Construction is about to begin on the Waterfront, at the foot of Salter Street. A portion of the parking lot has been fenced off, and a backhoe is parked, awaiting the delivery of supplies. The project will add the last remaining 1,000 feet of the boardwalk— presently, the path is crushed gravel. I spoke with […]
News
Posted inNews + Opinion
Work harder, get paid less
A press release from the Centre for Policy Alternatives: Nova Scotians are working harder and smarter but the majority have been denied the fruits of the economic growth they’ve helped create, says a new report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Nova Scotia (CCPA-NS).Hard Working Province: Is It Enough? by Mathieu Dufour […]
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The collapse of the Port of Halifax
This chart describes the collapse of the global shipping industry over the past couple of months. There’s nothing that local port officials can do about it. But for a city and province that are betting their futures on port business, shouldn’t politicians, business people and reporters be talking about this? Put simply, the cost of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Power politics
Power rates are going up, but the increase is unnecessarily hurting poor people and the provincial government is actively opposing efforts to give relief to low-income residents, say consumer representatives and activists. Moreover, three looming issues threaten to saddle ratepayers with hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs. Last week, the Utility and Review […]
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Teaching peace
No politician wants war—just ask them. Yet, we structure our society such that pretty much our only response to conflict is war: we build gigantic military machines, we have war colleges, entire institutions to teaching war and, when it comes down to it, we don’t even know how to begin to address conflict without war. […]
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Onward Christian Soldiers
On Remembrance Day I’m typically at my home in Dartmouth, so walk down to the ceremony at the duck pond. A lot of people go—so many that if you’re not very early you’ll have a hard time hearing the proceedings due to the size of the crowd. Anyway, I’ve been very disappointed that each year […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Reporting on race
We reporters should recognize the role we play in furthering racial stereotypes. It can sometimes be a difficult balance to find, but we should think carefully before giving racial descriptions (black, white, native, Asian, whatever) to suspects in crimes. Clearly, race as part of an overall description can be essential in apprehending a suspect, but […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Cat killed at SPCA parking lot
What is it about this town and cats?Press release: The Nova Scotia SPCA is seeking information on the identity of a person who abandoned two cats in the parking lot of their Metro Shelter in Dartmouth on the evening of November 4th,, 2008. A member of the public placed two cats under a staff vehicle […]
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A good start at the school board
Chronicle-Herald: The new Halifax regional school board is turning a page in its own history book. Its nine members voted in Africville activist Irvine Carvery as their chairman during their first meeting Wednesday in Dartmouth. This is a nice gesture on the part of all the elected members, and might begin to heal wounds with […]
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Learning to count the GPI
Ron Colman’s life work is complete. For 12 years, Colman has been leading GPI Atlantic, a Halifax think tank that seeks to redefine how we value our society. Over those dozen years, the organization has published 100 separate detailed analyses of how Nova Scotians live and work, and those analyses have been integrated into a […]
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Breaking News: UARB approves Nova Scotia Power rate increase
I just received the Utility and Review Board’s decision granting Nova Scotia Power’s 9.3 percent rate increase. I’ve only skimmed the decision, but will have much commentary in coming days. You can read it yourself here.
Posted inNews + Opinion
Obama!
We’re one step closer to our queer-positive Islamo-Christian pacifist-terrorist worker’s paradise! Sorry, that’s the best I can do; I’m a little hungover today… Our web editor, Andy Murdoch, sent me the following email at some ungodly hour this morning (10 or so): Remember after the last election there were Americans saying they’d move to Canada? […]