This article is me, metaphorically waving a white flag. I have tried to get an answer to a pretty simple question — when did CBRM council decide to throw its weight behind a $38 million district energy project for downtown Sydney?  — but it has proved ridiculously difficult. The questionRead More

I received a press release yesterday from two groups, the Forest Protectors and Extinction Rebellion Mi’kmaki/Nova Scotia, with the subject line, “DNRR [Department of Natural Resources and Renewables] Survey finds more rare lichens in Last Hope forest.” The groups, as the CBC’s Michael Gorman reported this week, count about 50Read More

I know, I know — enough with the District Energy already. But I can’t let go of it because it’s an infrastructure project worth $38 million (as in, the cost of a new central library); it’s being pushed by the province, which means it’s likely to happen; and we haveRead More

This week has found me unable to focus entirely on any one story, so no deep dives. Instead, I’m going to touch briefly on some issues I’ve been following and which I hope to write about in more detail soon.   Labor relations First, give me credit, please, for notRead More

Owl’s Head Thank you Michael Gorman of CBC Halifax for this story about Owl’s Head, the provincial park whose pending protected status was removed by the former Liberal government to open the way for its sale to a golf course developer. Gorman FOIPOPed documents that show that in late 2019Read More

I’m writing on Wednesday morning and the front page of the Cape Breton Post (print edition) features a story about the management of the Donkin coal mine failing to report a “massive roof cave-in,” in contravention of provincial regulations. To be completely factual: the front page of the Post features aRead More

A CAPE BRETON SPECTATOR/HALIFAX EXAMINER SPECIAL INVESTIGATION Editor’s Note: This is the fourth and final article in a series on the push for mines and quarries in Nova Scotia. (Read Part I, Part II, and Part III.)   Sacred land On a cold day in late November 2017 a couple of dozenRead More

A CAPE BRETON SPECTATOR/HALIFAX EXAMINER SPECIAL INVESTIGATION Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of articles on the push for mines and quarries in Nova Scotia. You can find Part I here and Part II here.   Cobequid Gold & Tatamagouche Water The news broke in November 2017Read More

A CAPE BRETON SPECTATOR/HALIFAX EXAMINER SPECIAL INVESTIGATION Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles on the push for mines and quarries in Nova Scotia. You can find Part I here.   Going for gold The CEO and chairman of Vancouver-based Atlantic Gold Corporation, Steven Dean, aRead More

A CAPE BRETON SPECTATOR/HALIFAX EXAMINER SPECIAL INVESTIGATION Read Part II, Part III and Part IV. Welcome to the Gold Rush There’s a 21st century gold rush starting in Nova Scotia, just as industrial gold mining is increasingly coming into disrepute around the world. It has been described as an “environmentalRead More