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Jacob Moore

About Jacob Moore

Jacob Moore is a reporter for Acadia Broadcasting based in Halifax. He’s worked at both CBC and CTV, as well as the student newspaper at St. Thomas University. Send him any story tips at mooreja@radioabl.ca.

Posts by Jacob Moore:

Apple TV+'s 77th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Party

Colbert serenades Led Zeppelin singer with Halifax anthem

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The former lead singer of Led Zeppelin was serenaded with the unofficial anthem of Halifax.

Wednesday night, Late Show host Stephen Colbert asked Robert Plant about sea shanties, according to a video posted to social media.

In response, the rock star turned to the crowd and asked if they liked sea shanties but answered “no” for the audience.

That is when Colbert broke out into the iconic Stan Rogers song, “Barrett’s Privateers.”

Colbert has also sung the song with other iconic musicians, including Michael Bublé and Jack White.

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Oil pipeline to N.B. not off the table, says Carney

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With gas prices going up, you may be wondering if it is time for an oil pipeline from New Brunswick to Western Canada.

Since war broke out in Iran and the middle east late February, gas prices have jumped, with many oil tankers getting disrupted as they try to travel through the Strait of Hormuz.

Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Halifax on March 26. When our newsroom asked if a pipeline was on the table and what else his government was doing to combat the rising oil prices, he said they have several affordability measures in place, including tax cuts.

“We will look at this as the conflict evolves, and most importantly as the impact on Canadians is there, not saying necessarily that’s the final word,” Carney said.

Later, he added, “We also have opportunities on the east coast in conventional energy, which we’ll be exploring to build that out, and across this country.”

Although he did not rule out the possibility of an oil pipeline in the future, he said Nova Scotia has tremendous energy potential with offshore wind.

He met with Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston the next day, on March 27, and signed an agreement to cut red tape for major infrastructure projects. That would include Wind West, an offshore wind initiative that would require new transmission infrastructure to move energy beyond Nova Scotia. The project has the potential to supply a significant portion of Canada’s electricity needs.

With files from Evan Taylor.

Blocked traffic Hwy 4

Premier slams highway protests, defends cannabis raids

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Premier Tim Houston is slamming protestors for blocking a few Nova Scotia highways late last week after a cannabis raid in a Cape Breton First Nation.

In a lengthy post on social media, Saturday, Houston said blocking highways is unacceptable and RCMP are doing their job to uphold the law and keep Nova Scotians safe.

“They deserve respect, not confrontation,” said Houston.

“The unlawful obstruction of others is not peaceful. It undermines public safety, respect for law enforcement and the rule of law itself. Our roadways are our lifebood.”

He says that at any given time people could be travelling to medical appointments, hospital, work or caring for their families.

Houston adds, the province wants to work together on the drug crisis and not accept the “status quo”.

RCMP say it was around 7:30 a.m., Thursday, when officers searched an illegal storefront on Highway 4. Two men were arrested.

In response to this, protestors blocked access to Highway 4 in Potlotek.

Officers then left the scene on foot leaving behind their cruisers.

Seven RCMP vehicles left in Potlotek were damaged. RCMP say they had “broken windows, dents, deflated tires, removed tires, and urine-soaked interior surfaces.”

Several RCMP cars parked outside of a cannabis store along Highway 4 in Potlotek First Nation on Thursday. PHOTO: ACADIA BROADCASTING

In a statement, Potlotek First Nation said it’s not a matter of enforcement but rather, jurisdiction.

“Time and time again Mi’kmaq are forced to respond when provincial laws and enforcement actions are imposed on our communities without respect to our rights, our leadership or our authority.”

One protestor told our newsroom officers took fridges, shelves and signs.

Two other highways were blocked in solidarity – highway 105 in Whycocomagh and 102 in Shubenacadie.

Crackdown

It was in December when the province ordered a cannabis crackdown.

Nova Scotia announced they would be increasing police enforcement around concerns about safety and that unregulated market with a number of stores that have been raided.

This sparked disappointment from First Nations, one who even threatened legal action.

On March 13, Sipekne’katik First Nation created its own law on the matter, which is in effect, now.

In a post on social media, Chief of Sipekne’katik First Nation Michelle Glasgow says it’s not about “weed shops” getting raided. “It’s about the government asserting jurisdiction over Our Communities and over Our Unceded Mik’maq Lands.”

“If we allow this to continue then we are allowing the assimilation of Mi’kmaq into a society that was meant to destroy us.”

At this time, no arrests have been made related to the protests.

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Federal, provincial minimum wage goes up

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If you work a minimum wage job, you will get a bit more cash the next time you get paid.

Both the federal and provincial minimum wage went up Wednesday.

The Nova Scotia minimum wage is now $16.75 an hour, and it will go up again on Oct. 1 to $17.

The federal minimum wage affects anyone in a federally regulated business, and it is going up to $18.15 an hour.

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Air Canada CEO retiring after English condolence controversy

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Air Canada’s CEO has announced his retirement about a week after delivering a video condolence message with only French subtitles for the victims of a plane crash in New York.

Michael Rousseau will step down by the third quarter of 2026, according to a statement from the company’s board of directors. Until then, Rousseau will continue leading the company.

After nearly two decades at the helm, the chair of the board thanked Rousseau for nearly two decades at the helm of the company.

We are grateful for the determined leadership he has provided not only in steering our company through the 2007-2008 financial crisis, COVID and other challenges, but also in capturing opportunities such as the acquisition of Aeroplan, in restoring the solvency of our pension plans and in advancing customer centricity and employee well-being priorities,” wrote Vagn Sørensen, board chair, in a news release.

On March 22, a Jazz Aviation flight left a Montreal airport with 72 passengers on board. But as it attempted to land at LaGuardia airport in New York, it collided with a fire truck, killing both pilots of the plane.

The CEO of Air Canada posted a video to social media on March 23, expressing his condolences for the victims, but it was only in English, with French subtitles.

The federal Committee of Official Languages received hundreds of complaints about the incident and summoned him to Ottawa to explain the message.

Prime Minister Mark Carney also criticized the speech, saying that Canada is a bilingual country, and delivering it only in French lacked compassion.

In a statement last week, Rousseau apologized, saying he wished his inability to speak French did not distract from the victims.

On Monday, Rousseau said he looks forward to supporting the company as they transition to a new leader.

“It has been my great honour to work with the dedicated and talented people of Air Canada and to represent our outstanding organization,” Rousseau wrote in a statement.

More to come…

Talk

Highlights of the 2026 Junos

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Several stars won big at Canada’s Juno award show.

The Beaches are now the first all-women band to win best group three years in a row after the award show Sunday night.

The band also won best rock album of the year with “No Hard Feelings.”

Pop star Tate McRae took home four awards.

Her album “So Close to What” won both best album and best pop album of the year. Her song “Sports Car,” which won best single, and to top it off, McRae was named best artist of the year.

The audience voted Canadian rapper bbno$ as the winner of the fan choice award.

And Cameron Whitcomb won breakthrough artist of the year, as well as the award for country album of the year with “The Hard Way.”

thunder bay fire and rescue pumper

Pine Street fire claims life of cat

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A fire at a home on Pine Street has claimed the life of a family cat.

Thunder Bay Fire Rescue says they were called to a bungalow in the 200 block of pine street around 11 a.m. Thursday, according to a news release.

Crews arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the garage.

They escalated it to a second alarm fire and managed to stop it from spreading to the home.

But they say a lot of smoke and heat entered the home and killed the family cat.

Three dogs were rescued from the basement.

They say the fire was eletrical and that you should unplug unused deives and make sure your smoke alarms are working.

Powerline Tracks

New power rates slightly lower than original request, says Energy Board

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Your power bill is still going up, but the final approved rate from Nova Scotia Power will be lower than they initially requested.

The Energy Board approved the company’s application for a rate hike, but they say the company needs to cut more spending to keep things affordable for customers, according to a news release.

They say they only approve a rate hike request if it is in the public interest.

“While many of the terms are appropriate, the board finds that some changes are required to ensure final rates are just, reasonable, and in the public interest,” they say.

All in all, your power bill increase will be slightly lower than the utility’s initial proposal of 3.8 per cent in 2026 and 4.1 per cent in 2027, the board says.

The board told the utility to make several changes, which include:

  • reducing the proposed executive compensation in both 2026 and 2027
  • further reducing the Operating, Maintenance, and General expenses in each of 2026 and 2027 by an additional $8 million on top of the $9 million in reductions they already outlined in the settlement agreement
  • the denial of about $1 million proposed for a general rate application deferral account
  • a $1.8-million reduction in fuel and purchased power costs
  • a change to how NS Power splits distribution system costs among different customer groups based on their demand (it will shift related costs from residential, small general, and unmetered customers to other rate classes)
  • the denial of a proposed fee for customers who have not agreed to the installation of an AMI smart meter for remote meter reading and billing purposes

The utility has two weeks to come up with the newly adjusted rates based on these changes. The Energy Board will then review the rate and when that process is done, they will issue an order confirming the exact amount of the rate hike and when it will take effect.

The board says they are very aware of affordability concerns in the province, but they say they do not have the power to “address specific social issues.”

“The Board is not permitted to refuse a utility from recovering legitimate costs just to make rates more affordable,” the board wrote in the release.

They also say they cannot make decisions based on the reliability of the utility and the public’s opinion of them. However, the board says they can impose regulatory measures if the system is “inadequate or unreliable,” and they say they are currently looking into performance standards, the utility’s 5-Year Reliability Plan, and the cyber
incident in separate, ongoing proceedings.

This comes after the recent cyber attack on the utility, where hundreds of thousands of current and former customers had their information stolen. On the same say as the board’s decision, the federal privacy commissioner also revealed new details about the incident, including how exactly their systems were compromised.

On top of that, during a weekend cold snap earlier this season, the utility asked people to try and conserve power because of high demand on the grid. That request drew overwhelming criticism across the province.

In response to the board’s decision Wednesday, the newly appointed CEO of Nova Scotia Power, Vivek Sood, said they are committed to improving reliability and delivery services.

“As we’ve seen this winter, continued investments in the electricity grid are critical, both in terms of the reliability of our system during storms and the supply of electricity during extreme cold snaps.”

Premier Tim Houston called the energy board’s decision ‘out of touch.’

NDP leader Claudia Chender also issued a statement, saying the rate increase is difficult to swallow. She says the Houston government must move forward with a full review of Nova Scotia Power. 

Legislature

Singing protesters delay budget vote at Province House

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The province tried to vote on their budget in the legislature, but they were stopped by some protesters singing in the gallery near midnight on Tuesday.

House speaker Danielle Barkhouse tried calling for order several times as they sang.

The protesters repeated the phrase, “It’s okay to change your mind, show us your courage, leave this behind.”

“It’s okay to change your mind. You can join us, join us any time.”

In the initial proposed budget, they slashed $300 million in funding from several sectors, including arts, culture, tourism, secondary education, and disability and senior supports. But they promised to reinstate $53.6 million of those cuts to help African Nova Scotian and Indigenous students, as well as disabled people and seniors.

After several minutes of singing, Barkhouse adjourned the house until 1 p.m. Wednesday.

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NDP calls for impact analysis of budget before it passes

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The NDP says the province needs to pause the whole budget process and go back to the drawing board.

After backlash from the public, the government brought some funding back for seniors, people with disabilities, African Nova Scotians and Indigenous students, but they kept a lot of the cuts to the arts, culture and tourism sectors.

NDP leader Claudia Chender says it is clear they did not do any economic analysis.

“But instead of a kind of piecemeal save our political skin approach, what we’re asking this government to do is to actually do the work to understand the impact,” says Chender.

The budget has not passed yet, and she says the government has made amendments to bills at the legislature before.

But she does not want them to make a quick change. The government should take time to properly understand what impact the cuts will have.

Chender voiced similar concerns to an economics professor and political science professor told our newsroom recently, including that it seems like many government cabinet ministers were not sure why certain cuts were made. For more on that story, click here.

She says tourism is a very important industry in Nova Scotia, and those cuts threaten jobs without replacing them.

One of her other proposed solutions would be to create a new Legislative Budget Officer, who would “assess all risks of government spending,” according to a news release from the party. They tabled a bill in the house for that, as well.

They also have a bill that would force the province to table at the legislature any spending that falls outside of the budget. Chender says that would bring more accountability to what the government does with public money.

The legislature resumes next week.

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