Here’s the rule I set myself for writing about madeline yakimchuk who died on Friday, June 9, having chosen MAID in her clear-eyed, madeline way: I am not going to say anything in this piece that I didn’t actually say to madeline in person or that I don’t believe withRead More

I was unfamiliar, until very recently, with the work of Mahone Bay-based “journalist and author” Quentin Casey, who seems to specialize in a type of “journalism” (I call it “Capitalist Hagiography”) that gives me hives. Casey writes fawning portraits of rich businessmen (they all seem to be men) under headlinesRead...

Vienna Ikea Big box stores are designed for cars. I was going to say “for people with cars” but more and more I’m coming to the conclusion that our world is designed more for the vehicles themselves (and the companies that produce them, and the companies that provide their fuel)Read...

The Nova Scotia government announced on Monday that it was investigating the theft of personal information stolen through a global privacy breach of a file transfer system called MOVEit. Colton LeBlanc, in his capacity as minister of cyber security and digital solutions, held what the Halifax Examiner‘s Zane Woodford termedRead More

I think there must be something in the air this week. First, the Spectator‘s Sean Howard, in Part I of what will be a two-part series, discussed ways to “change our local world” with a focus on exercises in “direct, participatory, deliberative citizen engagement” like Citizens’ Assemblies. Then CBU professorRead More

Wildfires Working on CBRM council stories for the Wednesday edition as wildfires raged on the mainland—and not just on the mainland but in the provincial capital—was a strange experience. I knew I had nothing to add to the coverage of the fires, that’s not the kind of coverage I doRead...

First things first, I think municipalities in Canada have a raw deal and I put the blame squarely on the British North America Act of 1867 which declared them to be nothing more than “creatures of the provinces” with no real power of their own. It’s a subject I exploredRead More

In today’s third and final installment of our waterfront development series, we’ll look at the winning proposal submitted by Bedford-based Doucet Developments, founded by Westmount native Doug Doucet. Council selected Doucet’s proposal during in camera meetings and the first the public heard about it was during the 8 November 2022Read More

CBRM council met on May 10 for a “Strategic Vision” workshop that, despite it’s rather vague title, actually had a clear—and important—purpose: councilors met to discuss quality of life, family recreation, public transit and affordable housing and homelessness. I’m going to focus on the latter because I think ensuring accessRead More

Editor’s Note: This week’s Fast & Curious is less random than usual because all the items relate to sharing, whether ownership or living space. The random part is that I didn’t set out to research the subject, I just happened across each of these items individually this past week whileRead...