I have been keeping a jaundiced eye on the Cape Breton coal trucking story since the 1980s when my friend Leo Evans was shining a public spotlight on the decision by Devco to “rubberize” a part of its coal transportation system.   Made no sense then – makes no sense now.Read More

Rail Schmail Do my eyes deceive me, or has even the Cape Breton Post become a bit skeptical about the great Sydney container port project? All it took was port developer Albert Barbusci suddenly playing down the importance of a functioning railway to their project. As the paper reported Thursday:Read More

Mayor Clarke I have been critical of CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke’s high-handed style of governing, his penchant for secrecy and his preference for springing deals on council at the last minute, forcing them to digest reams of information and vote on important motions without adequate time for deliberation. I haveRead More

Editor’s Note: The following article was produced with the Halifax Examiner, via our Joint Investigative Fund.   Upgrading the Sydney to Truro rail line to make it capable of handling double-stacked containers won’t come cheap, according to a study just completed for the Port of Sydney Development Corporation, but the fixRead More

The CBRM has received one response to its call for expressions of interest in developing the Sydney waterfront and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the only interest expressed came from a man who has been attempting to develop something on the Sydney waterfront for years. Sydney businessman Martin Chernin’s Harbour Royale Development LimitedRead More

Marine Recycling Corporation of Port Colborne, Ontario has landed a third federal government contract to dispose of a ship — this time the HMCS Athabaskan. The Iroquois-class destroyer will join the HMCS Preserver (a naval auxiliary oiler replenishment vessel), the CFAV Quest (a former research vessel) and the MV PrincessRead More

Eyking (and Clarke!) in China As reported in last week’s Fast & Curious, I requested a copy of Sydney-Victoria MP Mark Eyking’s itinerary from his recent trip to China. I received a response from his office which I am pleased to share with you today. Eyking’s assistant Elizabeth Arsenault sentRead More

In my story last week on Sydney’s potential as a transshipment hub, I treated the Port of Sydney container terminal project and the Melford container terminal project in the Strait of Canso as though they were interchangeable. Richie Mann, the former provincial cabinet minister and Richmond MLA who now servesRead More

Chinese itineraries CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke has yet to publish an itinerary for his November 30-December 6 trip to China on which he was accompanied by CAO Marie Walsh, Economic Development Manager John Phalen and his executive assistant Mark Bettens. As it happens, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was inRead More

I have to thank a Spectator reader (he knows who he is) for pointing me toward port development issues in the province of Quebec (and my sister for reminding me that such issues are also discussed in that province’s French-language media). Things began bubbling there last December when the port ofRead More