Dalhousie is the largest university in Halifax, and it pays its professors correspondingly. According to the most recent public sector compensation disclosures, Dalhousie employs 834 members of faculty and 171 administration staff who receive more than $100,000 in annual compensation, making 1005 such staff overall.

“Nova Scotians expect government to be transparent and maintain a high standard of clarity and consistency in reporting,” said Michelle Stevens, Communications Advisor to the Nova Scotia Department of Finance and Treasury Board, in an emailed statement.

“The purpose of the public sector compensation disclosure is to enhance accountability and transparency in the use of public funds. Government requires public sector bodies to report compensation of $100,000 or more, paid to persons during the fiscal year.” she added.

Those numbers are up from the 2012/2013 academic year, when Dalhousie paid 830 staff $100,000 or more. The next biggest university in Halifax, Saint Mary’s University, had only 183 professors and 27 administrators making that same amount or more this year, for a total of 210 staff.

Dalhousie is proud to have such a large list of employees who are thusly compensated.

“People are the cornerstone of Dalhousie University, performing and supporting the institutions’ key areas of teaching, research and service,” said Janet Bryson, Senior Communications Advisor at Dalhousie, in an emailed statement. “It is important to attract and keep dedicated and talented people. This means providing competitive salaries that not only reflects their contributions to the university, but also compares well with other universities.”

In 2016/2017, the total salaries for employees on the public sector compensation disclosure list amounted to over $140 million, with almost $120 million of that going to faculty members. Based on Dalhousie’s registration of 16,574 full time students at the beginning of the academic year, that amounts to $8,645 dollars per full-time student spent on paying salaries of employees making $100,000 per year or more.

In addition, Dalhousie has 16.5 students for every employee making that much money, and 19.9 students per faculty member in that pay grade. The ratio of faculty members to administrators at Dalhousie was 4.7:1, and the amount of money going to those top earning staff members was almost exactly 50% of the total budgets for academics and administration. That 50% is compared to less than 45% in 2012/2013, meaning Dalhousie is using more money to pay less staff.

So, how do these numbers stack up to other schools in Halifax?

It all depends on what you’re looking for. Bryson noted that Dalhousie has a reputation to maintain.

“Being the only U15 leading research university in Atlantic Canada, we often need to recruit for researchers, faculty and staff across North America and internationally, and we have to stay competitive,” she said in her statement.

From that point of view, it makes sense that Dalhousie pays more for top-dollar talent. Saint Mary’s University has almost 35 students per highly-compensated faculty member, while fellow Halifax universities Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and Mount Saint Vincent University have 30 and 26 students per faculty member in that pay bracket, respectively. The University of King’s College, another Halifax university, does not break down its public sector compensation disclosure by employee type. As a U15 University, Dalhousie has by far the highest ratio of top teachers to full-time students.

But what does Dalhousie sacrifice by paying so much for these staff members? The school has 834 professors who make $100,000, and 999 professors in total. Saint Mary’s, on the other hand, has 183 professors making $100,000 and 558 full-time and part time faculty. Based on their enrolment of full-time students, that means Dalhousie has about 16.5 students for every professor, while Saint Mary’s has just over 11 students per professor. By paying its good professors more, Dalhousie isn’t able to provide its students with as many teachers per capita as a school like Saint Mary’s.

Now, these statistics aren’t necessarily good or bad in a vacuum. As Bryson said, Dalhousie prides itself on being the only U15 university in the region. Being a top Canadian university means ponying up for the best professors. Many students at Dalhousie know that they will never receive the same kind of attention that their counterparts at smaller universities do. Even so, it’s important that they know exactly what they’re getting when they go to Dal.

The 30th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia may be over a decade removed from office, but she’s still finding ways to help people. The Honourable Myra Freeman, CM, ONS, MSM, CD, has a new project: access to justice.

“As we know, it’s actually the middle class that cannot afford the justice system. In low-income, legal aid can help you out. You have a door to go to, you have an avenue to go to,” said Freeman. “People who are comfortable can just pay for it. But the middle class is at a point where they have to mortgage their home to pay for [legal] fees.”

There’s no one technique for opening up justice to everyone. Freeman and the people she is working with are exploring every possible solution. They’re looking at innovative technology, new public policy, and successful programs in other areas.

The access to justice initiative is the latest in a long line of Freeman’s efforts at helping her community.

“When I was in office I established different awards. I think the one I’m most proud of is the Lieutenant Governor’s Masterworks award, which gives an opportunity for artists to showcase their creative talent,” she said.

Although Freeman remembers her Lieutenant Governorship for the good she was able to do for her community, that was not actually her primary job.

“The Lieutenant Governor is the Crown’s representative in the province. So, kind of equivalent to the Governor General at the federal level,” said Lori Turnbull, an associate professor of political science at Dalhousie who specializes in Canadian politics. “The primary goal of the Lieutenant Governor is to make sure there is always a premier.”

Although that is technically their primary goal, most Lieutenant Governor’s don’t have to worry about the provincial government during their term. Recently, The Honourable Judith Guichon, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, was in the news as the B.C. government was in turmoil following their provincial election.

Freeman never had to deal with a major political situation during her time in power, like the one Guichon presided over in B.C., so Nova Scotians remember her for less contentious reasons. Since that primary duty of office so rarely comes up, the Lieutenant Governor has other obligations as well.

“They also have a ceremonial role where they would present honours and awards to deserving Nova Scotians and recognize Nova Scotians who have distinguished themselves in the province,” said Craig Walkington. Walkington is the communications advisor to the office of the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, and he is currently serving under his second Lieutenant Governor.

“They also play what I call a promotional role, where they promote the good things in Nova Scotia,” he added.

As for Freeman specifically, Walkington has a whole list of features that made her run in office unique.

She was the first female Lieutenant Governor in the history of Nova Scotia, as well as the first Jewish Lieutenant Governor in all of Canada. She opened up the Lieutenant Governor’s residence, called the Government House, to the public; to this day, the office of the Lieutenant Governor still calls it the ceremonial home of all Nova Scotians. With her background as a schoolteacher, she focused on supporting education and children during her time as Lieutenant Governor. On top of all that, she was appointed as an honorary captain in the Royal Canadian Navy.

But in spite of all the amazing these events that Freeman attended, the amazing people that she met and amazing things that she did, there’s one thing that Freeman remembers most from her time as Lieutenant Governor. And it’s something she’s still practicing today: helping other people.

“Public service makes me feel good. All of us hope that we can make a difference in the lives of others, and that we can leave our mark,” she said.

In a court decision from last year, a trailer park that served as a filming location for The Trailer Park Boys was denied approximately a year’s worth of rent for one of its lots. Woodbine Park Land Lease Community lost out on that money when the court ruled the Bank of Montreal (BMO) did not inadvertently become Woodbine’s tenant.

This is a scene from the first season of The Trailer Park Boys, which was filmed at Woodbine Park Land Lease Community.

BMO had previously been ordered to pay Woodbine more than $3,000 by the Director of Residential Tenancies. BMO appealed that ruling in the Small Claims Court, and adjudicator Eric K. Slone overturned it. He found that BMO was not a residential tenant, so the verdict from the Residential Tenancies Board did not apply.

“The decision I wrote, it’s a 14 page decision,” said Slone, whose average decision is only five to eight pages. “I am a frequent writer of decisions, but that was a little more involved and I put in a little more time because I did find it to be an interesting legal question.”

That “interesting legal question” is whether a bank can even become a residential tenant. Tenancies for corporations such as BMO are typically commercial, not residential.

Jamie Baxter, a professor at Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law who specializes in land use and property law, also finds the issue fascinating.

“The adjudicator in this case is trying to struggle with… figuring out what the legislators were trying to tell us,” said Baxter.

The Facts

On Dec. 12, 2011, a man named Gordon MacDonald rented a lot from Woodbine to keep his mobile home there. He took out a loan from BMO around the same time – and used his mobile home as collateral.

In early 2015 MacDonald both abandoned his mobile home at Woodbine and defaulted on his loan to BMO, meaning the bank took possession of the home. After 45 days Woodbine would have been permitted to seize the trailer, so on Mar. 1, 2015, BMO paid off MacDonald’s back rent to Woodbine to keep control of the home. BMO continued paying rent for three more months, at which point it decided to stop paying, presumably because the cost wasn’t worth it.

Even though BMO stopped paying, Woodbine believed that the bank had become responsible for MacDonald’s rent payments. That’s when BMO was ordered to pay the money by the Director of Residential Tenancies, and where Slone’s ruling comes in.

The Ruling

Through a close reading of the language in the Residential Tenancies Act, Slone found that banks could not be residential tenants except in very rare circumstances. Therefore, the act did not apply in this situation, and the ruling from the board was void.

Slone’s judgement did not rule out the possibility of BMO paying Woodbine some or all of the money, only that BMO could not be compelled to pay under the Residential Tenancies Act; Woodbine would need to take its dispute with BMO somewhere else if it wished to continue pursuing the money.

Baxter said that Slone’s ruling was sufficient, but there were other ways Slone could have gone about the verdict.

“Look at the broader purposes of the act,” said Baxter. “What the court doesn’t say but could say here is ‘You shouldn’t be clogging up the works of what is meant to be a regime of access and justice for generally disempowered individuals,’” said Baxter.

Although Slone didn’t use that kind of language in his decision, he does seem to agree with Baxter.

“I didn’t think [the Residential Tenancies Board] was really the place for where corporate entities should be resolving their disputes. I think it really does serve as a place for individuals, and not corporations, to be litigating their issues,” said Slone.

Canada’s biggest bookstore posted record revenues last year, according to an analysis of its most recent financial returns. Indigo Books and Music Inc. took in over $1 billion (CAD) in sales for the first time since 2011, and increased its revenue from the previous year by about 2.5%.

Although the returns seem promising on the surface, Dalhousie Professor of Finance Dr. Greg Hebb points out that financial results can’t be properly analyzed in a vacuum.

“Whenever you look at financial statements, it’s always relative. It’s hard to just say, ‘that’s good, that’s bad,’” said Hebb. “If you’re analyzing Indigo, you might want to look at… some other comparable company… and how it is compared to that.”

In Indigo’s press release for the annual financial returns, CEO Heather Reisman did exactly that.

“We are delighted to report our highest revenues ever in what was a tough year for many retailers,” she said.

Indigo by mckied on TradingView.com

Indigo has seen its stock prices decline since June.

In an analyst and investor conference call the day after Indigo’s press release, Reisman elaborated on the company’s success.

“We’re very pleased to report earnings growth, along with the fourteenth straight quarter of year-over-year sales growth,” she said.

It is true that Indigo increased their revenue and earnings before income taxes compared to the previous year. However, Hebb says those factors are not the best way to determine the financial state of a company.

“One thing to keep in mind here, accountants created this. And accountants have very unique specific rules on how they create this,” Hebb said, referring to the earnings sections of the financial returns. “It’s not how you and would generally think. For instance, you and I go out, we have money in our pocket to buy what we want to buy. That’s not really what this is showing. This may show they made $20 mil, but they may have no cash.”

Therefore, according to Hebb, the statement of cash flows is the most important in determining a company’s profitability.

“[The statement of cash flows] basically takes that accounting statement and says, ‘ok, how does that convert into actual cash coming in and cash coming out?’ Because at the end of the day that’s what you care about: do you have cash? Employees don’t get paid with net income. Net income is some number at the bottom of a sheet. They get paid with cash.”

Indigo made over $35 million (CAD) in cash flow from their operating activities, which essentially means their day-to-day business. That amount was actually a decrease of about 8% from the previous fiscal year, when that same number was upwards of $38 million (CAD).

That decrease seems bad, but as Hebb said, context is important in judging financial returns. When compared to Barnes and Noble, the largest bookstore chain in the United States, that 8% dip is negligible. Barnes and Noble is a much bigger company than Indigo, and its cash flow from operating activities was over $145 million (USD) last year, according to the NASDAQ stock market website. However, that represents a decrease in cash flow of over 25% from their previous year of almost $200 million (USD). Barnes and Noble is one of the struggling retailers that Reisman was referring to in her statement for the press release.

Comparison of Indigo and Barnes and Noble’s net cash flow by year (millions of USD)

In the aforementioned conference call, Reisman also noted a few other factors that made this year’s financial returns unique. One of them was the presence of a new book from the Harry Potter series, the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

“There’s nothing like a Harry Potter book that we can see on the horizon,” she said of her projections for the upcoming year.

The other factor was the decline of the adult colouring book phenomenon. Adult colouring books had been a solid source of revenue for Indigo, but Reisman said the craze “is just about petered out.”