Selected dispatches from last week’s “whoopsie” file

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

Selected dispatches from last week’s “whoopsie” file

How many Conservative cabinet ministers does it take to mislead Canadians? Last weekend, Stephen Harper trotted out his own trusty troika — Defence Minister Rob Nicholson, Veterans Affairs Minister (sic) Julian Fantino and Justice Minister Peter MacKay — for a $200 million photo op/announcement during the Halifax International Security Forum, a.k.a. Peter’s Playground (official cost: […]

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

Broten report sings from the Common Book of Corporate Prayer

We shouldn’t be surprised. Not after federal finance minister Joe Oliver last week made the case — without embarrassment — Ottawa didn’t need to do an independent analysis of the cost-benefits of a $550 million tax credit for small business because the self-interested lobby group Canadian Federation of Independent Business told him it was a […]

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

The boy who took the photo, the girl who was bullied to death and the sentence that can never satisfy

It is easy to understand the anger, the frustration. The boy, who is now a man, who took the picture of the girl who will now never become a woman (but who still can’t be named — and that is part of the frustration), will not go to jail. Instead, Judge Gregory Lenehan Thursday sentenced […]

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

Justin Trudeau, the allegations and the options

Halifax NDP MP and deputy party leader Megan Leslie says she “cannot believe” Liberal leader Justin Trudeau went public with allegations of “serious personal misconduct” by two Liberal MPs against two NDP MPs. But really, given the state of the nation — the fascinating, mostly thoughtful, sometimes insightful, occasionally knee-jerk conversations triggered by recent Jian […]

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

Hard… and soft as Harry Steele

Harry Steele may have earned his business reputation by eating his unions’ solidarity for snacks and calling spades by their proper names, but there are other sides to this iconic Newfoundland entrepreneur, and they too have played a role in his success. (Photo by Marvin Moore) Harry Steele is happy to chat, he tells me […]

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

Seeing the world from the other side changes… everything

Imagine you could turn back the clock to before 9/11, I suggest to American audiences when I read from my most recent book, What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five. What if the United States had had its own intelligence agents inside Al Qaeda? What if those agents had uncovered the […]

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

Jian Ghomeshi, Gerald Regan and the court of public opinion

What a wild, weird week! The bodies from the Parliament Hill shootings and the Quebec murder-by-car had not been buried, their meaning not yet processed, when the CBC announced last Sunday it was severing ties with its most famous radio host, Jian Ghomeshi, for reasons unspecified. By that evening, Ghomeshi had specified his version in […]

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

The journalist’s dilemma: covering breaking news in the Age of Instant

Last Wednesday, I was glued to CBC radio’s coverage of the Ottawa shootings while trying — and failing — to focus on making notes for my upcoming class. At 12:54 p.m., as a CBC reporter relayed the shocking news shots may have been fired inside the Rideau Mall — meaning there might be “more than […]

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

The Halifax Mooseheads should have known…

The Halifax Mooseheads should have known. On Tuesday, Oct. 7, at 10:50 p.m., Halifax Regional Police responded to an accident on Freshwater Trail near Dartmouth’s Russell Lake. One car had smashed into a second, parked vehicle, causing extensive damage. Sources say there was an open bottle of alcohol in the first car, and police charged a young man they […]

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

Where’s Leo? … and other notes from the health care week that was

I suppose if the Harper government can commit us to a war without borders — Iraq, maybe Syria — or actual end goals on the strength of a few hours of debate in the House of Commons on a Monday night in October, we should be grateful Stephen McNeil took a full week to ram […]