Nova Scotia's justice system is battered and bruised. Two high-profile cases, both involving the alleged sexual assault of young people, have sorely tested the public's confidence in both the people who investigate the crimes and the people who prosecute them.In each case officials are scrambling to restore the public's trust by ordering reviews of how police and prosecutors dealt with the complaints.The first, of course, is the sad story of Rethaeh Parsons. Facing a tsunami of public pressure -- much...
On Tuesday, Justice Minister Ross Landry learned first hand the power of social media. It's a lesson he's learning the hard way.Earlier in the week, Leah Parsons turned to social media to tell the heart-wrenching story of her daughter Rehtaeh's suicide. When her story was picked up by mainstream media Landry was asked to explain why the teenage boys who allegedly sexually assaulted Rehtaeh weren't charged, either with the attack or with texting a picture to all their friends. Landry...
Last April the province unveiled its brand new Serious Incident Response Team. The agency was established to conduct independent and transparent investigations of all serious incidents involving police officers.The idea is to give the public more confidence in investigations that were previously handled by other police departments.But as its first year of operations winds down, there are questions about the breadth of its mandate.Let me give you two scenarios: In the first, a suspect trying to flee police jumps off...
Journalists ask a lot of questions. It's our job. But increasingly, with some federal government agencies, getting answers is proving to be frustrating, and at times, all but fruitless.Let me tell you about our experience this week with the Canada Border Service Agency, the federal department tasked with "keeping Canada's border open to travel and trade but closed to crime."We received a tip that two crewmen from the Wadi Alarab, an Egyptian-registered bulk carrier moored at Halterm, were AWOL. We...
Sitting through the trial of former MLA Russell MacKinnon last week seemed a lot like what baseball great Yogi Berra once called "deja vu all over again."As the fourth day of his trial was about to begin, MacKinnon, who represented Cape Breton West for 20 years, pleaded guilty to breach of trust. But before his change of heart the court heard details of exactly how he scammed taxpayers out of thousands of dollars.MacKinnon submitted receipts to the Speaker's office claiming...
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