June 10, 2022 at 11:00 am
Three Celebs and a Baby I recently swore off home reno shows after a friend pointed out to me that they are the worst thing you can possibly watch when you’re looking to improve your own living space because the key to their miraculous design transformations is the removal ofRead More
February 19, 2020 at 12:45 pm
Is the winter garden the most beautiful garden of all? — Philip Slayton to Lynn Farrell, A Nova Scotia Garden in Winter The Spectator‘s own gardener — Michelle Smith — is currently enjoying a well-deserved break from the rigors of weekly column writing, giving her more time to dealRead More
February 7, 2020 at 12:46 pm
Rodger’s Rumspringa? A Canadian political phenomenon I will never understand is how party affiliation can be at once all-important and yet no big deal. Canada’s political parties are powerful, as the Globe and Mail pointed out in 2013: Almost all discourse in the Canadian Parliament is scripted by party staffers.Read More
March 27, 2019 at 12:28 pm
I have been trying to determine how, exactly, we decided to locate the new CBRM central library on the Sydney waterfront and as best I can figure, it happened like this: Architectural & Facility Planning In June 2011, the Cape Breton Regional Library (CBRL) Board initiated a study toRead More
April 25, 2018 at 11:38 am
This is an embarrassing confession for a reporter to make but here goes: sometimes, when I read news stories, they just wash over me in a wave of acronyms and quotes and dollar figures, leaving me no better informed than I was before I began reading. This is rarely aRead More
February 16, 2018 at 10:45 am
As a matter of fact… I just heard the CBC Cape Breton Information MorningĀ “issue panel” discuss the PC leadership race — more specifically, whether Mayor Cecil Clarke should resign to run for the leadership. I was a vocal participant in that discussion, although you may not have heard me, asRead More
January 5, 2018 at 8:27 am
Doggone generous CBC Cape Breton’s annual Light Up a Life campaign to raise money for Feed Nova Scotia makes me awfully uncomfortable. I know I sound like Scrooge, the Grinch and Donald Trump all rolled into one for saying it, but there it is. In fact, I get so uncomfortable,Read More
November 8, 2017 at 12:01 pm
With the modest aim of compiling a comprehensive list of Cape Breton cultural events (!), the Spectator has been working hard on an Events Calendar feature, which launches today. I’m using a WordPress plugin employed by many sites but I decided to spring for the “filter” add-on which makes theRead More
July 19, 2017 at 11:30 am
The Spectator is very pleased to report that two local photographers (who’ve both been featured right here in these very pages) are exhibiting their work at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design. Japan: Two Perspectives, which opened officially on Monday, features the work of Chad Tobin and CharlieRead More