Archive for May, 2023

When SHIP Met EllisDon

When SHIP Met EllisDon

May 17, 2023 at 1:38 pm

Say you’re a former advertising executive turned “port developer” and February 2022 finds you in the seventh year of your exclusive contract to turn the Port of Sydney into a transshipment hub for ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) with pretty much nothing to show for yourself. Initial deals with the ChineseRead More

From Sydney to Saudi: EllisDon Gets Around

From Sydney to Saudi: EllisDon Gets Around

May 17, 2023 at 1:36 pm

I have seen the name EllisDon on signs attached to the fencing around the under-construction NSCC Sydney Waterfront Campus but I didn’t actually know anything about the company until this week, when I got interested in it as part of an entity called SHIP.ED which submitted a proposal to developRead More

Albany Calling

Albany Calling

May 17, 2023 at 1:34 pm

I am not on the Port of Sydney’s media list, so did not receive the press release headlined: Port of Sydney to Host U.S. and Atlantic Canadian Ports During Port Days I actually knew the Port of Sydney would be welcoming the North Atlantic Ports Association (NAPA) and the IndependentRead More

Cucumbers. (Photo by Madeline Yakimchuk)

Gardening Tips: Squash, Anyone?

May 17, 2023 at 1:30 pm

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 20 May 2020, and it’s interesting that Michelle was talking about frost because apparently we’re in for some tonight!   What to do this week This week is the perfect time to plant squash seeds, and hopefully you will consider starting them inRead More

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

May 12, 2023 at 11:39 am

Growth Back in 2021, the CBRM went looking for a consultant to: …complete a new Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS), Economic Development Strategy, Land Use By-law (LUB), and other related enabling by-laws including the Subdivision By-law. The contract, worth $217,391.30, was awarded to Dillon Consulting which subcontracted two additional consultants—David Campbell ofRead...

Jelena Vermilion, executive director of Sex Workers’ Action Program (SWAP), Hamilton, speaking about the challenge to Canada’s anti-prostitution laws. (Source: @ButterflyCSW/Twitter)

So, How’s That ‘Nordic Model’ Working Out?

May 10, 2023 at 1:51 pm

I have read multiple local court reports recently in which the sentence included an order that the convicted person “submit a DNA sample to the national registry” and it struck me that it’s been six years almost to the day since I first wrote about Canada’s National DNA Data BankRead More

Back to the DNA Bank

Back to the DNA Bank

May 10, 2023 at 1:49 pm

Now that I’ve worked through my 2,800-word preamble in the form of this week’s history of Canada’s Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, it’s time to focus on the subject I actually set out to cover: Canada’s National DNA Data Bank (NDDB). As I explained back in 2017, whenRead More

Help for the Hard of Hearing

Help for the Hard of Hearing

May 10, 2023 at 1:47 pm

Dear Editor, Darryl Sittler, a Maple Leafs hockey legend, can be seen in a recent national campaign speaking on hearing loss. He notes hearing loss can lead to depression, cognitive decline and social isolation. These are serious yet preventable issues. We, the Society of Deaf and Hard of Hearing NovaRead More

Lilacs (Spectator photo)

Gardening Tips: Bushes and Shrubs

May 10, 2023 at 1:45 pm

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 13 May 2020.   What to do this week This is the time for tending to bushes and shrubs, or perhaps dividing them, so let’s talk about that. If you have lilac, or elderberry, currants of course, rose bushes very often (especially theRead More

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

May 5, 2023 at 12:00 pm

Street sense Effective water management is crucial when paving asphalt. Poor water management has a devastating effect on asphalt. Standing water seeps through asphalt into the foundations underneath. As a result, the foundations weaken and become unstable. This disrupts the road’s surface, which results in bumps dips, and potholes appearingRead...