Shout out Let’s start this out on a positive note: the staff at the Port of Sydney are really great. CEO Marlene Usher referred to them as her “small but mighty” team during her opening remarks at Port Days on Thursday and it’s true, the entire operation — including cruise,Read More

I was very interested to hear the “news” on CBC on Tuesday that the deeper channel dredged in Sydney Harbour six years ago is not being used because the necessary navigational aids have never been put in place. The gist of the story is that there was not enough money forRead More

Back in April 2017, the Spectator asked the Port of Sydney Development Corporation for a breakdown of spending from its so-called Assumption Fund. The Assumption Fund is a trust fund containing monies (about $2.5 million originally) left over from the 2012 Sydney harbor dredge, a $37 million project funded by threeRead More

The deadline for bids for the construction of a second cruise ship berth in Sydney harbor has been pushed back from 29 March 2018 to 26 April 2018, according to an addendum to the original tender (the fourth such addendum) posted on the Nova Scotia government website. That is just the latestRead...

On Monday, the Law Amendments Committee sent Bill 85, which grants new powers to the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), back to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly without amendment. One of the powers Bill 85 will grant the CBRM is the ability to enter into a 99-year lease, which our mayorRead More

Donkin Moncton-based Radio-Canada reporter Elissa Serret has done some great work tracking down and speaking to three of the miners fired from the Donkin Mine last fall. (Here’s the link to the original French television item, which features some rather over-dramatic effects and has French-speaking actors playing the miners, who did notRead More

Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien says the Sydney container port project promoted by Albert Barbusci of Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP) has a 90% chance of success but “sometimes you don’t succeed,” so whatever happens, his reputation as a prophet is guaranteed. Chrétien spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the ThinkRead More

I am rarely rendered speechless, but I am gobsmacked by the answers I just received from John Phalen, the economic development manager for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM). Phalen, you’ll recall, organized last week’s secret meeting between port promoter Albert Barbusci, CBRM councilors (nine of whom attended), Mayor CecilRead More

Post truth? The Cape Breton Post spoke with Alberta Barbusci, president of Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP), after his secret, Holiday Inn meeting with nine CBRM councilors and the mayor on Wednesday — a meeting the Post no doubt found out about the same way everyone else in the CBRM did,Read More

Mayor Cecil Clarke and the CBRM council will meet port promoter Albert Barbusci on Wednesday afternoon in what was supposed to have been a secret session between 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM at the Holiday Inn. Barbusci, of Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP), flew into Sydney Monday night, according toRead More