Hired guns CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke’s executive assistant Mark Bettens (he of the exorbitant travel expenses) and spokesperson Sheilah MacDonald have taken paid vacation to work on Clarke’s re-election campaign. I confirmed this with CAO Marie Walsh this week. There’s nothing to stop them doing this — other than theRead...

Donkin During the Proclamations & Resolutions portion of Tuesday’s virtual CBRM council meeting, District 8 Councilor Amanda McDougall presented a resolution outlining South Head residents’ environmental concerns about the Donkin coal mine, which is described as having ceased operations “permanently.” McDougall’s resolution asked council to make these concerns known toRead More

Police (de)funding Wednesday’s night’s “Take a knee to make a stand” demonstration in front of CBRM’s Central Police Station on Grand Lake Road attracted an estimated 1,500 people, despite the drizzle and cold. I didn’t attend (the people in my household bubble are both over 80 and I am –perhapsRead...

CBRM Council approved the appointment of Deputy Chief Robert Walsh as acting police chief last night, during its regular monthly council meeting. The Spectator reported in September 2019 that McIsaac was on medical leave but that CBRPS spokesperson Desiree Magnus had declined to say how long he’d been off. McIsaacRead More

The CBRM Police Commission was supposed to hold an in camera meeting Wednesday morning at 9:30 AM followed by its regular monthly meeting at “approx.” 10:30 AM. As I write this, it is snowing steadily and both meetings have been postponed to this afternoon, beginning at 1:30, so too lateRead...

I do not know what to make of Monday’s “pretend” budget-cutting workshop but I suspect it may be viewed in some quarters as a poor use of a cash-strapped municipality’s resources. To recap: as a prelude to the actual budget process this year, CBRM council held a session on MondayRead More

Remember that even advanced technology cannot overcome the laws of physics. It’s always possible to lose control of a vehicle due to inappropriate driver input for the conditions. — Ford Police Vehicles website   I wrote the “rolling stock” headline for this article two weeks ago, when I first startedRead More

In addition to buying new police vehicles, the CBRM also sells old ones. Between 2012 and 2019 (the period for which I could access tender information on the provincial procurement website) there were seven such sales and I was able to find information about six of them. You’ll notice theRead More

Between last night’s CBRM regional council meeting and the stories I’ve been working on but haven’t quite pulled together yet, there are a number of things I want to discuss briefly this week. So I’m going to discuss them briefly this week. (There are advantages to being the boss.)  Read More

Peter McIsaac, chief of the Cape Breton Regional Police Services, has been on medical leave for at least six weeks. CBRPS spokesperson Desiree Magnus told me in a September 10 email: The Chief is currently off for medical reasons. But she did not respond to an email asking how longRead More