Darrell Dexter has a complex family background, a complex educational and career history and—if, as expected, the NDP wins Tuesday’s provincial election—a perhaps impossibly complex governing task ahead. photos by Scott Munn
Nova Scotia
Posted inNews + Opinion
Government funding freeze hits Nova Scotian non-profit organizations
Officials from the Department of Community Services are patting themselves on the back because they didn’t slash funding to nonprofit community organizations, but many ground workers think the department’s priorities have been wrong for years. In April, the department froze the budget for over 200 organizations provincially at $230 million. Community Services spokesperson Linda Laffin […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Election campaign moves along right on script
Every election needs its defining moment—its too-big-foot-in-too-small-mouth moment, its searing, snapshot flash-of-insight moment, its accidental, incidental larger-than-life moment that suddenly careens the campaign off in an unpredictable direction toward some unknowable destination. So far, we have not, needless to say, had any such moment in this blandest of beige provincial election campaigns. There certainly have […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Feds stimulate city’s wish fulfillment
Thanks to the collapse of the global financial industry, Halifax is getting a new Central Library, an additional Woodside ferry and a four-pad hockey arena in Bedford. Unless, that is, provincial politicians gut the deal with back-room deals and behind-the-scenes maneuvering to divert the money. All three projects have been on the city’s wish list […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Public secrets
One summer day in the mid-1990s, there was an illegal Mexican immigrant working as part of a crew pruning an orchard in California. The man was lopping off tree branches while standing in a metal box of a cherry picker truck; one of the branches fell onto a high-voltage power line and the electricity arced […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Crossing the law
Seemingly small changes in city policy and provincial law have combined to make a very large difference in how people walk about town. On the city side, when new crossing lights are installed at intersections, they are now programmed such that the pedestrian don’t-walk/walk signal only changes if first activated by the pedestrian pushing a […]
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 […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
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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iVote: Can electronic voting save democracy?
Halifax elections are going hi-tech, but while election officials hope internet voting is the cure for voter apathy, skeptics say it is a threat to democracy itself.by Tim Bousquet | photos Aaron Fraser he three weeks from October 14 to November 4 are something of an election marathon: The Canadian federal election is October 14, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
iVote: Can electronic voting save democracy?
The three weeks from October 14 to November 4 are something of an election marathon: The Canadian federal election is October 14, Nova Scotians elect their municipal councillors and school board members October 18 and the US elections, when Americans vote for president, all congressional positions, a third of the Senate and a host of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Dexel develops front porch blues
The 19th century apartment building with the distinctive wraparound veranda on the corner of Hollis at Morris Streets may be headed for demolition. Dexel Developments Ltd, owner of the site, has a proposal with the city to redevelop the property, including two adjacent buildings of similar design. The proposal calls for a single 10-storey complex […]
