Mike Savage needs to be more than Not Peter Kelly

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

Mike Savage needs to be more than Not Peter Kelly

With nominations closing tomorrow and the municipal election 40 days away, it is time—past time—for the campaign for mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality to begin in earnest.Even if one quibbles with the fine print of the latest poll from a research company whose CEO is a supporter of candidate Mike Savage—and which shows him […]

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

Electoral boundaries and passion… only in Nova Scotia… only in summer

We are at the drain end of August when the non-news of summer just repeats itself—Mayor Peter Kelly still refuses to rule out running for his old Bedford council seat; Lance Armstrong still proclaims his innocence; Conrad Black still wants his day in court—and no one, wisely, pays any mind.So I was surprised last week […]

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

Electoral boundaries commissioners being used as political cover

You could be forgiven for assuming Nova Scotia Justice Minister Ross Landry actually believes in the democratic process. “It’s very important that we look at our demographic structure in Nova Scotia… and how we get fairness and equity into the system,” he told reporters last week as his government-appointed, government-instructed “independent” electoral boundaries commission wrapped […]

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

Justice delayed is justice as usual

Let’s review. On February 3, 2010, Auditor General Jacques Lapointe reported some Nova Scotia MLAs played fast and loose with their expense accounts. One year after that—on February 14, 2011—RCMP charged three former and one sitting MLA with the criminal equivalent of fast and loose. Today—17 months after those charges, 30 months after that report—only […]

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

The politician, the judge and the sentence

You can—in a law-school-essay, sentencing-guidelines way—justify Justice David MacAdam’s decision to sentence disgraced former MLA Richard Hurlburt to house arrest instead of clapping him off to jail. But not in the real world. Richard Hurlburt repeatedly violated the trust of his electors while bilking taxpayers of more than $25,000, and then attempted—until the truth trapped […]

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

Box office scandal: change the contract, change the council

What are we to make of the latest tongue-clucking, finger-pointing, eye-rolling, so’s-your-old-lady response to last week’s auditor general’s report on the ongoing, never-ending screw-ups at the intersection of Halifax Regional Municipality, Metro Centre and Trade Centre Ltd.? Following up on last year’s cash-for-concerts scandal—let’s not revisit that—Halifax A-G Larry Munroe discovered a murky, virtually undocumented […]

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

Time to say thanks to convention centre doubters

I’m guessing you won’t find Philip Pacey, Beverly Miller, or the Save the View Coalition on developer Joe Ramia’s Christmas card list this year. But they should be on ours—and perhaps his too. Last week’s city council vote approving a memorandum of agreement between HRM and the province to build the new convention centre was […]

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

Punishing the "good guy" who did wrong

I don’t envy Justice David MacAdam. Between now and July 27, he must parse the image of Richard Hurlburt as presented in court last week by his friends and colleagues—the “all around good guy” and pillar of his community who never met a community cause he did not support—with the convicted felon who calculatedly bilked […]

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

Working it out

Commerce grads says mandatory work terms give them a jump on career success. (From the July-August 2012 issue of Atlantic Business Magazine.) It is a sweetly sunny late May day in Halifax, the morning after yet another night before on the streets of Montreal where police arrested 518 students in another night of demonstrations against […]

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

Fearless summer election prediction…

You know you must be heading into the silly, nothing-better-to-write-about summer season in politics—not to mention in the shelf life of any government—when commentators begin to twist every announcement, pronouncement, silence, head nod, eyebrow raise and weather report into an earnest discussion of whether said announcement, pronouncement, etc., increases or decreases the likelihood of a […]