Reality TV The Real Councilors of Richmond County was always going to have a hard time topping the expense scandal arc of the 2016-2017 seasons, with its investigations and forensic audit and revelations of “opportunistic and self-serving” spending on “travel, alcohol, Valentine’s Day flowers even a taxi fare paid toRead More

“Alarums and excursions” is an Elizabethan-era stage direction, which Merriam-Webster defines as either “martial sounds and the movement of soldiers across the stage” or “clamor, excitement, and feverish or disordered activity.” I thought of it this week as I was reading about the CBRM’s decision to locate the new SydneyRead More

Hidden agenda setting The CBC’s Tom Ayers had a pair of good CBRM council-related stories this week — and by “good” I mean, it’s good someone is covering this stuff not “This is good news!” Both stories are based on access to information requests to the CBRM. (Ayers didn’t leaveRead...

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

Deep Dives The banner across the top of this morning’s Cape Breton Post gave me pause, I’ll admit it: The SaltWire Deep Dives: Looking at the Doctor Shortage in Atlantic Canada. Today: Where are all the doctors? “Deep dives?” I thought. “That’s my thing.” I was nervous, but I hadRead More

The smiling faces on the sold-out crowd leaving the Highland Arts Theatre (HAT) last Friday night were proof positive they had been part of something truly wonderful. The HAT’s Tribute to The Rotary Show was an energetic and enthusiastic look back at the Rotary productions that were musical staples in SydneyRead More

As a matter of fact… I just heard the CBC Cape Breton Information Morning “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

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

Reasonable Self-Esteem by Richard Keshen, an emeritus professor of philosophy at Cape Breton University (CBU), was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 1996 to critical acclaim, including laudatory reviews in major academic journals like Ethics and Mind. The book sold out, not a frequent occurrence with academic works, and thisRead More

It definitely wasn’t yesterday, but I vividly remember my mother guiding me through the door at the back of Holy Angels Convent and down the stairs to the gymnasium (a room larger than my six-year-old self had ever seen). Grade two was just across from the gym, and down theRead More