A spectator drew my attention to the published decision in Cape Breton (Regional Municipality) v. Nova Scotia (Attorney General), 2019 NSCA 77. That was the CBRM’s attempt to get the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to overturn the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board’s (NSUARB) decision in the case ofRead More

The CBRM has asked the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to overturn the UARB’s decision in the case of a proposed Big Pond RV park. The papers were filed on February 21 but CBRM regional solicitor Demetri Kachafanas told the CBC it could be “months” before the case goes toRead More

I make New Year’s resolutions and this year, among other things, I’ve resolved to try and treat arguments solely on their merit — I will not worry about the identity or background or past statements or biases or level of information possessed by the person or persons making the argument,Read More

Editor’s Note: Mayor Cecil Clarke’s contention that discussing council remuneration in camera (and treating elected officials as “personnel”) is a longstanding CBRM practice sent me scuttling to the “CBRM Mayor and Council” clippings file at the McConnell library, to research some of the remuneration (and related) issues council has dealt withRead More

I have to start by quoting myself. This is what I wrote about Chris Skidmore’s RV Park proposal for Big Pond back in February 2018 CBRM planning staff seem really keen on this Big Pond RV Park idea. I don’t know how else to interpret the time and effort planningRead More

Susan Leblanc, the NDP MLA for Dartmouth North, has introduced a bill that would see the provincial government guarantee personal, short-term, “micro-loans” for amounts up to $2,000 from credit unions. I spoke to Leblanc briefly, by phone, on Friday and she told me the guarantee would be similar to theRead More

The Big Pond RV Park debate (which, as the Allman Brothers would say, is over but ain’t through) raised a lot of interesting questions for me, about everything from the purpose of public consultation to the role of the Nova Scotia Utilities and Review Board (UARB) to the responsibility ofRead More

As I was poking around that old CPCS due diligence report on Sydney’s second cruise ship berth for an earlier story, I got interested in the question of motor coaches — defined as  “47-58 passenger vehicle[s] which ha[ve] three axles and a washroom.” I know what you’re thinking, “Be stillRead More

Back in May, I reported that the provincial government had contracted consultant Neil MacNeil to look into the situation of property owners along the disused Sydney Subdivision of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia (CBNS) short line, which is owned and operated by US-based Genesee & Wyoming (G&W). MacNeil’sRead More