Quick now. What has the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation (“a citizens’ advocacy group dedicated to lower taxes, less waste, and accountable government”) had to say about all those revelations of tax-sucking, financial jiggery-pokery uncovered in the Paradise Papers? Sorry. Time’s up. You win. Nothing. They’ve said nothing. We’ll come back to that. On November 5, 2017, […]
Winning, losing, and Jamie Baillie
While I don’t believe Baillie should have won last spring’s provincial election, he probably should not have lost either. If he hadn’t — if Stephen McNeil’s Liberals hadn’t barely sputtered across the majority finish line four long hours after vote counting began — Jamie Baillie probably wouldn’t have considered leaving a job he’d only recently begun to grow into.
Many years ago, probably after an election campaign he’d just lost that he believed he should have won, I interviewed then-Nova Scotia Liberal politician Gerald Regan. He was in a philosophical mood. “Victory and defeat,” he told me, paraphrasing a Rudyard Kipling poem, “are equal imposters. Sometimes you lose when you should win; sometimes you...
Masuma Khan and the question of free speech
University codes of conduct, which generically prohibit “unwelcome or persistent conduct that the student knows, or ought to know, would cause another person to feel demeaned, intimidated or harassed,” will inevitably smack up against the academy’s ultimately more fundamental role as protector of free speech and encourager of vigorous debate. The question is what were Khan's defenders defending?
Should the vice-president of the Dalhousie Student Union have faced even the whiff of disciplinary action from the university’s administration for a less than genteel Facebook exchange she had with some constituents? The short answer is no. The long answer is still no. But… Let’s circle back for some context. On June 28, 2017, the […]
Lyle Howe disbarred
In the end, the end was no surprise. The end was, in a sense, even perhaps inevitable. But, regardless of your views of the merits of the case against him, the outcome was sad. For Lyle Howe. For the legal profession. For the rest of us.
“The Hearing Committee of the NOVA SCOTIA BARRISTERS’ SOCIETY gives notice of the disbarment of Lyle Howe of Halifax, Nova Scotia pursuant to Section 45(4)(a) of the Legal Profession Act, effective October 20, 2017 until further notice.” In the end, the end was no surprise. The end was, in a sense, even perhaps inevitable. But, regardless...
The leaders of tomorrow: Morning File, Monday, October 16, 2017
News 1. Cap-and-trade Jennifer Henderson reports: Legislation introduced by the McNeil government to enable setting up a cap-and-trade system to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions as part of a Trudeau directive to slow climate change was debated briefly in the Legislature this week. What is missing from Bill 15 — “An Act to Amend Chapter […]
Tax reform: the Chicken Littles come home to roost
"Professor Kimble’s comments seem to reinforce the recent CBC Marketplace show on fake credentials..." "Ask this Stephen if he has ever had a business..." And other reflections from a column on tax fairness.
“Professor Kimble’s comments seem to reinforce the recent CBC Marketplace show on fake credentials,” Gerry Anderson wrote on LinkedIn. He was among the unhappier readers responding to my recent column about the federal government’s modest tax reform proposals. “His comments show that he has not done any research nor has any real-world experience.” Similarly, Robert...
Stephen McNeil could learn a thing or two from Fidel Castro
How is it that Cuba, which is such a poor country, can afford such a comprehensive health care system and so many Nova Scotians don't have a family doctor? We're glad you asked.
My wife and I recently spent a week in Washington, D.C., advocating for an end to the failed, 56-years-and-counting U.S. blockade of Cuba. We were with a group that included American, Canadian, and European activists, a renowned Cuban pediatric oncologist, a North American representative of Cuba’s main people-to-people friendship organization, the head of a Cuban...
Examineradio 127: Stephen Kimber on Lyle Howe
This week, Halifax Examiner contributor Stephen Kimber explains the latest development in the Lyle Howe saga. Also, Tim and Terra talk Proud Boys, Bob Bjerke and Peter Kelly. (direct download) (RSS feed) (Subscribe via iTunes)
Bulding A Better Nova Scotia Through Poetry: Examineradio, episode #109
Rebecca Thomas, Halifax’s poet laureate, woke City Council with an electrifying poem she read in Chambers titled “Not Perfect.” The subsequent meeting saw a resolution passed to revisit the idea of renaming Cornwallis Street and removing the Cornwallis statue in, uh, Cornwallis Park. Also, the Liberal government released a meaningless budget designed to buld on a stronger […]
Kind of like Satan, but without the fun or the appeal: Morning File, Tuesday, January 24, 2017
News 1. Power Play “Oh, to have a generator and power when the lights go out,” writes Rick Grant: Six Halifax Port Authority officials, which based on photographic evidence, recently included HPA’S President and CEO Karen Oldfield (2015 salary $370,000), need not worry. They keep their lights on and houses warm using emergency generators provided […]