledwidge Lumber, Leitha Haysom, Linda Pannozzo, Louisiana Pacific, Maibec CanExel, Marcus Zwicker, Mark Baillie, Mayor Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, Michael Pickup, Municipality of the District of Lunenburg, Neenah Paper, Nina Newington, Noel Sampson, Northern Pulp, Northern Timber Nova Scotia Corporation, Nova Scotia Landowners and Forest Fibre Producers Association, Paper Excellence, Port Hawkesbury Paper, Premier Iain Rankin, Public Affairs Atlantic, Resolute Forest Products, Richard Freeman, Rick Archibald, Round Table on Environment and Sustainable Prosperity, Ryan Cameron, Sasha Irving, Scotia Investments, Scotsburn Lumber, Scott Paper, Sean Lewis, Snowmobilers Association of Nova Scotia (SANS), Stephen Marsters, Stephen Thompson, Stop Bill 4, Taylor Lumber, Timberland Holdings, Todd Burgess, Wagner Forest Management, WestFor Management

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

Pulp Culture

How Nova Scotia’s Faustian bargain with the pulp industry may leave the sawmills in ruins 

March 12, 2019 By Linda Pannozzo 7 Comments

I wonder if Billy Freeman, a sixth generation saw-miller with 15 years experience, saw this juncture coming. A few weeks ago, Freeman, the process improvement manager at Harry Freeman and Son Ltd. in Greenfield, Nova Scotia wrote an illuminating op-ed in the Chronicle Herald supporting Northern Pulp in its request for an extension of the […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, Investigation, Province House Tagged With: Abercrombie Point, Anders Sandberg, B.E. Fernow, Billy Freeman, biomass, Boat Harbour, Bowater Mersey, Bruce Nunn, Canadian Forestry Service, Cassie Ledwidge Turple, Central Wood Suppliers Division, Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), Dr. Paul Arp, forestry, Glyn Bissix, Harry Freeman and Son Ltd, Honathan Porter, Jeff Bishop, Joe MacDonnell, Josh Noseworthy, Kimberly Clark, Krista Higdon, Laurie Ledwidge, Ledwidge Lumber, lumber recovery, Maritime Lumber Bureau, Murray Anderson, Northern Pulp, Nova Scotia Primary Forest Products Marketing Board (PFPMB), Nova Scotia Pulpwood Marketing Act, Nova Scotia Pulpwood Marketing Board, Nova Scotia Woodlot Owners and Operators Association (NSWOOA), Permanent Sample Plot (PSP), Peter Clancy, Peter Duinker, pulp mills, Resolute Forest Products, Robert Stanfield’s Conservatives, sawmills, Scotsburn Lumber, Scott Paper, Stora, Tom Miller, United States Forest Service Studies, Wade Prest, Widjaja family, William Lahey, wood chips

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

Losing the forests for the trees: New figures show increase in clearcutting

March 30, 2017 By Jennifer Henderson 4 Comments

Despite what the Nova Scotia government has said in response to concerns raised over clearcutting, the most recent figures released from the National Forestry Database (NFD) indicate that in 2015, both the overall harvest and the proportion of trees removed by clearcutting continued to increase. And ironically, the national body used data supplied by the […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Bruce Nunn, clearcutting, Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Ecology Action Centre, Forest Nova Scotia, Jeff Bishop, National Forestry Database (NFD), Northern Pulp, Ray Plourde

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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