Justice delayed, justice dismissed, justice denied… justice ignored

Nova Scotia Provincial Court Chief Judge Pamela Williams. Does the Houston government have it in for the province’s judicial system? And, if so, what impact is that having on the timely but carefully considered delivery of justice in Nova Scotia? There is much to discuss here. But let’s start with Chief Provincial Court Judge Pamela […]

Politicians fixing freedom of information legislation? Don’t hold your breath

“I had hoped that more than halfway through my five-year term as Information and Privacy Commissioner for Nova Scotia, I would be able to report better news and not have to repeat that the same challenges continue to plague the [Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner] despite our best efforts to resolve them… Unlike […]

Will the Tantallon fires lead to change or one more ‘Betsy Boomerang’ moment?

I have come to think of it as the Betsy Boomerang — that moment when something you didn’t know, had forgotten, ignored, dismissed, avoided or pretended wasn’t something… suddenly becomes a thing that you desperately need to understand and can no longer forget, ignore, dismiss, avoid or pretend wasn’t anything. Until that moment passes too, […]

MP Rick Perkins plays the ‘Chinese’ canard

I recently finished reading Hitler’s Secret Army: A Hidden History of Spies, Saboteurs, and Traitors, by British journalist and documentary maker Tim Tate. It’s a deeply researched book about ultimately unsuccessful efforts by a mutt’s breakfast of homegrown British fascist groups, lone wolves and oddball networks to undermine support for the Allied war effort, as […]

The RCMP’s offensive PR offensive continues

As a longtime Halifax Mooseheads fan, I’ve spent some time this spring inside a downtown arena named after a bank watching our Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team compete for the Gilles Courteau trophy as their league’s best. The games on the ice have been excellent, but I often find myself drawn to what’s happening […]

Why no Yarmouth ferry cost-benefit study? Because there is no benefit?

Nearly seven months ago, on October 18, 2022, Public Works Minister Kim Masland told reporters the Houston government was about to request proposals to conduct an economic analysis of the costs and benefits of the controversial, money-sucking Yarmouth-to-Bar Harbor ferry service. “It’ll be a very broad overview of the economic impacts of the service,” she explained, adding […]

It’s time to fix policing, not ‘integrate’ the local Mounties and the HRP

Let’s start with this… Defunding the police is, in many ways, about reinvesting in fundamental, and historically under-funded, community resources… [Our] last recommendations relate to municipal and police budgeting. One of these recommendations is that any funds diverted from the police budget going forward be redistributed through participatory budgeting processes. Defunding the Police: Defining the […]

DFO mismanages minor elver fishery into major crisis

Until recently, I could not have told you the difference between an elver and one of Santa’s elves. Now, thanks largely to excellent ongoing reporting by the CBC’s Paul Withers, I know more than I ever thought I would want to know about those slithery, slimy, ghostlike creatures. (Bless the public broadcaster — and our […]

Tim Houston’s idea of accountability, then and now

“The government doesn’t want to be here. This is the place where opposition parties, where media, where Nova Scotians can hold the government to account on their record, and they don’t want to be here. This is a government that doesn’t like to be held accountable.” Welcome to today’s Political Pop Quiz. Which of our […]

Tim Houston wants to ‘move forward’ from his very bad week. Our columnist has a suggestion

It was an unsettling, uncomfortable week in the Nova Scotia legislature, and Premier Tim Houston was clearly eager to “move forward.” Move forward from what seemed clear enough. To what was less obvious. Houston’s very bad week actually began the week before, on March 29, when now-independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin rose in the legislature to […]