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How RCMP commanders’ bumbling response to Portapique allowed the killer to continue his murder spree

Morning File, Friday, May 27, 2022

May 27, 2022 By Tim Bousquet 1 Comment

News 1. Bumbling response to Portapique Yesterday, retired RCMP Staff Sergeant Al Carroll testified via Zoom at the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), the public inquiry into the mass murders of April 18/19, 2020. Through his questioning of Carroll, MCC lawyer Roger Burrill aptly laid out how a series of cascading policing errors built upon each […]

Filed Under: Featured, Morning File Tagged With: Al Carroll, Atlantic Gold, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), Destination Cape Breton Association (DCBA), economy, Ivany Report, Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), mass shooting, Moose River, Nicholas Taleb, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change (NSECC), Other People's Money, Portapique, RCMP, resilient, Terry Smith, The Black Swan, Touquoy gold mine, Tourism, Tourism Nova Scotia, Tracy Barron, waste rock, waterfalls, Yarmouth ferry

The RCMP didn’t tell the public about the mass murderer’s fake police car because they didn’t want to create a ‘frantic panic’

April 27, 2022 By Tim Bousquet 5 Comments

Ever since the mass murders of April 18/19, 2020, one unanswered question has been: Why did the RCMP wait so long to notify the public about the killer’s fake police car? An answer comes via RCMP Staff Sergeant Steve Halliday, who was interviewed by the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) on November 3, 2021. According to […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: Lisa Banfield, Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), Portapique, RCMP, RCMP Staff Sergeant Steve Halliday, Tim Bousquet

Here’s all the Halifax Examiner’s reporting on the mass murders of April 18/19, 2020

April 26, 2022 By Tim Bousquet, Jennifer Henderson, Joan Baxter, Yvette d'Entremont, Suzanne Rent, Zane Woodford, Philip Moscovitch, Stephen Kimber, El Jones, Erica Butler, Paul Palango and Chris Murphy

April 2020 was a difficult time in Nova Scotia. A strange new virus was loose in the world, and no one knew what would happen. Nova Scotia was under lockdown — restaurants and bars were closed, schools were online, health orders prohibited people from gathering socially, and the disease had entered the Northwood retirement home. […]

Filed Under: Featured, Investigation, News, Policing Tagged With: Debert, Enfield, Hunter Road, inquiry, Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), Mass murder, Nova Scotia massacre, Onslow Fire Hall, Portapique, RCMP, shooting, Shubenacadie, SIRT, Wentworth

Renovictions spike, but let’s not forget the plight of landlords

Morning File, Tuesday, April 12, 2022

April 12, 2022 By Philip Moscovitch 3 Comments

News 1. Renovictions spike, but let’s not forget the plight of landlords Organizations that support tenants fighting eviction say they have seen an increase in requests for help since the province lifted its renoviction ban, Leslie Amminson reports. Renoviction refers to landlords kicking out tenants, making some upgrades to their units, then putting the units […]

Filed Under: Featured, Morning File, PRICED OUT Tagged With: Airbnb, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, BeReal, Citations Needed, Cornwallis statue, development, Erin L. Thompson, Hatshepsut, Heidi Stevenson, housing, Joe Webber, John Lohr, Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), Paid sick days, Portapique, PRICED OUT, RCMP, SOLO

Nick Beaton has every right to be angry, but…

Despite many early missteps, the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Commission is now doing what it needs to do — methodically assembling facts and evidence about what happened during Canada's worst modern mass shooting and exploring the many larger issues the tragedy requires us as a society to confront. The rest of us need to let it do its job.

April 4, 2022 By Stephen Kimber Leave a Comment

It is impossible not to sympathize with the frustrations of Nick Beaton. His pregnant wife, Kristen, was among the 22 victims of the senseless April 2020 shooting rampage during which a killer — dressed as a Mountie and driving a down-to-the-decals perfect replica police car — wandered, seemingly at will, along Nova Scotia’s highways and […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, News Tagged With: Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), Nick Beaton, Portapique mass shooting murder spree

“Writing is stupid”

Morning File, Friday, April 1, 2022

April 1, 2022 By Philip Moscovitch 6 Comments

Before we start, let me assure that I have not embedded any weirdo fake April Fool’s stories in today’s Morning File. News 1.   10 new COVID-19 deaths in Nova Scotia This item is written by Tim Bousquet and Philip Moscovitch. Tim: Ten people died from COVID in the week ending March 29. Additionally, 51 people […]

Filed Under: Featured, Morning File Tagged With: "low hum of death", Adam Fisher, anxiety, Carole Fisher, cars, Chris Wheatley, Citations Needed, COVID-19, Crystal City, depression, driving, Freedom's Journal, Gary Burrill, Greek War of Independence, Hannah Qu, James Jakob Williams, Jamie Petrone-Codrington, Jeff Pearlman, Jennifer Henderson, Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), minimum wage, Montreal, P.E. Moskowitz, panic attacks, Peggy's Cove, Peggy's Cove Lighthouse, Philhellenism, polychromy, Portapique, Red Deer, Saahil Desai, Sarah E Bond, SSRIs, statues, Stuart Peddle, Sylvan Lake, The Atlantic, Tim Bousquet, Tourism, transit, West Island, Yale News, Yale University, Yuvi Zalkow

Cafés as centres for “queer memory, identity, and place” in Halifax

Morning File, Tuesday, March 29, 2022

March 29, 2022 By Philip Moscovitch 3 Comments

News 1. First officers on the scene at Portapique testify The Mass Casualty Commission began hearings again yesterday. Tim Bousquet was there for the Halifax Examiner, covering the testimony of the first three officers to arrive on the scene in Portapique on the night of April 18, 2020.  The testimony of the three officers — […]

Filed Under: Featured, Morning File Tagged With: Aaron Patton, Adam Merchant, Andrew Childerhouse, Barrington Street, Clayton Developments, crisis response, Ethan Lycan-Lang, folklore, Glitter Bean, Gord Johns, harm reduction, housing, Java Blend, Mass Casualty Commission (MCC), mental health, Mental Health Mobile Crisis, Mount Hope, Noticed in Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia, opioids, overdose deaths, Portapique, Portland, RCMP, Sarah Budgell, Stephen Archibald, Stuart Beselt, Susan Leblanc, Ted Wheeler, Tim Bousquet

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.

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Recent posts

  • How RCMP commanders’ bumbling response to Portapique allowed the killer to continue his murder spree May 27, 2022
  • Halifax cop claims she worried the man she tased would use a pen as a weapon May 26, 2022
  • Emera has record profits, but wants more from ratepayers to move off coal May 26, 2022
  • Sowing seeds of sustainability in Nova Scotia May 26, 2022
  • Feeding the discussion on breastfeeding and infant formula May 26, 2022

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