• Black Nova Scotia
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Health
    • COVID
  • Investigation
  • Journalism
  • Labour
  • Policing
  • Politics
    • City Hall
    • Elections
    • Province House
  • Profiles
  • Transit
  • Women
  • Morning File
  • Commentary
  • PRICED OUT
  • @Tim_Bousquet
  • Log In

Halifax Examiner

An independent, adversarial news site in Halifax, NS

  • Home
  • About
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Commenting policy
  • Archives
  • Contact us
  • Subscribe
    • Gift Subscriptions
  • Donate
  • Swag
  • Receipts
  • Manage your account: update card / change level / cancel

The long, bizarre, and costly journey of the knife used to convict Glen Assoun

Morning File, Friday, November 8, 2019

November 8, 2019 By Tim Bousquet 1 Comment

November subscription drive When I learned about the Glen Assoun case in 2014, I sat down and read the 1999 court transcript, something like 10,000 pages. I soon realized that if I was going to properly report on the story, I needed to see that evidence that was presented at trial — there are all […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alex Pareene, Brenda Way, cruise ship numbers, Glen Assoun evidence, Hope for Wildlife, Hope Swinimer, Jennifer Stairs, Martyn Williams, Mary Campbell, Michael MacDonald, Neera Ritcey, Police Chief Dan Kinsella, Rude Press, subscriber supported journalism, Sullivan's Pond geese attack

The Halifax police department is going to great lengths to prevent you from knowing how Glen Assoun was wrongfully convicted

October 17, 2019 By Tim Bousquet 5 Comments

With very limited exceptions (national security, for instance), we do not have secret court evidence in Canada. We have the exact opposite: an Open Court Principle. I wrote about the Open Court Principle after the Halifax Examiner, the CBC, and the Canadian Press prevailed in our effort to get court documents unsealed in the Glen […]

Filed Under: Featured, Investigation, Journalism, News Tagged With: Deputy Chief Bill Moore, Duncan Read, FOIPOP, Glen Assoun evidence, Halifax Police, Jennifer Stairs, Justice James Chipman, Justice Minister David Lametti, Open Court Principle, Patty McKelvey, Superintendent Colleen M. Kelly

Here’s how much we paid in legal fees to get court documents in Glen Assoun’s wrongful conviction case unsealed

Morning File, Wednesday, July 31, 2019

July 31, 2019 By Tim Bousquet 9 Comments

News 1. Chickens and other fowl “Hesitant to settle for chickens, Halifax councillors decided to include all egg-laying fowl in the rules on backyard birds in residential areas,” reports Zane Woodford for Star Halifax: Council voted on Tuesday to tell planning staff to start drafting bylaw amendments, with only Councillor Russell Walker voting no, citing […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: backyard chickens, Christine Carr, Councillor Russell Walker, Doug Martin, Examineradio, Glen Assoun documents, Jackie Llewelyn, Jennifer Stairs, John Risley, Joy Ruth Mendleson, Launch Mechanic LLC, legal fund, Mary Campbell interview, Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI), pedestrian struck Oak Street, road paving contracts, Robert Devet, Scale-up Hub, sheriff's warrants, SMIT Salvage, Yantian Express, Zane Woodford

The Randy Riley trial: how news media are falling down on the job

Dropping coverage of a court trial mid-trial is a disservice both for readers and for justice.

April 9, 2018 By Tim Bousquet 2 Comments

Last Tuesday, there was dramatic moment in Supreme Court, worthy of its own Law & Order episode. In the course of its prosecution of Randy Riley for the 2010 murder of Chad Smith, the crown called its witness Nathan Johnson. Johnson took the stand and — bam! — said that he, and he alone, killed […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Journalism Tagged With: Aly Thomson, Blair Rhodes, court coverage is inadequate, El Jones, Jennifer Stairs, Justice Chipman, Natasha Pace, Nathan Johnson confesses, Nicholas Butcher trial, Paul Smith, Randy Riley trial, Steve Bruce, Zane Woodford

Halifax Harbour is shrinking: Morning File, Monday, April 10, 2017

April 10, 2017 By Tim Bousquet 8 Comments

News 1. Dubé and lying city councillors In early March, I was tipped that Halifax CAO Jacques Dubé had been missing from City Hall for two weeks. I called around, and spoke to three councillors, two of whom told me that Dubé had a family member who had a severe illness and was attending to it. […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Chronicle Herald journalists, David MacCallum, Economy Shoe Shop, Jacob Boon, Jacques Dubé, Jennifer Stairs, lying city councillors, Marieke Walsh, Michael Lightstone, Nova Centre, Victor Syperek, Waye Mason

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 man wearing a purple jean jacket and sporting a moustache lies on the green grass surrounded by pink plastic flamingos

Episode 80 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne, is published.

Singer-songwriter Willie Stratton has wandered a number of genre paths, starting with raw acoustic folk as a teen phenom, moving through surf rock as Beach Bait, and landing in a Roy Orbison-style classic country on his new album Drugstore Dreamin’. Ahead of his release show at the Marquee on Friday, he stops in to explain why mixing influences makes the best art, how he approaches the guitar, and what he likes about his day job as a barber.

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.

Sign up for email notification

Sign up to receive email notification when we publish new Morning Files and Weekend Files. Note: signing up for this email is NOT the same as subscribing to the Halifax Examiner. To subscribe, click here.

Recent posts

  • Feeding the discussion on breastfeeding and infant formula May 26, 2022
  • “I have to live with that, and I’ve lived with that for two-plus years”: emotional testimony about RCMP mistakes during the mass murders May 26, 2022
  • ‘Next thing I know I’m getting tased:’ Nova Scotia Police Review Board hearing into 2019 arrest on Quinpool Road underway May 26, 2022
  • Halifax committee recommends in favour of plan to move, restore, and add to historic Elmwood May 26, 2022
  • Retired Judge Corrine Sparks receives honorary degree from Mount Saint Vincent University May 25, 2022

Commenting policy

All comments on the Halifax Examiner are subject to our commenting policy. You can view our commenting policy here.

Copyright © 2022