CBRM council voted on a 5%, across-the-board — residential and commercial — property tax cut this week. I think this chart, from the province’s Open Data portal, helps provide some perspective on this. It shows average Nova Scotia municipal residential property tax rates from 2009/10 to 2020/21. (It’s interactive, youRead More

When we left off, CBRM District 8 Councilor James Edwards (who, as noted in Part I of this article on the CBRM tax cut, is a former Canada Revenue employee), was agreeing that he too, would like to pay less tax, but arguing that to be “fiscally responsible,” any reductionRead More

During last week’s CBRM council meeting for March, a “non-profit” called the Urban Neighborhood Development Association presented preliminary plans for an amazing, mixed-income housing development on the site of the former Tartan Downs harness racing track in Sydney. Don’t worry, I haven’t lost all critical perspective here, but I haveRead More

The mixed-income housing development proposed for the former Tartan Downs racetrack in Sydney will contain 55% “affordable housing” units — meaning 240 of the 430 units will be rented at 80% of market rent. Kent MacIntyre of the Urban Neighborhood Development Association (UNDA), the organization overseeing the project, is usingRead More

You claim that the Cape Breton Spectator has ambitious goals. Yet, you publish articles like this week’s “Where’s Cecil?,” which strikes me as the kind of gossipy story that one might find in a supermarket rag. Despite his status as a former mayor, Cecil Clarke is now a private citizenRead More

Only Rats and Horses I started writing about CBU’s proposed housing development for the former Tartan Downs harness racing track in Ashby but realized I have too much to say for a Fast & Curious item, so I’ll write about it at greater length next week. For now, I’d justRead More

Big thanks to the spectator who alerted me to the latest incarnation of former CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke, who is now with the provincial department of Health and Wellness as  a “project executive” with “Health Capital Projects.” Clarke, whose updated LinkedIn profile states he is an “accomplished public sector leader;Read More

It may not look like much on a cold February day (see below) but the Hawks Field in Dominion is undergoing a serious make-over – from field to Dream Field. Having noticed the construction and wondered about the project, I contacted Councilor Darren Bruckschwaiger, whose District 10 includes Dominion. HeRead More

I watched Monday morning’s Police Commission meeting and discovered that Chief Robert Walsh had had COVID (Commissioner Lloyd Bailey references it at the 1:30:23 mark, saying to Walsh, “So, thank you for all your hard work and I know you were off with COVID.”) According to what Walsh told theRead More

It’s time for Confessions of a Bad Reporter. In this week’s episode, I have to confess that I did not attend the Port of Sydney’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on February 23. It was on a Wednesday night, a week before I publish, and I thought I would be ableRead More