Of elephants and tidal waves and the future of the bar society

The now-available video of the bar society’s incoming president’s remarks to the annual general meeting puts a new — and more hopeful — spin on what she actually said than the one I suggested in last week’s column. In last week’s column about the annual meeting of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society — “NS Bar […]

NS Bar Society: another day, another racism investigation

The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society’s new president, already under fire from within over her speech at the society’s AGM, has hired a Toronto law firm to investigate more allegations from within of “direct and systemic discrimination and harassment.” We can only hope that former provincial ombudsman Doug Ruck’s internal review into allegations of systemic discrimination […]

The Lionel Desmond inquiry wraps up

Can we ever really know why Lionel Desmond killed his wife, daughter and mother, and then himself? Does that matter? Don’t we know enough now about all that went wrong in the years and months leading up to the murder-suicide to begin demanding change on all fronts? Was Cpl. Lionel Desmond a victim of a […]

Turmoil at the Nova Scotia Barristers Society, Take 32

The case of the “disappeared” governance review. And so it continues. According to a new report on the inner workings of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, “some council members are so concerned with being heard that they cannot listen… New members often feel dismissed and disrespected… Some members are focused on who speaks rather than […]

Turmoil continues at the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society

Two more members of the society’s council resigned this month as the self-governing organization charged with regulating the legal profession continues to grapple with accusations of systemic discrimination in its ranks. I am writing to provide my notice of resignation from [the Bar Society] Council, effective immediately. I am resigning as a result of the […]

Firing a staff member for racist comments is a start, but…

It’s clear the Houston government has more work to do when it comes to confronting racism in this province and repairing its relations with the Black community. The news late last week that a Tory staffer had been fired for making racist comments about Liberal MLA Angela Simmonds is interesting on a number of levels. […]

White lawyer Nash Brogan and Black lawyer Lyle Howe are each charged with professional misconduct, but the Barristers Society is treating Nash with kid gloves while throwing the book at Howe

What’s the difference between a 71-year-old white lawyer charged with professional misconduct and incompetence, and a 29-year-old Black lawyer accused of the same? Interesting question. The allegations against “Sydney’s senior lawyer,” 71-year-old Nash Terrance Brogan, seem, on the face of them, serious matters. According to a bill of particulars filed against him in August by […]

The RCMP’s ‘no apology’ speaks louder than words

What the Mounties are saying is simply this: Yes, street checks do disproportionately affect African Nova Scotians. But no, that’s not our fault. If you get street checked because you’re Black, well… that’s your problem. You’re Black. And so it goes. So, on the one hand, the RCMP “acknowledges the disproportionate harm that street checks […]

Does Tim Houston need to press reset on his reset?

Houston began his week in office pressing (yet another) reset on our healthcare mess. He ended it needing to press reset on his relations with the province’s African Nova Scotian community. So, let’s begin this history lesson somewhere in the murky middle muddle, way back in 1994 when a fresh-faced Liberal government led by Dr. […]

The ‘quiet’ turmoil inside the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society

The society claims it wants to “eliminate or mitigate systemic discrimination” in its organization. But will it really come to terms with its Lyle Howe legacy? “There’s something happening here,” Stephen Stills once wrote. “What it is ain’t exactly clear.” Here in this case is inside the traditionally somnambulant corridors of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ […]