Mary Campbell, an independent journalist in Cape Breton, is getting the silent treatment from the person in charge of media relations at CBRM because she is not happy about Campbell’s reporting. Not only is the criticism unwarranted, Campbell suggests, it also makes it difficult for her to do her job. Who is to say what is and isn’t balanced reporting?
Nova Scotia gets a failing grade in this year’s Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Nova Scotia. The annual report tracks child poverty relative to previous years and other provinces, and this year there isn’t even a glimmer of good news.
The sailors of the Dutch Runner, stranded in Port Hawkesbury, have been fully paid and are on their way home. “This is about five guys sticking together and not accepting what was in front of them,” says ITF inspector Karl Risser. “And it is also about other members of the labour movement stepping up to the plate.”
A ship with a crew of five is stuck in Port Hawkesbury while Karl Risser, an inspector for the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is trying to resolve issues around unpaid wages, bad working conditions and ship safety. He sees a lot of this kind of thing, Risser explains, and trade agreements like CETA will only make it worse.
Last week we reported that Mainline Needle Exchange in Halifax is facing a budget crunch, this week the news is that its Cape Breton counterpart may well close its doors early next year because the federal government is no longer funding the organization. Time for the province to step up to the plate.
This Labour Day weekend video features singer/songwriter Ernest Laidlaw performing his original tune “Standin’ the Gaff”, about the bloody miners’ strike in 1925 Cape Breton. It’s really good.
Public libraries in rural Nova Scotia know all about austerity, they have been living it for decades.
It’s Too Big, this week’s featured documentary, makes a convincing case against the biomass plant in Point Tupper. It’s short (just 10 minutes), it’s made by volunteers under the guidance of ACALA TV in Antigonish, and it’s very good.
Cape Breton University is financially stable and talk of faculty layoffs is unwarranted, the president of the Faculty Association charges.
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.