I assumed my first 2022 contribution to the Spectator would be pretty upbeat, especially since New Year’s Eve was spent in a hilarious re-watching of various episodes of Father Ted that included a few I hadn’t seen before. And thanks to YouTube documentary introducing the actors, I got to seeRead More

A few days after James is released from hospital following a terrible motor vehicle accident in JG Ballard’s novel Crash, he ventures out of his apartment for the first time. Beyond the forecourt of his building he reflects that, “the tree-lined avenue which led to the neighborhood shopping center wasRead More

Editor’s Note: I saw the seeds on display in the hardware store recently and realized it was time to re-start the gardening column. This one was first published on 1 March 2017.   What to do this week March is the month for winter care of trees and shrubs. TheyRead More

Editor’s Note: I noticed the seeds on display at the hardware store this past weekend and realized it was time to bring back the gardener, so here’s a column that first appeared on 22 February 2017.   What to do this week This week I want to talk about stratifyingRead 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

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

Has Ben Cowan-Dewar hit one into the cat box in Saint Lucia? What I’m saying, for those of you not as familiar with the old golf lingo as I am since I googled it 10 minutes ago, is: has Cowan-Dewar actually run into an obstacle on his way to turningRead More

Full disclosure: I have not read Nova Scotia Power’s (NSP) application to the Utility and Review Board (UARB) for a 10% rate increase over the next three years — an application that apparently runs to 1,500 pages. I’ve read a lot about the application, though, beginning with NSP’s initial pressRead More

I know, I know — enough with the District Energy already. But I can’t let go of it because it’s an infrastructure project worth $38 million (as in, the cost of a new central library); it’s being pushed by the province, which means it’s likely to happen; and we haveRead More