Happy New Year, spectators! I’m easing back into regular publication today with this one article. Full disclosure: I had expected to spend this week poring over documents released by the CBRM in response to my 2015 FOIPOP request. I knew I wouldn’t receive all 890 pages Privacy Commissioner Tricia RalphRead More

Ahem… Back in May of 2019, I wrote a story with the headline, “This is what a REAL port announcement looks like,” in which I contrasted what was happening at the Port of Québec — which had announced a deal with CN and Hatchet Ports to build and operate theRead More

The first episode of the new season of CBRM Council was three hours long, featured a bunch of new characters and offered up at least one new twist in an old plot. It seems to have been filmed in a black light theater although, sadly, none of the councilors tookRead More

Editor’s Note: Rick Grant, who keeps an eye on all things port, attended a rare Open House at the Port of Halifax on Friday and offered to report on what he saw for the Spectator. I accepted, although Halifax is usually beyond the scope of my reporting, because Grant andRead More

Canderel abandons SHIP? Has Canderel, the Montreal-based real estate development firm founded by Jonathan Wener, cut its ties with Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP), the firm with the “exclusive” contract to promote a Port of Sydney container terminal? Wener is no longer listed on the “leadership” page of the NovaporteRead More

Catch 22 “There was only one catch, and that was Catch-22.” Did you happen to watch the CBC-sponsored CBRM mayoral candidates’ debate on Wednesday night? I watched the whole thing and, given my obsession with all things port, was struck by Mayor Cecil Clarke’s assertion that the province was preparedRead...

Beggaring belief So, it’s done — Albert Barbusci of Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP) has completed his work and all that stands between the Port of Sydney and a multi-million dollar terminal for ultra-large container vessels is our decrepit railway. Barbusci told the Cape Breton Post‘s David Jala (who describedRead More

In anticipation of the desperate ghosting of the Novaporte project during this municipal election campaign, I contacted Mayor Cecil Clarke and asked him for a written response on the current status of his transformative vision for a container terminal on Sydney Harbour. I also asked if he would be makingRead More

The pier, dear Premier Stephen McNeil officially opened Sydney’s new $20 million docking pier Thursday amid a gathering of politicians from all levels and stripes. McNeil said he’s confident the cruise industry will bounce back and that the new infrastructure, to be called Liberty Pier, will also help attract otherRead More

Last week, PSA Halifax (formerly Halterm) took delivery of a piece of equipment that may signal the end of the Port of Sydney’s container terminal dream. The Singapore-based port operator — one of the largest in the world — received a Super Post Panamax (SPPX) crane ordered 18 months ago,Read More