By a strange confluence of events, I had already decided to cover the subject of rail this week before I read the Scotia Rail Development Society editorial in Saturday’s paper. The editorial simply served to spur me on (no pun intended). Barry Sheehy and Albert Barbusci of Sydney Harbour InvestmentRead More

When you’re living in a troubled economy, there’s nothing more interesting than following the money that influenced that economy’s election results. It’s even more interesting when you’re a failed, former candidate from the 2016 municipal CBRM election, who knows all about the donations (or lack thereof), the paperwork, the expenses,Read More

You know the story: back in July 2015 I submitted an access to information request to the Cape Breton Regional Municipality asking for all port-related communications between Mayor Cecil Clarke, CAO Michael Merritt, the mayor’s communications staff (basically, Christina Lamey) and port promoters Albert Barbusci and Barry Sheehy from 1Read More

In putting a timeframe of 1 December 2013 to 29 June 2015 on my access to information request, I’d hoped to cast my net wide enough capture the earliest communications between port promoters Barry Sheehy and Albert Barbusci and CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke, and if I haven’t done so, I thinkRead More

The documents I received last week reveal some very interesting details about the 2015 McKeil deal, which saw the CBRM purchase land in the Sydport Marine Industrial Park to lease to Ontario-based marine services company McKeil Marine. The transaction was a very contentious piece of municipal legerdemain that troubled theRead More

Happy New Year, spectators! I’m easing back into regular publication today with this one article. Full disclosure: I had expected to spend this week poring over documents released by the CBRM in response to my 2015 FOIPOP request. I knew I wouldn’t receive all 890 pages Privacy Commissioner Tricia RalphRead More

Editor’s Note: I didn’t have time to cover council properly this week, so today’s short takes will focus on random things from the most recent meeting of the Cape8 Breton Regional Council.   Dress Code District 5 Councilor Eldon MacDonald had himself gift-wrapped for Tuesday night’s meeting: This works inRead More

I learned a few things from the discussion of my 2015 FOIPOP application during last night’s CBRM council meeting. I learned that Jim Gogan of Breton Law Group handled my initial request in 2015 and is now handling the review. Regional solicitor Demetri Kachafanas revealed this in response to aRead More

Last week I reported on the Nova Scotia Information and Privacy Commissioner’s damning critique of the CBRM’s response to my 2015 access to information request regarding the municipality’s decision to award an exclusive port promotion/development contract to Harbor Port Development Partners (HPDP). Commissioner Tricia Ralph faulted the municipality for withholdingRead More

I ran across this ad for a CBRM Communications/Information Officer in the course of researching this week’s treatise on access to information. The closing date for applications is tomorrow — November 19 — so there’s still time for any of you not daunted by the list of 21 — TWENTY-ONERead More