Politicians fixing freedom of information legislation? Don’t hold your breath

“I had hoped that more than halfway through my five-year term as Information and Privacy Commissioner for Nova Scotia, I would be able to report better news and not have to repeat that the same challenges continue to plague the [Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner] despite our best efforts to resolve them… Unlike […]

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, […]

A cautionary tale for Nova Scotia’s Liberal leadership hopefuls

Now that it’s out of power, the Liberal party is imploding. As usual. Those hoping to lead the party today might take a moment to remember how the Liberals fared the last time they lost an election. Anyone remember Francis MacKenzie? The existential problem for any political party whose primary raison d’êtres are to gain […]

Donald Trump, Stephen McNeil and democracy in decline

If you want to know just how quickly a flawed but functioning democracy can descend into anti-democratic demagoguery, may I direct your attention south of our border. If you want to know how close to (or far from) that less than ideal we already are in Nova Scotia, may I direct your attention to the […]

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 […]

When is a management fee a profit margin, and does calling it either make it any less a boondoggle?

Lawyers for Bay Ferries and the provincial government were in court last week arguing we should not be allowed to know how much the province is paying Bay Ferries not to operate a ferry between Yarmouth and Maine. Only in Nova Scotia, you say. On Thursday, lawyers for the McNeil government and Bay Ferries Limited […]

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 […]

Good intentions, abysmal execution, lost opportunity

Premier Stephen McNeil was right to apologize for our justice system’s long history of racism, but he was wrong in his father-knows-best response to fixing it. It has been ever thus. It was one of those moments when seemingly good intentions smacked up against abysmal execution and resulted in a lost opportunity. Last week on […]

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, […]

So long, Stephen, we knew you too well

If there has been a singular defining characteristic of Stephen McNeil’s career as premier of Nova Scotia, it is his righteously self-righteous confidence in the rightness of whatever he says is right, damn the consequences, dismiss the naysayers, dump on the media. Sometimes, that has served him — and us — well. Most of the […]