This week I checked the Nova Scotia Tender Notices website and discovered the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) is in the market for a number of things, including external auditors. The lucky winners will get to audit the CBRM, the CBRM Water Utility and — what fun! — the PortRead More

My loyal readers (both of you) may be wondering why the Doctor stopped gracing the pages of this most valuable online news endeavor. The fact is, I was so busy planning my mayoralty coronation that I only now discovered that I lost the election. I am still shocked: my PierRead More

Note: Fast & Curious will be a new weekly feature in which The Spectator will take a brief look at a number of stories that piqued its interest during the week.   Oh Readers! Oh Lovers of Books! First and foremost, Spectator contributor Sean Howard has published a new bookRead More

I recently received a batch of documents from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) as a result of an access to information request about the Ben Eoin Marina (Those of you who like your source material straight up will find it all here.) I didn’t learn much that was newRead More

If I were the editor of the Cape Breton Post, which [SPOILER ALERT] I totally am not, I guess I would call what I’m about to write a rave/rant or a rant/rave (there isn’t even a good portmanteau word for that—all you’d get would be “rant” or “rave” which wouldRead More

As you no doubt recall, when ECBC ceased to exist and its employees were absorbed by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) in 2014, its properties went to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to be sold, following Treasury Board guidelines that say the federal government should own only propertyRead More

Did you see that 28 October 2016 story by the CBC’s Paul Withers about the CBRM and its consultants? It was the oddest thing. The “news” was that the CBRM has no record of the work done for it by the first pair of consultants it hired to promote theRead More

The election is over, the votes are counted and I lost. It’s time to move on, but I can’t, because while Mayor Clarke claims the recent mayoralty campaign was the dirtiest of his career and Rankin MacSween remains stoically baffled by Clarke’s accusations, nobody is taking responsibility for the deplorableRead More

Newly re-elected CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke has promised “100 More Positive Changes for CBRM” and I, for one, am willing to trust that he will deliver — trust, but verify. I’m a little concerned that his immediate, post-election description of his plans included no reference to these positive changes. HeRead More

What were you doing when the CBRM election results were announced? I was reading an article about assisted death and ruminating on Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance). Note to self: do not contemplate serious philosophical, moral, or ethical issues while reviewing municipal election results.Read More