The rise and fall of Andrew Younger

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

The rise and fall of Andrew Younger

I’ve known Andrew Younger since the summer of 1998. I was director of the King’s School of Journalism. He was on the waiting list for our one-year Bachelor of Journalism class. He wasn’t near the top of the list, but he was persistent. He maintained what seemed like daily contact, just letting us know how […]

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

Continuing Canada’s tragedy of terrors

This week, the Harper government will extend and expand our supposedly no-boots-on-the-ground, six-month military mission in Iraq. The purpose, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson, is to “degrade and destabilize this gang of thugs [Islamic State], and in doing so, strip [it] of its power to threaten the security of the region, or to […]

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

Two good guys. Two good journalists. RIP

They were different men at different stages of their personal lives and professional careers. No matter. With last week’s too-soon deaths of Allan Rowe, the longtime Global television anchor turned MLA, and Matthew Wuest, the former Halifax Metro sports journalist and founder of the legendary Capgeek hockey insider’s website, the local journalism community is a […]

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

Stephen McNeil declares health care victory… and runs

What better time to declare victory and slink off to bind your wounds than just before cocktail hour on the Friday afternoon before school March break and the eve of another Sunday nor’easter? (It’s no coincidence two of the top four Google News search terms modifying “Nova Scotia” Saturday morning were “weather and “storm;” “health […]

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

The great dentistry scandal of 2014, 2015… and counting

What to make of last week’s latest twists, turns, ins, outs and roundabouts in the never-ending root canal that is Dalhousie’s Great Dentistry Scandal of 2014, 2015… and counting? Who knows? The better answer, perhaps, is that (slightly) fewer social media posters and media pontificators seem so keen to rush to instant pre-judgment, conviction and […]

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

Government’s ‘we know best’ approach to race relations… again, still

It’s difficult to see Education Minister Karen Casey’s decision to cut off funding for the Council on African Canadian Education (CACE) as anything but vindictive. Let’s examine the history. In 1996, after high school race riots and a critical government advisory report recommended establishing an Africentric Learning Institute to improve black students’ education, the province […]

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

Health care unions, the government and the mess that will be

Really? Last year, the McNeil government passed the Health Authorities Act, ostensibly (and laudably) to streamline the province’s health care system, but also (and shabbily) to game that system. The legislation reduced the number of health districts from 10 to two, and the number of collective bargaining units from 50 to four. But the government’s […]

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

Harper’s diplomatically deaf, ideologically inspired foreign policy puts Canadians at risk

Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy sits trapped in Cairo limbo awaiting retrial next week on trumped-up charges he spread “false news” supporting Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Meanwhile, his Australian colleague, Peter Greste — who was convicted with Fahmy on the same charges last year — is home in Brisbane after being released Feb. 1 from what […]

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

What’s terror? Who’s a terrorist? And other aftermath questions…

It can’t happen here. It won’t happen here. It — almost — did. But what is “it”? And how do we protect ourselves against whatever it is? On Friday night, I was at Scotiabank Centre enjoying the Mooseheads-Shawinigan Cataractes Quebec Major Junior Hockey league game. During a commercial lull — the game was televised nationally as part […]

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

Students speak, government isn’t listening

Last week’s student march on Province House has become an annual rite of the winter season, not unlike its usual accompanying, storm-tossed February headline salad: Monday’s “Traffic Gridlock Hits Halifax,” Tuesday’s “Halifax Digging out from Biggest Snowfall” to Friday’s cheerless end-of-first-week-of-the-month news “Snowfall Amounts for February in Halifax Almost Equal to January Total.” Predictable. Depressing. […]