The girl whose name we know but now can’t say…

I can’t tell you her name. You know it already. She’s the teenaged girl who committed suicide after an alleged sexual assault at a house party was photographed and posted online, triggering months of cyber-bullying but no criminal charges against those allegedly responsible. She is the girl whose bereaved parents went public with her story […]

Nursing shortage? Why is the government making it worse?

So… Faced with a looming shortage of “several thousand” nurses over the next decade as our population both ages and also shrinks (read the Ivany Report; look around you), our new Liberal government responds by… Well, let me count the ways. The government alienates many current nurses by dismissing their concerns about patient safety as […]

Gas taxes, political hot air and the real questions

Given last week’s gas price gusher that propelled pump sticker shock beyond even the last record-breaking penny point set in 2012, it’s little wonder Premier Stephen McNeil rushed for the cover of a sort-of pledge to cut Nova Scotia’s portion of the harmonized sales tax it currently tacks on to the top of the taxes […]

Crime and the young… discuss

Crime and the young. It’s complicated, far more so than any tough-on-crime Tory politician could — or would probably want to — capture. Consider last week’s police blotter. In Cole Harbour, a 17-year-old boy faces charges of possessing and distributing child pornography. In London, Ontario, a 19-year-old computer science student is charged with electronically breaking […]

No love from Lunenburg

From Atlantic Business Magazine Posted on August 19, 2013 This story, which originally appeared in the July-August issue of Atlantic Business Magazine, is a finalist in the 2013 Atlantic Journalism Awards. The awards will be presented May 10, 2014 in Halifax. Canada hadn’t been part of Jeremy Wellard’s master plan. Nova Scotia wasn’t on his map. […]

The missing essentials in Stephen McNeil’s essential services legislation

The battle is over. It ended shortly after seven Friday morning when a marathon legislature session culminated with passage of the reassuringly entitled Essential Health and Community Services Act, forcing 2,400 Capital Health District nurses back to their stations. With its passage, the larger war for the future of labour relations in this province was […]

Efficiency Nova Scotia, political jiggery pokery and your power bills

Could Stephen McNeil’s read-my-lips election promise to “save you $46 million per year” on your power bills become his defining, Darrell-Dexter-like, no-new-taxes/no-program-cuts, dead-on-the-doorstep electoral moment? During last year’s election campaign, the Liberals’ cross-their-heart pledge was straightforwardly specific: if you elect us, we will eliminate the efficiency tax on your electricity bill and force Nova Scotia […]

Capitalist cannibalism

“And so capitalism is about to seize defeat from the jaws of victory, all by its own hand. That’s the astonishing end of this story, unless we reverse course.” –David Simon, Festival of Dangerous Ideas Sydney, Australia, November 2013 David Simon is not a politician. He’s not a philosopher. And he’s certainly not a prophet. […]

What Lies nominated for Libris Award as Nonfiction Book of the Year

The Canadian Booksellers’ Association has announced the nominees for its annual Libris awards for books, publishers, booksellers and authors. What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five is nominated for Nonfiction Book of the Year. The nominees in the category include: The Massey Murder by Charlotte Gray (HarperCollins) A House in the […]

If collective bargaining isn’t the right to time discuss larger issues, what is, Stephen McNeil?

No one seemed to know why. Neither side had made a new offer, each side insisted with equal insistence. Nor had there been any concessions or Saul-like conversions on the path to the picket line anyone knew about. Despite that, the conciliator had called, so they were heeding the call. Negotiators for Capital Health and […]