New developments demand ‘exceptions’: where’s the public benefit?

Stephen Kimber’s freelance journalism appears in local, regional, national and international publications.

New developments demand ‘exceptions’: where’s the public benefit?

Residents attending a community meeting last Thursday did not — as Metro’s Stephanie Taylor put it — “mince words” about a 29-storey commercial and residential tower proposed for the corner of Quinpool Road and Robie St. “Sixteen of the 19 people who raised their voices did so to blast the proposal.” George Armoyan’s Willow Tree Tower […]

Stephen Kimber’s freelance journalism appears in local, regional, national and international publications.

What a difference a minister makes

What a difference a minister makes. When he was Nova Scotia’s minister of the environment, Randy Delorey presided over a public consultation process to determine what Nova Scotia should do next about what we discard. His department received 260 written submissions, the majority of which focused on what environmental bureaucrats like to call “extended producer […]

Stephen Kimber’s freelance journalism appears in local, regional, national and international publications.

All pain, no gain

So, let us begin today’s wreck-onomics lesson in Athens where — as I write this — Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is in the frenetic middle of executing an Olympics-worthy double-reverse cartwheel flip, trying to convince his countrymen to vote in favor of a European bailout deal they — and he — decisively rejected the […]

Stephen Kimber’s freelance journalism appears in local, regional, national and international publications.

Spud Sabotage

Who would want to tamper with Prince Edward Island’s signature crop? And why? PEI potato farmers may not know the answer to those questions, but they did know how to respond when the story broke. Raise safety standards. “We’ll fix this.” Still, Islanders want to know: who did it and why? If you want to […]

Stephen Kimber’s freelance journalism appears in local, regional, national and international publications.

This government brought to you by…

The last minute of play in this period is brought to you by… What would happen, I often wonder, if the company that pays for that last minute of play in each period of Halifax Mooseheads home hockey games stopped sponsoring it? Would the 20-minute period be reduced to 19? Among life’s eternal, infernal mysteries, […]

Stephen Kimber’s freelance journalism appears in local, regional, national and international publications.

How not to save a sinking ship

It’s hard not to feel a twinge of sympathy for the conundrum Stephen McNeil’s Liberals face as they scramble to figure out what to do next with the listing ship that is the Yarmouth-Portland ferry service. But it’s also hard not to believe the government’s decision last week to put off deciding who will run […]

Stephen Kimber’s freelance journalism appears in local, regional, national and international publications.

Finance minister’s new approach sounds like more of the same public sector blaming

One would like to believe newly installed Finance Minister Randy Delorey meant it. Last week he told union leaders representing teachers, health care workers, paramedics and assorted clusters of government employees he wanted to meet to discuss a “new approach” to collective bargaining. There are more than 300 collective agreements slated for re-negotiation this year, […]

Stephen Kimber’s freelance journalism appears in local, regional, national and international publications.

Bad week for Nova Star; worse weeks to come for us

It was not a good week for Nova Star Cruises, the operators of the Yarmouth-Portland ferry. But it may turn out to have been an even worse week for Stephen McNeil’s Liberal government. Let’s start with Nova Star. Last Tuesday, CEO Mark Amundsen announced it had reached a multi-year deal with Euroferries Express Ltd. to […]

Stephen Kimber’s freelance journalism appears in local, regional, national and international publications.

Privatizing public services: electoral gain for economic pain

So, let me see if I understand this correctly. Nova Scotia’s Department of Motor Vehicles takes in $120 million a year to register vehicles, peddle license plates, test drivers, promote highway safety, etc. The DMV costs $30-35 million a year to operate, meaning it nets the provincial treasury $85-90 million a year. But the DMV’s […]

Stephen Kimber’s freelance journalism appears in local, regional, national and international publications.

The fascination of Flora

Flora MacDonald, Canada’s first female Secretary of State, died today (July 26, 2015). She was 89. In the fall of 1979 — the year she became Secretary of State — I spent a few days following the North Sydney, NS, native around her adopted hometown of Kingston, ON, for a profile in the November 1979 issue of Atlantic Insight magazine. […]