• 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

“There was no care.”

Fatouma Abdi is suing the province. Today, she is ready to tell her story.

September 2, 2020 By El Jones 2 Comments

This article contains descriptions of the abuse and sexual assault of minors.  It is a cold January night in 2018, in a gym at Sackville High School. Justin Trudeau is holding a town hall meeting, one of a series he will hold across Canada. Outside, protestors have gathered to resist the deportation of Abdoul Abdi, […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, News Tagged With: Abdoul Abdi, Adsum, anti-Black racism, Black motherhood, Black women, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), child welfare system, Children’s Aid, Dayspring Children’s Centre, deportation policy, Desmond Cole, Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia, Emma Halpern, Fatouma Abdi, Gal foster home, group homes, Holly House, Idil Abdallihi, Immigration, Minister Jason Kenney, Nova Scotia Home for Colored Children, OmiSoore Dryden, sexual abuse, sexual violence, social workers, Somalia, Wood Street Secure Centre

Shelburne School for Boys: Good intentions gone wrong? Or…?

Was the government's compensation program crafted out of a well-intentioned desire to allow victims to tell their story “without a public spectacle” that would re-victimize them? Or in a desperate attempt to keep the public from ever learning the real story behind the abuse of children in care?

July 1, 2019 By Stephen Kimber

  While pursuing something else entirely yesterday, I was reading through back copies of The 4th Estate, the lefty Halifax newspaper of the 1970s, and stumbled upon repeated references to the Shelburne School for Boys. —Tim Bousquet “Morning File” June 27, 2019 I was a reporter then. And there. But I’d forgotten — forgotten that...

This content is for subscribers only.
Log In Subscribe

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured, Province House, Subscribers only Tagged With: #MeToo, Nova Scotia School for Boys, Patronage, sexual abuse

The price they paid

As Ellen Page and so many others tell their terrible truths, let's pause to remember those destroyed by sexual abuse.

November 16, 2017 By Evelyn C. White 2 Comments

Entertained and inspired by actor Ellen Page in Juno (2007), I was determined to pen a feature profile about the Halifax native when I moved to Nova Scotia from B.C., in 2012. My proposal green-lighted by an editor at a national magazine, I mailed a formal interview request and samples of my work to a […]

Filed Under: Commentary, Featured Tagged With: Charles Upham, Dorothy Dandridge, Dylan Farrow, Ellen Page, Evelyn White, Halle Berry, Lupita Nyong’o, Marilyn Monroe, Misty Upham, sexual abuse, sexual improprieties in entertainment industry, Woody Allen

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Brian Borcherdt. Photo: Anna Edwards-Borcherdt

Brian Borcherdt came of age in Yarmouth in the 1990s. When he arrived in Halifax, the city’s famous music scene was already waning, and worse, the music he made was rejected by the cool kids anyway. After decades away from Nova Scotia, he and his young family have settled in the Annapolis Valley, where he’ll zoom in to chat with Tara about his band Holy Fuck’s endlessly delayed tour, creating the Dependent Music collective, and the freedom and excitement of the improvised music he’s making now. Plus: Bringing events back in 2021.

The Tideline is advertising-free and subscriber-supported. It’s also a very good deal at just $5 a month. Click here to support 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

  • It sure feels like a whole lot of nothing is happening with the mass murder inquiry and investigation January 25, 2021
  • 1 new case of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Sunday, Jan. 24 January 24, 2021
  • Reckoning with racism January 24, 2021
  • After reading a Halifax Examiner article, two cops showed up at an author reading at Mount Allison University January 23, 2021
  • A heritage property in Sir Sandford Fleming Park is falling apart. Will the city do anything about it? January 23, 2021

Commenting policy

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

Copyright © 2021