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Accountability ain’t what it used to be

Perhaps it never was. But in these days of cascading crises, it's hard not to notice just who's missing in action, or acting without accountability, or playing games with their obligation to accountability.

October 25, 2020 By Stephen Kimber

ac·​count·​abil·​i·​ty | \ ə-ˌkau̇n-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē  \ Definition of accountability: the quality or state of being accountable, especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions // public officials lacking accountability Merriam-Webster online dictionary Accountability. At 10:19pm Atlantic time last Friday night — after much of the business of the political media world had wrapped for the day,...

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Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: accountability, Bernadette Jordan, Nova Scotia legislature, Premier Stephen McNeil, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

QAnon knows no borders

A conspiracy theory that originated in the US has become a global movement and is attracting adherents in Nova Scotia. Anti-hate activists are concerned about where it will lead.

September 13, 2020 By Joan Baxter 10 Comments

This article contains graphic descriptions of conspiracy theories about child abuse and torture that may not be suitable for all readers. The change in the Nova Scotian woman — I’ll call her Lidia — was dramatic and it happened suddenly. According to a member of her family, Lidia had always been left leaning and progressive […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: "Q", 4chan, anti-Jewish, anti-maskers, anti-vaxxer, Bill Gates, Billy Joyce, Canadian Anti-Hate Network, Child abuse, child-trafficking, conspiracy theories, Corey Hurren, coronavirus, COVID-19, cult, Donald Trump, Evan Balgord, facebook, FBI, G5, Genocide Watch, GeorgeSoros, Gregory Stanton, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Instagram, Janet Conway, MSVU, Nazism, pandemic, People's Party of Canada, Pizzagate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, QAnon, red pill, Satanic panic, social media, Terrorism, Twitter, US Democratic Party, US Republican Party, WWG1WGA, YouTube

300 family members and friends of mass murder victims march and demand public inquiry

July 22, 2020 By Yvette d'Entremont 2 Comments

About 300 family members and friends of the 22 people killed in April’s mass shooting gathered in Bible Hill on Wednesday morning to draw attention to their united demand for a public inquiry.  The crowd gathered at the local Foodland parking lot armed with signs featuring the names and faces of their loved ones. All […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: Bible Hill, Darcy Dobson, Heather O'Brien, Joey Webber, Kristen Beaton, mass shooting victims Nova Scotia, murder spree Portapique, Nick Beaton, Premier Stephen McNeil, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, PTSD, Public Inquiry, Tony Webber

After resisting, Nova Scotia comes through with “pandemic premium” for frontline health care workers

“We would like to see a living wage every day... If you can do it in a pandemic, you should be able to do it all the time. Make it a meaningful change.”

May 8, 2020 By Jennifer Henderson 2 Comments

The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. Nova Scotians who work in nursing homes, publicly-funded home-care, hospitals, and ambulances will receive a one-time lump sum of $2,000 this July in recognition of their efforts during the pandemic. The news was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday. A news release from the […]

Filed Under: Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), coronavirus, COVID-19, Essential Health Care Workers Program, long term care (LTC), Louise Riley, Marla MacInnis, Northwood, pandemic, pandemic premium, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Trigger Warning

The ban on assault style weapons comes in the wake of the Nova Scotia shootings, but it is just one cautious step in a decades-long debate over gun control.

May 8, 2020 By Joan Baxter 3 Comments

Ross Faulkner, owner of The Gun Dealer, “Atlantic Canada’s largest firearms dealer,” gets more and more strident the longer the phone interview goes on. He makes his points over and over again, as if not convinced I can understand, and sometimes he speaks as if there were a full stop after each word, which gives […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: Angus Reid, AR-15, Bill Blair, Billl C-71, Blake Brown, Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns, Canadian Shooting Sports Association, Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association, Cliff Seruntine, Conservative Party, Dr. Najma Ahmed, Erin O'Toole, Glen Motz, gun control, gun lobby, hunting, lobbyist, Michelle Rempel, military assault firearms, Mnister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, National Firearms Association, Nova Scotia mass shooting, Peter MacKay, Portapique, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, RCMP, Ross Faulkner, Saint Mary's University, semi-automatic weapons, sporting carbines, The Gun Dealer

The Department of Health refuses to tell us the names of all 10 nursing homes with COVID-19

Morning File, Friday, April 24, 2020

April 24, 2020 By Tim Bousquet and Jennifer Henderson 8 Comments

News 1. Four more COVID-19 related deaths “The province announced 55 new COVID-19 cases in the province on Thursday afternoon, the largest single-day increase so far,” reports Yvette d’Entremont: There were also four more deaths associated with the disease, all reported at long-term care facilities. Three deaths occurred at the Northwood long-term care facility in […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Admiral Long Term Care, backlash, CANADALAND, coronavirus, COVID-19, Dale Smart, Department of Health, Don Van Natta Jr, Donald Walker, Evelyn White, fake cop, fake RCMP car, impersonating cop, investigative journalism, Jesse Brown, Jonathon Gatehouse, murder shooting spree timeline, Northwood, nursing homes, Oceanview Manor, Ontario Justice Norman Douglas, pandemic, Portapique, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, RCMP deleted tweet, Stephen Archibald and spring

The possible horrible legacy of the “coronavirus convention”

Against suggestions that it be cancelled, 23,000 people from around the world attended a mining convention in Toronto in March. Now, a government mining official from Burkina Faso who attended the convention has tested positive for COVID-19, and the disease threatens to decimate that country.

March 29, 2020 By Joan Baxter 11 Comments

The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free When this global health crisis finally ends, as it will one day, there will be much soul-searching about what could have been done better, and how we could have prevented the spread of the virus and the pandemic. In Canada, one of the lessons learned […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: Alex Black, Allan Woo, Andy Abraham, Bonnie Henry, Burkina Faso, coronavirus, Coronavirus Convention, COVID-19, Dr. Herveen Sachdeva, Dr. Theresa Tam, Dr. Vinita Dubey, Felix Lee, Gabriel Friedman, James West, Jerry-Jonas Mbasha, Kristy Kenny, Laurentian University, McEwen Mining, Minister Oumarou Idani, Minister Seamus O’Regan, Pacific Dental Convention, Premier Doug Ford, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), Rio2 Ltd, Rob McEwen, Scott Ansel, Shannon Kerr, Sun Peak Metals Corp, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Toronto Public Health (TPH), Troilus Gold Corp, World Health Organization (WHO)

Maritimers stranded in Guatemala frustrated by Canadian government silence

March 21, 2020 By Joan Baxter Leave a Comment

The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. Indigo Christ desperately wants to come home to Halifax, but even more immediately, she wants to speak with someone from the Canadian embassy in Guatemala, or in Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa who can at least let her know what – if anything – is […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: coronavirus, COVID-19, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, Global Affairs Canada, Guatemala, Indigo Christ, Krystyna Dodds, Laura Robinson, Lenora Yarkie, Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network (BTS), MP Andy Fillmore, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

No federal assessment will be required for Northern Pulp’s proposed effluent treatment project

December 17, 2019 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

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 the Northern Pulp project […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured, News, Province House Tagged With: Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs, Caribou Harbour, Coldwater Lobster Association, Earnscliffe Strategy Group, Friends of the Northumberland Strait, Gulf Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board, Impact Assessment Act, Impact Assessment Agency (IAA), Justice Timothy Gabriel, Maritime Fishermen’s Union, Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island, Millbrook First Nation, Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister Margaret Miller, Northern Pulp effluent, Northern Pulp environmental assessment, Northern Pulp lobbyist, Northumberland Strait Sportfishing Association, Paper Excellence, Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN), Premier Dennis King, Premier Stephen McNeil, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association, Sipekne'katik First Nation, Trevor Floyd, Velma McColl

Photos of Trudeau in Blackface don’t surprise Black people; we live this racist reality

When the furor over Trudeau's Blackface photos dies down, to be referred to as an "embarrassing incident" or "controversial," Black people like Abdilahi Elmi will still be facing deportation. Muslim Canadians will still be on the no-fly list. White nationalist editorials will still be commissioned by major newspapers under the guise of "debate." And immigration will still be referred to as a "crisis."

September 20, 2019 By El Jones 5 Comments

The closest I’ve been to Justin Trudeau was in January, 2017, when I stood beside former Somali child refugee Abdoul Abdi’s sister Fatouma as she asked the Prime Minister if he would deport his own children. Fatouma was seven months pregnant, and was supposed to be on bed rest. When she heard Trudeau would be at […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Abdilahi Elmi, Abdoul Abdi, anti-Black racism, anti-Blackness, blackface, Fatouma Alyaan, Greg Marquis, Lynn Jones, Peter MacKinnon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Yusra Khogali

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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.

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Recent posts

  • Sacrificing wild Atlantic salmon for gold March 4, 2021
  • Housing co-op plans affordable 57-unit North End Halifax development with federal, provincial cash March 4, 2021
  • Nova Scotia finally reaches a financial settlement with Glen Assoun, compensating him for the 17 years he was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit March 4, 2021
  • Halifax council committee seeks staff report on new recycling program for markers March 4, 2021
  • Every Nova Scotian who wants to get vaccinated will receive the first dose by the end of June, says Rankin March 4, 2021

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