Media release: The Faculty Union of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (FUNSCAD) are very concerned by the information revealed in the Globe and Mail ( June 7, 2021) on the ongoing lack of transparency over the firing of the previous president and the Board of Governors’ plans for the school’s future.
I interviewed Joan Baxter, author of The Mill, and all round excellent reporter. We talked to Joan about bringing her African experience to Nova Scotia, what’s good and not so good about journalism here, the dangers of too much skepticism, the walls governments build around information, why give up your weekend to sit behind a computer, and much more. “That’s the very long story about how I got to be old and cranky,” Baxter said.
Late last year I received a response to a Freedom of Information request that has all significant information greyed out. It’s a presentation about cost savings as a result of the Community Services Transformation Project. If a government initiative potentially will save money, possibly at the detriment of service levels, shouldn’t we be allowed to know how so, and how much?
The City of Halifax could save millions of dollars if it were to expand its permanent staff rather than pay for expensive consultants. That is the conclusion of a business case developed by the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) division of the city acquired by the Nova Scotia Advocate through a Freedom of Information request.
Halifax Regional Police is reluctant to say how secure the carding data it collects really is. Since this information is pretty private you’d think they’d be eager to assure the public that there is no reason to worry. But even a FOIPOP request hits a blue wall.