I’m having computer problems, and so this is a short version of Morning File. News 1. Who are we building bike lanes for, anyway? “After the announcement about $25 million in funding towards a minimum bike grid for central Halifax and Dartmouth, there was a lot of talk about who would benefit from such an investment,” […]
The Nova Scotia government is giving “generous provincial grants” to gold mining companies
Morning File, Thursday, June 20, 2019
News 1. Dylan Corkum tells the true story of his Herald interview To be honest, I felt a little bad yesterday when I called out Dylan Corkum for his vox pox interview with Herald writer Heather Laura Clarke Sara Ericsson*. I mean, Ericsson is fair game (as am I and every other reporter), but Corkum […]
McNeil government: if John Perkins doesn’t like being wrestled to the floor at a public meeting, he can file a complaint
If you aren’t keen on police roughing you up and cuffing you at a pubic meeting, or corporations dialing up the Mounties to act as bouncers, then go file a complaint with one of two watchdogs that investigate actions by RCMP officers. That’s the identical response which Premier Stephen McNeil, Justice Minister Mark Furey, and […]
Oil industry-friendly politician objects to proposed strengthened environmental assessment rules
A federal bill to change the way environmental assessments of large projects are handled met with strong and mixed reaction at a Senate Committee hearing held in Halifax yesterday. Environmentalists like the fact assessments of new projects must include “climate change” as one factor. “The Bill is not perfect but it is a balanced and...
Tidal recall: the province says it will pay the estimated $5 million to remove the tidal turbine abandoned on the floor of the Minas Basin, but doesn’t say when
Energy and Mines Minister Derek Mombourquette announced last week the province intends to “eventually retrieve” the abandoned 1,000-tonne, five-storey turbine abandoned at the bottom of the Bay of Fundy near Parrsboro. “Eventually” is the key word in that sentence since there is no timeline and no obvious financial means to pay a salvage bill estimated...
Fixing freedom of information in NS (and jails), pulp mill politics, and plastics – all that, and more.
Morning File, Wednesday, January 16, 2019
I’m Joan Baxter, filling in for Tim today. News 1. Freedom of Information in Nova Scotia – the failure and the fix As Tim wrote, yesterday Nova Scotia privacy commissioner Catherine Tully and auditor general Michael Pickup released their reports on the FOIPOP website security failure. Both painted damning pictures of how the government handled […]
As reliable as a beer commercial
Morning File, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Erica Butler here, helping out with Morningfile today. Fear not, Tim’s still all over it. News 1. Burnside jail Tim reports from the hearing for Burnside jail prisoner Maurice Pratt, continuing to shed light on the situation in the facility. Prisoners launched a protest in August asking for better conditions at the jail, including access […]
Ships, Conservatives, turbines, gold, and forests
Morning File, Thursday, August 23, 2018
Hello, I’m Joan Baxter, Nova Scotian journalist and author, wondering how on earth Tim does this every morning. News 1. Ships start here, but when? Jennifer Henderson investigates the six-month (and counting) delay in the completion of the first ship in the multi-billion dollar Halifax Shipyard contract in a new article for the Examiner: The […]
Kersplash: there goes tidal generation
Morning File, Tuesday, August 14, 2018
News 1. Emera withdraws from Cape Sharp Tidal This item is written by Jennifer Henderson. Emera is out of the tidal power business in the Bay of Fundy, at least for now. The parent company of Nova Scotia Power (and the North American energy conglomerate with $29 billion in assets) announced yesterday it was withdrawing […]
Shambhala leader sexually assaulted a Chilean woman, published account alleges
Morning File, Thursday, July 12, 2018
News 1. Detailed allegations of sexual assault by Shambhala leader Carol Merchasin is one of the authors of the “Sunshine Report” that examined allegations of sexual assaults by Shambhala leader Mipham Mukpo, who goes by the title Sakyong Mipham. Tuesday evening, Merchasin updated one of the accounts in the Sunshine Report, as follows: Within 24 hours of the […]