The case for compensating residents of Sydney for injuries caused by the Sydney Steel plant and coke ovens has always been weak. The steel plant itself produced little in the way of harmful emissions; any harm to public health came mainly from the associated coke ovens, which produced large amounts of potentially harmful airborne emissions and runoff in the process of baking coal into coke. The health of coke ovens workers, who were surrounded by fumes from the coking process, certainly suffered from their exposure, but they were covered by Worker's Compensation, the Faustian bargain by which workers surrender their right to sue for damages in return for modest but supposedly reliable...

22 April, 2016

This video of an irate toddler brandishing a steel pipe to defend his street-vending grandmother from Chinese bylaw enforcers went so massively viral, Chinese censors ordered the country's news media to stop displaying it. “Child Grasps Steel Pipe to Resist Chengguan” video, pictures, and news reports must all be removed from main news sections. News that unfavourably portrays the law enforcement community must be released with caution. As the Chinese Digital Times explains, the Chengguan function as a junior varsity police force. They are widely dispised for heavy-handed enforcement of petty rules. Despite its popularity on Chinese social media, I haven't seen much reference to to the irate toddler video in North...

19 April, 2016

Here's the text of  a news release about an interactive map the province just released showing every block of forest land proposed or approved for cutting in Nova Scotia. Except, as Bill Turpin pointed out, the news release completely avoids use of the words, "forest" and "tree." It's as if we were we're talking about the annual hemp harvest, Turpin said. (Now there would be a useful map.) Harvest Plan Map Viewer Launched Department of Natural Resources A new interactive map viewer is helping to improve public engagement on planned fibre harvests in Nova Scotia woodlands. The Harvest Plan Map Viewer provides better access for Nova Scotians to...

19 April, 2016

Yesterday a damning independent audit of the film industry—damning, in the sense that it put the lie to claims Premier Stephen McNeil continues to use in justification for his gutting of the film tax credit—leaked out in fits and starts from Screen Nova Scotia (SNS). SNS made the full report, which it commissioned from the accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers, available to members via a password protected internet site. It made public only a cursory summary. Inevitably the full report leaked to me and others in the media. See coverage from LocalXpress here. Download a PDF copy here. At the HalifaxExaminer, Tim Bousquet reports that...

15 April, 2016

About my reaction to Maureen MacDonald's retirement announcement, longtime New Democrat Mike Coyle writes: Seriously, Parker, sometimes a personal announcement is just a personal announcement. As I understand your analysis, Maureen’s announcement was “spiteful” because she didn’t use the occasion of her own retirement from public life to send special kudos to the new leader (or any leader, for that matter) and she didn’t use the chance provided by her personal announcement to heap best future wishes on the party for which she worked her guts out for the past 32 years. (She first ran in 1984). It is the party who...

13 April, 2016

Credit Maureen MacDonald with many things in her 18-year career as a member of the Nova Scotia Legislature. She gave voice to people not always audible in the halls of government: the poor and ill-housed, single parents and debt-weary students—all the working stiffs who ride inconvenient buses to ill-paying jobs. As Minister of Health tasked with stick-handling the NDP's false promise to end emergency room closures, she pulled an unlikely rabbit out of the hat in the form of Better Care Sooner. The collaborative approach certainly didn't end ER closures, but it improved access to overnight health care in remote and underpopulated parts of the province. She saved Nova Scotians...

12 April, 2016

When he rushed to Halifax last Thursday to reveal a blackmail threat against him, Richmond County Councilor Steve Sampson was using a loaner cell phone. His own phone was in for repairs. On Friday, he drove to Antigonish to retrieve it. The bill came to $99. As Sampson reached for his wallet, the clerk held up his hand. "Your bill has been paid." "What do you mean?" asked Sampson. The clerk came around the counter and stuck out his hand. "Mr. Sampson, I don't know you, but I feel I know quite a lot about you. On behalf of the Antigonish Telus Store, your bill has been paid." There may be a few rotten people in Nova Scotia, but...

11 April, 2016

If you've had occasion to visit Argyle Street in Halifax lately, you may have noticed a few things: Disruption due to construction of the Nova Centre has put this once lively, inviting street on life supports. Victor Syperek's iconic Shoe Shop is closed, and the two adjacent bars  in his three-bar complex are so dead, you could play darts on Friday night without fear of injuring anyone. The nearby Carleton Music Bar and Grill, a popular venue for interesting musical and political happenings in the city, is literally getting by on crowd-funding—but probably won't last long. The Foggy Goggle could more aptly be called Sleepy Goggle. The Nova...

10 April, 2016

Emma Jacobs, Paris-based multimedia journalist for Public Radio International, has produced a great radio doc on Chiac, the peculiar mixture of Acadian French and English spoken by many New Brunswickers, especially young people. Chiac is not to be confused with Franglais, the jocular use of a few French nouns and verbs while speaking English and observing English grammar. Rather, it uses French grammar, conjugation, and gender, but includes a lot of English nouns and verbs, along with a few archaic French and Mi’kmaq terms. It is viewed with affection by some New Brunswickers, disapprobation by others, contempt by French speakers from other provinces and countries. "We have a saying," said retired New...

05 April, 2016

Nine-year-old Hilde Kate Lysiak of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, population 5625, is doing what grown-ups seem to find impossible these days: Reporting the news. About her community. In a timely fashion. Last Saturday, Lysiak broke the story of a brutal domestic murder a few blocks from her home. Acting on a tip, she rushed to the scene, confirmed the details (minus the identity of the victim, which she withheld out of respect for family members who had not yet heard about the crime), and got the story online, complete with video, hours before the local paper sent out a reporter. Another scoop for the Orange Street News. As...

05 April, 2016
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