Who has seen the wind? I didn’t get the invite to Novaporte’s “transformational” announcement at Membertou on Thursday (note to self: ask Tim Bousquet if “transformational” and “transformative” have become the new “innovative”—applied to everything from sewage treatment plants to wind marshaling ports). Looking at this photo I have toRead More

Thanks to the spectator who alerted me to this latest development in the ongoing saga of Dartmouth-based Meta Materials, the “smart” materials company that earned Nova Scotia’s erstwhile venture capital fund Innovacorp a $100 million payday by going public with a valuation north of $1 billion. Meta Materials listed onRead More

I think the first thing that struck me about this ad—brought to my attention by reader Elly Heim whose letter on the subject you must also read this week—is the stress on the word “free,” as in “Free Caddie Information Sessions.”   Is this actually the come-on? Did would-be caddiesRead More

For-Profit Healthcare I have to admit to not having fully understood how for-profit clinics had succeeded in infiltrating the Canadian healthcare system in the first place, having forgotten that the price of single-payer healthcare is eternal vigilance. My understanding was that the Canada Health Act (CHA), which parliament passed unanimouslyRead More

Last Friday’s “emergency” CBRM council meeting has been well covered in the local media, leaving me with one angle—secrecy—that I still feel has not been adequately explored. But first, let’s recap recent affordable housing history: 2020 October 27: The federal government launches the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) delivered by theRead More

I can’t be the only CBRM resident struck by the contrast between our council discussing supportive housing and our council discussing rinks, as they did during last night’s meeting. They are so much happier talking about rinks, they don’t even mind doing it in public. They just relate more toRead More

I tuned into last night’s CBRM council meeting just in time for the singing of the national anthem (done a capella, I presume due to technical difficulties) and so missed the roll call and am not sure why Mayor Amanda McDougall-Merrill was not present—I know only that it was DeputyRead More

Transparency 101 Amid the blowback from CBRM council’s rejection of a staff recommendation it fund a New Dawn/Ally Centre project with the $5 million it received under the federal government’s Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI), District 2 Councilor Earlene MacMullin took to Facebook to explain why she’d voted against the project,Read More

We’re supposed to be celebrating yesterday’s announcement that Cape Breton University has received $58.9 million from the provincial government to establish a medical school that will solve Nova Scotia’s healthcare crisis but I can’t drag my eyes away from the spectacle of CBRM council refusing the $5 million it wasRead More

I watched the (rather heated) debate that took place on February 28 during a Public Hearing on the municipality’s proposed new Passenger Vehicle for Hire By-law, intended to replace the existing Taxi By-law. I want to do three things this week: consider the issue that has some taxi owners allRead More