Opinion

On this episode, Rear Admiral John Newton, the commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic and Joint Task Force Atlantic.

Admiral Newton began his career in the Canadian Navy in 1983 after trying his hand as a geologist out west.

Today on Fall Back Up, I’m delighted to welcome the Nova Scotia artists, Allan Bateman and Holly Carr.

For people of my vintage, Steve Martin turned comedy on its ear. I was reminded this week of one of Martin’s best film moments from The Jerk when the new phone book arrives.

Earlier this week the new Halifax Index was released from the Halifax Partnership. Yay. For most, it might seem a little dry, but for people in the public policy world, it’s darn near exciting. Even for those not wonky enough to be enraptured with economic and demographic data, it tells a compelling story.

Occasional Macdonald Notebook recipe writer, Gary Phillipe, of Southend Halifax writes about last weekend’s Halifax Gourmet Pizza Wars:

I enjoyed the pizza restaurant article.

Atlantic Canadian small businesses should brace themselves for the $15 minimum wage. Alberta and Ontario have both bought into the idea, and now British Columbia’s new Green NDP coalition has it on the table. Canada’s largest labour unions are funding the ‘Fight for 15’ campaign, bolstered by the federal and provincial NDP and social justice activists. The arguments being made are as deceptive as they are compelling.

I’m delighted this week to speak with Jean-Michel Blais, chief of Halifax Regional Police.

Chief Blais spent 25 years with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. During that time, he completed his first mission with the United Nations in Haiti as a civilian police officer and, following his return, worked predominantly on organized motorcycle gangs and Colombian drug cartels.

This week on Fall Back Up, perhaps one of the most important yet least talked about issues facing entrepreneurs—their own mental health.

I first met Michael DeVenney after he reached out to me to discuss an initiative he is working on called The Mindset Project.

As an advocate for small business, job one is getting issues in front of politicians. Prior to this election, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) presented each of the parties in the Nova Scotia election a small business platform outlining key areas our 5,200 members in Nova Scotia have identified as priorities.