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Controversial Cape Breton land seller Frank Eckhardt arrested for the second time in just two weeks, this time on a slew of weapons charges

December 31, 2021 By Joan Baxter Leave a Comment

For the second time in a month, police have arrested Frank Eckhardt, a controversial land seller and survivalist who advertises his advisory services to German-speaking “new settlers” in Cape Breton, and who featured in several German and Canadian media articles in the past two years because of his far-right views and alleged gouging of German […]

Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: arrest, Austria, Cape Breton, CBC, Der Spiegel, Eco-village, firearm, Frank Eckhardt, German-speaking Europeans, Germany, Inverness County, Kristallnacht, Luis Pazos, nazi, neo-Nazi, prepper, RCMP, Reichsbuerger, Richmond County, St. Peter's, survivalist, Switzerland, Tom Ayers, weapons

“Please don’t sell Nova Scotia”

Additional taxes on non-resident landowners has been discussed since the 1960s. Now the debate is on again as non-residents snap up property in Cape Breton.

November 28, 2021 By Joan Baxter 7 Comments

Nova Scotia has long been a popular place not just for settlers, but in the last century it also became a popular place for non-residents — including many well-heeled Americans and Europeans — to purchase properties.[1] For decades, scholars and successive governments have debated the issue of non-resident land ownership in a province with relatively […]

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: Access Nova Scotia, Allan MacMaster, American, Anne Murray, Arthur Bull, Assessment Act, Austria, Blaise Theriault, Canadian Pioneer Estates, Cape Breton, Capped Assessment Program (CAP), Coastal Communities Network, Crown land, Dalhousie University, deed transfer tax, Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, Department of Service Nova Scotia and Internal Affairs, Der Spiegel, Donna Malone, former Premier John Hamm, Gary Andrea, Germany, Halifax County, Heather Breeze, Inverness County, Irving, Jim Moir, Kell Antoft, Kip Ready, Krista Higdon, land ownership, land titles, Lunenburg County, mandate letter, migrated, Minister of Finance and Treasury Board, Municipal Government Act, neoliberalism, non-Nova Scotian tazpayer, non-resident, non-resident landowners, Northern Pulp, Nova Scotia Association of Realtors (NSAR), PEI Department of Finance, Peter Pringle, Premier Tim Houston, Prince Edward Island, Prince Edward Island Land Protection Act, property assessment, property taxes, real estate, Real Property Tax Act and Regulations (PEI), Richmond County, Rolf Bouman, tax credit, Terence Bay, Tim Houston, Voluntary Planning Task Force on Non-Resident Land Ownership, Wagner Forest Management

Developers are selling off Cape Breton, one subdivision after the other, to German-speaking non-residents. What — if anything — is wrong with that?

It's not illegal to have extremist views, spread conspiracy theories, sell land to foreign buyers, or charge those buyers inflated prices for real estate in Nova Scotia. But there's no evidence those foreign buyers ever intend to move here, live here, or go through the immigration process that would allow them to do so.

November 23, 2021 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

Nova Scotia has long been a popular place for settlers, but in the last century it also became a popular place for non-residents — including many well-heeled Americans and Europeans — to purchase properties.[1] For decades, scholars and successive governments have debated the issue of non-resident land ownership in a province with relatively little Crown […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: 5G, Amanda Mombourquette, Andreas Popp, Andreas Popp Lane, Antigonish County, Bras d'Or Lake, Canadian German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Canadian Pioneer Estates, Canec Land Development, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Eco-Village, CBC, conspiracy theorists, conspriracy theories, COVID-19 pandemic, Der Spiegel, Evans Island, Evanston Road, Evanston subdivision, F.E. Properties, Frank Eckhardt, German speakers, German-speaking Europeans, Germany, Golden Lake Estates, Guysborough County, Halifax International Airport, Hay Cove, Holocaust, Immobilien, Inverness County, Jewish population, Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass), land development companies, Lower River Inhabitants, Michael Vogt, Minister of Labour, nazi, Nazi Germany, non-residents, Pia Kaestner, Premier Tim Houston, preppers, Property Valuation Services Corporation, real estate, Renate Sedlmeier, Richmond County, Riechsbuerger (citizens of the Reich), Rolf Bouman, Sarah Herring, Second World War, Skills and Immigration Jill Balser, subdivision, Tom Ayers, Transparency International Germany, Victoria County, Viewpoint Nova Scotia, waterfront, Wissensmaufaktur

Marketing Cape Breton as a “refuge” for “clear thinkers”

Two development companies have sold 144 lots in Richmond and Inverness counties to German-speaking non-residents "who want to live with the values of Germany from 1933 to 1945."

November 19, 2021 By Joan Baxter 2 Comments

Nova Scotia has long been a popular place for settlers, but in the last century it also became a popular place for non-residents — including many well-heeled Americans and Europeans — to purchase properties.[1] For decades, scholars and successive governments have debated the issue of non-resident land ownership in a province with relatively little Crown […]

Filed Under: Featured, Investigation Tagged With: Adolf Hitler, Alexandra Mashaghati, Andreas Popp, Beaver Lodge Estates, Bras d'Or Lake, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Real Solutions, climate change, climate crisis, Condor, conspiracy theories, conspiracy theorists, Crown land, cult, Der Spiegel, Elizaveta Firsova, Eva Herman, Evans Island, George Monbiot, German Politics and Society Journal, German-speaking Europeans, Germany, Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Golden Lake Estates, Gottfried Feder, Iain Rankin, immigrants, Inverness County, Juergen Gindner, Leibniz University Hannover, Mehrab Mashaghati, Michael Vogt, Nazism, non-resident landowners, ocean access, Owls Head Park, Patricia Anne Simpson, Querdenker, real estate, refuge, refugees, refugium, Reichsbuerger [Reich Citizens’] Movement, Richmond County, Save Owls Head Provincial Park, Stephen McNeil, Telegram channel, The Guardian, Third Reich, Transparency International Germany, waterfront, Wissensmanufaktur

Former Richmond CAO Kent MacIntyre’s fascinating career, and its collapse

Morning File, Thursday, June 13, 2019

June 13, 2019 By Tim Bousquet Leave a Comment

1. Former Richmond CAO Kent MacIntyre’s fascinating career, and its collapse The Richmond County council fired Chief Administrative Officer Kent MacIntyre during a closed session meeting on April 1, 2019. The vote was three to two, with councillors Brian Marchand, Gilbert Boucher, and Alvin Martell voting in favour of firing, and councillors Jason MacLean and […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: ACOA loans, Ben Eoin, Constable Gary Basso, Councillor Alvin Martell, Councillor Brian Marchand, Councillor Gilbert Boucher, Don Marchand, Jake Boudrot, Jason MacLean, Mary Campbell, Richmond CAO Kent MacIntyre, Richmond County, Royal Cape Breton Yacht Club, Saint John Development Corporation, Seagull Pewter, Yvonne Leblanc-Smith

Russell Walker needs a new catchphrase: Morning File, Wednesday, November 2, 2016

November 2, 2016 By Tim Bousquet 13 Comments

November Subscription Drive The following is written by Selena Ross. When she was working as a reporter for the Chronicle Herald, Ross was co-author of the award-winning article on the death of Rehteah Parsons. Since leaving the Herald, Ross has worked for the CBC and the Globe & Mail. She now lives in New York City. When I […]

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Andrew Curran, Chris Parsons, clearcuts, death candy, Fazal Malik, Halloween, Liberal Party, Linda Pannozzo, Michel Samson, Richmond County, Robert Devet, Russell Walker, Selena Ross, Stephen Kimber, Steve Sampson, Trade Centre Ltd., World Trade and Convention Centre, Yvette d'Entremont

PRICED OUT

A collage of various housing options in HRM, including co-ops, apartment buildings, shelters, and tents
PRICED OUT is the Examiner’s investigative reporting project focused on the housing crisis.

You can learn about the project, including how we’re asking readers to direct our reporting, our published articles, and what we’re working on, on the PRICED OUT homepage.

2020 mass murders

Nine images illustrating the locations, maps, and memorials of the mass shootings

All of the Halifax Examiner’s reporting on the mass murders of April 18/19, 2020, and recent articles on the Mass Casualty Commission and newly-released documents.

Updated regularly.

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.

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

A young white woman with dark hair and a purple shirt lies on a large rock at dusk, looking up at the sky and playing her banjolele.

Episode 85 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne, is published.

Logan Robins (writer/director/composer) and Katherine Norris (star/composer) of the Unnatural Disaster Theatre Company are on the show this week ahead of their provincial tour of HIPPOPOSTUMOUS, Robins’ musical exploration of invasive species, colonization, environmentalism, and history. Hear how Pablo Escobar’s personal hippos have invaded and are ruining a section of Colombia, why Robins was intrigued to make a show about it, and all the places you can catch it this July. Plus Norris cracks out the banjolele to perform one of the show’s songs. And the new jam from Beauts!

Listen to the episode here.

Check out some of the past episodes here.

Subscribe to the podcast to get episodes automatically downloaded to your device — there’s a great instructional article here. Email Suzanne for help.

You can reach Tara here.

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