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 […]
Controversial Cape Breton land seller Frank Eckhardt arrested, charged with extortion
Frank Eckhardt, the controversial land seller who advertises his advisory services to German-speaking “new settlers” in Cape Breton, and who featured in several media articles in 2020 because of his far-right views and alleged gouging of German clients, has been arrested and charged with extortion. In a press release today, the RCMP reported that Eckhardt, […]
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.
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 […]
McNeil is fighting the wrong battle
Morning File, Friday, July 31, 2020
News 1. Cabinet roundup: Masks, schools, borders, and the Yarmouth ferry Jennifer Henderson participated by phone in yesterday’s post-cabinet meeting. (Eight “major” news organizations were allowed to take part in person; the Examiner was not included.) In her roundup, Henderson says the province has still not set a date for opening to the rest of […]
Policing the pandemic
Morning File, Tuesday, March 31, 2020
News 1. Daily COVID-19 update: Community transmission has arrived The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. We all knew community transmission of COVID-19 was coming. Dr. Strang has said so repeatedly in his daily briefings. But I’ll admit I still felt a chill when I saw the news yesterday. Tim has the […]
Let’s play The Game of Halifax!
Morning File, Thursday, February 27, 2020
News 1. Indigenous students at Hants East high school say they face tougher suspensions Aly Thompson at CBC reports on Indigenous students at Hants East Rural High School who say they are being discriminated against when it comes to punishments from staff. Thompson spoke with several students, including 16-year-old Xavier Sack from the Sipekneꞌkatik First […]
Another loss for local journalism
Morning File, Tuesday, January 7, 2020
News 1. Blue Mountain–Birch Cove Lakes Tim Bousquet wrote this item. “Environmentalists who celebrated extra cash in last year’s municipal budget for park land protection are worried a reduced budget for next year means the city is again forgetting about Blue Mountain–Birch Cove Lakes,” reports Zane Woodford: Halifax regional council is working on the capital […]
Are anti-vaxxers meeting with your MLA?
Morning File, Tuesday, November 5, 2019
November subscription drive It’s getting frosty out there, which means its the time of year when we at the Examiner take a stab at convincing you and yours (those who aren’t already subscribers) to support the continued existence and growth of the Halifax Examiner. From her first Morningfile back in May 2015, El Jones has […]
“Hands off our protected areas, and lay off our Crown land”
The proposed Inverness airport will either encroach on or be very near to the Masons Mountain Nature Reserve, a protected nature reserve. It's not the kind of place one wants to have commercial jets “screaming in and out," says the Raymond Plourde, the Ecology Action Centre's wilderness coordinator.
In the past month or so, an awful lot of people — especially people with nothing to gain from a new airport that would serve a couple of luxury golf resorts in Inverness — have put forward more than enough good reasons for both the federal and provincial governments to tell Cabot Links and Cabot […]
Alex Cameron’s “conquered people” brief is odious, but he’s got a good case against the McNeil government
Morning File, Thursday, July 18, 2019
News 1. “Conquered people” secrecy “The Nova Scotia government has won another temporary victory in its attempts to keep court documents sealed relating to a controversial brief that suggested the Mi’kmaq in Nova Scotia were a conquered people,” reports Jean Laroche for the CBC: On Wednesday, Supreme Court of Canada Justice Russell Brown sided with the province […]