In anticipation of the desperate ghosting of the Novaporte project during this municipal election campaign, I contacted Mayor Cecil Clarke and asked him for a written response on the current status of his transformative vision for a container terminal on Sydney Harbour. I also asked if he would be makingRead More

Booze News The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) reported a 4.2% increase in earnings for the year ended 31 March 2020 — earnings were up $9.9 million at $247.3 million. I’ve been curious about the effect of the pandemic on liquor sales and was fascinated (although I have to admit,Read...

Donkin During the Proclamations & Resolutions portion of Tuesday’s virtual CBRM council meeting, District 8 Councilor Amanda McDougall presented a resolution outlining South Head residents’ environmental concerns about the Donkin coal mine, which is described as having ceased operations “permanently.” McDougall’s resolution asked council to make these concerns known toRead More

We created Morien Resources to be a vehicle of prosperity for Nova Scotians. Its two primary assets, the Donkin Mine and the Black Point Aggregates Project, are located in communities with high unemployment. Many members of these communities have to choose between low paying seasonal jobs or travelling to otherRead More

It is unfortunate that Stephen Drake’s letter was published before our company, Morien Resources, distributed the truth of the situation in a press release this morning [April 2]. I would like to add some proper context to Drake’s letter and correct some inaccuracies. I am submitting this letter because thoseRead More

I began my mining career in 1977 and have been an eye witness to the Donkin saga since the day Pierre Elliot Trudeau announced his National Energy Program (NEP) in the 1980s. The NEP earmarked $2 billion dollars for expansion of the Cape Breton coal industry and Donkin Mine wasRead More

Adding to the general feeling that the world as we know it is coming to an end — and that that’s not necessarily a bad thing — the owners of the Donkin Mine announced on Tuesday they were ending production permanently and putting the mine on “care and maintenance” dueRead More

Steve Drake’s informative piece on March 18th was revealing — an excellent explanation of why the roof-falls are continuing and of what might be the only ‘fix’ possible. It appears that supporting the roof at these depths is best done with the steel arches. It would be quite something ifRead More

Writing in the Guardian in 2015, Sean Marshall dated the rebirth of the tram (which he, being a Toronto native, calls a “streetcar”) to the 1980s, although initially this took the form of “vintage” lines “mimicking New Orleans’ famous St Charles Streetcar line.” These heritage streetcars use antique or replicaRead More

As I said last week, I began this journey because I wanted to talk about trams and a couple of thousand words later, I’ve mostly been talking about electricity. (This is what happens when you travel with me. I hope you packed a lunch.) I’m going to bring the focusRead More