Does Stephen McNeil believe in workers’ rights? Next question

Our premier prefers to attack those who dare to question him. Just ask the unarmed, unionized compliance officer recovering from an assault at our border, or the Crown attorneys reprimanded for trying to protect their collective rights. Quick question. Does Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil believe in Section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights […]

Northwood Inquiry? No need. McNeil and Delorey have this…

Fifty-three residents died in Northwood’s long-term care home during COVID-19. Long-term care residents accounted for 92 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths in Nova Scotia. And yet the premier sees no need for a public inquiry, legislative oversight, legislation… anything. Does that make you feel better? Nothing to see here folks. Nothing to talk about. […]

Shiny budget surpluses versus investing in long-term care

Our long-term current crisis in long-term care, now in the spotlight because of COVID019, is the result of lots of choices governments have made. We need a public inquiry to hold them accountable, and to make share our long-term care future is better than its past. Choices? Crushing health care unions versus investing in long-term […]

What’s the difference between opioid and gambling addictions?

The difference is that, in the case of opioids, the harm creators are the drug’s makers and distributors. In the case of VLT gambling, they’re governments themselves. And that creates a world of difference when it comes to which harm-maker governments decide should be punished and which should be protected. Give Stephen McNeil’s Liberals an […]

Hugh MacKay and our I-know-nothing, see-nothing, do-nothing premier

Why is it so hard for Stephen McNeil to acknowledge mistakes were made, let alone admit he or anyone in his orbit ever does anything wrong? The latest Hugh MacKay drunk-driving allegations offer a premier case study in Trumpian counterattack, obfuscation and butt-covering. Stephen McNeil insists he knew nothing, his chief of staff did nothing […]

Hold on to your ballots

Tax cuts for businesses, increases for minimum-wage earners, cute photos with kids… There must be an election coming. Let us count up just a few of the reasons Premier Stephen McNeil will call a provincial election before the end of 2020. Start in the counting house itself. Last week, during his annual State of the […]

Northern Pulp: planning the future five years too late

I don’t want to criticize Stephen McNeil’s announcement Friday. It was hard to watch without feeling just how emotionally wrenching and personally difficult it had been for him. He was genuinely caught between the rock of an important and necessary promise he had made to the Pictou Landing First Nation and the hard place of […]

Coming to terms with Gerald Regan’s complicated legacy

How do you reconcile the contradictory facts of our 19th premier’s life? You probably can’t. No matter what you write, you’re either rinsing Regan’s black heart in the cleansing stream of his passing or dancing gleefully on his grave. Most news reports I saw got it about as right as those complicated realities — and […]

Doctors’ deal within government’s public sector wage guidelines? Not really

When the government announces its new contract with the province’s physicians, expect them to claim it fits within the guidelines it intends to impose on less powerful, more vulnerable public sector workers. It isn’t. Not even close. It’s all McNeil smoke and mirrors. We won’t know for certain until Wednesday (Nov. 27) whether Nova Scotia’s […]

Stephen McNeil and the Crowns: Magic realism meets reality

After a crazy week of blind-siding legislation, insults, distortions, bluster, meaningless committee hearings and more fact-free moments than you’d find in a Trumpian White House, the province and its Crown attorneys are right back where they began — at the bargaining table. Well, not exactly as illustrated… So let us review. On Mar. 31, 2019, […]