“This is really big news for the CBRM, buddy.” Peter Gillis, president of Local 1259 of the International Longshoremen’s Association, is unequivocal in his response to Monday’s announcement that terminal operator Ports America would be involved in the promotion, development and ultimately management of the Novaporte container terminal in theRead More

I still remember my first encounter with the marvelous thing known as “the internet.” In the dark and murky past, when few of us owned computers and aImost no one could go on-line at home, we could go to the local mall, and find a store that allowed customers toRead More

The most insightful comment I’ve heard about developments this week in the dispute between the Nova Scotia government and the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) came from a former union organizer of my acquaintance, who said the government’s decision to lock students out amazed her: One of the hardest things aboutRead More

With all this talk of education in the air, is it any wonder I decided to prepare myself for the moment the Canadian government would consult my opinion on electoral reform? Folks, I READ THE REPORT. No word of lie, I played seasonal music, drank coffee and read the ReportRead More

On  7 November 2011, to great fanfare, the Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment (CSEE) was officially opened at Cape Breton University (CBU). A prominent participant in the ceremony, and key partner in the venture, was Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons manufacturer. Tom Digan, then presidentRead More

Before writing a word about the workplace conditions of Nova Scotia teachers, there is something I need to say: everything I know about the Nova Scotia school system is based on having passed through it as a student in the 1970s. In other words, I know bupkis (to borrow a termRead More

This Content Is Not Sponsored Running a fledgling online news operation on a subscription basis is not without its challenges but it has some big benefits — I don’t have to fill my pages with “sponsored content,” my entire front page will never be given over to an advertisement and IRead More

We’d all do well to start over again, preferably with kindergarten. – Kurt Vonnegut The education system in Cape Breton needs a lesson plan. The P-12 system is in chaos, NSCC faculty are more than two years without a contract and the CBU Board of Governors has placed its presidentRead More