Should Nova Scotia lawyers really be allowed to regulate themselves?

Not based on the actions of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society over the past two years. Perhaps it’s time we followed the path of most Commonwealth countries and decided it’s time — past time — to reconsider letting lawyers be their own judges. A word of advice. You should avoid standing in front of the […]

What would you do with $8.28 million?

Emera’s board decided to give it to its CEO. But at the same time, Emera’s subsidiary, Nova Scotia Power, is asking the rest of us to pay a 10 per cent rate hike so it can run what it calls a ‘reliable business.’ Something does not compute. On Thursday, March 17 — a day that […]

Defunding the police by increasing funding for the police?

Halifax City council approved a slightly smaller increase for policing than the chief requested. But it’s still an increase. And not the “rethinking” of the role of policing in our society critics are asking for. “We are in a crisis. We are in dire straits. We need to be able to make sure that we […]

A cautionary tale for Nova Scotia’s Liberal leadership hopefuls

Now that it’s out of power, the Liberal party is imploding. As usual. Those hoping to lead the party today might take a moment to remember how the Liberals fared the last time they lost an election. Anyone remember Francis MacKenzie? The existential problem for any political party whose primary raison d’êtres are to gain […]

Cop confidential

Why is so much of the city’s police budget discussion happening behind closed doors? We can’t say… What really goes on behind closed doors? Do those doors need to be closed? Does the Halifax Regional Police need more money to do its job properly? Those, of course, are different questions, but it’s hard to answer […]

One media dinosaur gobbles up another

Last week’s Postmedia purchase of Brunswick News won’t make New Brunswick’s newspapers better. And it won’t do anything to solve Postmedia’s ongoing debt crisis. Or save Saltwire from itself. But then, maybe that’s a good thing. Be careful what you wish for. For more than 50 years, critics rightly railed against the concentration of media […]

The ‘Freedom’ Convoy’s anti-democratic thugs and insurrectionists have to go, but…

We still need to have a serious conversation about more complicated issues like science and policy and politics, and how they connect and don’t. Originally published February 14, 2022. Will we look back on Friday, February 11, 2022, as Justin Trudeau’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau “Just-watch-me” moment? If so, what might that mean? For him? For […]

Nova Scotia Power: the Houston government says ‘no option is off the table’

The best option would be to make the private utility public again. But don’t bet that will be on the table. Blame Donnie Cameron. During the early 1990s, Donald William Cameron was an unelected, less than one-term premier of Nova Scotia. In 1991, Cameron replaced disgraced Progressive Conservative Premier John Buchanan, who abruptly quit in […]

Legitimate COVID questions hijacked by conspiracists and crazies

Freedom Convoy 2022 could have generated important discussion about how we balance risk and reward and individual freedom in the time of COVID. instead, it ceded the stage to a dark-star dog’s breakfast of extremists, conspiracy fertilizers and crazies. And it’s one, two threeWhat are we fighting for?— Country Joe and the Fish As with […]

Who’s really to blame for the QuadrigaCX scandal?

Many blame Jennifer Robertson, the widow of the company’s founder, for not realizing Gerald Cotten was a scam artist or, worse, for being a party to his crimes. But Stephen Kimber, who helped Robertson write her memoir, wonders why journalists aren’t asking investors the kind of tough questions they’re putting to her. “Where did that […]