News 1. Windsor & Hantsport Railway “A Virginia businessman wants a piece of the action before the city can turn the old Windsor & Hantsport Railway into a trail,” writes Rick Grant: Robert T. Schmidt’s claim to all of the rail line is contested, and the province has gone to court to force him to maintain […]
The Herald’s news reporting on Northern Pulp Mill looks like a packaged advertising deal: Morning File, Tuesday, January 16, 2018
1. Fracking “On the same day that Nova Scotia’s governing Liberals introduced legislation to ban high volume hydraulic fracturing in the province, I happened to be on a ‘fracking tour’ in the U.S. with a bus load of other environmental journalists in a place that had instead embraced it,” writes Linda Pannozzo. That news was […]
Northern Pulp bullies Canada’s biggest bookstore chain, wins… and then loses
The good news is that the mill’s heavy-handed attack on freedom of expression and the bookseller’s own cowed response appear to have backfired. The bad news is that, “in 2017, a company can use its power to shut down a book signing in a small bookstore in a small town.”
Joan Baxter’s personal Northern Pulp story begins on “one of those stunningly clear, blue-sky mornings that nature sometimes bestows on Nova Scotia.” It was June 2, 2016, and Baxter had decided to start the day with a run near her home in Colchester County, NS. But as soon as she stepped outside, “the air was...
The hanging of Daniel Sampson: Morning File, Tuesday, December 5, 2017
News 1. IMP “The city has dropped its Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP), a hefty 193-page document designed to help Halifax achieve its Regional Plan target of reducing the share of trips we all make in private vehicles,” reports Erica Butler: In 2006, council set a goal to reduce vehicle trips down to 70 per cent […]
Now there’s a reason to go to the community mailbox: Morning File, Wednesday, October 11, 2017
News 1. Women in prison “The number of women in federal prisons has jumped significantly in Canada in the last decade, and advocates say that’s evidence of what happens when community support programs are cut,” reports David Burke for the CBC: There are 37 per cent more women behind bars than there were 10 years ago, according […]
Losing the forests for the trees: New figures show increase in clearcutting
Despite what the Nova Scotia government has said in response to concerns raised over clearcutting, the most recent figures released from the National Forestry Database (NFD) indicate that in 2015, both the overall harvest and the proportion of trees removed by clearcutting continued to increase. And ironically, the national body used data supplied by the […]
Testing the Limits
Part 2: The Examiner Goes on the Road in Search of an Endangered Lichen. (A Photo Essay)
On a clear, crisp Sunday morning in March, Tim Bousquet and I drove about 30 minutes inland from Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia to Twin Lakes, an area slated to be clearcut by Northern Pulp. As I reported in Part 1 of “Testing the Limits,” at the end of February the Abercrombie pulp giant posted several […]
Testing the Limits: Critical Boreal Felt Lichen Habitat in Halifax County Slated to be Wiped Out
Last week, several new forest blocks totalling 171 hectares (422 acres) appeared on the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources’ Harvest Plans Map Viewer. The blocks, posted by the Abercrombie pulp giant Northern Pulp, are located in the Twin Lakes area of Halifax County, roughly 2.5 hours from Halifax, an hour inland from Sheet Harbour. […]
Halifax Explosion 2: Morning File, Thursday, September 8, 2016
News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes News 1. Teachers The government has reached a tentative contract agreement with the teachers union. No details have been published, and a new contract is contingent on a vote of approval by union members. The McNeil government would very much like to go into an election with […]
Sailor File, Friday, September 2, 2016
Haircuts, wildfires, a picture of a boat.
Today’s Morning File is written by Katie Toth. I like boats but not enough to spend $80,000 on one like Florida Senator Marco Rubio did that time. Who can blame him though this things’s a beaut. News Views Noticed Government On campus In the harbour Footnotes 1. Defence Lyle Howe suspended from the bar From CTV: A notice on the Nova […]