News
Views
Government
On campus
Noticed
In the harbour
Footnotes
News
1. Pressmen, Chronicle Herald have deal
“The Chronicle Herald has reached a tentative agreement with its 13 locked out press operators and mechanics, the company announced Friday morning,” writes a Chronicle Herald reporter who is unnamed because reporters are still on a byline strike in support of the locked out pressmen:
Martin O’Hanlon, the president of the HTU’s parent union, the Communications Workers of America (Canada), said the tentative agreement would essentially see the elimination of the press workers’ early retirement benefits, including a lump-sum payment and a monthly benefit that would bridge them to retirement.
O’Hanlon estimated the savings to the company to be at least $2 million in long-term liability costs over 10 to 15 years and the monetary value of the loss of workers’ benefits to be about $250,000 per employee over the same time frame.
The tentative agreement includes a wage freeze, O’Hanlon said.
“This is not a good deal. I mean, Mark Lever, I’m sure he’s pleased, but obviously our members will not be pleased. If they vote to accept this, it’s grudgingly,” O’Hanlon said. “It’s been a very unpleasant negotiation. The company has demanded an awful lot, and it’s just a shame that the employees have to bear the brunt of it.”
A union vote on the deal will be held this weekend, and if it is approved the pressmen could return to work as soon as Monday.
2. Poster
“The Tri-County Regional School has removed a contest-winning student poster that depicted a black slave in chains from the halls of Shelburne Regional High School,” reports Amy Woolvet of the Shelburne Coast Guard. A community member complained about the poster, seen above, because it depicts a black man enslaved. Lisa Doucet, a curriculum advisor with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, explained her position as follows:
It is important to note the distinction between history, things that happen to a group of people, and heritage which encompasses things like culture, values and achievements. African people having been enslaved is a part of the history but does not speak to culture they had before enslavement or the culture that African Nova Scotians have been building.
As a school system we have the responsibility to make school spaces welcoming and inclusive places. It is important to have respect for the feelings and experiences of people of African descent in terms of how they feel when presented with a depiction of a person in chains without context.
The poster was selected through a competition held by the Black Loyalist Heritage Society, and the winning entry was ” a reflection of a young artist’s visit to the Black Loyalist Heritage Museum and the artist was asked to show what images she walked away from that day.”
The removal of the poster has generated considerable discussion on a private Facebook page for Shelburne High students, reports Willet:
SRHS student, Oshia MacKay, who is of black heritage, was one of those who openly disagreed with the decision.
“Our history isn’t all happy,” she said. “We can’t look back and pretend it didn’t happen.”
She said she was shocked when the school board made the decision to remove the artwork. She felt this was the first time she has felt school officials were censoring her education.
“They are usually honest and complete,” she said. “The artwork was created for black history …representing what happened.”
3. Emera exec pay
Emera, the parent corporation to Nova Scotia Power, released its executive compensation yesterday. It includes:
President and CEO Chris Huskilson took home total compensation — including his salary, bonus, and stock options — worth $4.6 million.
Scott Balfour, Emera’s chief financial officer and newly appointed executive in charge of U.S. and Caribbean operations, took home a tidy $1.8 million.
Rob Bennett, Emera’s chief operating officer and newly appointed executive in charge of its eastern Canadian division, earned $1.5 million.
4. Ryan Millet
Ryan Millet, the Dal Dentistry student whose actions ultimately led to the public learning about the misogynistic Class of DDS 2015 Gentlemen Facebook page, has been conditionally allowed to return to classes, but only if he admits his guilt “through submission to a variety of remedial initiatives, including private counselling, written essays and public lectures,” says his lawyer, Bruce MacIntosh.
Millet is weighing his options.
Views
1. Spock
Bob Howse, the editor-in-chief at the Chronicle Herald, writes an editorial for the paper about every two months. This time around, he praises Spock, who was just like Gandhi, if Gandhi was a crew officer on a spaceship that was loaded with missiles, photon torpedoes, plasma cannons, and other futuristic weapons that would make our present-day genocidal war criminals drool with envy.
(I write stuff like this just to get hate mail from geeks. They’re so cute.)
2. This Hour has 22 Minutes: Halifax Tourism Ad
It’s funny because it’s true:
3. Cranky letter of the day
What do Open Pen Fish Farms and Provincial Parks have in Common? Until now absolutely nothing. However, in the past few days our government has been facing a couple of dilemma’s (sic). Provincial Campgrounds have not been profitable and to save money they plan to allow their guest to stay on the honor system, whatever that means. Second, is what to do about open pen fish farms, from recovering $25 million of tax payers dollars, super chills killing yet more fish to accepting the Doelle–Lahey report. I for one have been complaining about both of these issues for years but now I am offering a solution that should help almost everyone.
[…]
Being a private campground operator and an opponent of open pen fish farms what I am about to suggest may at first sound like it is somewhat self serving but if you read on you will see what I suggest would benefit all Nova Scotians.
[…]
May I propose a solution to both of these concerns. By accepting the Doelle-Lahey report our government could get the open pen salmon farms out of the water and on land where they will be so much more friendly to mother nature. Better yet let’s get the Provincial Government to lease portions of these provincial campgrounds to any responsible local fish farmer who wishes to grow on land. By doing this it would give land based farms a boost they need to get started and employ more local people. Communities who feel they may suffer from losing a provincial campground in their area, could lease the remainder of this campground to maintain some sites and run it as a community project and provide even more much needed jobs.
[…]
The Nova Scotian tax payer will no longer be burdened with supporting losing ventures.
Tourism can flourish, knowing the coastal waters of Nova Scotia with be safe, accessible and remain our best tourism attraction. Our new land based entrepreneur could even do tours of their state of the art land based fish farms.
Those on the south shore who have really suffered the most and had their lives turned upside down could at least try to find some peace once again. I truly feel sorry for all you have endured but thank you dearly for warning us of what was to come. It was this warning and the look on your faces that encouraged many of us to dig in our heels.
Best of all, our children will thank us for helping to save their future, by allowing them to continue to swim in pristine waters, leave only their footprint on clean white sand beaches, to enjoy boating among our unspoiled islands and to continue eating fresh seafood from our bountiful coast.
Brian Murphy, Murphy Cove
Noticed
Canadaland’s Sean Craig has a great post up headlined “Why the CBC’s Amanda Lang Review is Horseshit.”
Incidentally, I’ll be on a media criticism panel with Canadaland founder Jesse Brown at the Canadian Association of Journalists convention, behind held in Halifax in June. Moderating the panel will be no other than Jan Wong.
I guess I should start criticizing some media.
In the harbour
Arrivals
Sarah Desgagnes, oil tanker, Saint John to anchor
CMA CGM Montreal, container ship, Quebec to Pier 42
Fusion, cargo ship, Saint-Pierre to Halifax (arrives tomorrow)
Departure
Toscana, to sea
Footnotes
They’re messing with the clocks tonight.
I’m guessing you also tagged the wrong Enterprise to solicit the geek hate mail too. Pictured is NCC-1701 which Spock served on during the Original Series. NX-01 was from Enterprise where the creators felt they needed to add a Vulcan with more sex appeal than Leonard Nimoy. 🙂
Best cranky letter yet. Compared to what successive provincial governments have done in the name of economic development, this proposal is brilliant. Unfortunately, our current government will not even consider it because it does not involve giving away millions of our hard earned dollars. Wait, I have a cousin in B.C. who once owned a camp ground somewhere and he’s an avid fly fisher. Unfortunately, the camp ground failed but, I bet if he contacted NS Biz Inc, they would help him with free land and a few million in start up money and… Look for an announcement in the near future.
I doubt whether School Board Superintendent Lisa Doucet would ban a poster representation of the expulsion of the Acadians.
Re 2. Poster
Removing the poster reflects the dual suffocating ugliness – and stupidity in this case – of absolute power coupled with arrogant, insular Maritime culture presuming to control thought and reaction. And all because of “a community complaint?!” Not sure which is more disturbing, the need to consult the Education Dept. or their and Board Superintendent Doucet’s response.
Beyond the egregious, illogical censorship, it insults and overrides the decision of the Black Loyalist Heritage Society to choose the art THEY felt best represented the Museum’s impact on departing individuals. THEIR HISTORY, THEIR CHOICE. I’m frankly proud and humbled the artist depicted a black hand clasping a white one. It’s more than we whites have earned or deserve.
There’s so much wrong with what the high school, School Board and Education Dept. have done that it would take an essay to tease apart the strands. Above all, this ugly exercise in censorship shows that education is more desperately needed for those who purport to deliver it.
I don’t know, but when I read the original article I thought someone in the black community had complained. I’m not sure that makes any difference to your point, which I tend to agree with… but maybe it does?
Coincidentally, was just considering that very possibility, though didn’t when I wrote the comment other than mentally questioning his/her anonymity and secrecy of process. It doesn’t change my opinion, but if it were the case, it might have unduly influenced the chain of events.
“(I write stuff like this just to get hate mail from geeks. They’re so cute.)”
Ah. Was about to lose it.
The ship has weapons because they’d be fubared otherwise. They’re mainly for self defence; the first starfleet “attack vessel” was the Defiant.
Sure, but Gandhi would not use weapons (that kill people) at all, even for self-defence. His weapons were non-violence, the court of public opinion, and ultimately the conscious of the enemy. He’d rather be killed himself, than kill.
1. Time the Typographical Union threw in the towel. They featherbedded for decades when OFFSET and phototype arrived and did NOTHING to provide RETRAINING for the future. The «Don’t care if it is it ain’t» recalcitrance is the biggest failure of unions worldwide! The world is changing but the unions, by and large, are stuck in an anachronistic 19th century ethos.
2. What a miracle. When Hamm?/Savage? GAVE AWAY NSPI, it was obstensibly because it was bankrupt and irrecuperable as a Citizen Asset. NOW, in the hands of Texas Billionaire Pirates, it «miraculously» produces tens of millions in PROFITS — ALL of which goes into a few 1% trougher pockets.
Children: can we say Political Collusion???
3. Brian Murphy has some very good points. So long as proper regulations and consideration of neighbours is practised, this looks like a good idea. The only other caveat I’d have is to prevent these «leases» being gobbled up by American-owned KAMP[sic.]GROUND franchises. Nobody wants screaming loudspeakers, fast-food fumes, groundwater-draining waterslides, and idling car exhausts under their bedroom window. As much as I, a dyed-in-the-wool Socialist, hate to admit, Private Operators are much more likely to run an EFFICIENT, locally-staffed operation than a government bureaucracy. We certainly need to put the brakes on the multi-millions «gifts» to Cook Aqua so they can poison all our lobster grounds and who knows what else!