CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke has declared his candidacy for the provincial Tory leadership, which he intends to pursue while remaining mayor. Clarke points to Nova Scotia’s Municipal Government Act (MGA) which places no restriction on municipal officials seeking other offices. (Neither, it should be noted, does the Municipal Elections Act.)Read More

Port pay I always want to know what takes place at CBRM council in camera meetings, but I REALLY wish I’d been a fly on the wall for Tuesday’s discussion about renewing Port of Sydney CEO Marlene Usher’s $200,000 a year contract. Usher, once second in command at Enterprise Cape BretonRead More

One of the great advantages of citing I.F. Stone as an influence when you launch a news publication is that you never have to attend a political event — no press conferences, no port announcements, no chamber of commerce luncheons, no public meetings. Stone’s journalism was based entirely on theRead More

Mayor Clarke I have been critical of CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke’s high-handed style of governing, his penchant for secrecy and his preference for springing deals on council at the last minute, forcing them to digest reams of information and vote on important motions without adequate time for deliberation. I haveRead More

Here’s the most damning line from the CBRM’s response to a FOIPOP request for information about a recent trip to China by Mayor Cecil Clarke and three CBRM staffers. Municipal Clerk Deborah Campbell Ryan told the applicant: I have been advised that CBRM does not have any records relating toRead More

The CBRM has received one response to its call for expressions of interest in developing the Sydney waterfront and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the only interest expressed came from a man who has been attempting to develop something on the Sydney waterfront for years. Sydney businessman Martin Chernin’s Harbour Royale Development LimitedRead More

Marine Recycling Corporation of Port Colborne, Ontario has landed a third federal government contract to dispose of a ship — this time the HMCS Athabaskan. The Iroquois-class destroyer will join the HMCS Preserver (a naval auxiliary oiler replenishment vessel), the CFAV Quest (a former research vessel) and the MV PrincessRead More

Nova Scotia Represent I ran across references to Nova Scotia in two unexpected places this past week, which is always fun and makes me think, “The world DOES know we exist!” The first came as I was listening to the latest episode of The Zero Hour, a TV  and radioRead More

Education consultant Avis Glaze is clearly a quick study: hired in October 2017, she was given until the end of December to conduct an administrative review of the Nova Scotia education system. She crammed 91 in-person meetings (with individuals or groups) into 19 business days (I’m assuming she didn’t workRead More

I begin with a confession: I did not attend Saturday’s public consultation session on the CBRM Charter nor did I watch the livestream of the event. At least, I didn’t watch it on Saturday — I did watch it on Monday and I also read all the submissions posted onRead More