John Phalen, manager of economic development and major projects for the CBRM, went to council on Tuesday morning with a request for clarity on the municipality’s planned contribution to a new central library. His sudden need for clarity was driven not by the need for a new central library (althoughRead More

Ask Marta Singh, the guest storyteller at this year’s Isle of Story Festival, how she became a storyteller and you get — what else? — a story. “The real story,” she says with a laugh, although it’s “not romantic, I’m telling you!” It had been three years that I hadRead More

Port pay I always want to know what takes place at CBRM council in camera meetings, but I REALLY wish I’d been a fly on the wall for Tuesday’s discussion about renewing Port of Sydney CEO Marlene Usher’s $200,000 a year contract. Usher, once second in command at Enterprise Cape BretonRead More

Mayor Clarke I have been critical of CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke’s high-handed style of governing, his penchant for secrecy and his preference for springing deals on council at the last minute, forcing them to digest reams of information and vote on important motions without adequate time for deliberation. I haveRead More

The CBRM has received one response to its call for expressions of interest in developing the Sydney waterfront and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the only interest expressed came from a man who has been attempting to develop something on the Sydney waterfront for years. Sydney businessman Martin Chernin’s Harbour Royale Development LimitedRead More

Doggone generous CBC Cape Breton’s annual Light Up a Life campaign to raise money for Feed Nova Scotia makes me awfully uncomfortable. I know I sound like Scrooge, the Grinch and Donald Trump all rolled into one for saying it, but there it is. In fact, I get so uncomfortable,Read More

Dear Editor, It seems less and less frequent that we receive knocks on the door with people on the other side who want to have face-to-face conversations. Rare is the opportunity to look someone in the eye rather than through a screen and talk about things that matter. It’s electionRead More

Margaret Young of Sydney writes: Thank you, Dolores Campbell, for your article on the mission begun by the Congregation of Notre Dame in 1885, now to be carried on — much altered, of course — by New Dawn. At the official announcement made by the premier, I was disappointed, althoughRead More

Librarians, in my experience, are often bearers of good news. For example, last year, while spending a day in the country, I dropped into the local library just to have a look around. The librarian was friendly and helpful, and not only informed me that I could borrow items thereRead More

It’s still a wonder to me that I can, from home or anywhere with internet access, go to the Cape Breton Regional Library’s website and search all Nova Scotia public library catalogs for a particular book I want to borrow, or just browse the collections to find something interesting, makeRead More