Chapter Three of the Interim Report of the Nova Scotia Electoral Boundaries Commission is tittled, "Interpretation of the Terms of Reference." It might more honestly be called, "Decision to Disregard the Terms of Reference." That's what seven members of the commission decided to do: overrule the Terms of Reference set down in law by the elected representatives of Nova Scotia. They did so in response to a vociferous lobby by Acadians and African Nova Scotians, anxious to retain the four seats exempted from rep-by-pop to encourage the election of MLAs representing those ethnic groups. The seven members  — Chair Teresa MacNeil,* Johnstown,...

02 June, 2012

On Sunday, I questioned the sudden closure of the Talbot House Recovery Centre, and the treatment accorded it's executive director, Fr. Paul Abbass, after a victim's rights activist apparently passed along an unspecified third- or fourth-party complaint about Abbass to the Department of Community Services. A sample of the responses follows, but please also see this clarification of my original post. A reader writes: I am a former resident of Talbot house and I am convinced the experience saved my life. At no time during my therapy did I witness any impropriety on the part of Paul Abbass or any staff member. Talbot...

03 April, 2012