On the evening of Jan. 3, 2017, Lionel Desmond, a 32-year-old former Canadian soldier, murdered his 31-year-old wife, Shanna, their 10-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, and his 52-year-old mother, Brenda, in their home in tiny Upper Big Tracadie, N.S. Then, he turned the rifle on himself. In the immediate aftermath of that horrific quadruple murder-suicide, we as...
Complicated legacies
Was Lionel Desmond a victim of his war demons? Or was he a villain, a perpetrator of domestic violence who murdered his own family? Or both? We may never know.
“Speak not ill of the dead man.” Spartacus “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” Shakespeare Legacies have always been complicated and fraught, of course, but never more so than today. Consider Kobe Bryant. In the first hours after news broke last month that Bryant, “one of the greatest […]
Fifteen years in, Nova Scotia might just fix tax assessment inequities
Morning File, Thursday, January 30, 2020
News 1. Northern Pulp confirms extension to April 30 News 95.7 has reported on a Northern Pulp announcement stating the company has received permission from Nova Scotia’s Minister of the Environment to be able to continue discharging into Boat Harbour until the end of April 2020. New pulp processing waste is still not allowed, but […]
Here’s the best map of Cape Breton
Morning File, Tuesday, January 28, 2020
News 1. Lionel Desmond inquiry “Two days before former soldier Lionel Desmond used a rifle to fatally shoot three members of his family and then kill himself, his wife Shanna told him to leave their home in rural Nova Scotia after a heated argument, a fatality inquiry heard Monday,” reports Michael MacDonald for the Canadian […]
A place with islands to give away
Morning File, Tuesday, November 19, 2019
You can’t be everywhere at once. That’s why I’m thankful for the Halifax Examiner’s Jennifer Henderson. If I’m regretting not being able to go to this public meeting or that important announcement, Henderson has been, and can tell me all about it in the Examiner. Whether it’s the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s pursuit of P3 […]
We Stand On Guard For Thee: Morning File, Saturday, June 24, 2017
1. Oh, Canada Canadian media has been celebrating the world record for “longest kill shot” reportedly earned by a Canadian sniper in Iraq: A Canadian sniper working alongside Iraqi forces in their fight against ISIS successfully struck a member of the militant group from a distance of 3,540 metres, Canada’s military confirmed Thursday. The sniper […]
The Ceramic Cartel must be brought to its knees: Morning File, Monday, June 5, 2017
News 1. Beatrice Hunter “Police have taken an Inuk woman into custody in Happy Valley-Goose Bay after she refused to promise a Supreme Court of N.L. judge she would stay away from the Muskrat Falls construction site in Central Labrador,” reports Justin Brake for the Newfoundland and Labrador Independent: Beatrice Hunter, a mother, grandmother and land […]
Morning File, Tuesday, January 10, 2017
News, views, and snowshoes from Mainland Nova Scotia's greatest municipality
Tim is goofing off this morning. Today’s guest writer is Katie Toth. News 1. Hospital accused of turning away Lionel Desmond insists it’s never denied care According to new reporting by Melanie Patten for CBC News, one doctor at St. Martha’s Hospital in Antigonish says it’s never denied care in its emergency rooms. Lionel Desmond’s family […]
Lionel Desmond, his tortured soul, and his guns: Morning File, Friday, January 6, 2017
News 1. Lionel Desmond “A clearer picture is emerging of the former soldier involved in an apparent murder-suicide in Nova Scotia, with his own words on social media revealing a man struggling with PTSD who was trying to get his life back,” report Kevin Bissett and Michael MacDonald for the Canadian Press: “I’m truly sorry for freaking out at my wife/daughter […]
War never ends: Morning File, Thursday, January 5, 2017
News 1. War deaths “Aaliyah Desmond celebrated her 10th birthday three days after Christmas. She had just begun horseback riding, and announced to her family on New Year’s Eve she wanted to be a veterinarian,” reports Michael MacDonald for the Canadian Press: “She always had a nice little smile,” her great-aunt, Catherine Hartling, said Wednesday. On Tuesday, […]