‘Tis the season to say something positive

I had been hoping to say something positive about Stephen McNeil’s government — it is, after all, the season — but as soon as I could consider it, his government inevitably did one more something that was so bone-headed, so egregious, so cringe-worthy, I couldn’t help but revert to my natural nattering-nabob-of-negativism self. And yet… […]

Calvin Lawrence: Black Panther Party’s ‘unlikely cub’

His hiring as a Halifax police officer in 1969 happened only because the city feared what might happen if it didn’t at least pay lip service to inclusion. But over the course of his 36-year policing career, Calvin Lawrence proved a more than worthy fighter against racism. Calvin Lawrence remembers the life-altering moment well. It […]

Coming to terms with Gerald Regan’s complicated legacy

How do you reconcile the contradictory facts of our 19th premier’s life? You probably can’t. No matter what you write, you’re either rinsing Regan’s black heart in the cleansing stream of his passing or dancing gleefully on his grave. Most news reports I saw got it about as right as those complicated realities — and […]

Doctors’ deal within government’s public sector wage guidelines? Not really

When the government announces its new contract with the province’s physicians, expect them to claim it fits within the guidelines it intends to impose on less powerful, more vulnerable public sector workers. It isn’t. Not even close. It’s all McNeil smoke and mirrors. We won’t know for certain until Wednesday (Nov. 27) whether Nova Scotia’s […]

Physician assistants? It shouldn’t be that hard. Really

The province has announced a pilot program to see if it’s safe to let physician assistants into our health care system. They already operate legally in much of the US, Ontario, Manitoba, New Brunswick and in the Canadian military. So why just a modest pilot project? We’re glad you asked. A September announcement that the […]

Waiting for Fitch: the much-delayed consultant’s report you may never get to see in full

Bob Dylan didn’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. And Nova Scotians don’t need a consultant to tell us our Emergency Health Services are a mess. Do we really even need one to tell us how to fix it? “Last week the government issued a tender for a system-design review of […]

Whose deaths matter?

The Nova Scotia government has brought in legislation to create expert review panels to look into the deaths of those who die as a result of domestic violence as well as children who die in provincial care. The goal is to “turn tragedy into lessons learned and lives saved into the future.” But Justice Minister […]

Stephen McNeil and the Crowns: Magic realism meets reality

After a crazy week of blind-siding legislation, insults, distortions, bluster, meaningless committee hearings and more fact-free moments than you’d find in a Trumpian White House, the province and its Crown attorneys are right back where they began — at the bargaining table. Well, not exactly as illustrated… So let us review. On Mar. 31, 2019, […]

Stephen McNeil’s Collective Bargaining Game

The thing about this game — as the government demonstrated last week when it changed the law to take away Crown prosecutors’ collective bargaining rights — is that McNeil always wins. That’s the way the game works. Always. Let’s play a game. A shell game. You say it’s not a game to you. I say […]

The curtain falls on this year’s ferry follies… but there’s always next year

Transportation Minister Lloyd Hines Hines had to sort-of admit his ferry universe hadn’t unfolded exactly as planned, or… well, at all. “We’re really disappointed on behalf of the operators that we haven’t been able to mount a season…” On behalf of the operators?! The operators are making out like bandits. What about the rest of […]