The province announced yesterday that it is outsourcing its SAP operations to IBM Canada. The Coast predicted as much Wednesday. We’re still researching this issue and expect to have a more detailed article soon. Today, we asked the province for a copy of the contract with IBM, but were told we’d “probably” have to go […]
Tim Bousquet
BREAKING NEWS: SAP announcement will be made tomorrow
The leadership of the union representing provincial SAP workers is meeting with officials of the provincial finance department this afternoon. The meeting was called by the finance department, and the union’s assumption is that they’ll be told the SAP work will be outsourced to IBM. SAP workers themselves tell The Coast that they’ve been summoned […]
New council sworn in
Correction: Justice Heather Robertson was not appointed by John Savage. Rather, she was appointed by the federal minister of Justice on the recommendation of a federally appointed commission. Robertson was, however, a family friend of then-retired premier John Savage. Original article: Out with the old council, in with the new. Tuesday evening saw an anti-climatic […]
Hobo With a Shotgun Comics
The folks at Strange Adventures (5262 Sackville Street, 425-2140 and 101 Portland Street, 444-2140) have teamed up with local artists to produce the Hobo With a Shotgun comic book, inspired by the Jason Eisener-directed film of the same name, which was filmed in Dartmouth. Strange Adventures manager Dave Howlett adopted the script for one of […]
Are downtown Christmas decorations up too soon?
Christmas decorations were put on downtown street poles early last week, days before Halloween. We asked the Twitterverse what they thought of that decision, and the response was an overwhelming “TOO EARLY!” Most respondents said the Downtown Halifax Business Commission should’ve waited until after Remembrance Day, “out of respect for the veterans,” and we jokingly […]
Meet the new boss: Same as the old boss
Candidate Mike Savage demonstrated shockingly bad judgement by paying himself a $10,000 monthly stipend from his campaign funds, and now critics will with justification accuse mayor Mike Savage of being part of an elite that’s out-of-touch with how regular people lead their lives, and who will have a conflict of interest every time council deals […]
Write a letter to Mike Savage, maybe see it in The Coast
Next week we have a cover story in The Coast about the new mayor. As part of that, I’m asking people to write 100- to 200-word letters to Mike Savage, telling him what they would like from him over the next four years. Please email your letter to me, at timb@thecoast.ca, with “Letter to Savage” […]
Big changes to Hali skyline
The Halifax skyline is changing before our eyes. Whether that’s good or bad is matter of opinion, but the first significant change was nearly universally panned on social media. Over the weekend, Twitter was abuzz with word that the iconic sign on the Morse’s Teas building on Hollis Street was being painted over. Sure enough, […]
Council gets schooled: St. Pat’s Alexandra school site back at the starting point
We’re back to the beginning for figuring out what to do with St. Pat’s-Alexandra School. A policy for disposing of surplus schools was developed by staff, and adopted by council way back in 2000. In theory, the policy called for a three step process: First, city departments would determine if they could make use of […]
What Mike Savage’s campaign contributors mean to Halifax
Wednesday morning, mayor-elect Mike Savage made public his list of campaign contributions. This is my quick analysis, and a few additional thoughts. List is too late to help voters Savage is releasing the contributors list long before the December 19 legal deadline to file the list, but even so, making the list public today doesn’t […]
Mike Savage’s campaign contributions made public
Mayor-elect Mike Savage made public his list of campaign contributions today. See the names and dollar amounts here. I’ll be on CTV news with Steve Murphy this evening, discussing the contributions.
Morse’s Teas sign has been painted over
Update, 2pm: Andy FIlmore, who until recently was the city’s director in charge of HRM By Design and is now the director of the Dal department of Planning, leaves the following comment on my Facebook page: There’s no story here. It being repainted exactly as it was, for future generations to enjoy. I’m waiting for […]

