What Led to Consolidation

This article details some of the steps that led to the proposed consolidation of Antigonish. The bill to consolidate the Town and County is currently being debated in Halifax. Last month, close to 300 Antigonish residents met up at a make-shift town hall in Tracadie to voice their frustration towards the process. Liberal party leader Zack Churchill and NDP MLA and municipal affairs critic Kendra Coombs were present. Local Conservative MLAs Michelle Thompson and Greg Morrow were not. All italics in the article are mine unless mentioned otherwise. Special thanks to the people of the Town and County of Antigonish.  

The consolidation process has been described by its champions as led by the Town and County of Antigonish with help from the Department of Municipal Affairs (DMAH). As well, they claim that the residents of Antigonish have been sufficiently informed on the matter to the extent that a plebiscite is not required to amalgamate. Reading over internal DMAH communications as well as their communications with Antigonish, it’s evident it was them who created and implemented the consolidation process, as well as instructed the town and county on what to do. The DMAH consistently omitted information they believed would hurt their goal and the amalgamation of Antigonish, and in this aim were not transparent with staff and residents of Antigonish.  

On September 29, 2021, Kate Gorman, Marketing Communications Officer for the Town of Antigonish, emailed Ross MacDonald, Municipal Advisor at the DMAH, to follow up on an email from Nick Barr, Director of Governance and Advisory Services. She wrote, “[Barr] referenced- ‘There are many, many reports that support ‘regionalization’ but I won’t bog you down with those for the present purposes. I would actually like to read those reports, I think they would be very helpful for me moving forward through this process.” Gorman followed up on October 6, asking again for these reports to get a better understanding of the pros and cons of consolidation.  

MacDonald finally got back to Gorman on October 15, with a list of 12 materials and references, 8 of which were written before the year 2000. He added another document called ‘Reasons to consolidate- the successes,’ which he asked Gorman to share only with staff. Overall, the documents had a lot more ‘pros’ than ‘cons’ regarding consolidation.   

On October 18, 2021, Shirley Donovan, Strategic Initiatives Coordinator for the County, emailed Ross MacDonald asking if he could “find out if consolidation with the Town of Antigonish would affect our education contributions?” Ross forwarded that message to Bongsun Cho-Macdonald, Manager of Municipal Finances at the DMAH, at Nick Barr’s suggestion. He didn’t CC Donovan or Kate Gorman. Cho-Macdonald responded, explaining how education contributions work, then said, “Consolidation would impact Education because I assume that the consolidated municipality would have their new tax rates.”  

Barr, who was CC’ed by Cho-MacDonald, responded, “Just to be clear, the contribution will not increase as a result of a consolidation, it will simply be based on the combined UA for the new unit. In other words, the education contribution/rate is based solely on the UA and will not be impacted by any change in governance.” In Cho-MacDonald's response, he wrote, “I had that in my draft email but deleted because I didn’t know exactly what she is trying to figure out. Anyway my answer is yes and no because it is going to be impacted because new tax rates will be based on the new council's decision. Does this make sense?” Ross MacDonald responded, “Makes sense to me.”  

If you, the reader, are unsure if Education Contributions will rise, because it seems that Cho-MacDonald and Barr are making contradictory statements, that's the point. More on this later. It’s unclear what response Donovan got.

On February 17, 2022, at 3:55 PM Glen Horne, CAO of the Municipality of the County of Antigonish wrote an email titled ‘Subject: Consolidation Update to Nick Barr and Ross Macdonald’: “Good Afternoon DMAH friends... Our website is now active (https://antigonish/) and features our first iteration of FAQs... We are still driving to a council decision in June.” Six minutes later Mark Peck (Associate Deputy Minister at the DMAH), who was CC’ed in the email, forwarded it to Barr, adding that “[Horne] was very supportive of all you are doing for them btw.” Barr, the Director of Governance & Advisory Services at the Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing, wrote Glen Horne at 4:04: “Thanks Glen! This is great [smiley face emoji with blushing cheeks].” At 4:07 he emailed Peck, “I read through the FAQ’s and some of them aren’t 100% accurate, but I’m going to let it go. Nitpicking won’t do us any good.”  

To reiterate, the DMAH is telling the staff at Antigonish that their educational website is great, while privately admitting that the information is wrong. Kat Muth, a third-year Nursing student at StFX, isn’t at all surprised by Barr’s comments, “It feels like they’re trying to keep this whole thing hush-hush, they don’t care what the people here want.” 

Muth, who’s lived in the Town of Antigonish since 2021, said she hasn’t received any mail or notices from the town about consolidation. She added that this, coupled with the cloak and dagger techniques used to circumvent the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and deny the people of Antigonish a vote, has caused her to lose trust in the municipal and provincial governments to act in her best interest.  

Crucially, Barr didn’t even tell Horne that the website was inaccurate. The DMAH here is not taking the role of a neutral party assisting Antigonish in making an educated decision but curating the information available to Antigonish staff and residents in pursuit of their own goal. In their own words, “Nitpicking won’t do us any good.” The people of Antigonish are not included in that ‘us’, nor is Glen Horne.  

On June 21, 2022, the mayor and warden sent a letter to Minister Lohr entitled ‘RE: exploration of the consolidation of the Town and County of Antigonish,’ in which they wrote, “The Province of Nova Scotia is an important partner in this decision and the future of our municipalities and communities. Details and commitments concerning the process of a legislative merger and funding for transition and post transition are crucial to our decision. As our councils approach a decision point we want to take this opportunity share [sic] with you our process to date and discuss these two areas in particular.”    

On July 13, 2022, Glen Horne wrote a letter to Mark Peck, entitled ‘Re: Antigonish Consolidation Transition Funding approval.’ Horne wrote, “thank you for arranging and attending our July 6, 2022 meeting with Minister Lohr... Following our discussion with Minister Lohr, I would like to request a meeting with Town CAO Jeff Lawrence and I[sic] to begin to develop a proposal for transition funding in support of consolidation, should the Councils decide in favour. As you know, the province’s support in terms of transition funding is critical to our Council’ decision.” Subsequent emails indicate that Peck and Barr worked with Horne and Lawrence on the funding request in the following weeks. What became of it is missing or redacted in what I was able to access.  

In November of 2022, after both councils passed motion towards consolidation, the Minister wrote a response to an inquiry (CORR310M/smh) from a constituent concerned about the process.  In the draft letter of this email, he explained that consolidation was a council-led process, and that he “also want[s] to be clear about the financial support that the [DMAH] provided to the County and Town of Antigonish with respect to this process... At this time, the province has not committed to any other funding with respect to consolidation in Antigonish County.”  

Antigonish residents have indicated to me that they think it’s highly unlikely that the mayor and warden would have pushed through amalgamation without a promise, explicit or not, from the provincial government that they would be guaranteed funding. This mirrors what Glen Horne said in his letter to the minister.  

From a CBC article on February 27, 2024, Lohr says that the province will give money to Antigonish for transition costs, as it has for other municipal mergers. He didn’t say when that decision was made. An unnamed Antigonish resident suggested that on the July 6 meeting the province and Antigonish agreed to an implicit “under the table” non-binding commitment to funding that will be finalized at a later date. This would both reassure Antigonish enough to move forward towards consolidation as well as allow the minister to play fast and loose with the word ‘commitment’ in his letter to constituents. There is no evidence that proves this.  

The minister, in the draft letter to the constituent adds, “I would further note that the [MGA] does not require that a plebiscite be held to affect the proposed consolidation.” This is technically true in the most misleading definition of the word ‘true’.  The MGA does not require anything at all that could affect the proposed consolidation. Remember, the DMAH lobbied ‘consolidation’ with the express purpose to circumvent the MGA. To mention that the MGA does not require a plebiscite for consolidation but omit the fact that the consolidation process occurs outside of the MGA in a response to a constituent is intentionally deceiving. It would be like your waiter telling you that all their chicken eggs are free range but neglecting to say that your omelet’s made from duck egg. And the duck who laid it is chained to a cage in the basement. The DMAH and Communications Nova Scotia refused to provide me with the final version of this letter.  

While it’s unclear if the letter was edited before being sent out, it was written by a government official who was fully aware of the context deliberately being excluded in response to inquiries from a citizen of Nova Scotia about our democratic processes. This line, “The [MGA] does not require that a plebiscite be held to affect the proposed consolidation” was parroted in a Communications Nova Scotia ‘Issues Summary’ from March 9, 2023, without any other context.  

On October 10, 2021, Nick Barr emailed Stephen Ong, Director of Contracts and Special Projects at Justice Financial Advisory Services, regarding the town’s policing contract. In brief, the town and county have RCMP contracts that have a 70/30 cost share with the province. There was concern in the DMAH that a consolidated Antigonish would have their share rise to 90/10, paying significantly more money for the exact same service, like what happened to Windsor-West Hants. In this email Barr responded to Ong’s suggestion that it could be possible that a consolidated Antigonish keep its 70/30 split. This would be done by doing away with a regional municipality, and having the town join the county. This is the current plan for consolidation. Barr wrote, “When we went through the [Windsor-West Hants] consolidation, I didn’t understand this was an option.”   

About 10 minutes later, he forwarded the email chain to Mark Peck and Ross MacDonald, explaining, “On Thursday I told Glen that DoJ would get back to us this week but I'm not going to send him this information until the three of us have had the opportunity to discuss the matter first... Glen asked me what would happen if it turned out that consolidation would lead to an increased policing costs, and I told him that we’d have to discuss the matter internally to see if there was a willingness to provide some additional financing to mitigate such costs. Sorry for dropping the bad news on Thanksgiving.”  

The next day Ong answered some of Barr’s questions on the specifics of the PPSA (Provincial Police Service Agreement) and the MPSA (Municipal Police Service Agreement). Barr followed up with even more questions, including a clarification of how the definition of a municipality in clause 1.1(a) (rr) excludes rural municipalities under Chapter 295 of the Revised Statues of Nova Scotia 1989, the Municipal Act, and section 7 of the MGA from subsection 10.3, among others. To Barr’s credit, this is actually pretty complicated stuff. 

 Barr ended his email by asking for an in-person meeting with Ong, saying, “This is our #1 priority so we’ll work around your schedule.” Ong’s response stressed that Public Safety Canada (PSC) would have to agree to any course of action and based on what happened in Windsor-West Hants, it seems unlikely; “Thus, both the Town and County should be aware of the risk.”  

On October 12, 2021, Donna Jewers, Public Safety and Policing Consultant, who’d been CC’ed in all the previous emails, noted, “The best practice that we learned from Windsor-West Hants is to have PSC involved with discussions from the beginning... if Windsor/WH did not “consolidate” and change their name then the 70/30 split would probably have been allowed to continue, as it was a result of the name change that PSC determined it was a ‘new’ entity that impacted the 90/10 cost-share ratio. Due to that reference, it resulted in a $1.5 million increase in policing for the same service.” 

Putting aside “consolidate” in air quotes, this is outstanding. These emails demonstrate that consolidation cost Windsor-West Hants 1.5 MILLION DOLLARS for exactly what they had before. Windsor West Hant’s Operating Budget for 2023/24 is $31.1 million dollars, they’re paying $5.5M for policing.  Under a 70/30 split the exact same level of policing would cost $4.2M, meaning the Regional Municipality of West Hants loses over a million dollars every year because Nick Barr and the rest of the DMAH didn’t know any better. They rushed through an extremely complicated process without nearly enough due diligence and the people who suffer are the taxpayers of Windsor-West Hants.  

If the people of Windsor-West Hants look around their community and try to imagine how a million dollars every year could be put to work to benefit the community and wonder how the hell was that allowed to happen? Why didn’t I get a vote on this? What other hidden costs did consolidation bring? They aren’t alone. Unfortunately, the residents of Antigonish may soon be asking those same questions.  

From a CBC article in 2021 on the aftermath of consolidation, West Hants staff said expenses rose by $2 million “due to the Mandated Education Contributions and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police contract” (Remember the Education Contributions Nick Barr said won’t rise as a result of consolidation in Antigonish?). ‘Efficiencies’ saved West Hants $500,000 on the operating budget, which, for all of you business majors, is actually a lot less than $2 million. The ‘Best Practice’ the DMAH learned in West Hants cost taxpayers $1.5 million dollars a year. Who knows how much the “Best Practice” they learn in Antigonish will cost? 

Public knowledge of the work our elected--and especially our unelected--government does is crucial to a functioning democracy. Not knowing what our government does hurts us. To quote Nick Barr one more time, from an email to Ross MacDonald and Glen Horne on September 8, 2021, “We certainly don’t want anyone to be left with the impression that we’re hiding anything from the public.” What’s the public’s impression?  

The DMAH and Communications Nova Scotia were contacted for a quote for this story. They declined an interview and ignored most of my questions. All the emails I got were from copies of records under the FOIPOP Act (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act), of which only one of the copies is available online. 

Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing phone number: 902-424-6642. The person who answers your calls has nothing to do with the proposed amalgamation of Antigonish, but they can connect you with someone who does. 

On the Proposed Amalgamation of Antigonish

On October 20, 2022, the Municipality of the County of Antigonish and the Town of Antigonish passed resolutions asking the province to introduce special legislation to amalgamate them. In the County, Councillors Mary MacLellan, John Dunbar, and Gary Mattie voted against the proposition, Councillors Shawn Brophy and Harris McNamara abstained, and Warden Owen McCarron, Deputy Warden Bill MacFarlane and Councillors Donnie MacDonald, Hugh Stewart, Remi Deveau voted for it. At the time of the vote, Hugh Stewart was Deputy Warden and Bill MacFarlane was a Councillor. The Town also voted in favor of the resolution. Mayor Laurie Boucher, Deputy Mayor William Cormier, and Councillors Andrew Murray, Mary Farrell, voted for the motion while Councillors Sean Cameron, Donnie MacInnis and Diane Roberts voted against it.

This decision came over a year after both councils voted unanimously to explore consolidation. On May 15, 2022, a Town Council motion to have a plebiscite was defeated. In response to the previously mentioned October Resolution, a lawsuit was filed against the County, claiming the council had acted illegally. On December 6, 2023, Justice Gabriel declared that it was legal for the County to ask the province to pass special legislation. He said the issue of a plebiscite was not for the courts to decide.

On January 24, 2024, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing John Lohr wrote a letter to the mayor and warden, asking them to reaffirm the council’s resolution. Both councils are set to vote via Zoom on January 30, 2024. Even though Justice Gabriel’s ruling is currently being appealed, Lohr promises that if the councils renew their ask, “The Province is prepared to introduce special legislation during the next session of the Legislature, commencing on February 27.”

 Ironically, it was on February 27, 2018, that future Premier Tim Houston gave an impassioned speech critiquing the Minister of Municipal Affairs, at the time, on the proposed amalgamation of Houston’s riding of Pictou: “This government is obsessed with amalgamation. First it was the Health Authority, then it was the school boards, and now they're pushing the concept of municipal modernization... the heart of the problem is amalgamation itself. In a 2016 plebiscite the people of Pictou County made their feelings very clear, Mr. Speaker - two-thirds of the voters rejected a proposal for municipal amalgamation in the county. Any change to our governance structure should start with the people - what the people want. It shouldn't finish there... [the Minister could] just reiterate that he will not dictate terms or force amalgamation on Pictou County or any jurisdiction in this province.” Six years later, it is Houston’s own Minister of Municipal Affairs that is planning to pass legislation to amalgamate the County and the Town of Antigonish without a plebiscite. Has Premier Houston been in Halifax so long he’s forgotten that Antigonish County is also a jurisdiction in this province?  

This trajectory would mirror the process that created the West Hants Regional Municipality in 2020. If the legislation passes, the municipal elections in the Town and County scheduled for October 2024 will be postponed until the Spring of 2025. During that period, the Municipality of the County of Antigonish would be governed by a “Transition Committee” consisting of the mayor, the warden, and other municipal officials.

The Municipal Government Act (MGA) provides two avenues for municipalities in Nova Scotia to amalgamate, Parts XVI & XVII. There are some differences between the two processes, but both require the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (NSUARB) to take a prominent role, order studies and reports to determine if amalgamation will be in the best interest of the residents, and to hold hearings before rendering a decision. In Part XVII, the NSUARB must organize a plebiscite (a vote on amalgamation). In Part XVI it is not mandatory to order one. The plebiscite held in Antigonish in 2006 was ordered through Part XVI. The vote failed.

The proposed special legislation will circumvent the existing MGA, will not require a study to be done by the NSUARB to determine if it is in the best interest of the Town and County, and will not require a plebiscite. Simply put, the Government of Nova Scotia would pass legislation to join the Town to the County.

 The NSUARB approach and the special legislation approach are referred to as ‘Amalgamation’ & ‘Consolidation,’ respectively, by the Town and County of Antigonish. According to Antigonish.ca: “Whereas amalgamation or dissolution is a process where the NSUARB makes the decisions. With consolidation, the province would create special legislation to empower the “Transition Committee” that represents both municipal councils. The Transition Committee would have the authority to determine what the new Municipality would look like. The [NSUARB] would still be involved in reviewing elector district boundaries, but much of the detailed work of the merger would be coordinated locally.”

This definition is unique to municipalities in Nova Scotia. The difference between consolidation and amalgamation varies depending on where and in what context it is being used; the Canadian government’s definition of both terms as relates to business mergers is not synonymous with the definition on the Antigonish website.

Kevin Latimer, Coordinator for the Windsor-West Hants Consolidation, wrote an article, “Nova Scotia restructuring offers new model for consolidation”, which was published in Municipal World in September of 2019. This article was shared with the Town Council before they voted to explore consolidation. In the article, Latimer uses both consolidation and amalgamation without explaining any difference between the terms.

On September 12, 2021, Glen Horne, Chief Administrative Officer of Antigonish County wrote an email, in which he says, “Good morning Ross & Nick- We have identified the need to clearly distinguish between amalgamation and consolidation as we prepare our early communications.” Ross MacDonald, Municipal Advisor, and Nick Barr, Director Governance & Advisory Services, employees at the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing (DMAH) and report to Minister Lohr.

That same day Nick Barr wrote back, “Glen, the truth is that we started to use the word “consolidation” because, to your point, the word “amalgamation” has a very negative connotation for many residents [emphasis added]. That said, my advice is not to get too caught up in a debate over terminology but focus on process.” Here Barr admits to changing the terminology the government uses to inform the public because of its negative political connotation.

The next day at 8:43 a.m., hours before both councils voted towards exploring consolidation, Glen Horne wrote, “We can draft something ourselves [about consolidation vs. amalgamation] if necessary based on our understanding of the processes, However, I thought it would have greater standing and avoid some criticism from opponents if it came from the DMAH, as the authority on municipal reform and a neutral party in our ongoing conflict [emphasis added]... I hope I have made my request more clear.” The Oxford Dictionary’s definition of the word ‘propaganda’: “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.”

StFX students who live in the Town of Antigonish may be surprised that the town might no longer exist when they come back to school in September. An analogous situation would be if the StFX Students’ Union, which we elect every year, passed a resolution asking the province of Nova Scotia to dissolve it and join another union. Now, the U holds referendums yearly on particularly important issues, but imagine they decided against letting students vote on joining another union. That is in essence what the Town of Antigonish is asking the province to do.

Town of Antigonish Mayor Laurie Boucher highlighted in our interview, and on other media, that one of the benefits of special legislation is that it allows the Transition Committee to work on consolidation without the NSUARB. The Antigonish website states that, “The Transition Committee would have the authority to determine what the new Municipality would look like... much of the detailed work of the merger would be coordinated locally.” Critics of this process argue that this means a small group of people will create the municipality with far less oversight compared to what they would have under the traditional MGA process.

Warden Owen McCarron of the Municipality of the County of Antigonish said he’d be in touch for an interview but did not get back to me.

Mayor Boucher also pointed out that the Town and County conducted an extensive consultation process with residents in the Spring of 2022, as well as setting up a website, Antigonish.ca, which explains to the residents the benefits of consolidation. The website is easily accessible. Notably, in 2006, the NSUARB recommended amalgamation as a measure that would benefit both the Town and County of Antigonish.   

The consultations that were had with the public were concerning the creation of a Regional Municipality, like Halifax. However, the councils voted for the dissolution of the Town into the County to save money on policing costs. The mayor argues that in practice the difference is purely superficial, and all the core ideas remain the same; amalgamation will still follow the Town and County’s “7 Guiding Principles regarding Consolidation” (available on Antigonish.ca).

 One key difference between a Regional Municipality and a County is that a Regional Municipality (Class A) is given priority in applying for grants compared to a County (Class B). Grants are vital for the economic wellbeing of the Town and County. According to the mayor, “There might be something that would affect [grant application] but it wouldn’t affect it that much.” Councillor Sean Cameron disagrees: “If we were a Regional Government, it wouldn’t have an effect. But if we’re a Municipality of course it would.”  

It rubs some Antigonish residents the wrong way that amalgamation was not an issue on which the mayor, the warden, or any of the councillors campaigned. It was not a part of either council’s strategic plan. A petition with over 4000 signatures was circulated among the residents of Antigonish demanding a vote on amalgamation. A Mainstreet Poll was conducted in the Spring of 2023 as well, and had 70.4% of Antigonish residents in support of a plebiscite.

Assuming that Antigonish is dead set against using the MGA and having a plebiscite, there are still municipal elections scheduled for October, which would allow the mayor, warden and councillors to make their position on consolidation known to voters and ensure the new council had a democratic mandate. Councillor Cameron argues that even if the councils pass another resolution, the province shouldn’t introduce special legislation until the residents of Antigonish have a vote on the matter.  

Kat Muth, a third-year Nursing student at StFX, moved to the Town of Antigonish in May of 2021. She was excited to vote in the upcoming municipal elections and would be severely disappointed if she didn’t get the opportunity, “The fact that they're trying to pass the legislation when they should be listening to the people that actually live here is wrong.” Muth is concerned by the possibility that the town she calls home, which has existed for over a hundred years, will be dissolved without a vote or the consent of its residents.

In an op-ed from April 28, 2023, the mayor and warden wrote, “Historically, plebiscites have a low participation rate that undermines the legitimacy of the outcome.” It is important to note that both councils were elected with less than a 35 per cent turnout in 2020, amid a pandemic. In a report, Brighter Community Planning & Consulting, who were hired by the Town and County, wrote “Plebiscites are a blunt tool to engage the community, they may polarize residents instead of listening to their concerns and addressing them effectively in the decision making process.” This notion, that voting is somehow an ineffective way of practicing democracy, is something all Canadians should pay attention to. The mayor pointed out to me that plebiscites are not typical in Canada, especially at a municipal level. This is true, but should it be?

Antigonish residents may be split on whether they want to amalgamate, or how they want this amalgamation to take place, with either the NSUARB or the Transition Committee taking a central role in this process. But it doesn’t really matter. Whether the Town of Antigonish will dissolve and join the County is not an issue residents of either municipality will vote on. If the councils pass another resolution, the only Antigonish residents who can vote on Antigonish’s future are MLA Michelle Thompson (902-863-4266) and Greg Morrow (902-424-4388), MLA for Guysborough-Tracadie. Mr Morrow represents the eastern part of Antigonish County, including Tracadie, Linwood and Havre-Boucher.

Edit: This article has been edited for accuracy. The previous version inaccurately described Michelle Thompson as the only MLA from Antigonish.

Antigonish for Gaza Demonstrates Their Support For Palestine

Antigonish for Gaza demonstrated in front of Antigonish Town Hall on Saturday, November 25, for the International Day of Action for Palestine. Around 40 demonstrators held up signs and chanted in support of the millions of Palestinians in Gaza. At the time, there was a cease-fire in place between Israel and Hamas, the governing body of the Gaza Strip. During the cease-fire, Hamas and their allies released around 100 of the hostages taken on October 7 during an attack on Israel that killed over 1,200 people.  In return, Israel released 240 prisoners, many of them children aged between 14-17 according to the Washington Post. Since October 7, over 15,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, as well as 250 Palestinians in the West Bank.

As of the writing of this article, Israel and Hamas were once again at war, both sides accusing the other of violating the cease-fire. Chad, one the organizers of Antigonish for Gaza, anticipated this in his speech, saying, “We have been promised, by the war criminal Netanyahu, to his permanent disgrace, that this cease-fire is not meant to last.” Around 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced from their homes, as well as 500,000 Israelis.

Sarah, another of the organizers of Antigonish for Gaza, maintained on the 25th that, “We must remain vigilant in calling for a lasting perpetual peace, a peace that is long deserved by all civilians in the region. This peace is only possible when the Israeli occupation is extinguished. Palestine must be free.”

 Peace, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is “freedom from or the cessation of war or violence”. In the spring of 2022, UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk called the Israeli occupation of Palestine “apartheid”, saying “[Israel] conforms to the definition as a ‘political regime which so intentionally and clearly prioritizes fundamental political, legal and social rights to one group over another, within the same geographic unit on the basis of one’s racial-national-ethnic identity’”.

A cease-fire may allow the people of Gaza to live without fear of bombs. The elimination of Hamas, the IDF’s stated aim for this war, may even allow them to return to what used to be their homes. But only true freedom from the violence of apartheid will allow the Palestinian people to live in peace.

It is with this aim that Antigonish for Gaza did and will continue to demonstrate in support of the Palestinian people.  On November 20, the McGill Students’ Union held a referendum which voted for a “Policy against Genocide in Palestine” with 78.7 percent of the vote in favour. The policy demanded that McGill divest from companies and donors “complicit in genocide, settler-colonialism, apartheid, or ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.”  McGill was far from the only students’ union in Canada to use its platform to advocate for the Palestinian people. Students at York, the University of Toronto, and the University of Ottawa have made headlines in their support for Palestine.

Bloom-flation

Returning StFX students arrived back on campus this year to a most unwelcome surprise: the wildly popular ‘One Swipe’ program at the Bloomfield Café had been silently changed. This program allowed students to use one of their meal swipes to purchase a Bloomfield Burger or a Rita Wrap, which comes with a drink and small soup.

This September, students discovered some changes to the program, none of which were communicated to students prior to paying thousands of dollars on meal plans. As of the first week of classes this fall, the StFX website’s dining page states “The ONE-SWIPE Program is a Bloomfield Café exclusive program that allows you to use your meal swipes on select meal combo options between 11 AM-2 PM, Monday-Friday". Sodexo's StFX web page had a similar “The exclusive One Swipe Program allows you to use your meal swipe between 11:00am and 2:00pm to get a healthy and convenient lunch from our selected combo meal options”. Neither of these mention a new limit of 3 swipes per week was put in place, what had last year been 10 (2 a day 5 days a week).

J.T. Campbell, a second-year student from O’Regan, purchased the unlimited meal plan. He had intended to use Bloomfield up to five days a week, as he had been allowed to last year. “If I had been informed that they were altering [the meal plan] I would have preferred to use the money I spent on other food.” J.T. laments having to use his DCB to buy food at Bloomfield—due to the new limit—on top of his meal swipe.

Bob Hale, Director of Ancillary services at StFX, says not informing students before classes “was a mistake on [his] part”. He says that over the summer several different alterations were considered to the One-Swipe Program to ensure its continued availability amid rising inflation. The administration settled on keeping One-Swipe with an additional extra three-dollar charge. A ‘homestyle’ station was added at Bloomfield that uses One Swipe without the added cost. Hale points out that the vast majority of Universities in Canada have ditched similar programs in recent years, and that StFX and Sodexo were committed to saving it due to its popularity with students. Not informing students, says Hale, was a regrettable “oversight”.

Hale and Tim Hierlihy, Sodexo General Manager, named several of Sodexo’s other programs on Campus. Too Good To Go is a mobile app that sells surplus food in ‘surprise bags’ at 1/3 the original price, now available at Bloomfield. The CANO program is free to students and encourages sustainability by allowing users to “borrow well designed re-usable food containers” and rewarding them with points. Named after former Sodexo General Manager Kevin Fraser, Kevin’s Food Corner “is a free, confidential service accessible to any student who needs some assistance with the ever-increasing cost of groceries.”

https://www.stfx.ca/news/giving-tuesday-money-raised-will-help-kevins-corner-student-food-resource-centre-stfx

Elizabeth May Comes to StFX

Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green party, and perhaps the face of Climate Politics in Canada, came to campus last week for her fellowship lecture. It was titled, “The Planet Is on Fire: Can the Canadian Federation Respond or Do Our Provincial-Federal Squabbles Threaten Our Future?” It was presented by the The Brian Mulroney Institute of Government’s Distinguished Speakers Series. Her speech included several harsh critiques of Canada's environmental record, which May calls “the worst in the G7.”

May, as evidenced by the title of the speech, believes intergovernmental disputes between the provinces amongst themselves, and then with the federal government, are problematic. May points to the Atlantic Loop, a proposed project that would allow Quebec to provide the Atlantic provinces with energy as evidence. The province's publicly-owned energy utility, Hydro Quebec, sells the vast majority of its surplus energy to the United States. Some Nova Scotia politicians claim the Atlantic Loop would allow the province to shut down a majority, if not all, of their fossil fuel plants. May also talked about how the European Union, with dozens of different countries and official languages, has done a much better job at climate action and policy than Canada.

Elizabeth May strongly condemned the government of Stephen Harper for pulling out of the Kyoto Agreement, but there was another Conservative Prime Minister who received her favour. Unsurprisingly, the policies that Brian Muroney used to combat acid rain during his term received much support from May, “Objectively speaking, what [Mulroney] did worked.” She also touted his political work, “When was federalism working in this country? It was working when Brian Mulroney was Prime minister.” Evidently, what Brian Mulroney did worked.

During a Q&A with the audience, May was warm and welcoming to the diversity of questions asked. She criticized Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as encouraged students to stand up for their future. A low point came when a student asked May if she would ever consider running for office, seemingly unaware that Elizabeth May is the leader of the Green Party and has been a sitting member of parliament for almost two decades. Nonetheless, May took the question in stride, did not make the student feel small, and gave an eloquent elaboration on her role in politics. The overarching message of her speech seemed summed up in her quote, ‘“We have to figure out how to think like a country.”

The day before the speech, Elizabeth May sat down for a luncheon on the fourth floor of Mulroney Hall with a selection of Political Science students. Next year's Vice President Academic, Jack Harding, told May about the work he and the Antigonish League of People for Climate Action (ALPACA) have been doing to get StFX to move towards renewable energy and away from highly polluting Bunker-C Oil , as is currently used on campus.

I was lucky enough to snag an interview with May after the luncheon. It was scheduled for 15 minutes but lasted closer to an hour.

May explained a couple of the bills she is currently sponsoring and  jointly seconding in parliament;  C-210 would lower the voting age to 16, and

C-226 would “Confront environmental racism by bringing in a program for environmental justice.”

Interview with Christian Lejeune, First Year Representative

What made you pick X?

“I wanted to get away from home, just get a different scenery than Calgary and get out of Alberta- learn to be completely reliant on myself and not need my parents anymore in my life. As much as I love to have them in it, I like to be independent. I had a few family friends recommend STFX.”

What made you pick Mac?

“My gym teacher in Calgary told me that Mac’s the party residence so that’s why I had it as my top choice and I was happy when I heard I got in.”

Fastest shotgun record?

“I’m not an impressive shotgunner. You’d think with the amount that I do it I would’ve improved but no. I honestly don’t even time it, I couldn't even tell you that. But not the best.”

What made you decide to run for house council, and later first-year rep?

‘I really like getting involved in positions where you have a say in what goes.  I learned about house council before I learned about the First Year Rep Position, I just saw that I could get involved with planning stuff in Mac, and thought ‘yah, I want to do that’. Then later I found out about the first Year Rep Position, so I applied for that and somehow won the vote. And I’ve been loving it so far.”

Why do you think you got picked over Kevin Bronson and Phoebe Cesario?

“That’s tough, they were good candidates, they were good candidates, they probably would’ve done a great job in the role. I think I got it because I had most of Mac backing me up and I also branched out early in the year and met people in the other residences.

How’s working at the U?

‘It’s a super friendly group of people and it's a fun time whenever we have our council meetings. I’ve tried to talk with as many first years as possible and see what problems they may have or things they want changed; many issues people seemed to have been with residence life so I brought that up and will see if there’s any flexibility. Another thing people mentioned was more X-fest events throughout the year and lots of people were asking questions about house hockey.”

I haven’t heard much about MacBurke. What's happening with that?

“Yeah, so they’re not doing that.  Our first council meeting I asked about that.’ And we found out, that every residence gets just one game against a different residence so for Mac it’ll be against Riley. We’re not allowed to play any of the other residences and not Bishop’s. It's not tournament style either which is also unfortunate. I think that they're doing this as a stepping stone to get back into the tournament style, they hadn’t done it in the past few years because of both Covid and damages in past tournaments. They wanted to put that to an end, and this is their way of seeing how it works. If every residence has one game and it all goes well then maybe, they’ll reintroduce the tournament. I’ll be coaching the Mac team against Riley.’

Any comments on the U General Elections?

“Congrats to both for doing so well, they had a super close election. I would’ve been glad to see it go either way, I think they're both great, capable people.”

Can we expect to see more of Christian Lejeune running in later years?

“It’s safe to say yes.”

So Finally, Kenny’s or the Wheel?

“Kenny’s, I got to say Kenny’s.”

X Tips: What to Re-Watch in 2023

Looking at the list of the new movies hitting the big screen in 2023, the vibe doesn’t feel modern, but more so recycled. Over the years, streaming services have dominated more and more of the market share for visual media, and the appeal of novelty has faltered as many take solace in the easy accessibility of classics they already enjoy. Re-watching The Officefor the umpteenth time is familiar & comforting, you already know you like it (or Community, How I Met Your Mother, but definitely not Friends).

Starting a new show, or movie, can feel risky; What if it’s not good? The patience our parents had back when TVs had antennas and two channels is lost on us. Now cable TV has thousands of stations you can click through, and nobody even watches them. It would take over four years to watch everything on Netflix, forget adding Hulu, Crave or Disney Plus on top of that. Making a dent in that is almost impossible when you’re reviewing the Prison Mike episode. Of course, nobody's watching anything without their phone in hand, doing homework, or both.

Media companies are aware of this, and in return have given us what they deem we want. While they don’t make as much money from old movies, we re-watch, a new movie based on an older one seems to do enough to trick us into watching it. For example, Wonka, yet another take on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will be hitting the big screens this year; however, this time, the film does not include Charlie. The film stars Timothee Chalamet as young Willy Wonka because, of course, it has Timothy Chalamet. Chalamet is also starring in Dune Vol. 2, the second part of what is supposed to be a two-part series. That is, unless Warner Bros. likes the ratings of this re-adaptation of the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert, already having a film adaption of in 1984 by David Lynch.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Antman and The Wasp/Quantumania are coming out, where you can expect time travel, lasers, snappy dialogue and definite cameos from actors across the MCU. Spoiler alert: Iron Man is still dead in this timeline. Spider Man: Across the Spider Verse, one of the few Marvel movies not in the MCU, will still feature its driving plot force of Spiderman to meet Spidermen from other universes. Having Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield and Toby Maguire on screen together wasn’t enough. Additionally, A live-action The Little Mermaid remake with Halle Berry will help you to figure out which one of your friends and family is a closet racist but also show you that Disney fired all their writers who write their own ideas.

Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling star in Barbie, while Chris Pratt voices the titular character of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, there’s a new Hunger Games movie, another John Wick, Scream XI, Transformers: Rise of Beasts, Creed 3,Aquaman 2, Meg 2, Legally Blonde 3, The Nun 2, The Equalizer 3, Murder Mystery 2, The Expendables 4, a new Indiana Jones and--I’m being deadly serious right now--Fast and Furious 10.

Am I going to watch any of these? Probably. Am I going to like it? I don’t really care. If I’m actually paying to go to the Cinema to watch a movie, I plan to be so high I don’t remember what happens. The only note-worthy candidate this year seems to be Cocaine Bear, which like every other movie mentioned here is not original but based on the true story of a black bear in 1985 that did a $#*!- ton of cocaine. To be fair, those were the 80s. If my word alone doesn’t have you buying a ticket it’s important to note it is also the last feature film performance from Ray Liotta, who passed away in 2022. Speaking of, I should re-watch Goodfellas soon.

How to Destress During Finals: X Tips

1. Watch a Christmas Movie

‘Tis the season. Hanukkah films are also a vibe.

2. Read a Book

Actually, that’s probably the last thing you want to do during finals.

3. Procrastinate For Hours on Instagram

Because after that you’re definitely going to get started on your essay.

4. Grab a Carton of Eggnog

Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a splash of maple syrup and a couple of cups of Bacardi.

5. Call Your Family

Honestly, if you want to destress you’re better off reading a book.

6. Smoke Weed

Don’t waste your money at the NLSC, the rez has pretty good $40 ounces.

7. Go For a Drive

If you don’t know anyone with a car and are stressed out by the thought of hitchhiking, going for a walk is almost as good.

8. Go Shopping

Good luck with that. You’re in Antigonish.

9. Go Online Shopping

Get started on gift shopping for the holidays. But stick to a budget and remember you’re paying ten thousand dollars a year to be here. Speaking of which:

10. Don’t Check Your Bank Account

One problem at a time.

11. Go to The Library

A good place to study and the staff are going to be a bigger help with your bibliography than SparkNotes.

12. Listen to Christmas Songs

I don’t have any Hanukkah tracks on my Christmas playlist but I’m sure they go hard.

13. Go to Meal Hall

And remember you don’t have to eat there till 2023. Mom’s asparagus eggplant fettuccine never looked so good.

14. Build a Snowman

When you give up halfway through you’ll be bored enough to start studying.

15. Delete Tinder

Because finals are depressing enough.

16. Reinstall Tinder

But if you’re gonna spend the night at their place bring your laptop and class notes.

17. Avoid The News

Unless you want to see World War 3.

Three Years Later: Covid On Campus

The start of the winter term in 2023 will mark three years since the outbreak of Covid-19, quarantine and mask mandates. While many aspects of quotidian life have returned to pre-pandemic norms, masks in StFX classrooms haven’t. In fact, they’re still required inside all classrooms and educational facilities and are recommended inside residences.

While Covid may feel over with no online school, bars and restaurants open and parties filled with lots of people, it’s not disappeared entirely. The province reported an average of 79 PCR-positive cases a day and 238 current hospitalizations on the 17th of November.

With ICU beds filling up quickly in provinces like Ontario and Quebec, calls for more mask and vaccine mandates are ramping up. While Nova Scotia has not yet seen significant a surge in respiratory illness, the possibility of a new wave over the winter months is worth mentioning. And with the recent memory of the disastrous X-Ring ceremony last year, where the StFX and the Student Union were both fined by the Province for flouting Public Safety regulations in the not-so-distant past, perhaps the university is better off safe than sorry. Conversely, StFX has relaxed many of its covid measures for the current fall term, yet many among the student body feel it has not been relaxed enough.

When asked about the school policy of masks in class, Juliette Williams from MacIsaac said “They’re kinda dumb… We don’t need masks anywhere but classes.” A masked classroom in an unmasked building could surely do a small amount to stop the spread, but not much. While Juliette recognizes that the virus “still affects a lot of people across the country” she doesn’t feel concerned about her health if infected. As a young person triple-vaxxed, Juliette, like most folk on campus, is not at the greatest risk for serious complications from Covid. The average age for those who died of Covid in Nova Scotia was 84, and for hospitalization was 77.

Alex Guerra, who lives in O’Regan, echoes Juliette’s feelings. He says “Its as if covid has just ended... Except for mask restrictions in class.” He notes that despite the rules “no one wears [masks] outside of classes, [or] even in them.” Undoubtedly, it’s true that since the mask mandate has been implemented ‘chin strapping’ has been commonplace. Teachers are not required to wear a mask, and students are permitted to take them off during presentations, as well as to eat and drink. In an interview with the Globe and Mail following last year’s outbreak on campus, President Andy Hakin blamed this last rule on the rapid spread of the virus, calling it a “grey area.” 

Juliette and Alex, along with others interviewed, believe that the decision to mask shouldn’t be school policy but instead left up to teachers to decide the rules for their classroom. Alex believes that “as long as there is not another covid outbreak” there’s no need for mandatory masking, but “it’s important to monitor the situation.” He commended StFX for making access to rapid Covid test kits free and easily accessible at Bloomfield.

The DIRT on StFX Donors

StFX released its Donor Impact Report (DIRT) for 2020-2021, a document lavishly praising the individuals and groups who gave money to the institution. Many donors gave less than $500, most less than $1000. The highest spot on the list is claimed by the Lifetime Xaverian Patrons whose cumulative donations often exceed millions of dollars. If it seems unlikely that one could afford to be that philanthropic with a clean conscience, it’s because it is. DIRT explains that while the university receives funds from other sources, it’s simply not enough; “Although operational costs continue to increase, government funding to universities has diminished over the years — and, we cannot raise tuition beyond competitive rates without risking enrolment.”  In 2011-2012 local tuition was $5,108—for 2022-2023, it was $9,650 (adjusting for inflation $5,108 in 2011 is $6,479 in 2022). Evidently, the administration feels that it has squeezed the student body for every penny it can, and now must find another benefactor with a chequebook and a pen.

The ethical standards that StFX holds for its students and faculty are a reflection of the institution. StFX’s official motto, Quaecumque Sunt Vera, means “to preserve and convey ‘whatsoever things are true.’” StFX extends this motto beyond academia to the individual person. Integrity, dignity, and respect for the worth of each individual are important values to the university; however, this standard is not held to donors.

With their names on every plaque, hall, building and bench on campus—not to mention DIRT—the names of those who gave money are easy to find. How they got the money is unmentioned.

This article was not written to persuade StFX to refuse donations as someone must pay the obscene cost of post-secondary studies and why not it be the bourgeoisie who can afford it rather than raising tuition on an already indebted student population? Nor is it to criticize the administration, which has the unenviable task of running a university for thousands of students and staff. But an understanding of what is funding our education is important, ignorance on the matter would be an academic disservice. StFX should encourage a healthy discussion on the subject; hypocrisy is not too strong a word for an institution that will prostitute the prestige of a name on its donor list and reap the benefits of sins committed for profit without acknowledging them.

Barrick Gold, a Canadian Mining Company, has given more than $500,000 to StFX. While generous, it’s much less than the $5 million Barrick has paid in fines over the last 20 years for the workplace and environmental violations in the US. Those infractions pale compared to a $16 million fine in Chile after the native population near the Pascua-Lama mine developed cancerous growths. They have dozens of mines across the globe and countless crimes.

Sean Boyd, who was CEO of Agnico Eagle Mines for over 20 years and is its current Chairman is listed as giving the same amount. AEN got fined in 2013 for chemically contaminating fisheries in Nunavut, then again in 2017. Not only does AEN disrespect Nunavut’s environment and wildlife, but also its culture; last year, they faced backlash after an internal campaign to discourage Inuit workers from speaking Inuktitut at work was made public.

StFX is committed to sustainability. This includes a push to make the campus more pedestrian friendly. It also includes accepting cash from Big Oil. Allan P Markin, former Chairman of Canadian Natural Resources Limited gave between $1 and $5 million. It’s unclear if Markin should be criticized more for CNRL’s long history of oil spills or for a 2-million-dollar lawsuit where he sued his stepson for custody of the kid’s dog; a birthday present Markin ‘gifted’ him.

Over a million dollars from Imperial Oil Foundation- a Canadian subsidiary of ExxonMobil, the planet’s biggest and most infamous carbon company.  And of course, there are millions from various members of the Irving clan, Atlantic Canada’s (R)oil family.   

Magna International, a car chair manufacturer, gave more than $250 000 to X. Magna, notoriously anti-union here at home, faced widespread condemnation in 2020 for retaliatory firings and union-busting attempts against organizers in the Balkans. Magna’s CEO was the second highest paid in Canada in 2017 netting $20.4 million, not including $24.5 million in unexercised stock options. In 2018, surprise pay cuts shut down plants in Serbia; management stiffed some workers for between $30-$200.

One of the more recognizable names on the list is Chairman and CEO of Blackstone, Stephen A. Schwarzman, who headed Donald Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum. He made headlines during the Obama administration for comments on the President’s plan to raise the taxes on carried interest, saying “It’s a war. It’s like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.” Under Schwarzman Blackstone began buying up single-family homes after the 2008 financial crisis and leasing them out exorbitantly. To cover their investment, Blackstone paid over $8 million to fight a California bill that would allow municipalities to legislate rent control. Blackstone settled in 2018, then again in 2019 for over $20 million because a motel chain it owned gave guest lists to ICE without a warrant in a cowardly attempt to deport migrants. Schwarzman donated over a million dollars to the university.

Wafic Said, a good friend of Brian Mulroney, has donated over four million dollars to StFX in exchange for his name in gold at Mulroney Hall and an honorary doctorate. A billionaire international arms dealer who bought an $800,000 shortcut to obtain Canadian Citizenship in the 80s (over $1.5 million today), Said was involved in a British criminal probe into bribes paid to Saudi Princes for the sale of warplanes to the authoritarian regime. The investigation was closed as a result from pressure from the Saudi government.

Victor Dadelah has his name just below Said’s on DIRT, as well as in the Victor Dadelah Chair in Democracy and Governance at the Mulroney Institute. Not long ago, Dadelah also had his name all over the Panama Papers, the notorious list of aristocrats who cheated taxes for years. Dadelah has distanced himself from La Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, a mining company he partially owns through a long string of subsidiaries. CBG has been denounced by Human Rights Watch for polluting the water and air in the Boko region of Guinee.

Not to forget a few more of the charitable people who contributed to StFX: billionaire Urs Schwarzenbach has admitted to trafficking and tax evasion in European art dealing, ‘Honourable’ Hal NR Jackman was charged with six counts of political financing breaches and Fred George was President and Chairman of Gammon Gold when Gammon lied about the amount of gold it would produce. George, who is an ‘Honorary’ Naval Captain, responded to the resulting $13 million dollar lawsuit by saying “Everything I promise, I deliver”. Except for gold. Quaecumque Sunt Vera. (All three men donated over a million dollars).

H.B Morley was an executive of Stauffer Chemicals when the company polluted the environment near a factory in Pinellas County Florida. He was chairman when it was accused of lying about its earnings by the SEC. Morley and Larry Tannebaum, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, both gave over half a million dollars.

When discussing StFX’s benefactors it’s impossible to forget Gerald Schwartz, the patron and namesake of the Gerald Schwartz School of Business. In 2021 his company, Onex Corp. was ordered to pay $40 million dollars for its role in a door manufacturing price-fixing conspiracy. One would hope this is not the sort of business practice being taught in the classrooms at Schwartz.