Examineradio - The Halifax Examiner Podcast

This week, we speak with , the publisher and editor of the about why her region needed a new journalistic voice. Plus, we unveil a special for readers! This interview dovetails from a discussion about what effect the proposed  would have on Atlantic journalism, especially seeing as how one union-busting company now effectively owns the entire newspaper industry in three of the four provinces. Plus, , don't you have some gardening to do or something? 

This week we speak with of the Halifax Wanderers Supporters Group about the viability of professional soccer in Halifax and of a "pop-up" stadium on the Wanderer's Grounds. Premier McNeil The Coast's on the treatment of former Liberal staffer Michelle Coffin, claiming he didn't even bother to read it. Stay classy, Premier! Plus, Councillor David Hendsbee has to remind people -- twice -- on National Aboriginal Day, that the date also marks the arrival of noted  Edward Cornwallis. Stay classy, Hendsbee! Finally, City Council from city staff about the prospect of introducing a living wage to all municipal staff as well as any employees contracted to work for the city. Councillors estimate it may still take another two years to implement, meaning many people who keep this city running will still be making poverty-level wages until possibly 2019. Stay classy, council!

Three years ago, then-Liberal Director of Communications Kyley Harris pleaded guilty to domestic assault and was . Not for the assault itself, but for not mentioning the charges to his boss, Premier Stephen McNeil. As the 2017 election approached, communiqués from the Liberal Party once again featured Harris's name in his old role. People were surprised, but perhaps none so more than the woman he abused, his former partner and Liberal staffer Michelle Coffin. After three years of silence, Coffin has come forward to reclaim her story. In a in The Coast, Coffin explains to journalist the cold shoulders from members of her own party, and the Liberals' insistence that they consulted womens' groups from across the province who agreed unanimously that Harris should be rehired. We speak to Rahr about the story on this week's episode.  

Already a  on the west coast, Fentanyl, perhaps more than other opioids, is posed to become a in Nova Scotia, believes Vice News's . Plus, there are underway in the wake of the Nova Scotia provincial election: Chester-St. Margaret's, Waverley-Fall River-Beaverbank, and Guysborough–Eastern Shore–Tracadie.  Finally, North Dartmouth comes to grips with in their community.

Nova Scotia had an election, eh? The end result is the Liberals have a few fewer seats, the PCs and NDP have a few more, and Gary Burrill no longer has to holler questions from the press gallery. One striking upset was the defeat of cabinet minister Joanne Bernard at the hands of NDP newcomer . We speak to her about the campaign, her Dartmouth North district, and her hopes for the next legislative session. 

Three candidates, three debates. Why are we having an election, again? Former NDP Minister of Finance and CBC commentator  joins us for the hour to unpack the parties, the policies, the leaders, and why, quite frankly, it probably doesn't matter if you vote in this election or not. I mean, did you know that season three of  is on Netflix? Also, there's some weird stuff going on in Premier McNeil's home riding regarding property swaps.

The Halifax Examiner's isn't dead or moving to Toronto or anything. She's only going as far as Wolfville. Still, her insights into Nova Scotia's justice system has been a welcome addition to our site's news coverage. She joins us to talk about the inner workings of the court process, and discusses some of the being played out in Halifax courts. Plus, it's election time, which means it's time to parade candidates' for all to see. 

The HRM community of Harrietsfield has been dealing with toxic drinking water for close to a decade-and-a-half, and three successive provincial governments have failed to address the issue. Some residents are  with the help of  and their Executive Director, . We speak with her for today's episode. Plus, our own Tim Bousquet won gold at last week's  for his series. , the news site run by the striking Chronicle Herald employees, also made an impressive showing, while the CH itself was largely ignored. Finally, you try feeding yourself on $4.65/day. The provincial government thinks you can do it without issue, since that's what they allocate to feed folks in provincially-run seniors' homes.

It's in Nova Scotia, and the Liberal government reeled out of the gate like a drunk student leaving The Dome at last call. First was the botched rollout itself, followed by head-scratching comments about supporting women candidates in 'meaningful' ridings. Add to that the rehiring of convicted abuser as their Director of Communications, and it really seems like a party fumbling about, and definitely unsure how to communicate to a certain 51% of voters. Fortunately,  is gearing up to engage women voters as the province lurches toward the May 30 election.

, Halifax's poet laureate, woke City Council with an electrifying poem she read in Chambers titled "Not Perfect." The subsequent meeting saw a resolution passed to of renaming Cornwallis Street and removing the Cornwallis statue in, uh, Cornwallis Park. Also, the Liberal government released a designed to on a stronger Nova Scotia while also announcing plans to set up an in the wilds of the Bayer's Lake Industrial Park. They also made a commitment to move the current Service Nova Scotia outlet to Sable Island.

This week we chat with noted historian and labour activist , who recently donated an incredibly thorough archive of material focusing on African Nova Scotian history to Saint Mary's University. Also, we dig into the Liberal government's ongoing across the province as the likelihood of an election looms, and more  is aimed at Gregory Lenehan, the judge who acquitted Halifax cabbie Bassam Al-Rawi of charges of sexual assault.

This week we speak with , the former president of Cape Breton University and current NDP candidate in Halifax-Armdale for the upcoming provincial election. In a wide-ranging conversation, he talks about his tenure at CBU, his frustration with the Liberal government's lack of commitment for education funding, and his stance on fracking and the effects of climate change. Also, ? Is that seriously a thing? At least Mark Lever and co will have 28 more newspapers to screw with once they've finished running the Chronicle Herald into the ground. Hey - readers of the St. John's Telegram, Charlottetown Guardian, Cape Breton Post, Post-Aux-Basques Gulf News and 24 others? Your paper may soon look like .

Victor Syperek has been a driving force in Halifax's bar, restaurant, and music scene for close to a quarter-century. For the first time, though, he'll be saying goodbye to Argyle Street and consolidating his interests north on Gottingen. Syperek claims his iconic Economy Shoe Shop has lost close to $2-million since construction on the Nova Centre began five years ago. Also, with nearly $65-million pledged by the provincial government in spending announcements over the past few weeks, you can smell an election call in the air. 

Former Halifax journalist has grown into one of the few dedicated environmental reporters in Canada. Now based in Toronto and writing for Vice News, Beaumont has recently covered stories such as the in South Dakota, the Arctic's , and the ridiculous number of permanent across the country. Also, the and its many exemptions limps toward a final approval in 2018, how will it look for Haligonians to , and Matt Whitman's weekly dose of .

Last week saw a featuring Halifax police chief Jean-Michel Blais. The forum, held at the North Branch library, was meant to address recently-released data that showed that Black Haligonians are subject to street checks at three times the rate of whites. While the intention of the meeting was ostensibly to mend fences, it went quickly off the rails - to put it mildly. Former poet laureate and Halifax Examiner columnist El Jones was at the meeting and will join us in a bit to discuss what went down. Plus, the Cornwallis Baptist church will soon become the , city council pushed 's proposed 20-storey apartment building (aka. 'the student craphole of the future') to a public hearing, and city staff recommending public consultation on campaign finance reform.

This week we speak with Simon Greenland-Smith and Cameron Lowe of , a student lobby group working to get Dalhousie University to stop investing in fossil fuels.   Also, Bassam al-Rawi was but now he's , Stephen McNeil takes a in the polls, Canso could be the , and the New York Times hits Halifax to report on basketball and our

This week we present a rebroadcast of our roundtable on the state of Atlantic Canadian journalism, featuring Tim, Terra Tailleur, and . This was recorded live at The Marquee in Halifax on Friday March 3, 2017. Also, no other story has so thoroughly dominated the news this past week as the ongoing controversy around the acquittal of former Halifax cabbie Bassam al-Rawi. Developments in this have been occurring daily, and we bring you up to speed.

Haligonians are outraged at this week's decision by a Nova Scotia judge to acquit a cab driver of . Judge Gregory Lenehan determined that the Crown hadn't provided sufficient  proof of lack of consent, despite the testimony of an expert witness and the fact that the alleged victim was unconscious at the time of the incident.  We speak with Susan Wilson, a program coordinator with the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre about the incident in question, the low rates of reporting of sexual assaults, and why the miniscule conviction rate is discouraging victims from reporting. In other news, former premier , teachers plan to remain pissed for the next four years, and cops still can't track down their missing evidence. The Avalon Centre Report referenced by Wilson is available , while Robyn Doolittle's groundbreaking series, Unfounded, can be read .

Snow and teachers. Teachers and snow. Did anything else happen since I left Halifax? This week we speak to former NDP Finance Minister and current CBC pundit about the Liberal government's strategy to impose a contract on Nova Scotia's teachers. Will it succeed? Will any Liberal MLAs cross the floor? What effect will this have on other public sector unions in the province? And, how will this impact the next election?

The province is mulling over options to rebuild or refurbish the dilapidated , and certainly isn't ruling out a P3 (public-private partnership) option. This, despite the that resulted in the province paying way more for 39 schools across the province than it should have. Also, the Nova Scotia Teachers' Union reinstates work-to-rule ahead of its February 8 strike vote, the Sipekne’katik First Nation scores a against the province, and the  looks to sit down with its striking workers for the first time in months.