George Boyd, Writer, Broadcaster, RIP

George Boyd, Canada’s first Black TV news anchor, featured prominently in Cities, a magazine I published in the late 1980s. Journalist Tim Carlson, who would himself go on to become a successful award-winning playwright, profiled George at the time Neptune Theatre produced the world premiere of his first produced play, Shine Boy. George himself wrote […]

Zach Churchill: our schools will open 100 per cent… unless they don’t

It’s easy to understand why the government’s school-opening plan is still more hope than certainty. What’s less easy to understand — or forgive — is its business-as-usual secrecy, which has created unnecessary anxiety among students, parents, teachers and business. It’s hard not to sympathize with those charged with deciding whether and how to re-start the […]

Does Stephen McNeil believe in workers’ rights? Next question

Our premier prefers to attack those who dare to question him. Just ask the unarmed, unionized compliance officer recovering from an assault at our border, or the Crown attorneys reprimanded for trying to protect their collective rights. Quick question. Does Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil believe in Section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights […]

Northwood: when a ‘review’ is just a cover-up

Last week, the McNeil government announced its plans for a “review” of the 53 COVID-19 deaths at Northwood. The problem is that it isn’t a review, just another excuse not to be accountable. On Thursday, my colleague Jennifer Henderson ventured where few of us would willingly dare to venture: into a post-cabinet-meeting virtual scrum where […]

From heroes to zeroes… the pandemic bottom line

For supermarkets, hero pay was always more about PR than rewarding employees’ above-and-beyond work. They’re ready to move on and step back. But the rest of us should take the opportunity to have the important conversation we need to have around a permanent guaranteed annual income. Long ago and far away — which is to […]