John George McCracken Profile picture
Labour Communicator, CUPE Comms Rep. for 26 years - 10 in ON, 16 in NS & NL. Worked in radio news for 10 years prior to that. #nspoli #cdnpoli #canlab #unions
Feb 28 20 tweets 5 min read
Much better chance of dragging the victim through the mud this way.

@robyndoolittle Former members of 2018 Canadian world junior hockey team elect jury trial in sexual assault case #HockeyCanada #NHL #RapeCulture @Sportsnet @rwesthead @SNKenReid
theglobeandmail.com/canada/article… It's not surprising that the players elected for a trial by jury rather than judge alone, criminal defence lawyer Boris Bysteknsky
who is not connected to the matter, said Wednesday. #HockeyCanada #SexualAssaultLaws #NHL thestar.com/sports/hockey/…
Mar 1, 2023 5 tweets 7 min read
#Halifax #HFXTransit @hfxtransit @hfxgov @MikeSavageHFX “We’re basically going back to everyone who criticized us for the long period of Moving Forward and saying, ‘Yeah you were right, you really can’t trust us to do what we say we’re going to do with our plans,'” @SamAustinD5

Story @zwoodford. #PublicTransit halifaxexaminer.ca/government/cit…
Mar 1, 2023 5 tweets 6 min read
@CloeILogan About 5 years after being slapped w. one of the largest fines for environmental pollution in Canadian history, Irving Pulp and Paper has received a federal loan for up to $100M to help clean up waste effluent from the mill. #Oligarchy #nbpoli nationalobserver.com/2023/03/01/new… Nov. 2022: @poitrasCBC & @fredericzalac reported the #Irvings created an offshore insurance co. in the #TaxHaven of Bermuda that allowed it to accumulate over $13M in untaxed income between 1973 and 2001. #FMALtd cbc.ca/news/canada/ne…
Mar 1, 2023 7 tweets 9 min read
@joan_baxter is one of 140 journalists from 39 media outlets across 27 countries working collaboratively on ‘Deforestation Inc.’ a project of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (@ICIJorg). #SinarMass #PaperExcellence @sinarmas_land
halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file/d… 2) @scilla_alecci Oct. 2022: Four environmental watchdogs allege Paper Excellence and Asia Pulp & Paper used shell co.'s to conceal corporate control by the same Indonesian tycoons accused of clearing more than 2 million hectares of Indonesian rainforest. icij.org/inside-icij/20…
Feb 28, 2023 14 tweets 18 min read
@cupenovascotia School Support workers across Nova Scotia have voted 97.5% in favour of taking strike action if an agreement that lifts education workers out of poverty cannot be reached. #nsed #nslab #nspoli #CUPE #canlab @BeckyDruhan @suzyhfx @DannyNSFL novascotia.cupe.ca/2023/02/28/cup… 2) “We are holding a province-wide Day of Action today, Feb. 28, to tell the @TimHoustonNS govt. that our members need to see a deal that will make a meaningful difference in their lives," @melansonchris, President, NS School Board Council of Unions
Feb 28, 2023 9 tweets 12 min read
How is this not #Privatization of healthcare?

@smithc902 To do that, it will charge a monthly subscription fee — $27.50 for adults and $9.50 for children — to people who would also pay for their appointments, such as a $69 fee for an initial assessment. globalnews.ca/news/9510247/p… So NOW @MThompsonPC tells us?

Generally speaking, she says people who use private health care to access the system need to be sure of the credentials and qualifications of those practising. #BluenoseHealth #MichelleThompson #NSHealth Image
Jan 17, 2023 5 tweets 4 min read
Now I'm wondering if @TimHoustonNS got a heads up on this before he announced the housing shakeup?

@larochecbc @OAG_NS has found multiple instances where a senior official at former Metropolitan Reg. Housing Authority was in conflict of interest. #nspoli cbc.ca/news/canada/no… Oct. 20, 2022

novascotia.ca/news/release/?…
Jan 16, 2023 4 tweets 5 min read
1) @Woodsideful Canada’s financial heavyweights are trying to convince the federal govt. to let them keep pumping money into the oil & gas sector, confidential docs obtained by @NatObserver reveal. #BigFiveBanks #BigOil #CAPP #cdnpoli #LPC #NDP nationalobserver.com/2023/01/16/inv… 2) Conveniently enough, the Sustainable Finance Action Council (SFAC) also has its own 'institute', and appears to be affiliated with @queensu in Kingston, ON.
#AstroTurfing #Greenwashing Image
Jan 10, 2023 40 tweets 261 min read
@writenrun @TimHoustonNS @CH_ABeswick @NS_Justice @nspc I recently heard @CTVSteveMurphy tell @TVeinotteShow that Tim Houston is a lot more like Stephen McNeil than most people realize.

In other words, they're both "my way or the highway" kinda' guys. #WhiteMalePrivilege @writenrun @TimHoustonNS @CH_ABeswick @NS_Justice @nspc @CTVSteveMurphy @TVeinotteShow @skimber The new Tim Houston has morphed into the old Stephen McNeill: arrogant, angry, self-righteous. (paywalled) #nspoli #nspc halifaxexaminer.ca/commentary/hou…
Mar 12, 2022 5 tweets 5 min read
@capebretonpost Typos in a headline are a BIG no-no. #CBPost Image MEMO TO: @hfxgov councillors.

Can surplus land be sold for $1.00 to accommodate #AffordableHousing? Can permit fees, subdivision fees, and zone amendment fees be waived when affordable housing projects are in the making? #CBRM #HRM #Halifax @CBRMGov saltwire.com/cape-breton/op…
Mar 12, 2022 8 tweets 6 min read
@giftedtypist⁩ This whole chapter piles on another layer of trauma and distrust for families who already feel they have been disrespected and left in the dark by this inquiry. #MCC #Portapique #RCMP saltwire.com/halifax/opinio… (Imagine the family members of victims who’ve had to wait two fucking years to hear this and other important testimony!)

@GregMercerGlobe Chris Wortman, GW’s uncle, and a former RCMP officer, was interviewed 10 days after the mass shooting in April, 2020. theglobeandmail.com/canada/article…
Mar 10, 2022 14 tweets 15 min read
Will ⁦@GeoffMacLellan⁩’s #affordablehousing task force do anything about #REIT’s?

REIT’s own or invest in income-producing real estate & distribute profits to their shareholders. Many are traded publicly on the stock market. #nspoli #Halifax cbc.ca/news/canada/fi… 2) @MichaelTGorman Nova Scotia's DM of housing said Wed. that non-profit housing will have to be "dramatically" expanded to address the province's housing crunch.

(Thus far both Geoff MacLellan and Tim Houston only seem interested in ‘market’ solutions.)
cbc.ca/news/canada/no…
May 8, 2021 6 tweets 5 min read
Is 'modified self-isolation' a key reason we now have 1,464 active cases in Nova Scotia?

Rotational workers: no longer have a modified self-isolation; they must quarantine for an entire 14 days away from other people in their households.

@Tim_Bousquet halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/bad-c… Here's @TwitCoast editor Kyle Shaw with more on the April 6 easing of restrictions.

NOTE: We had 6 new cases that day.

#covid19NS #nshealth thecoast.ca/halifax/6-case…
May 6, 2021 6 tweets 6 min read
1) Meet the new boss, ⁦@IainTRankin⁩, same as the old boss, ⁦@StephenMcNeil⁩.

@MichaelTGorman⁩ Stephen Tobin started working in the premier's office as director of strategic initiatives. Previously, he had been employed #nspoli #nslp cbc.ca/news/canada/no… 2) by the @LiberalPartyNS
caucus office as director of strategic communications during the tenure of former premier Stephen McNeil.

(Kudos to Margaret Miller for having the courage to call her boss and her party out!)

This is not the first time, that McNeil and the party
May 6, 2021 5 tweets 5 min read
“I am coming to you with this information in hopes that you may ask @StrangRobert if the daycares have been directed not to go public with the number of positive cases."

#PaidSickLeave #PandemicPay #ECE The govt. could always make an exception to the age-based vaccination program, as it chose to do for police officers. (One of Strang's biggest flip-flops.)

These days, female ECEs are arguably at as much risk of contracting the virus as police officers. ottawa.ctvnews.ca/licensed-dayca…
May 6, 2021 4 tweets 4 min read
@RcuthbertsonCBC Five of the six apartment buildings are run by Toronto-headquartered @MetCapLivingMgt, a property management firm that operates thousands of multi-family units in five provinces. #Halifax #AffordableHousing #Metcap #Telus #REIT #nspoli newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/apart… @Tim_Bousquet has been reporting on the diabolical nature of REITs, Real Estate Investment Trusts, for some time now.

Here's a bit of a THREAD from Dec. 2019. #RentControl
May 6, 2021 6 tweets 5 min read
Hey, White people in Halifax! Gyasi Symonds jaywalked on his way to The Nook and wasn’t the only one to do so, as he trailed behind 4 White women who did the same.

But it was only Symonds, a visibly Black man, that was approached by two #HRP police officers for jaywalking. #Halifax saltwire.com/atlantic-canad…
Mar 20, 2021 11 tweets 10 min read
@NSLandsForestry has proposed that more than 455 hectares (1,124 acres) of forests in the St. Margaret’s Bay area be put on the chopping block, w. roughly 207 hectares (511 acres) within the boundaries of the community proposed Ingram River Wilderness Area (IRWA). #NSForests LP: Docs obtained through #FOIPOP dating back to 2016 revealed that the decision to build the access road was years in the making and was made in part to reduce transportation costs for @NS_Aggregates.

@HealthyForestNS @gleboutillier @NovaScotiaNick

onenotsoboredhousewife.ca/2019/12/24/the…
Jan 27, 2021 4 tweets 6 min read
@armstrongcbc Djenaba Dayle said the minimum wage needs to rise, and that rent control is crucial — and not just during a crisis.

#CERB #BAI #canlab #cdnpoli #CFIB #Shecession cbc.ca/news/business/…
Jan 26, 2021 6 tweets 16 min read
@zwoodford @HRMLovelace @hfxgov @WayeMason @LindellSmithHFX @HalifaxLabour So these private contractors will continue to be able to avoid paying their employees a living wage.

This new policy is looking less and less impressive.

@CUPELocal108 @cupenovascotia @Tim_Bousquet @zwoodford @HRMLovelace @hfxgov @WayeMason @LindellSmithHFX @HalifaxLabour @CUPELocal108 @cupenovascotia @Tim_Bousquet @communitycathy just asked the staffer (Andrew ?) about the living wage policy.

Conveniently, it doesn't apply to these multi-year contracts.