The board of directors of Talbot House, the much admired addiction recovery center shut down this winter after the Nova Scotia Department of Community Services raised vague and, as we now know, false allegations of sexual misconduct against its executive director, today issued two news releases that add up to a sweeping condemnation of the department's behaviour. How the Dexter government reacts will be a major test of its integrity. Will it circle the wagons? Or will it implement real reforms? Please read the releases for yourself here and here. [Note: I have removed contact information for the board chair.] On the Cape...

15 April, 2012

Exactly as many of us expected, the vague, shadowy accusations of sexual impropriety against Fr. Paul Abbass have proven false. The Cape Breton Regional Police announced late Friday that the department has completed its review of information in the case — they were cagey about who was being investigated, but everyone knows it was Abbass — and they will not proceed with a criminal investigation. There was nothing to investigate. I hope Fr. Paul Abbass will have the generosity of spirit to resume his duties as Executive Director of Talbot House, the community-built recovery center that has for 53 years successfully treated...

13 April, 2012

Liberal MLA Kelly Regan put two questions to Community Services Minister Denise Peterson-Rafuse in the House of Assembly yesterday: MS. KELLY REGAN:  Mr. Speaker, for 53 years Talbot House provided residential addiction treatment for men in Cape Breton. Talbot House recently, abruptly closed its doors and left the people of Cape Breton with a whole lot of questions. Will the Minister of Community Services lift the shroud of secrecy and tell the men and their families who rely on these services why the minister closed the doors and removed this vital service from this community? HON. DENISE PETERSON-RAFUSE:  Mr. Speaker, we know...

04 April, 2012

In my post about the Queen-of-Hearts treatment accorded Fr. Paul Abbass—sentence first, trial later—I wrote that the  Cape Breton Regional Police "said it had begun investigating allegations concerning a Talbot House employee." In fact, police spokesperson Desiree Vassallo chose her words more carefully than that. "We are looking further into [information received from the Talbot House Board] and will determine whether there’s anything that needs a criminal investigation," she said. While Vassallo didn't identify Abbass, everyone knew who she was talking about. Almost seven weeks have passed since Vassallo made that statement. If the police have determined that the information does not warrant a criminal investigation, then...

03 April, 2012

I am increasingly uneasy about the way the Talbot House crisis is playing out. In the space of three weeks this winter, a respected community leader's life was shattered, and an admired institution that had ministered to troubled individuals for 53 years was abruptly closed—all on the basis of an unspecified third-party complaint of unknown veracity that remains shrouded in secrecy two months later. [UPDATE: Fr. Paul Abbass has been exonerated. Please see Community Services Dept. vs. Talbot House] I don't know Fr. Paul Abbass personally, but I admire the grace and candor he displayed when speaking for the Antigonish Diocese during...

01 April, 2012

Grad student, cultural activist, and entrepreneur Mike Targett writes: I appreciate a lot of Jay Macneil's general complaint. I've made similar ones about decision-makers not trying hard enough to make this place more livable, and even actively trying to make it less livable. I can even be pretty cynical about council at times. Maybe that cynicism is what made me think twice about this vote, since Morgan the populist voted with Kim Deveaux the radical. Curious. Did Morgan vote for what he knew would be the popular sentiment ("All he wanted to do was dance!") despite testimony from the Chief of Police...

09 December, 2011

Sydney radio newsman Jay MacNeil is attracting hundreds of comments, "likes," and shares on his Facebook video denouncing CBRM council's 10-2 vote to ban teen dances from civic facilities. You're making it hard. You're just making it hard. There are people in this community who spend their entire day trying to find ways to inspire and engage the youth of their community, and around your council table there are a bunch people who find ways—on a shockingly recurring basis—to disengage youth. View the whole rant here. H/T: Jancie Fuller via Leah Noble...

08 December, 2011

I might have been in favor of the NDP Government's first-contract legislation if I hadn't seen what the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) did to a progressive non-profit organization in New Glasgow this fall. Founded in 1968 by volunteers and family members, New Glasgow's Summer Street Industries supplies a variety of vocational services to 150 intellectually handicapped men and women in New Glasgow. It enjoys a stellar reputation for caring and respectful treatment of the people it assists. If the Dexter Government's first contract legislation had been in force this year, those very qualities would have been sabotaged, perhaps fatally. The...

02 December, 2011

On his Green Interview website, Silver Donald Cameron imagines how an innovative, creative mayor might have responded to OccupyNS: He starts by quoting the late Allan O'Brien, mayor of Halifax from 1966 to 1971. The Mayor has very little actual power – but he has the power to bring people together, to encourage action on matters that he considers important. He has the power to influence the public agenda. He has access to the press. And if you use those powers strategically, you can accomplish quite a bit.” Cameron muses: Imagine if Peter Kelly had that kind of awareness, that sense of direction, when...

17 November, 2011

Sounding old before her time, Marilla Stephenson follows up the Chronicle-Herald's ringing endorsement of the status quo with a ringing endorsement of middle class sensibilities. The protesters just had to go. They just had to. There had been an overdose in Vancouver or something. Enough is enough. To this we respond: Dear Marilla: You walk into a room With a piece of paper in your hand. You see somebody naked, And you say, "Who is that man." You try so hard, But you just don't understand. Do you, Mrs. Stephenson? With apologies to Robert Allen Zimmerman. Cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon, on the other hand, gets it right....

17 November, 2011
Show more
Loading...