EverWind faces backlash after 2 journalists removed from presser

Reporter Joan Baxter says she and another colleague were kicked out of the Everwind Data Center announcement in Nova Scotia last week. They did not register for the event ahead of time and were told by company employees they were trespassing. It just came as such a shock that we were being accused of all sorts of things. And when we told her that we had gone through security and given our names, she accused us of lying. So, yeah, it was pretty, um, we were shaken up. Baxter and her colleague were among dozens of reporters who were there to cover the press conference. The company announced an $8 billion AI data center in the community, with construction already underway. Baxter says despite not registering in advance, the pair was let in by security. But when she stood up to take a photo, she says she was confronted by Everwind's communications director. She sat down right beside me and continued to berate me in my ear, even as I was taking notes. And then she told me to pack my backpack and go. In a statement to CBC, Everwind says the two reporters did not meet security protocols for visitors to industrial sites, including registering for the event and receiving security clearance. But Baxter says when she and her colleague were removed, things got physical. At one point I said, please take your hand off me really quickly. and she grabbed my phone when I tried to video what was happening to us. She took the phone away and my bag had been taken away. The publisher of the Halifax Examiner, where Baxter works, wrote an open letter to the Premier and local MPs who were at the press conference asking for an apology. In a written response, MPs Cody Blois and Mike Calloway said while they did not witness the incident themselves, they did raise concerns about it to Everwind. They wrote, We are not in a position to litigate competing claims of what transpired, but we believe fully in the principle of freedom of the press in its statement Everwind says the interaction fell short of its expectations and it apologizes for the incident the company says it will review its procedures moving forward Matt Campbell CBC News Halifax