So I am 67 years old and have lived most of my life on Cape Breton Island. I have seen many politicians come and go. I have heard promises of better times ahead many times over the years. I have heard many political parties blame the others for past mistakes.Read More

Lord of the Dance The Cape Breton Post devoted three pages — including the entire front page — to the late John Allan Cameron on Tuesday, inadvertently giving new meaning to the phrase “slow news day.” The hook for the multi-page extravaganza? It’s been 50 years since Cameron’s first albumRead More

On Wednesday morning at 5:42 AM,  I (and 37 other news outlets and reporters) received an email from Sydney-Victoria MP Mark Eyking announcing his decision not to seek re-election this fall. My first thought? Honestly? “How is CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke going to justify running for federal office so soonRead...

Editor’s Note: Mayor Cecil Clarke’s contention that discussing council remuneration in camera (and treating elected officials as “personnel”) is a longstanding CBRM practice sent me scuttling to the “CBRM Mayor and Council” clippings file at the McConnell library, to research some of the remuneration (and related) issues council has dealt withRead More

Editor’s Note: Mayor Cecil Clarke’s contention that discussing council remuneration in camera (and treating elected officials as “personnel”) is a longstanding CBRM practice sent me scuttling to the “CBRM Mayor and Council” clippings file at the McConnell library, to research some of the remuneration (and related) issues council has dealt withRead More

Welcome to this week’s installment of “Where’s Cecil?,” my ongoing effort to keep track of Mayor Cecil Clarke’s campaign appearances to judge just how much time he’s taking from his day job to travel the province in pursuit of the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. AsRead More

Although he’s now apparently entertaining the idea of remaining mayor even if he wins the PC leadership race, Mayor Cecil Clarke is on record saying precisely the opposite. It happens at the 09.42 mark of this February 6 interview with Steve Sutherland of CBC’s Information Morning Cape Breton. (Clarke hadRead More

Earlier this summer, those of us living in Ontario suffered through a provincial election campaign filled with attack ads, ad hominem critiques, anger, angst and fear. Underlying the anger, angst and fear felt by a large percentage of the electorate was a queasy feeling that public services, particularly in theRead More

I wanted more information about political leadership conventions in Nova Scotia and my googling kept leading me to the same door: that of retired Acadia University political science professor Ian Stewart. Stewart and a colleague, University of Calgary political science professor David Stewart, have literally written the book on theRead More

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