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Portapique: how to (maybe) turn a rickety review into a transparent public inquiry

Premier McNeil says if the panel reviewing Nova Scotia's mass shooting believes they need more authority to do their jobs, he'll give it to them. Their first order of business, therefore, should be to demand the review become a full, transparent public inquiry. Without that, there will never be public confidence in their work.

July 26, 2020 By Stephen Kimber 9 Comments

Allow me to make a modest suggestion. First, a few assumptions. Let’s assume Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey is correct. He and federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair chose the three-member “independent and impartial” panel to “review” April’s mass shooting in Nova Scotia “because of their experience in fact-finding and independence, in-depth knowledge of […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Mark Furey, mass shooting murder Portapique, Mass shooting review, Minister Bill Blair

Nova Scotia massacre: Did the RCMP “risk it out” one time too many?

May 30, 2020 By Paul Palango 6 Comments

Catharine Mansley was a Mountie for 24 years. In time her mind began to go from all the stress of being a RCMP patrol officer in Halifax County. She began drinking. When she complained about her problem to her supervisors, that just added to them. She was caught driving drunk twice. Convicted once, she went […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Catharine Mansley, Const. Heidi Stevenson, Councillor Wade Parker, Edgar MacLeod, Jim Bronskill, Mark Furey, mass murder shooting spree, Michael Gregory, Portapique, Premier Stephen McNeil, Public Inquiry, RCMP

Street checks: Who’s sorry now? Not the premier, not the justice minister, not the police

No one in authority seems willing to apologize for the decades of "disproportionate and negative" impact street checks have had on Nova Scotia's black community. Worse, no one seems to be committed to finally ending them once and for all.

April 21, 2019 By Stephen Kimber

Our question for today: why is it so hard for the people in charge of policing in Nova Scotia to say, I’m sorry? Last week… nearly three weeks after a damning 180-page report by an independent outside consultant confirmed that black males are nine times more likely than whites to be stopped in “random” police...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Mark Furey, Racism, Stephen McNeil, street checks report

Get over that “secret tunnel” delusion: Morning File, Thursday, June 15, 2017

June 15, 2017 By Tim Bousquet 13 Comments

News 1. NSBI There are two CBC stories from yesterday involving Nova Scotia Business Inc. The first is from Paul Withers: The Nova Scotia Crown corporation responsible for economic development in the province says it needs to be more ‘inclusive’ when it refers potential clients to commercial real-estate brokers. Nova Scotia Business Inc. called in […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Alexa MacLean, Angela Ralph, Argyle street tunnel, Canada Games Centre roof, Geof Ralph, Jack Julian, Laura de Boer, Laurel Broten, Legal weed, legalizing pot, Mark Furey, Mary Campbell, Nick Ritcey, Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI), Partners Global, Paul Withers, Stephen Archibald Expo 67, Suspicious Package sightings, Tom Ayers, tunnel to Georges Island

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Brian Borcherdt. Photo: Anna Edwards-Borcherdt

Brian Borcherdt came of age in Yarmouth in the 1990s. When he arrived in Halifax, the city’s famous music scene was already waning, and worse, the music he made was rejected by the cool kids anyway. After decades away from Nova Scotia, he and his young family have settled in the Annapolis Valley, where he’ll zoom in to chat with Tara about his band Holy Fuck’s endlessly delayed tour, creating the Dependent Music collective, and the freedom and excitement of the improvised music he’s making now. Plus: Bringing events back in 2021.

The Tideline is advertising-free and subscriber-supported. It’s also a very good deal at just $5 a month. Click here to support 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

  • Compassion fatigue: when the helpers need help January 19, 2021
  • Halifax police board hits pause on body-worn cameras January 18, 2021
  • Zero cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Monday, Jan. 18 January 18, 2021
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  • Jen Powley: Turn the convention centre into affordable housing January 18, 2021

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