I’ve been writing for the Halifax Examiner since November 2016, mostly weekly columns and a few occasional features. But I’ve also been a subscriber and faithful reader since Tim Bousquet officially launched the publication in June 2014, nearly 10(!) years ago. From the beginning, Tim’s self-declared and almost singular mission/mantra was to create “an independent, […]

On Wednesday, November 1, CBC Radio Information Morning host Portia Clark interviewed representatives of two environmental groups that have banded together to try to convince the Houston government to amend and strengthen the Provincial Parks Act. Nature Nova Scotia and the Ecology Action Centre want the government to close loopholes and short-circuit future development proposals […]

Nicole Gnazdowsky is frustrated. She has every reason to be. Three years after the fact, she is still waiting for answers about why her brother died in a workplace accident. Despite her best, exhaustive, exhausting efforts — which finally did lead to the courtroom this fall — she’s still not sure she’ll ever get the […]

Let’s begin with our question of the day. Do we really need a Law Amendments Committee? After Public Bills have received second reading in the House, the Standing Committee on Law Amendments gives them clause-by-clause consideration and hears representations from any interested persons or organizations. That’s the official logical rationale for a committee that has […]

PHOTO: Anas Alsharif, courtesy of Atlantic Palestinian Society. Consider the boy in the rubble. There can be no excuse, of course. In the early morning of Saturday, October 6, 2023, well-organized Hamas militants stormed from Gaza into Israel by land, sea and air, indiscriminately murdering more than 1,300 men, women and children, most of them […]

First, the good news. “The province will conduct a comprehensive review of the policing structure in Nova Scotia and potentially recommend changes for how policing services are delivered,” the Houston government announced late last month. The bad news? Wait for it. First, a little history. In December 2020, then-Liberal Justice Minister Mark Furey told reporters […]

“Here is a statement from the Department,” began the statement from the department of community services. It came in response to CBC reporter Taryn Grant’s request for an interview about last week’s newly released national Poverty Report Card by Food Banks Canada. The report gives a letter grade in 13 indicators of poverty for each Canadian […]

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Brad Johns chairs a meeting of the Law Amendments Committee in Halifax on Monday, April 3, 2023. Let me recap. It’s confusing. But perhaps not really. Last year, Justice Minister Brad Johns, under pressure from the opposition and others to bring in legislation to ban the use of non-disclosure agreements — […]

Let’s begin with an instant replay of Tim Bousquet’s revealing Q&As with Tim Houston’s three freshly minted cabinet ministers last week. Well, not yet. First, a little background. On Thursday, September 14, Premier Houston announced what he called “historic changes” to his cabinet, including the appointment of newly elected Preston MLA Twila Grosse as the […]

On November 29, 2019, just five months into his new job, Halifax police chief Dan Kinsella stood before an audience of the city’s Black community at the Halifax Central Library, bemedaled in his dress blues, and offered an historic apology. Far too many times we have failed you. I acknowledge the community’s concerns that the actions […]