Shelburne School for Boys: Good intentions gone wrong? Or…?

Was the government’s compensation program crafted out of a well-intentioned desire to allow victims to tell their story “without a public spectacle” that would re-victimize them? Or in a desperate attempt to keep the public from ever learning the real story behind the abuse of children in care? While pursuing something else entirely yesterday, I […]

The Sackville-Cobequid byelection: seeking meaning in the meaningless

It is way too early to read anything of significance from a single constituency byelection in the muddling middle of any government’s mandate. But let’s give it a shot… “Steve Craig won the byelection for MLA in Sackville-Cobequid… The district has long been solidly NDP, so a PC victory is notable, but I wouldn’t read […]

What if we just gave Americans cash to come to Nova Scotia?

Crazy? Is it any crazier than pouring more millions of dollars into an American ferry, American docking facilities, American customs officers…? Say, here’s an idea. My idea isn’t quite the Chase-the-Ace, get-us-on-national-TV, fun-and-games scheme Tim suggested a few months back. “Simply toss 20 dollar bills from a helicopter above downtown Yarmouth,” he proposed as his […]

And promises to break…

Stephen McNeil promised us the most open and transparent government ever. He lied. Now as our information and privacy commissioner retires, the premier’s wannabe replacements will talk a good game. Should we believe them? I have no reason to doubt Catherine Tully when she told the subscriber-based business website allnovascotia.com last week she would have […]

Crisis? What crisis? Just a(nother) ‘new (lack of) direction’ for healthcare

Last week’s “mutual” firing of the province’s deputy health minister shows just how unwilling our premier is to acknowledge our healthcare crisis — let alone do something about it. Last week, when Premier Stephen McNeil “mutually” agreed to fire Denise Perret — the deputy minister of health he’d hired just two-and-a-half years ago — he […]

Trying to crawl through a loophole on gender discrimination

When last week’s human rights commission hearing on gender discrimination in Halifax’s fire service began, lawyers for HRM tried to get the complaint tossed on a technicality. The good news is that they lost. The bad news is that they tried. In lawyer terms, it probably made sense. Scrounge in the legal underbrush for a […]

Ka-ching. Ka-ching. Your tax dollars at work covering government butt

As Justice David Farrar summed up the appeal court ruling: “It would be manifestly unfair to allow the province to hide behind solicitor-client privilege while at the same time impugning the conduct of its solicitor.” But that didn’t stop the McNeil government from trying. And trying. Last week, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal instructed […]

‘This is North Preston:’ a story that ‘needs to be heard’

“This is North Preston” is a film about the stereotype of North Preston that allows the young men who’ve been stereotyped for so long to speak for themselves. Jaren Hayman is from Toronto. He’s 32 years old, a white man. He began his professional career as a drummer, touring North America, but eventually morphed into […]

A tale of two protests

While officials moved quickly to respond to student protests about the cancellation of high school rugby, they were quick to erect roadblocks when students wanted to protest climate change. “In my view, kids should be in class.” Premier Stephen McNeilMarch 2019 “Something is happening hereBut you don’t know what it is,Do you, Mr. Jones?” Ballad […]

Health care crisis? What health care crisis?

Listen to Premier McNeil and Health Minister Delorey and you might imagine Inez Rudderham’s problems are specific and anomalous. Fix them and we fix the problem. The problem is McNeil and Delorey are the problem. “To the premier of Nova Scotia, I dare you to take a meeting with me, and explain to me, and […]