David Clark remembers where he was the day the trouble started. He was walking through the woods on his property in Melrose, a small community on the St. Mary’s River, a two-and-a-half-hour drive east of Halifax. Sun shone through the trees. Beams of light landed on the small brook. The rolling water sparkled. It added […]
Government
Posted inNews + Opinion
Bridge commission impossible
It was late January when I first approached Halifax Harbour Bridges trying to obtain a copy of the Crown corporation’s board minutes. It didn’t go so well. “We really don’t feel like it’s necessary to share the minutes,” says HHB communications manager Alison MacDonald. Halifax Harbour Bridges’ board members—some of whom are politicians themselves—are appointed […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The politics of bullshit
What is political bullshit? Figure out what people want, then tell them what they want to hear. Make claims that aren’t true but can’t easily be disproven. If they are disproven, attack personally whoever disproves them. If you have to, make stuff up. Promise whatever it takes to win a vote. If you break a […]
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P3 schools debacle, lessons not learned?
Last summer, my organization published an evaluation of the 39 P3 schools built in the late 1990s. We concluded that it was a failed experiment marred by cost overruns, massive private profits, mismanagement and an overarching lack of evidence-based decision-making (echoing the Auditor General). We recommended that the province take the discount rate (43 percent […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Street checks and balances
Do you trust the police? The Board of Police Commissioners would like to know. “You have to be open,” says BPC chair and deputy mayor Steve Craig. “You have to hear what’s being said and take that all in, whether you like what’s being said or not.” The Halifax police department’s civilian overseers are quietly […]
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SCIENCE MATTERS: Government must do more to address First Nations’ water woes
Neskantaga First Nation in Ontario has had to boil water since 1995. “We’re over 20 years already where our people haven’t been able to get the water they need to drink from their taps or to bathe themselves without getting any rashes,” Neskantaga Chief Wayne Moonias told CBC News in 2015. Their water issues have […]
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Advocates say multifaceted approach needed for gendered violence
[Image-1] A group of advocates against gendered violence is pushing for better communication between university researchers, government policymakers and community service providers. “It’s really important and it’s surprisingly rare that this conversation across sectors happens,” says Marina Gonick, a professor at Mount Saint Vincent University. She’s also the Canada research chair for Gender. “We each […]
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Government officials get social media tips at UNSM conference
[Image-1] Life in the digital age means it’s user beware on the social network front. It also means local governments must use the benefits of social media to connect with their communities. Social media is the new town crier in terms of notifying the citizenry, said a Town of Bridgewater staffer to delegates at the […]
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Who got served? Council sets HRM’s priority outcomes for 2017 and beyond
[Image-1] Halifax’s government is on its knees looking for an answer: are we human, or are we customer? Councillors new and old came together Thursday afternoon to set HRM’s priority outcomes for the next four years. It was a high-altitude planning session that came down to some precise word choices. Nowhere was that more evident […]
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“Customer service” is key for new CAO Jacques Dubé
[Image-1] Save the red tape for Christmas decorations. City hall employees are going to be doing some hardcore process mapping (whatever that is) to cut waste and deliver a lean government service model, says HRM’s new chief administrative officer. Jacques Dubé took over as CAO six weeks ago, just in time to watch six new […]
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Fight the power at Cybersecurity for Activists
[IMage-1] This Saturday’s free Cybersecurity for Activists workshop at the Halifax Central Library will show how to fight the power while staying protected online. “In the wake of the Snowden revelations lots of people are feeling this to be a matter of concern,” says Max Haiven, co-director of the Radical Imagination Project and one of […]
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Journalism project reveals injustice in African Nova Scotian land titles
[Image-1] Journalism students at the Nova Scotia Community College have produced a damning and in-depth video investigation into Nova Scotia’s failure to offer land titles to longtime North Preston residents. Called “Untitled,” the video series blends historical research with present-day interviews to trace how the provincial government has ignored its own promise to help Black […]