The Nova Scotia Government Employees Union can't be too happy with their brothers and sisters at CUPE. 3,500 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees who work for hospitals throughout Nova Scotia have now ratified a new agreement that gives then a 7.5 per cent wage increase over three years. That's not a bad wage hike, but the deal effectively kneecaps the NSGEU's efforts to get its healthcare workers an even bigger pay cheque. You'll remember the...
You know Halifax has an image problem when your average Tim on the street is unfazed by a shooting in broad daylight on one of the city's busiest streets. Tim is Tim McGowan, a construction worker helping to renovate the old Blockbuster video store on Quinpool Road. When I spoke with Tim on Thursday afternoon, he had just watched police cars screaming down the road as officers, with their weapons drawn, pulled over a late-model Cadillac. Moments...
Spoiled brats or social activists? The students protesting tuition hikes in Quebec have been called both. To many watching from outside the province the intensity of the student strike is difficult to comprehend. Skyrocketing tuition rates have been a fact of life for most Canadian students, with Nova Scotia leading the pack, while their Quebec counterparts have enjoyed the lowest rates in the country. Inside Quebec, they've been labelled by some as lawless thugs, clashing with police amid...
"There will be a lot of people on Facebook eating a big plate of crow today".Those were the words of Eva Campbell, upon hearing that Christopher Falconer, a convicted murderer out on parole, had been charged with killing Amber Kirwan. Campbell, is Mason Campbell's mother, Amber's boyfriend. Shortly after Amber disappeared while walking from a New Glasgow bar to meet Mason, social media sites were flooded with rumours and innuendo, many pointing the finger of blame at Campbell."They weren't just...
"I can't believe we are even having this conversation". That was the reaction from Emera's spokesperson when I called looking for confirmation of a tip we received that the company threw a lavish private party for its board of directors and senior management team, the day after applying for yet another rate hike. The implication was clear: in their view this was a non-story.Judging from the flood of comments on our website, most Nova Scotians disagree.So do our political leaders,...
