Editor’s Note: We’re reaching into Michelle’s Smith’s archives for posts as useful now as when they were first published and this week, we’re revisiting one of her lovely long-form essays, last published in November 2020.   The cat and I huddled under the blankets in the dark as the windRead More

This time last year, I was writing multiple articles (see here and here and here) about golf magnate Ben Cowan-Dewar’s controversial new course on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. Cowan-Dewar and partner Mike Keiser have not even completed that course (Sports Illustrated says Cabot Saint Lucia is scheduled toRead More

Editor’s Note: This column was last published on 21 October 2020.   What to do this week This week, I want to do a checklist for putting your garden to bed for the winter. Some of the items on my list have been covered recently in more detail, so IRead More

Johnny ‘No Comment’ During the 2021 provincial election, when he was running as the (ultimately successful) Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of Glace Bay, John White (aka Johnny White aka Johnny Bubba) declined to answer the Spectator‘s questions. I had forgotten that until yesterday, when I read about WhiteRead More

Pick a lane? I live in the North End of Sydney and on a day a week or so ago when there were three cruise ships in port, I had a sudden vision of the area as a pedestrian-only district. It sounds crazy, I know, because at the moment, theRead More

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 2 October 2019. What to do this week With that nip in the air at night, it is time to think about planting bulbs. Especially those of the good Stinking Rose, otherwise known as garlic. You can plant garlic and other bulbs anyRead More

I am an easily distracted human being who almost didn’t get beyond the second page of CBRM’s 2022 active transportation (AT) plan because it contained this quote:   I can’t remember whether I discovered the British writer and critic Leigh Hunt the summer I was obsessed with Victorian poetry (blameRead...

Editor’s Note: CBRM resident Guy LaFosse wonders why the municipality is not burying the power lines as part of its $10 million Charlotte Street makeover. He shared his letter to councilors with the Spectator.   Good afternoon Councilors, I am writing to you out of a growing concern that aRead...

Editor’s Note: This column first appeared on 25 September 2019.   What to do this week With wind and cold in the forecast – and supposing you haven’t already been hit by frost – it’s time to get serious about the winter food supply. I mean, you‘d better start diggingRead More

Coal Face “There’s no stone left unturned when it comes to safety with this company”—CBRM District 8 Councilor James Edwards on Kameron Collieries’ decision to reopen the Donkin Mine, CTV Atlantic News, 14 September 2022 The unfortunate reference to stones—the man is, after all, talking about a coal mine proneRead More