Whirlwind Tours I signed up for emails from Entrée Destinations because they promised “stories” from all parts of Canada — including Nova Scotia — and I was curious to see how they’d portray us. (Okay, full disclosure: I wanted to see how trite and clichéd their portrayal would be whichRead More

This article is me, metaphorically waving a white flag. I have tried to get an answer to a pretty simple question — when did CBRM council decide to throw its weight behind a $38 million district energy project for downtown Sydney?  — but it has proved ridiculously difficult. The questionRead More

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the oil rig, Ocean Ranger, off the coast of Newfoundland with the loss of the entire crew—84 men, my brother Jim among them. The Spectator is marking this anniversary by republishing the preface to my 2012 book, The Ocean Ranger: remaking the promiseRead More

I received a press release yesterday from two groups, the Forest Protectors and Extinction Rebellion Mi’kmaki/Nova Scotia, with the subject line, “DNRR [Department of Natural Resources and Renewables] Survey finds more rare lichens in Last Hope forest.” The groups, as the CBC’s Michael Gorman reported this week, count about 50Read More

This week, I’m updating my Cabot Saint Lucia story with the reaction of critics of Ben Cowan-Dewar’s golf resort to the “unofficial” announcement that the Saint Lucian government planned to ensure beach access for locals and to cancel Cabot’s leases on coastal land known as the “Queen’s Chain.” As IRead More

The final episode (FINAL EPISODE) of Annette Verschuren’s Bet On Me podcast is called “Betting on Cape Breton Island with Annette Verschuren” and it features a conversation between Verschuren and what I will now forever think of as her “mini-mes” — a group of women, all of whom are partRead More

The people of the CBRM have spoken and they want the municipality to regulate temporary mobile signs. Planner Kristen Knudskov appeared before council last night with the results of a public survey that found 76% of respondents wanted the CBRM to regulate signs like these: CBRM’s planning department began workRead More

CBRM council voted last night to hire a consultant to conduct a Utility and Review Board (UARB)-mandated district boundary review and make recommendations about district and council size. Planning and Development Director Michael Ruus had been asked, during a special council meeting on January 25, to prepare an Issue PaperRead More

I was visiting my mother a few years ago, in the seniors’ home where she now lives, in BC. Mom introduced me to a well-dressed lady: “This is my daughter. She’s come from Nova Scotia to visit me.” “Oh!” the lady offered brightly, “my husband used to run oil rigsRead More

Three CBRM structures were registered as Municipal Heritage properties during last night’s council meeting:   Menelik Hall Planner Karen Neville, in her submission to council, said the value of the hall, located at 88 Laurier Street in Whitney Pier and “constructed between 1935 and 1936 by people of African descentRead More