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

I am trying to keep track of Mayor Cecil Clarke’s campaign appearances to judge just how much time he’s taking from his day job to travel the province in pursuit of the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. I’m focusing on events scheduled for weekdays during businessRead 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

Discovering, thanks to the reporting of Rick Grant, that the CBRM mayor and council are holding a secret meeting today with port developer Albert Barbusci sends a chill up my spine. The meeting is being held at the Holiday Inn to avoid the bother of calling a special in cameraRead More

The Big Pond RV Park debate (which, as the Allman Brothers would say, is over but ain’t through) raised a lot of interesting questions for me, about everything from the purpose of public consultation to the role of the Nova Scotia Utilities and Review Board (UARB) to the responsibility ofRead More

Equalize this Developments on the equalization front this week must be gratifying to the stalwart members of Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness (NSEF), a CBRM-based advocacy group that has been meeting monthly to discuss the issue of municipal financing for 15 long years. Against the backdrop of budget discussions, whichRead More

Cape Breton Regional Municipal Council voted on Wednesday morning to approve a zoning by-law amendment to allow developer Chris Skidmore to establish a 211-site RV Park in Big Pond Centre. The vote was 7-6 with Councilors Clarence Prince, Earlene MacMullin, Steve Gillespie, George MacDonald, Darren Bruckschwaiger, Jim MacLeod and Mayor CecilRead More

You’ve got to love the free market. Look at the wonders it produces when simply left to its own devices: an Ontario-based shipbreaking outfit suddenly realizes it should be busting up old naval ships in Sydney harbor, so moves here and starts hiring.   Although, as the Cape Breton Post explainedRead More

French lessons This week, I’ve run across three Quebec news stories that are oddly relevant to events here in the CBRM. That’s not as completely random as it sounds: I keep tabs on events in Quebec by starting each day listening to the first half hour of Quebec AM, the QuebecRead More