Houston government prefers freedom from information to freedom of information

Tim Houston’s in-house committee to review our outdated freedom of information legislation refuses to even meet with an outside expert group suggesting improvements. Accountability? Don’t count on it. Let us begin with a return to a Better Ghost of Christmas Premiers Past — to wit, Timothy Jerome Houston, Progressive Conservative Premier in Eager Anticipation, circa […]

Halifax police ‘declined an interview.’ Take 2

Where to begin? Here. Again. CBC requested an interview with HRP to discuss the events of the protest. HRP declined, citing the ongoing external review. In last week’s column, I followed up on the CBC Atlantic Investigation Unit’s year-long struggle to wrest 11 years of internal discipline decisions from the Halifax Regional Police. The CBC […]

Houston, we have an ER crisis …

… and accusing your opponents of “playing politics” won’t solve it So, Liberal leader, Zach Churchill wants Premier Tim Houston to recall the legislature to deal with the suddenly front-and-centre issue of why people are dying while they wait for care in our provincial emergency departments. And NDP leader Claudia Chender wants a public investigation […]

The new Tim Houston sounds like the old Stephen McNeil

When Tim Houston was first elected premier, says our columnist, his willingness to acknowledge mistakes was refreshing. Today, it’s, ‘Who me? I don’t make mistakes.’ Absolute power may — or may not — corrupt absolutely, but it sure works its dark magic swiftly. Exhibit A for the prosecution: Timothy Jerome Houston. Almost exactly a year ago, […]

NS Power rate increase: just more corporate obfuscation, jiggery-pokery and sleight of hand

Nova Scotia Power doesn’t want you to know how much it pays its executives, or why. There are lots of things the utility doesn’t want you to know. But it still wants more of your money. You might imagine that somewhere in its controversial, hydro-damn-blocking 3,100-page(!) application for an electricity rate increase, Nova Scotia Power […]

Imagine… a provincial Openness in Government Act

If any of the Three Bland Men currently vying for votes among the Liberal faithful needs advice on a shiny new policy promise — one that could not only attract the partisans who will determine the next party leader but also appeal to the rest of us who will ultimately decide whether that new Liberal […]

Accountability ain’t what it used to be

Perhaps it never was. But in these days of cascading crises, it’s hard not to notice just who’s missing in action, or acting without accountability, or playing games with their obligation to accountability. ac·count·abil·i·ty | \ ə-ˌkau̇n-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē \ Definition of accountability: the quality or state of being accountable, especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for […]

Nova Scotia is safe for school children and would-be municipal politicians… but not for Liberal MLAs

The McNeil Liberal government sends kids back to school and orders municipal elections to proceed as planned, but its MLAs refuse to commit to continuing to meet, even virtually, during the pandemic. Welcome to another week in the Land of Hypocrisy. It was just another week in our paradoxical parallel-universe paradise. On Tuesday, September 8, […]

Whatever happened to spring legislature sessions that lasted until spring?

In 1972, the legislature’s spring session last 54 sitting days. In 2020, it lasted 13. It seems we have nothing to discuss. The last time I covered the Nova Scotia legislature on a regular basis, Gerald Regan was the premier. It was a simpler time: even before now-museum vintage fax machines and VCRs but also […]

Now that the Fangless Five have become the Insensate Seven, it’s time for…?

Stephen McNeil’s Liberals have made a mockery of the notion of public accountability. So now the opposition parties need to step up and do their — and our — job. The column originally appeared in the Halifax Examiner February 4, 2019. Stephen McNeil’s Liberals have made a mockery of the notion of public accountability. So […]