“Time and again publics trust governments to ensure that companies operate with reasonable prudence. Time and again we are shocked by a new disaster caused by corporate negligence.”

An interview with Susan Dodd about her book on the Ocean Ranger disaster.

Back home the American owner of the Donkin mine is facing a mine closure, a potentially very costly dispute with shareholders, lawsuits, and a general move away from coal. No wonder its shares tumbled by 80 percent in 2015.

A new ferry named after Viola Desmond would be a wonderful thing.

The safety record of US coal mines operated by the new owner of the Donkin mine is worrisome. That’s why unionization is crucial. “When there is no union there and a worker speaks up, I would hope that the company would listen, but they answer to their shareholders. They have to make money, and sometimes they sidestep these issues.”

Gentrification in Halifax is pushing original residents out and changing the neighborhood, and not for the better. That’s why residents attended a community meeting last week that was all about pushing back.

Sydney has always been a union town, says Chronicle Herald reporter Tom Ayers, who together with his colleagues receives huge amounts of support from local residents while on the picket line.

Still, never mind the love, the coffees and the cookies, Ayers and his colleagues would much rather be doing their job, writing stories, taking pictures, and talking to people in the community about things that matter.