Melissa Schneider was wearing pyjamas when she found out she'd lost her job.
It was November 2017, and Schneider was working as a freelance reporter with the St. Thomas/Elgin Weekly News, one of several papers shut down after a major swap between Torstar and Postmedia.
Schneider had just wrapped up her fourth story of the week, and called her editor to let him know it was on the way.
"He picked up the phone and told me that we were all fired," said Schneider.
"We just disappeared into the night."
For Schneider, the phone call was unwelcome but not unprecedented.  She'd been in the new business for over a decade and it was the third time she'd been laid off.
Still, Schneider said she felt blindsided.
"It felt like there are no more chances to get into this industry, no more chances to get kicked out of this industry," said Schneider.
"There just are no more opportunities, because they'd consolidated now to the point where there's nothing left, there's nothing left to consolidate. There's nobody left to fire. There's nothing left to shut down, so where are you supposed to go from here?"

The Echo relies on advertisers to generate money, and hasn't yet become financially sustainable. (Paula Duhatschek/CBC)

 

 

Although some might have taken the layoff as a sign to hang up their tape recorder and move on, Schneider had a different thought.

"If I'm going to do something, if I'm going to really do something and I'm really going to put my wherewithal behind it and make something spectacular, then I'm going to make something that's my own," she said.

So, she decided to create her own print newspaper: The Echo.

Doing things the old-fashioned way

Today, Melissa Schneider is the owner, publisher, reporter, and main financial backer of The Echo, a print newspaper covering a pocket of Elgin County, Ont. where Schneider grew up.

It's an old-fashioned business model, but Schneider said it makes sense for the coverage area, which has many seniors and where internet connections can be spotty.

"I always joke that when the power goes out here, which it does quite often, you can still sit with a flashlight and read your hard copy of The Echo," said Schneider.

Schneider's grade eight yearbook lists her career goal as 'author or journalist.' (Paula Duhatschek/CBC)

 

 

There's another reason behind her dedication to the old-fashioned newspaper.

As a child, Schneider made the news herself while figure skating at a nearby arena. She was warming up when a local reporter-photographer snapped her picture as part of a photo feature.

The day the paper came out, Schneider was captivated over breakfast by a picture of herself in newsprint.

"It was laying there on my plate and I thought, 'That's it for me, that's exactly what I want to do,'" said Schneider.

A baby and a newspaper

Still, The Echo isn't immune to the financial challenges of the media industry, and although Schneider is living her childhood dreams, dreams on their own won't pay the bills.

For now, Schneider keeps the paper afloat using her savings, but only has enough in her Echo fund to keep the paper going until the end of the year.

I always joke that when the power goes out here, which it does quite often, you can still sit with a flashlight and read your hard copy of The Echo.- Melissa Schneider

The paper's precarious financial situation was made doubly complicated when, just two months into publication, Schneider found out she was pregnant.

"Which was another kind of, 'So now what are we supposed to do?'" said Schneider.

"Because I literally just started this venture and it seemed to be going OK. And I didn't really know what that meant for the future, for us, for the paper, for life really in general."

But Schneider is optimistic about the future. She jokes about taking a three-day maternity leave, and then setting up a crib in her home office and diving right back into her work.

"All I'm doing is bringing one more reporter into the universe," she said. "The baby's going to get into the industry and take over from its mom, that's my plan B here."

For Schneider, showing up is important. She wants her neighbours to know that when news happens, they can count on her to be there and to write about it.

And whether The Echo lasts one more edition, or is around for another 30 years, Schneider said she can be at peace with herself knowing that she gave it her all.

"I would rather have dreamed a dream and made it come true," she said, "than to only ever have thought of it and never been able to live it."

2 chief justices appear at odds over judge-moving bill

Terse letter exchange between David Smith and Ernest Drapeau sheds light on debate about Bill 21

Court of Appeal Chief Justice Ernest Drapeau, left, cancelled a Feb. 29 meeting about Bill 29 after Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice David Smith, right, said he could not attend on short notice. (CBC)The province's two top judges sparred earlier this year over the timing of a meeting to discuss the controversial Bill 21, according to confidential letters obtained by CBC News.

Chief Justice Ernest Drapeau of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal cancelled a Feb. 29 meeting to discuss the legislation after Chief Justice David Smith of the Court of Queen's Bench said he would not take part.

Smith told Drapeau in a Feb. 26 letter he couldn't attend because he was out of the country "and a four-day notice period prevents adequate preparation for and personal attendance at this meeting."

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Later the same day, Drapeau wrote back that, "I deeply regret your decision to not participate in the meeting."

Drapeau's terse letter adds that even if Smith was away, participation was "an option that was available by way of telephone."

The rare glimpse at the private interactions of the two senior judges sheds more light on the debate over Bill 21.

Judicial disagreement

 

Drapeau and Smith appear to disagree about the bill, introduced by the Liberals on Feb. 5.

The bill will amend the Judicature Act to take away Smith's unilateral power to transfer Court of Queen's Bench justices and would let the justice minister veto any move.

Smith calls the bill a potential violation of the court's independence.

After failing to persuade the Liberal government to change the bill, he's now warning that he is looking at "further options." The bill is expected to pass the legislature next week.

The Liberals have said they consulted Drapeau about the bill and he approved it.

They also say Justice Judy Clendening was filling in for Smith on administrative issues while he was vacationing in Florida and she gave her approval to the bill the day before it was introduced.

Bray said Clendening told Smith that she got a call from a government official that didn't mention the coming bill and that she said the general idea of a veto would be "constitutionally suspect."

Drapeau has not spoken publicly about his view of bill and his office did not respond to an interview request on Thursday.

Drapeau, Smith and the chief justice of the provincial court, Pierre Arseneault, sit on a committee that discusses court administration issues with provincial officials.

Letters written 3 weeks after bill

The exchange of letters obtained by CBC News began three weeks after the bill was introduced, after it began to generate political controversy and after Smith went public with his objections.

Bray said Smith was only told about the bill "after the fact" of its introduction in the legislature on Feb. 5.

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Bray said Smith was still in Florida when Drapeau asked for the Feb. 29 meeting and didn't want to discuss the bill by conference call because on a previous conference call he'd been "frustrated because of the poor quality" of the call.

I see no useful purpose in going ahead, and the meeting is therefore cancelled.- Ernest Drapeau , chief justice New Brunswick Court of Appeal

"He felt this was important enough that he wanted a face-to-face meeting, either with a representative of his there, or when he returned," Bray said.

Smith said in his letter to Drapeau that he had asked Justice Fred Ferguson to attend on his behalf.
But Drapeau responded that given Smith's decision to not participate, "I see no useful purpose in going ahead and the meeting is therefore cancelled."

Smith wrote back Feb. 29, offering to meet Drapeau in Fredericton on March 14 or at a judicial event in Moncton on March 18.

Courts have different perspectives

Asked if the exchange between Drapeau and Smith was a sign of a healthy administration of the justice system, Bray said that, "I don't think anything that's happened on Bill 21 has been terribly healthy for the administration of justice."

Ann Whiteway-Brown, the president of the Canadian Bar Association's New Brunswick branch, said the apparent disagreement between the chief justices makes it "difficult" to fix the bill "because the two courts certainly have a different perspective on it."

She said she finds it odd the province consulted Drapeau on a bill that doesn't affect his court while not consulting Smith, whose court the bill does affect.

Justice Minister Denis Landry refused to comment on Thursday.