• City Hall
  • Province House
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Investigation
  • Journalism
  • Commentary
  • @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
  • Donate
  • Manage your account
  • Swag

Province issues bids for baby biomass plants

February 4, 2020 By Jennifer Henderson

The province has issued a tender to build and operate a half-dozen small-scale biomass plants that will heat government buildings around the province by November of this year. The plants will run on wood chips supplied by private woodlot owners and are being advertised by the Department of Lands and Forestry as both a response...

This content is for subscribers only.
Log In Subscribe

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: biomass, Dalhousie Agricultural Campus, Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), Forestry Transition Team, Minister Iain Rankin, MLA Susan Leblanc, woodchips

Northern Pulp says it will continue to operate as a business

January 10, 2020 By Jennifer Henderson

Nova Scotians learned two new and startling facts following a meeting of cabinet ministers in Halifax yesterday. Asked if he plans to stay and fight another election, Premier Stephen McNeil said yes, he’s staying. An hour later, Northern Pulp Nova Scotia issued a statement saying it wants to stay in Nova Scotia. The company is...

This content is for subscribers only.
Log In Subscribe

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: biomass, Boat Harbour, hot idle, Minister Iain Rankin, NDP leader Gary Burrill, Northern Pulp closure, Paper Excellence, PC MLA Tory Rushton, Port Hawkesbury Paper, Premier Darrell Dexter, Premier Stephen McNeil

Who’s protecting Owls Head park from development? Not the provincial government

Morning File, Wednesday, December 18, 2019

December 18, 2019 By Suzanne Rent 6 Comments

News 1. Environment Minister Gordon Wilson orders two-year environmental assessment of Northern Pulp Mill’s proposed effluent treatment system Jennifer Henderson looks at what yesterday’s decision on Northern Pulp’s proposed effluent treatment system means for the future. Environment minister Gordon Wilson told Northern Pulp to produce more information and complete a full environmental assessment before he […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 100 Wild Island Legacy, abortion services, accessibility, Allana Loh, Angelo DiCicco, Beckwith Gilbert, Between the Bridges, Bonnie Sutherland, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Halifax, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Chelsea Probert, Cheyenne Hardy, Chris Miller, Dartmouth Learning Network, Dartmouth North Community Food Centre, Doris Buffett MacDonald, Doris Wornell, Farrell Hall Benevolent Society, Frances Hunter, Gaelle McNeil, Grand Parade, how not to hit a pedestrian, Jason MacCullough, Joe Gibson, Kate Watson, Kayley Dixon, Kitty Gilbert, Leigh Beauchamp Day, Lighthouse Links Development Company, May Warren, Michael Gorman, Minister Iain Rankin, MLA Claudia Chender, New Years Eve, North Dartmouth Echo, Northern Pulp, Nova Scotia Nature Trust, Owls Head Park, Paul Vienneau, Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN), Public Good Society of Dartmouth, Rebecca Douglass, Sandi Weagle, Sylvia Anthony, Take Action Society, The Freedom Foundation of Nova Scotia, Tyler Colbourne, Young Drivers of Canada

The Archaeology of Loss

How industrial logging in the Mi’kmaq heartland is destroying a lot more than trees 

June 14, 2019 By Linda Pannozzo 1 Comment

“We were in wonderful moose country now.” At least this is how Albert Bigelow Paine described the Nova Scotia landscape he and three others journeyed through in his 1908 book The Tent Dwellers. The book tells the true story of a June trout fishing trip led by two guides, Charlie Charlton and Del Thomas, who […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Alain Belliveau, Albert Bigelow Paine, Alces alces Americana, archaeological site, Black ash, Blomidon Naturalists Society, Bob Bancroft, Boreas Heritage, chain pickerel, Charlie Charlton, clearcutting, Dawn Makarowski, Del Thomas, Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), Donna Crossland, East Coast Environmental Law (ECELaw), eastern ribbon snake, Federation of Nova Scotia Naturalists, Forest Act, Forest and Range Practices Act, Forest Planning and Practice Regulations, Halifax Field Naturalists, Heritage Conservation Act, Indian Gardens, Jamie Simpson, Jeff Purdy, Jonathan Porter, Kejimkujik Lake, Kejimkujik National Park, Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office (KMKNO), Lisa Jarrett, Little Tobeatic Lake, Lord Dunraven, Mainland Moose, Mersey paper Company, Mersey River, Mi’kmaq archaeology, Mi’kmaq artifacts, Mi’kmaq reserves, Minister Iain Rankin, Netukulimk, Northern Parula, Ogômgigiag, Provincial Wilderness Areas, Randy Milton, Rossignol Lake, Sam Glode, Sara Beanlands, Special Places Protection Act, Thomas Millette, Tobeatic Wilderness Area, Tobeatic Wildlife Management Area, WestFor, wildlife sanctuaries, William Lahey

“We are down to our last month’s rent”: naturalists say clearcutting is accelerating

April 8, 2019 By Jennifer Henderson 1 Comment

“I worked at the Bowater-Mersey mill for 38 years, and our provincial government makes Bowater look like an environmentalist!” said Brian Muise. Muise, a member of the Queens County Fish and Game Association, made his comment at the annual meeting of the Nova Scotia Federation of Anglers and Hunters in Truro on Saturday. Muise is […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Abraham Lake Nature Reserve, Biodiversity Act, biomass, Bob Bancroft, Bowater-Mersey mill, Brian Muise, Brooklyn Energy, clearcutting, Department of lands and Forestry, Donna Crossland, Endangered Species Act, Genuine Progress Index on Forestry, Global Forest Watch, Jonathan Porter, Lahey report, Mainland Moose, Minister Iain Rankin, Nova Scotia Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Queens County Fish and Game Association, Ron Colman, Travis McLeod

Environment Minister Margaret Miller isn’t talking about Northern Pulp’s much-criticized environmental assessment

Morning File, Friday, March 15, 2019

March 15, 2019 By Tim Bousquet and Jennifer Henderson 9 Comments

News 1. Spill at Moose River gold mine “Atlantic Gold’s manager of environment and permitting, James Millard, calls it a ‘spill’ or a ‘loss of control’ caused by a ‘gasket failure,’” reports Joan Baxter: By whatever name, the event happened on the night of January 3, 2019, at the company’s open pit gold mine at […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Adele Poirier, Biodiversity Act, Biodiversity Council, Boat Harbour, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Service, Chris Miller, David Pugliese, Dillon Consulting, Duncan Reid, Ecology Action Centre, Extinction Rebellion, George Farmer, Irving Shipbuilding, Joan Baxter, Justice Jamie Campbell, Kevin McCoy, Matthew Halliday, Minister Iain Rankin, Minister Margaret Miller, Northern Pulp environmental assessment, Postmedia, Ray Plourde, Stephen Archibald and the CSTF drill shed, Tim wonders about a thing, violations of privacy laws

Turning protesters into pets

How Nova Scotia's forestry regulators are already undermining the Lahey Report, and what we can do about it.

December 14, 2018 By Linda Pannozzo 8 Comments

Cover photo: a clearcut adjacent to the Old Annapolis Nature Reserve. The forest to the right of the clearcut is now being proposed as a second clearcut, which would create a total clearcut area of roughly 150 acres. Photo courtesy Mike Lancaster. In her eloquent and thought-provoking 2014 book, Capitalism: A Ghost Story, Arundhati Roy […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Environment, Featured, Province House Tagged With: Allan Eddy, Allan Smith, Arundhati Roy, Bernie Miller, Brad Toms, Bruce Nunn, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), clearcutting, Department of Lands and Forestry (DLF), Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Harry Freeman and Sons, JD Irving, Jonathan Kierstead, Jonathan Porter, Lahey report, Ledwidge Lumber, Louisiana Pacific, Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute, Mike Lancaster, Minister Iain Rankin, Natural Resources Strategy, Nick Horne, Northern Pulp, Premier Stephen McNeil, Resolute Forest Products, Scotia Atlantic Biomass, St. Margaret’s Bay Stewardship Association (SMBSA), Stephen McNeil's Liberals, The Washington Post Company, WestFor, William Lahey

Government takes tentative first steps to reduce clearcutting

December 4, 2018 By Jennifer Henderson

The McNeil government is promising less clearcutting on crown lands through new “interim” harvesting guidelines introduced yesterday in response to a comprehensive report on forestry practices prepared by University of King’s College president Bill Lahey last August. It’s unclear how much the controversial practice will be reduced until after permanent guidelines are introduced by the...

This content is for subscribers only.
Log In Subscribe

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: clearcutting, deputy Minister Julie Towers, Lahey report, Lands and Forestry Department, Minister Iain Rankin, MLA Lisa Roberts, Ray Plourde, Tory Rushton

The Lahey report on managing Nova Scotia forests was published three months ago; when is the government going to act on it?

November 23, 2018 By Jennifer Henderson

How should Nova Scotia manage one of its key public resources — the forests — to make them healthier and more economically productive? Three months ago, the province received a report with 45 recommendations on how to achieve those goals. The Independent Review of Forest Practices In Nova Scotia was authored by Bill Lahey, a...

This content is for subscribers only.
Log In Subscribe

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Independent Review of Forest Practices In Nova Scotia, Jennifer Henderson, Lahey report, Minister Iain Rankin

Nova Scotia’s cap-and-trade system to go easy on big corporate polluters

October 13, 2017 By Jennifer Henderson

Legislation introduced by the McNeil government to enable setting up a cap-and-trade system to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions as part of a Trudeau directive to slow climate change was debated briefly in the Legislature this week. What is missing from Bill 15 — “An Act to Amend Chapter 1 of the Acts of 1994-95,...

This content is for subscribers only.
Log In Subscribe

Filed Under: Featured, News, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: Bill 15, Cap and Trade, greenhouse gas emissions, Jamie Baillie, Jason Hollett, Jennifer Henderson, Lenore Zann, Minister Iain Rankin, Stephen Thomas, Wayne Groszko

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Phyllis Rising — Rebecca Falvey (left) and Meg Hubley. Photo submitted

Episode #19 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne is published.

Meg Hubley and Rebecca Falvey met as theatre kids at Neptune and have been friends ever since. As Phyllis Rising — that’s right, Mary Tyler Moore hive — they’re making films, plays, and are in production on The Crevice, a three-part sitcom streaming live from the Bus Stop in March. They stop by to talk with Tara about its development, their shared love of classic SNL and 90s sitcoms, and the power of close friendship. Plus: A new song from a new band.

This episode is available today only for premium subscribers; to become a premium subscriber, click here, and join the select group of arts and entertainment supporters for just $5/month. Everyone else will have to wait until tomorrow to listen to it.

Please subscribe to 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.

Sign up for email notification

Sign up to receive email notification of new posts on the Halifax Examiner. Note: signing up for email notification of new posts is NOT subscribing to the Halifax Examiner. To subscribe, click here.

Recent posts

  • The new provincial rebate is just the first step to getting more electric vehicles on Nova Scotia roads March 3, 2021
  • The cops who shot up the Onslow Fire Hall committed no crime, rules SIRT March 3, 2021
  • Greenwashing the goldfields March 3, 2021
  • Here’s when you can expect to be vaccinated March 2, 2021
  • Public health on life support: underfunded and underappreciated March 2, 2021

Commenting policy

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

Copyright © 2021