Freedom of Information

Behold this July 2016 briefing note for PMJT, extolling Liberal govt's firm commitment to transparency and access-to-info reform (Dean Beeby via Twitter)

Free the Information!

June 14, 2017 at 1:00 pm

Dean Beeby is a former Canadian Press (CP) reporter who now works for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). I have never met him — in fact, the photos that now accompany his CBC articles are the first I’ve ever seen of him — but I’ve long admired his work: heRead...

All Hail the Business Sector Volunteer Vanguards!

All Hail the Business Sector Volunteer Vanguards!

June 7, 2017 at 12:15 pm

I was confused from the moment I read the subject line (which you can click to enlarge):   My best guess was that “Portege” was a typo and what Business Cape Breton had actually launched was an Entrepreneurial PORTAGE/Vanguard Program. This, I decided, would either involve entrepreneurs carrying canoes on their headsRead More

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

June 2, 2017 at 11:17 am

B’Spoke Apparel: Addendum In this week’s edition, I reviewed some recently awarded CBRM tenders, including one for clothing for Transit Authority employees that was won by B’Spoke Apparel of Halifax. I noted that B’Spoke is owned by 180 Moda which is owned by Taura Lee (aka Taura Publicover). Here’s theRead More

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

May 19, 2017 at 11:03 am

Confessions of a bad reporter I forgot about Ports Day — Port Days? Ports Days? — whatever it is, I forgot about it. I know, right? How does that happen? How does the most port-obsessed person in Sydney forget Port-a-palooza? I can only plead temporary sanity. This week, I was apparentlyRead More

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

April 7, 2017 at 10:00 am

Like two ships that pass in the ice The port [of Sydney] has a series of natural advantages that distinguish it from other East Coast harbours. For example, it is the first port of call in North America for vessels transshipping from the Suez Canal. In addition it is aRead More

White House press secretary Sean Spicer (Source: White House, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Does CBRM Need Another Communications Person?

March 8, 2017 at 11:45 am

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality, having survived into the early years of the 21st century without a communications person, suddenly needs two of them. Mayor Cecil Clarke, who made history (and by-passed municipal hiring rules) by tapping Christina Lamey as his own personal “Communication Advisor” now wants to hire a second flak forRead More

Civic Centre, CBRM

CBRM Doesn’t Have All Docs in $40K FOIPOP But Fee Stands

March 1, 2017 at 1:00 pm

Remember the $40,000 FOIPOP? Actually, the price tag the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) slapped on a local man’s freedom of information/protection of privacy request was $42,804.50 — a calculation of the value of CBRM employee time that seems to be worked out to the last fraction of a second. SydneyRead More

A Brief Introduction to PowerSchool

A Brief Introduction to PowerSchool

February 22, 2017 at 1:50 pm

What is this PowerSchool of which Nova Scotian teachers speak? The datafication (a word I thought I’d made up but which turns out to be real) of P-12 education happened after my time in the Nova Scotia public system, so I had to do some reading (a little skill I pickedRead More

Anatomy of a Bill: A Play in One Act

Anatomy of a Bill: A Play in One Act

February 22, 2017 at 1:40 pm

The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party made a freedom of information application to the Nova Scotia government last December requesting: All communication (including emails, letter and other electronic messages) briefing notes and other documents related to An Act Respecting a Teacher’s [sic] Professional Agreement. The request referred to legislation that Education MinisterRead More

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

February 8, 2017 at 1:15 pm

Charter? What Charter? I was perusing the list of recently completed Nova Scotia Freedom of Information Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) requests, as one does, and discovered this one: All briefing notes, analysis and correspondence regarding the development of a municipal charter for Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Oh boy, oh boy,Read More