The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission has hired one of the country’s leading experts on racial bias in policing for an independent review of police street checks. University of Toronto criminology professor Scot Wortley appeared before Halifax Regional Police brass and the city’s Board of Police Commissioners on Monday to answer questions about his upcoming […]
Jacob Boon
Posted inNews + Opinion
A glacial pace for Blue Mountain–Birch Cove Lakes park
The more time people spend in nature, the more they value it, says the Ecology Action Centre’s Jeana MacLeod. To that end, MacLeod and the EAC will be leading the public into the Blue Mountain–Birch Cove Lakes Wilderness Area this weekend for several bio-blitz events. It’s a chance to get people thinking about Halifax’s eco-diversity, […]
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Halifax will try to “wow” Amazon
Mike Savage will try and sell Halifax to Amazon and that’s just barely an embellishment. The Seattle-based mega-company announced on Thursday that it’s looking for a location to build a second headquarters, dubbed HQ2. Amazon says it will invest $5 billion US on the project, which it claims will employ up to 50,000 workers over the […]
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Halifax’s overburdened FOIPOP office wants to go digital
The province’s largest municipality is barely keeping up with the hundreds of Freedom of Information requests it receives each year. But that could soon change. The HRM issued a tender request Wednesday for new software to manage, track and redact FOIPOP requests as a potential solution to the bureaucratic strain. “Right now, the team is […]
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Tentative agreement reached for Purcell’s Cove Backlands
Don’t celebrate just yet. The municipality announced Wednesday that a tentative agreement has been reached to purchase the Purcell’s Cove Backlands, but Nature Conservancy of Canada program manager Craig Smith says the sale isn’t a done deal. That’s because Halifax and the NCC will share the $6.6-million cost to buy 380 acres of wilderness property […]
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Hendsbee blames media for ruining his pension proposal
David Hendsbee won’t be getting any taxpayer money to top up his pension Regional council voted against the Preston—Chezzetcook—Eastern Shore representative’s motion asking for a staff report on whether the municipality could split the cost and help him buy back years on his pension. The request was met with public scorn over the weekend, to […]
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David Hendsbee wants HRM to cover his pension regrets
After 20 years of public service, councillor David Hendsbee has just now decided he wants in on the municipality’s pension plan. But he needs some help to pay for it. At the next meeting of Regional Council, Hendsbee will ask for a staff report on pension options for councillors past and present who “did not […]
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Masuma Khan is making history
Over the last year, Masuma Khan has led thousands of students into the streets to protest high tuition fees, spoke at the local Women’s March on Washington and organized a public vigil after the deadly Quebec City mosque shooting. The 22-year-old is also vice-president academic and external for the Dalhousie Student Union, works with the […]
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A ride-along with Driver Dave’s
“Hi, this is Singh from Driver Dave’s,” reads the introductory text. “I’m planning to pick you up at 7:10pm.” Singh has an office job but his boss is unaware of his moonlighting, so we’ve agreed to withhold his last name. He used to drive a taxi, but for the last two-and-a-half years Singh’s been behind […]
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Developer slams former planning chief over perceived snub
One of the city’s biggest developers claims he was ignored by Halifax’s ousted planning chief. It’s one reason why Danny Chedrawe doesn’t think Bob Bjerke was up to the challenge of leading HRM’s planning department. Last week, chief administrative officer Jacques Dubé dismissed director of planning and development Bjerke after three years on the job […]
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Ray Ivany finally gets his name on something of value
Embracing the only real tangible result of the Ivany Report—using the word “Ivany”—the Nova Scotia Community College is honouring Ray Ivany. To that end, NSCC’s waterfront campus will henceforth be known as the Raymond E. Ivany campus. The bold rebrand was announced during a ceremony Tuesday in Dartmouth. “NSCC is a place where youth are […]
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Chief planning director Bob Bjerke exits city hall
The municipality’s top planner is out of a job. That’s according to a memo emailed to HRM staff on Tuesday afternoon by chief administrative officer Jacques Dubé. “Please be advised that effective today Bob Bjerke, director of planning and development, is no longer a member of the Halifax Regional Municipality team,” writes Dubé. “We wish […]