Chris Benjamin Nova Scotia Writer

Here's a virtual guest lecture I gave to a 2nd-year Historical Issues in Indigenous Studies class at Dalhousie University a few years ago. chris-benjamin.ca/a-talk-on-th... A good backgrounder on the institution--a brutal history worth knowing. It was the only IRS in the Maritimes.

Check out my interview with CBC "Cost of Living" on if Canada's megaproject agenda is digging us deeper into a "staple trap" that creates more dependency and less sovereignty www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

So the plan is to spend $10 billion to create 215 jobs. That’s $46.5 million per job. Wanna help Nova Scotians? Just give us the money. We don’t need your AI “assistant”. www.halifaxexaminer.ca/dismantling-...

You want more transparent than “Trust Us”? www.halifaxexaminer.ca/economy/ener...

Alberta voted to stay and to steal newcomers’ rights to healthcare. So uncanadian in their desire to be part of Canada. Nova Scotia should welcome Alberta’s immigrants with open arms.

Ever full of shit…

Reminder that Anthropic is on the hook for $1.5 billion in a class action lawsuit for training Claude on the stolen works of authors like me, and they’re also being sued by music publishers for copyright theft.

An open letter to Premier Tim Houston and MPs Kody Blois and Mike Kelloway From me, publisher of the Halifax Examiner

Mr. Houston, enough with these anti-democratic anti-free press antics. Ejecting working journalists from what was clearly a public event is deeply shameful. www.halifaxexaminer.ca/journalism/a...

Camel 6 features the winner of the third Gilmer Prize, Jan Allen, honourable mentions Baret Magarian, Zsuzsi Gartner, and Darlene Madott, & ten more brilliant writers from across the country and beyond. That includes my story, "My Children, Your Citizens"!! Order yours at camel.litmag@gmail.com

From a Treaty Day interview: globalnews.ca/video/120845...

Time to stop using US.-based financial services, tech and dollars.

saw a reel where dude says “breaking news trump didn’t win”. Fuck that. The news is Navi Pillay won the Peace Prize. Stop making everything about the American clown show. She sounds like a worthy recipient Who put her legal training to great use fighting for the oppressed & against war criminals.

👀👓

www.cbc.ca/lite/story/9...

I'm not sure why the mayor is doing his own budget consultation, separate from the city's usual one. I'm also not sure who has time at 11am to go to Eastern Shore and talk city budget, but so it goes: www.halifax.ca/city-hall/ma...

Larry Hughes: "The provincial government will have to ensure Nova Scotians in need of assistance with their space heating costs are not denied them....programs supporting energy reduction measures and restructuring household energy systems must be redoubled." www.halifaxexaminer.ca/commentary/e...

It was a rush to hear Delia and Phil performed by renowned Newfoundland actor and director Charlie Tomlinson, who beautifully interpreted and brought to life the story. Listen at chris-benjamin.ca/delia-and-ph...

Had to be done.

The volatility of oil is killing a lot of people, some with bombs and some with bills www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/...

Our friends at Room Magazine are currently fundraising in order to keep the magazine going. The fund will support the production of the journal and pay contributors and staff. You can donate, or purchase or bid on fantastic auction items here: app.galabid.com/save-room-ma...

That would be a$1.35 trillion bribe if he actually paid it.

Really interesting interview with Hannah Main by Suzanne Rent about Dalhousie Legal Aid’s new report on big landlords and rental ownership in Halifax

"I have a theoretical degree in physics." --Tim Horton's employee to his coworker. I'm not sure if the order of those words was intentionally clever on his part, but I'd really like to think so, and I hope that he will one day be a writer so famous he can probably get a career in it.

Related, if you bought a Sodastream and didn't realize the CO2 containers are sourced from illegal settlements, there's a Canadian company that offers local replacements that are interchangeable (avail nationwide). www.indigosoda.ca/en/

Infinime

“Energy poverty occurs when an individual or household struggles to pay their energy bills while maintaining a basic standard of living.” - Efficiency Nova Scotia Provincewide, Cape Breton/ Unama’ki suffers the most from energy poverty. Read our full report: ecologyaction.ca/sites/defaul...

Anti-fracking group calls out ‘Climate Villain’ CEO set to explore for onshore fossil gas in Cumberland reported by Yvette d'Entremont @dentremy.bsky.social

16 wonderful titles. Mine was just 1. But out of an abundance of vanity, I picture it here:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” —Upton Sinclair

well done, Atlantic Canada

Overheard at the Hearing Constraint: No New Targets We got the best acronyms but we wish we were higher Still, the test has spoken It’s the Price, People! Consider it Obliterated

I’m enjoying social media clips of highlights from the new women’s professional baseball league. The number of insecure men in the comments putting down the athleticism and abilities of these women is just gross. Grow up, dudes, and find some joy in your life.

Thinking about rain from the comfort of my home office, how it's terrible for baseball and so needed by farmers & wildfire fighters & the land itself. "Then the rain came, like stammered kisses at first on the back of my neck. I unfurled my fist for the rain to caress with its lips." Carol Ann Duffy

A little PSA for readers of all ages: @runningthegoat.bsky.social makes absolutely beautiful books, without fail. Check out their catalogue.

“The most tragic form of loss isn't the loss of security; it's the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different.” ― Ernst Bloch, The Principle of Hope

To oppose Net Zero is to condemn ever vaster numbers of people to death. Yet this is the defining 'policy' of Her Majesty's Opposition. Where is the outcry?

I had the pleasure of interviewing Edwin Theriault for my 2012 book Eco Innovators: Sustainability in Atlantic Canada. He was fireworks all the way, a pleasure to talk with and listen to. An accidental environmentalist and a man who loved his family and community. RIP.

How much was the budget cut to the Annapolis Valley Library system? $320 K? Choices amirite. #nspoli

In Nova Scotia, a full year of bird and bat monitoring is required as part of the provincial environmental assessment before putting up wind turbines. Good. So why don't the prospective gas, oil, critical mineral, uranium and frack people have to do that?

Here for it!

The doilie-clad warrior with the logo atop his head gives a fiery speech rousing a nation of coach jockeys. Once more unto the breach!

lithub.com/heres-the-fr...

we must accept more extreme weather and more deadly natural disasters to achieve a few tenths of a percentage point of additional gdp growth in the short term 🥰

We don’t need markets for gas. We need a market f or being healthy, sustainable and just. Let’s make that work and leave the gas in the ground.

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