[Image-1] I was struck last week by Nova Scotia’s new environment minister Margaret Miller’s response to Coast editor Jacob Boon’s question about the legacy of environmental racism in this province and how Nova Scotia can better protect marginalized communities. Her response that the province does not have to “look at any segment or any part […]
Nova Scotia
Posted inNews + Opinion
Laura Doucette awarded $54,640 in damages after being defamed by officer
[Image-1] A decision released today by Justice Denise Boudreau awards $52,640 in damages to Laura Doucette, the Nova Scotian woman who was defamed by Department of Justice investigator David Grimes in 2012. As we’ve previously reported, Grimes was the officer assigned to evaluate Doucette for a firearms license so she could complete the Correctional […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Groundhog cam available for Nova Scotian voyeurs
[Image-1] “Lights, camera, groundhog” cheers a press release from the department of Natural Resources. Shubenacadie Sam, the most famous groundhog in Nova Scotia that isn’t AltaGas, can now be watched by curious perverts 24 hours a day through the “Sam Cam.” The initiative lets the breathless public check in on the rodent prior to Groundhog […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Alton Gas approval called a “direct violation” of First Nations rights
[Image-1] After what the the Liberal government calls “extensive consultations,” the province announced regulatory approvals earlier today for the Alton Gas storage project. Not everyone’s pumped about it. Chief Rufus Copage and the Sipekn’katik band decried the announcement, with Copage stating they would be withdrawing from the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs over today’s […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A Q&A with Nova Scotia’s new environment minister
[Image-1] Admittedly, Margaret Miller isn’t quite up to speed on several files in her new political portfolio. The East Hants MLA spoke with The Coast just days after being named Nova Scotia’s new environment minister. She takes over from acting minister Randy Delorey (who replaced Andrew Younger in November). Given the complex environmental issues affecting […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Convention centre outranks capital funding of NS hospitals—on paper
[Image-1] Update: As noted by reporter Michael Gorman the province will still pay out its third of the Convention Centre price over the next 25 years (like HRM). The full $160-million price is just on the books this year. More than a quarter of Nova Scotia‘s capital plan funding for the next fiscal year is […]
Posted inArts + Music
Check out this year’s winning Film 5 projects
Last week, the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative aka AFCOOP announced the 2016 winners of the Film 5 program in which aspiring and emerging directors, producers and crew produce a five-minute film from script to budget to star-studded premiere. With two phases — Program Development (Phase I) and Production (Phase II) — participants experience the full range […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
To my former bosses at the Chronicle Herald
[Image-1] Before I go any further, I’d like to take a moment and applaud husband and wife Mark Lever and Sarah Dennis. Clap. Clap. Clap. The owners of the Chronicle Herald have, over the past seven years, managed to cut the region’s largest newsroom almost in half, shedding years of journalistic experience and excellence, cutting […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Ambulance fees cause heavy damage to the sick and injured
[Image-1] Gavin Baumbach was one of the last first-year students at King’s College to get the flu in 2014. But when he finally got sick, it was all the worse for waiting. “It actually induced heart attack- and stroke-like symptoms,” he says “I kind of panicked because I didn’t know what to do.” Baumbach, who […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Video: See how the giant jaywalking fine is missing the point
The uproar over Nova Scotia’s new $697.50 jaywalking fine is sure to follow the law into 2016, when it will be officially proclaimed. But with any luck, the discussion will evolve. If we really want safer roads, it will have to. Currently the arguments are in two camps. The main one is pedestrians vs cars, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Bending towards justice: Nova Scotia’s human rights trials
[Image-1] Many of us have never been the victims of intolerance or persecution—or worse. But other Nova Scotians have unfortunately been subject to civil rights abuses. The history of this province also includes decisive human rights triumphs, and late-hour victories that came decades after the wrongs had taken place. In honour of Human Rights Day […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Police conduct investigators had a banner year in 2015
[Image-1] Nova Scotia’s investigative-oversight agency probing major police incidents has been managing more cases than expected, its annual report says. The report for 2014-15 from the Serious Incident Response Team says 34 new investigations were opened during the year. “SIRT is now handling a workload almost 75 percent greater than originally anticipated,” lawyer Ron MacDonald, […]
