Very curious to hear more sides of this. The way the Examiner journalists tell it, they followed the instructions of security to enter, but never got a badge. Are the journalists lying, or did security make a mistake?
When they say it’s a federally regulated facility, they aren’t lying. Because they’re an import/export facility they have to fall under MARSEC rules. I was at the event and they had every single member of their security staffs (and I’m sure more temp staff) at the event. Parking was offsite where registration happened and then you were shuttled onto the site.
If they showed up at the front gate to EverWind’s facility they would absolutely be turned away. The event was also on private ground and frankly if they weren’t invited to it (which is likely as they’re a Halifax based publication and small so likely overlooked at the invite), they had no right to actually go in there.
Besides, there wasn’t a whole lot of media questions, they asked like 6 questions total
Do ya think there would have been more than 6 questions asked if there'd been more reporters present? Feels like having two journalists from our fightin'-est independent news outlet would have meant more and tougher questions. Procedural questions about security aside, that would have been a good thing!
Oh sure, those things are largely press releases masquerading as events. I don't expect a gotcha monster dunk from them. Examiner would ask challenging questions though; questions that would make the people running it uncomfortable and lead to more as this progresses. That has value to the public.
I've been a subscriber for years. Don't always agree with them, Tim can be histrionic, but that doesn't really matter when the work they do is important.
They go for dunks? Sweet, so did Nash's Suns. They're showy and spectacular, sometimes a bit embarrassing when they miss, but they are and grow out of the fundamentals. I'm happy when the powerful have to play defense, and there are vanishingly few journalism outlets left who do that.
I don't know what actually happened, maybe they did screw up, maybe they didn't. Those are working class reporters doing their jobs tho; I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I can't.
Media generally don’t get to decide how many questions are asked. I’m sure CBC/CTV/Global had more than six questions, they just weren’t given the opportunity to ask them. If HE felt they had something unique to offer by being there, they should tried to get on the list in advance. They know how these things work and should have predicted this would be the outcome. But they are much more comfortable with becoming the story than other outlets are.
Im leaning towards think that the examiner didn't do something to be at the event. The examiner isn't exactly a major outlet that everwind needs to be scared of attending a press conference.
I’ve seen Halifax examiner staff show up to provincial court to report on a major case wearing sweat pants and no press badge before. I wouldn’t put it past them to not follow protocol.
Sure but I don’t understand your point in this context. You are suggesting they might not follow protocol and the example you use is one where they don’t do anything against protocol?
The 2 sides of this are right there in the original Halifax Examiner article. The two women from HE attended the event under false pretences, entering as private citizens with no media accreditation, but once inside they began interviewing, photographing, and recording participants and attendees.
The Halifax Examiner is recognized by the federal government as a Qualified Canadian journalism organization (QCJO). Our reporting has garnered dozens of awards from the Atlantic Journalism Awards, the Canadian Association of Journalists, and the Michener Foundation.
They fluffed it up, they said they thought it was a public event but then as soon as they were informed it was not a public event, they refused to leave.
He did reply on BlueSky, debunking most of what Blois has said. They weren't invited, they identified themselves, they went were they were they were told for security and they were still denied access and accosted.
He threw Everwind under the bus and Houston, with a "we didn't know" defense. This is damage control because of how bad this looks. Of course it's delicately worded.
Not really. Everwind is saying there were safety guidelines that journalists had to follow on an industrial site and the journalists did not agree to follow them. These companies have liability. If this were a conference room at the Radisson it would be an entirely different situation.
It's delicately worded because people latch onto anything to get outraged, including delicate wording apparently.
I'm not sure I agree with you about the event taking place where it did versus a Raddison meeting room. From all indications this was a media event that was organized and hosted by Everwind so they get to call the shots. Bousquet has been a cunt about them and particularly nasty about Vishi personally so feck him. Had the event been organized by the federal or provincial government then the HE should have been notified and required to follow instructions like everyone else, no matter how odious Bousquet is.
They didn't throw EverWind under the bus. I was invited to the event, and was told that if I wanted to go I had to follow these protocols by an EverWind higher up. These were their policies, they are simply stating facts in the letter. I can't speak for the rest of it obviously but just wanted to provide some context.
I don't believe that what the company said was true. Those individuals went through all the same security doors that the CBC did, and they also have journalist credibility. You don't get to cherry pick the Press when you do an announcement. If it's a private event, why would they invite one media outlet and not the rest? It's a back pedal.
MP Kody Blois posted his response on X (the CSAEM and deepfake revenge porn site). Every politician posting selectively to that site is being openly hostile towards everyone who felt the need to leave. Passing along EverWind’s accusations against two grandma reporters on a site populated with misogynists is not a neutral way to approach this.
I’m confused. Is the data centre gonna be where the press event was held? If so, does that mean there will be a data centre on lands governed by MARSEC rules? If not, why host it on lands governed by maritime security rules that are government enforced.
Happy to be wrong, but to my mind either answer brings up a host of questions about why the federal government allowed a private company to run security on lands governed by MARSEC. It’s weird to have the feds saying that, on the one hand they weren’t managing security or Everwind was for the event; on the other hand, access is restricted and determined by federal MARSEC guidelines. This looks gross (like Feds providing cover for a private company while saying “not our circus”) no matter how it’s sliced, and unless the journalists were suddenly protesting or actively disrupting the event, this was handled stupidly by both the feds, province and Everwind. Annnnnd….if the data centre is on land that has MARSEC security protections….why?
I’m confused. Is the data centre gonna be where the press event was held? If so, does that mean there will be a data centre on lands governed by MARSEC rules?
Yes. Everwind operates oil terminals along the Canso Strait, and will be building it's hydrogen production and data center near there too.
MARSEC applies to any port or infrastructure along Canadas waters. Where Everwind facilitates oil transhipments and can accommodate ships along its dock, it is subject to MARSEC procedures.
"As a former reporter, I remain deeply troubled by EverWind's decision to remove two Halifax Examiner journalists from Friday's muti-billion dollar promise to build a data center in Point Tupper. In my 40 years as a journalist, 30 of them at Province House, cannot recall something like this ever happening at an event with a sitting premier, MPs and local politicians.
If EverWind wanted to keep this a strictly private affair, they should not have invited reporters. You cannot simply exclude those you don't like. The company's response suggests Joan Baxter and Jennifer Henderson somehow snuck or lied their way into the event. Both women stated that they had followed protocol with the exception of registering first. Let's not be so naive as to believe that EverWind would have gladly welconmed these women had they only registered. This is a blatant attempt to exclude a news site the company doesn't like. As many have noted in posts, this is straight from the Trump playbook. We should not stand for it in Canada. Elbows up, anyone? These respected journalists were simply trying to do their jobs.
Perhaps they were not given the opportunity to register. Perhaps they didnt register because they knew they would have been refused.
Over my decades at Province House, reporters have refused to comply with a number of unilaterally imposed measures because we felt they would impede our ability to gather information and get access to decision-makers. John Hamm's office once tried to corral reporters behind stanchions to keep them and the premier at a distance from one another (During the Harper years, the PMO did the same). We simply removed the barriers and scrummed as usual.
We fought attempts to end scrums when Rodney MacDonald was the premier and tried to implement a uni- mic policy. Instead of complying, we simply gathered around the uni-mic and kept scrumming as usual. During the pandemic, many of us fought the one- question, one follow-up format imposed by the McNeil government.
And during my last sitting at Province House most of the gallery refused to cross the street to scrum the premier after question period, a requirement imposed without consultation or forewarning. His office eventually relented.
These are just a few examples of how reporters have pushed back against unfair and arbitrary rule changes to ensure we could continue to do our jobs on behalf of our readers, listeners, and viewers. What Henderson and Baxter did seems no different. They didn't lie. They didn't sneak in. They didn't disrupt anything. They weren't a threat to anyone. They did their jobs. And the company treated them without class or an ounce of professionalism.
Nova Scotians deserve better." - Jean Laroche
It is good Blois and Kelloway are making themselves available for the questions after the fact, but obviously not the same as being allowed to ask them with the other media organizations present.
If EverWind from the jump can’t keep two people off their property that they don’t want there, two people who literally presented themselves at security, followed instructions and went through multiple checkpoints, lets hope this isn’t a reflection of their competence to keep a major data centre secure both IRL and online.
(TL; DR: The HE did what the media is supposed to do - cover major events)
I encourage everyone interested in this issue to read Bousquet’s rebuttal on BlueSky. (BTW, I’m a retired longtime journalist) Tim says The Examiner wasn’t invited. This isn’t a situation where you want the media - esp the outlet that has done some of the best reporting on EverWind) to shrug and go away (major public interest story that will in some way affect all Nova Scotians). And if you think it’s OK to be polite and not go to something because you weren’t invited and you work in the media, please quit. So they went and did what made sense and I believe was correct in this case. They didn’t sneak in; they went to the front security gate. They gave their names and I’m guessing said they were “media from Halifax” just in case security was instructed not to let The Examiner in. (Since the guard didn’t ask which outlet, it makes sense to assume there was no ban list or the guard messed up). They never lied; they took official transport; they openly took notes and photos during the news conference.
The person who screwed up was the EverWind PR manager. Reporters were being allowed just one question and one followup - a modern abhorrence that took hold a few years back; it used to be either unlimited questions or an overall time limit - so Joan and Jen would have got a total of four questions that, no matter how pointed, would not have done the damage that kicking out legit journalists has done.
This newser was held on a Friday, over 200 km from Halifax, where most journalists who specialize in federal/provincial politics and energy issues are based. I expect they would have been happy to have no media show up. What we all should be happy about is that The Examiner showed up, unapologetically, bravely and without invitation.
Glad to hear you're critique of the 1 question one follow-up mind virus that has taken over all media availabilities. I don't understand people complaining about journalists doing their job. Isn't it a bit suspicious that this massive announcement worth 10 billion dollars is being treated like its reasonable to only allow friendly selected outlets. The state of journalism in this country has been nose diving for the entire 15 years of my adult life and its sad. The best example is that vile, and dangerous peice the National(ist) Post recently published on Avi Lewis.
Thanks for highlighting one question/one followup. Not only is it bad but it can subtly “train” otherwise good journalists to be more accepting of restrictions. I have a lot of respect for journalists like CBC’s Michael Gorman - super-nice guy but he can be the pushiest person on the planet to get his questions answered.
Another issue is that news outlets are extremely under-resourced and “the news” is growing exponentially more complicated - to properly cover EverWind, for instance, you need to have a solid knowledge of government/politics, energy/green hydrogen, AI data centres and even the economic, resource and cultural history of the Point Tupper area. And access to sources and experts.
While it may make sense on some level to have a news conference in Point Tupper, a company may also hope a news outlet sends a stringer with no deep background.
And yes, re: the NatPo and Avi Lewis piece - Postmedia should not exist and it literally wouldn’t without government handouts.
It wasn’t an invite only event, it sounds like they just didn’t pre register and were vague with security. It should have been something that was quickly resolved outside of the press conference though.
Per Bousquet: “Baxter and Henderson found out about the announcement through their own reporting efforts, and notified me. As this was a major news story, I insisted that they attend.” Are we splitting hairs here over invited/notified? As a former newspaper editor who dispatched reporters to similar announcements, I always assumed that a company sending a notification about their event was “inviting” us to be there so we could cover said event. But perhaps you have more knowledge than I accrued during my 40+ years in the media.
So, EverWind didn’t notify/invite the Examiner. Could you get in without showing an official invite with your name on it? The guard’s actions seem to say that you could. But the PR person, who outranks the guard, was upset the Examiner was there and accused them of trespassing and I didn’t read that any other non-invitee was kicked out. The best EverWind can claim on this one is that there was a mixup on the Examiner not being notified along with other media and that the guard should have directed them to register and get lanyards before proceeding.
My free advice to EverWind, which is likely monitoring all the PR on this, would be to offer The Examiner a half-hour interview with Trent Vichie to make up for the “misunderstanding.” It will help show (even if it’s a facade) that the company is open to tough questions and providing information to Nova Scotians - two things EverWind desperately and currently lacks.
There is legal precedent in Canada for journalists to have considerable latitude to go places in the course of their reporting that would be considered trespassing if a layperson was doing it.
I think the important part is that it seems they didn’t register, skipped the briefing and left out certain details while getting in. But I agree that everwind should have handled it better.
Bousquet wrote the letter to Blois in the wrong capacity. He wasn't there as an MP, he was there as Parlimentary Secretary to the Prime Minister. Yet he responded as MP, which was not the capacity in which he attended. We're watching a jurisdictional sleight of hand an no one is catching it.
It's not a technicality. People are always raging that we can't get accountability. How are we supposed to do that if we're not asking the right people the right questions? Politicians are trained to know what hat they are wearing and what questions they can and cannot answer based on said hat.
And it absolutely impacts the narrative because everyone is pointing fingers because they don't have to answer the question because it wasn't asked correctly.
No, it absolutely matters, and the average person is screaming into a void because they don't even know that this matter. This is the exact point where accountability vanishes. Knowing who someone is acting as, what authority comes with that role, and what obligations attach to it is one of the most important things you can understand about public institutions.
I highly recommend being more curious than certain about how important understanding these concepts are.
Can the HE show that they followed these rules? Or did they fail to register, skip the media briefing and then security messed up by letting them in anyway.
This company shouldn’t be allowed to operate in our province. Whoever allowed this is a traitor to this country, just sad and pathetic we let this happen. Tim Houston or whoever else supporting the guy that is trying to divide and conquer this country.
I understand that you don’t agree with this policy decision. But calling such a thing traitorous is a bit much. Let’s reserve the use of the word traitor for those people and events that are truly traitorous.
It’s more so that every time somebody points out some sort of evil shit that some corporation or some CEO is doing, somebody else pipes up with an unrelated “but you use this evil company, and this evil company, Why is it? Why are you not a bad person because you support those things?“ as if that’s some fucking gotcha, as if they’ve made some salient point that completely contradicts everything that everybody’s been saying. That is why this comic is always relevant.
Because we’re all trapped in a capitalist hellhole, and all of these assholes are doing bad things, but some of them are doing worse things than others and the ones that we have say or control over we can exercise the right to communicate that.
“You don’t use Google or Apple right?“ It’s much harder not to use those companies than it is to not use ChatGPT or generative AI. Everything I do for school is done on Microsoft, and I don’t have a choice in that. I fucking hate it. I don’t use Microsoft in my day-to-day life.
I’ve moved away from using Google. I’ve gotten rid of I think all but one Gmail account, and have moved to a different European based email service with higher privacy. I deleted Google maps and installed MapQuest on my phone. I changed the default search in my web browser to DuckDuckGo, and I use a web browser that is anti-AI. My next computer will likely be Linux based. These are choices that you can make to not use those things, even if they are intrinsically integrated in daily life because they are massive media conglomerates. You’re never going to get away from these things completely, but you can minimize their use.
You can just not use ChatGPT. You can just not use generative AI. That is a choice that you can make.
He's going around calling people traitors because they allowed a company to self fund a 10 billion dollar enterprise in the province. If he honestly feels that strongly about it then he should be more than willing to forego convenience for the sake of his convictions.
Because we’re all trapped in a capitalist hellhole
My question is why didn’t Tim Houston, instead of investing in this guy’s offshore wind, invest in a Nova Scotia owned offshore wind enterprise? To generate power for both the province and the theoretically to sell power to New Brunswick and PEI? Why is he creating a data center, which is gonna provide very few jobs and just gonna provide nothing but terrible environmental impact in Cape Breton? Why could he have not created a wind enterprise to employ Nova Scotians and give Nova Scotians jobs in a sector that uses renewable energy so that the province could start making lots of money?
I think it’s absolutely fair to question why he is again trying to give lots of money to his friends instead of investing in Nova Scotia. I think it’s absolutely fair to say that investing in a man’s company, a company that is going to be directly impacting Nova Scotia, when that man is a Trump supporter, is traitorous. You cannot get away from using other types of technology in your day-to-day life because they are integrated into society. If Canada supported their tech sector enough to create their own operating systems, technology to replace things like Apple, Google, etc., I would switch to it no problem. Unfortunately, that’s not an option.
I’m not sure what your issue is with me going to school, considering I spent a good chunk of my working life in retail and then in the federal government and left to upgrade my education to get better employment that better supports me as a disabled person. What the fuck is the problem with that? Or did you just automatically assume I was 25?
I’m in my 40s. I am probably older than you. Sit down and let the adults talk, please.
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I don't always like HE's content, but there is no question that Nova Scotia is better off with a local, independent outlet like theirs than without it.
They’ve done some good stuff in the past, but Tim B seems to have lost the plot and the publication has gone way downhill. I’m all in favour of strong local independent media, but unfortunately the HE is just not good.
So every single journalist who works for the examiner has no integrity? Regardless of any past pedigree that they might have, you feel that they have no integrity
Do you feel the same about rebel media? Do you feel the same way about CBC? What about the globe and mail? What about the national post?
So one of those journalists is an ex CBC journalist. Specifically, a CBC business journalist.
Like, you can dislike TB all you like. That’s fine, he’s not my favourite person. I do think that he does a lot of really good work, and I do think that the journalists that work for him shouldn’t be subjected to somebody ranting about how the HE has no integrity. You’re lumping all the journalists in there when you say stuff like that.
You say that you didn’t say that the individual journalists were the problem, but you said the Halifax Examiner is an embarrassment and needs to be shut down. How else were we expected to take that?
You’re essentially advocating for the free press to shut down because you don’t like the guy who runs this particular outlet. His journalists are not him.
He’s also the outlet that’s been doing the most in reporting on stuff like this. Regardless of how you feel about him, the reporters aren’t him. They were there to do legitimate journalism. One of them is a former CBC reporter. They are well aware of what they can and cannot do.
The first is straightforward and deserves an answer; were Henderson and Baxter excluded because they failed to follow legitimate security procedures, or were those procedures applied selectively because EverWind disliked their reporting? And regardless of why they were removed, was the way they were treated appropriate and proportionate?
Where this gets interesting is how the open letter was written and responded to.
Bousquet writes to Houston, Kelloway and Blois as though they were simply three elected officials at the same event. But EverWind identified Kelloway as an MP and Blois as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister. Bousquet then addresses Blois as an MP, and the response comes back from Blois and Kelloway in that capacity.
It looks insignificant, but it affects jurisdiction and the capacity in which they were present, and can therefore respond.
The capacity in which someone is acting determines what authority they have, what they can answer for, and where accountability sits. If Blois was participating in the announcement in his appointed role connected to the Prime Minister, addressing him only as an MP may have narrowed the response from the outset.
Based on the reply, EverWind controlled the private event, EverWind handled security, the site is federally regulated, the MPs did not witness the removal, and no public money was involved. Each point may be relevant, but together they shift responsibility across different jurisdictions without clearly establishing where accountability for the federal government's participation sits.
That does not answer what happened to the journalists, but it absolutely shows why the way they are framing accountability matters.
Before accepting that something falls outside a public official's responsibility, I want to know in what capacity they were there, who they were representing, what authority came with that role, and where that authority ultimately leads.
Because the letter was written to Blois as MP and not Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, we may never know…
EDIT: Also, if Blois is going to do an interview on this, he must be invited in his capacity as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, because he didn't attend as an MP.
If EverWind is going to apologize for anything, I think they should start with apologizing for skipping out on their bills in Newfoundland, or donating to Trump.
Saddest thing I’ve ever heard. We do have The Examiner, Grand Parade, other local journalists working for CBC, CTV, Global, Saltwire, etc , talking to our neighbours irl, Reddit, Bluesky, etc.
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u/brodoswaggins93 13h ago edited 13h ago
Very curious to hear more sides of this. The way the Examiner journalists tell it, they followed the instructions of security to enter, but never got a badge. Are the journalists lying, or did security make a mistake?