I think this issue should have been called “The Things That Make You Go Hmmmm” edition, because that’s what all my stories seem to be about this week. Take this one, for instance. It started when a reader contacted me to ask about a parking lot that has appeared atRead...

This, I have decided, is a story about how difficult it can be for citizens to have their voices heard in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. It begins in August 2019, when the province announced its intention to move the NSCC Marconi Campus to the Sydney waterfront. The land earmarkedRead More

My attention span has an inverse relationship with the temperature, so I’m just going to highlight a few items that have caught my eye on the local scene of late, one of which reminded me to send a FOIPOP, most of which just caused me to go “hmmmm.”   MarconiRead More

Exhibit A: “The fire department (both administration and frontline personnel), and the community should all have input and come to an agreement on where to place any new fire stations within the jurisdiction.” — IAFF report on location of new Sydney Central Fire Station.   Exhibit B: “For this particularRead...

“The only thing harder than moving a fire station out of a neighborhood is to build a fire station in a neighborhood” is a fire service truism. Evaluate the community concerns of a prospective site’s neighborhood. Community outreach efforts are well worth the effort and demonstrating the fire service’s goodRead More

The 2016 Fire Services Organizational Review, prepared for the CBRM by Manitou Incorporated, a consultancy based in New York State, is an incredibly informative document, and that’s high praise coming from someone like me who, as you know, is no fan of the Consultocracy. There are two factors that, inRead More