Having listened to Mayor Amanda McDougall’s interview with the CBC’s Wendy Bergfeldt, I’ve come to the same conclusion I reached last week: those meetings in Ben Eoin should have been open to the public. But at a bare minimum, they should have been ANNOUNCED to the public. Former Municipal AffairsRead More

A spectator (you know who you are) recently referenced my June 2019 article about the Royal Cape Breton Yacht Club (RCBYC), the 113-year-old building that graced the Sydney waterfront until 3 May 2013, when it was destroyed by fire. This reminded me that I had never properly followed up onRead More

As I write this month’s column, Ontario, where I live, is still in the grip of the COVID pandemic. The government issued a stay-at-home order on Boxing Day, which closed restaurants for in-person dining, university classes remain virtual, and we have been told that we should only leave the houseRead More

Editor’s Note: This week, we are re-running the third in a series of three columns from 2017. They are perfect for this time of year, and will help you get ready for spring while Michelle deals with a few things that have her tied up right now.   What to doRead...

Low-rent Davos Last week found me feeling hopeful about our municipal government, reporting on CBU Prof. Tom Urbaniak’s suggestions for streamlining agendas and shortening meetings and involving the community on committees. And then, this happened: The Cape Breton Regional Municipality is readying a new strategic plan for the next fourRead More

Peter McIsaac, chief of the Cape Breton Regional Police Service (CBRPS), revealed this week that he is leaving his post after a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). McIsaac , who has been on medical leave since July 2019, told the CBC’s Tom Ayers that he’s come to understand he’sRead More

It’s been a while since I played a good old-fashioned game of “Okay, stop” with a written document, but last Saturday’s Cape Breton Post article about the Port of Sydney AGM cries out for a talking to. I’m going to cut the author, “political reporter” Ian Nathanson, some slack, becauseRead More

“We now send greetings and thanks to our eldest Brother, the Sun. Each day without fail he travels the sky from east to west, bringing the light of a new day. He is the source of all the fires of life…” — From Greetings to the Natural World, the ThanksgivingRead More

Reports this week that the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation is considering moving the Halifax casino from its waterfront location must surely have raised a red flag for anyone who remembers that relocating the Sydney casino is a key element of developer Martin Chernin’s plan for the Sydney waterfront. It’s notRead More