It’s November and that means it’s subscription drive time here at the Halifax Examiner. Your subscriptions are what support the Examiner and its writers. So, I’m writing today’s Morning File because of your support. I started reading the Examiner in its early days when it was a one-man show with Tim writing Morning Files and […]
The biomass power shuffle
Not one sawmill in Nova Scotia has closed since Northern Pulp shut down; that's because the province's large biomass boilers are running flat-out
Despite dire warnings from the forestry industry when Northern Pulp shut down at the end of January, not one sawmill in Nova Scotia has closed. That’s the good news. The bad news is that in order to provide replacement markets for bark, woodchips, and sawmill waste, large biomass boilers in the province are running flat-out. […]
This Cole Harbour council candidate shows why we need a municipal lobbyist registry
Morning File, Friday, September 25, 2020
News 1. Uber “The provincial government is making it easier to be a taxi or Uber driver, loosening the requirements to obtain the licence needed to be a driver for hire,” reports Zane Woodford: The move comes less than 48 hours after Halifax regional council passed bylaw amendments to legalize and regulate ride-hailing. Those amendments […]
Breaking down street barriers for people who are blind and partially sighted
Morning File, Monday, September 14, 2020
News 1. QAnon knows no borders Joan Baxter reports on QAnon, a global movement that promotes conspiracy theories, which has followers here in Nova Scotia. QAnon only started a few years ago with one post on the 4chan internet channel. Baxter took a look around to check out some of the post QAnon and its […]
Halifax’s big climate change action plan is ready, but the COVID-19 budget crunch means it’s already ‘jeopardized’
Halifax’s new climate change action plan aims for carbon neutral city operations in 10 years and carbon neutrality across the municipality by 2050, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put the ever-important short-term success of the plan in jeopardy. “The level of effort and timelines of this plan are ambitious and unprecedented,” reads the final chapter […]
Muskrat Falls project delayed again
Nalcor blames COVID-19 for failing to meet contracted schedule of delivery of power to Nova Scotia Power, but there are also problems with software. As a result, Nova Scotia likely won't meet its renewable energy targets.
Hydroelectricity expected to flow to Nova Scotia from Labrador to reduce dependence on coal-fired plants has been delayed once again. In its quarterly report to the Utilities and Review Board, NS Power Maritime Link (NSPML) says the builder of the Muskrat Falls project is experiencing pandemic-related delays. On March 17, Nalcor (the Newfoundland utility building […]
Just when we need local reporting the most, local media outlets are scaling down operations
Morning File, Wednesday, March 25, 2020
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. News 1. Draconian cuts at SaltWire This item is written by Tim Bousquet. Yesterday, Mark Lever, president of SaltWire, announced that in response to the economic fallout from COVID-19, the company is making huge, draconian cuts: Please know these decisions deeply impact our SaltWire family. This is not […]
Nova Scotia Power won’t cut off your electricity, but we’re not seeing the big cuts in rates that Ontario is ordering
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. You know we are in the time of the Apocalypse when Nova Scotia Power is promising not to turn off the lights (or the heat) if you don’t pay your bill. Well, at least not for the next 90 days if you are a residential […]
MLAs grill Forestry Transition Team members
Sawmill operators whose secondary markets for wood chips have taken a hit as a result of the closure of the pulp mill in Pictou County will not be receiving any financial assistance from the Forestry Transition Fund established by the province. “Everything we do must be seen through the lens of international trade and we...
More police needed to monitor police, and more turbines needed to pay for turbines
Morning File, Tuesday, December 17, 2019
News 1. Northern Pulp “Yesterday, four days before his announcement was due on the Northern Pulp effluent treatment proposal, and less than 24 hours before the deadline for the provincial environment minister to announce his decision, federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson released a statement saying that he had ‘decided not to designate […]