News 1. Uber “The provincial government is making it easier to be a taxi or Uber driver, loosening the requirements to obtain the licence needed to be a driver for hire,” reports Zane Woodford: The move comes less than 48 hours after Halifax regional council passed bylaw amendments to legalize and regulate ride-hailing. Those amendments […]
Hardening the shoreline
Morning File, Thursday, September 10, 2020
News 1. Mark Furey’s potential conflict of interest in the mass murder inquiry Tim Bousquet reports on PC leader Tim Houston’s affidavit, filed with the Conflicts Commissioner of Nova Scotia, arguing that justice minister Mark Furey is in a conflict of interest over the public inquiry into the mass murders of April 18-19. The conflict […]
Federal and provincial governments to hold public inquiry into Nova Scotia mass shootings
There will be a public inquiry into April’s mass shooting in Nova Scotia after all. Following significant public protest, statements from multiple Liberal MPs in opposition to an independent review, and a challenge from Nova Scotia Justice Minister Mark Furey, federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced his government is launching a public inquiry. “We […]
Enough with the cop-speak, and other policing stories
Morning File, Friday, June 5, 2020
News 1. Has the RCMP’s move away from community policing created an information gap? Colchester County councillor Mike Gregory used to be an RCMP officer, working out of the force’s now closed building on Main Street in Tatamagouche. He understands that policing has changed over the years, but he wonders if the force’s move away […]
Winter picnic in the park
Morning File, Monday, February 3, 2020
News 1. Complicated legacies “Was Lionel Desmond a victim of his war demons?” asks Stephen Kimber. “Or was he a villain, a perpetrator of domestic violence who murdered his own family? Or both? We may never know.” Click here to read “Complicated legacies.” This column is for subscribers only. Subscribe here. 2. The danger of […]
A pinch of SALT
Morning File, Thursday, December 19, 2019
News 1. In Nova Scotia, pulp rules Linda Pannozzo’s latest is a commentary on the ongoing Northern Pulp story. While we wait for the premier’s announcement tomorrow, Pannozzo gives us some background on how we got here, and thoughts on how the process has created an unnecessary “environmentalists vs forestry and mill workers” dichotomy: By […]
Afua Cooper: “We need to smash those [racist] stereotypes and see the humanity in each and every one of us”
Morning File, Wednesday, May 22, 2019
News 1. Bank of Canada acknowledges that climate change will impact the economy “For the first time ever, the Bank of Canada has released a report examining the threat climate change poses to the country’s financial system,” reports Karina Roman for the CBC. The report in question is the Bank’s annual Fiscal System Review, which […]
893 city employees make more than $100,000 annually and yet janitors cleaning city buildings are paid poverty wages
Morning File, Tuesday, August 7, 2018
News 1. Oil spill Friday morning, I criticized Nova Scotia Power (NSP) for its press release related to the oil spill from the Tufts Cove Generating Plant. The press release called it a “limited” spill; I wrote: “Limited” is PR spin. Every oil spill is “limited” in some sense — the Deepwater Horizon spill that destroyed […]
The Nova Centre was oversold: Morning File, Wednesday, October 4, 2017
News 1. Tire-burning ban resurrected “Talk about déjà vu,” reports Jennifer Henderson for the Halifax Examiner: NDP Environment critic Lenore Zann has resurrected a bill that Liberal MLA Keith Colwell introduced 10 years ago to ban tire-burning in Nova Scotia. All three political parties passed it in 2008 but the law was never proclaimed. Don’t […]
Christ, what an asshole! Morning File, Friday, March 24, 2017
News 1. Naomi Kidston Yesterday, Halifax police issued a release saying they had laid charges in the 2005 homicide of Naomi Kidston: On June 7, 2005 at 1:30 p.m., police responded to an address on River Road in Halifax. Upon arrival, officers located 26-year-old Naomi Kidston deceased inside an apartment. Her death was ruled a homicide. Through […]