What happened to Cape Breton Island? In particular, North Sydney? It  used to  be a booming town. Fish plants, steel plant, coalmines, Marine Railway and CN workers in the thousands. Retail businesses all along Commercial Street. Thousands of workers making good money, cashing their checks on a Friday at theRead More

Headhunters hired to solve our physician shortage? Give me a break! In 2019, The Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine published a ” systematic review of recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals in rural Canada.” The review explored “a pertinent issue for healthcare professionals and recruiters alike: which factors are mostRead More

A ridiculous article appeared in the Cape Breton Post on 20 May 2021. It might have been entitled “Man Yells at Cloud.” The protagonist, a Mr. Jerry Gillis, was astonished at the gall of the CBRM in following procedure in the handling of its committees and not just rubber stampingRead More

Editor’s Note: This open letter from the Cape Breton West Chapter of the Council of Canadians to the prime minister is dated 11 May 2021.   Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, We are writing to implore the Government of Canada to ask the World Trade Organization (WTO) to hold an emergencyRead More

I have debated sending a letter for a few months now. I had honestly concluded that no one, literally no one, cares about these children. Then last week, a friend sent me the CBC story, “Overhaul to NS foster care system long overdue say some former foster parents,” by TarynRead More

While our community contemplates the merits of replacing the aging McConnell Library, perhaps an appreciation of the existing institution is not unwarranted.  Certainly a 70-year-old structure whose principal purpose, as an educational avenue, is the availability and accessibility of books, is still up to the job?  What defects exist, noRead More

The only good thing about the snowstorm we recently experienced is that it buried the piles of coffee cups, fast-food containers, etc. that we fire out our car windows as we travel about. It wouldn’t take much effort to bring them home and place them in our house garbage orRead More

Something absolutely wonderful happened Tuesday night. I’ve been following CBRM council for four years now and have been highly critical many times and I’ll stick to my guns on that. Last night, I watched an absolutely beautiful form of democracy from a well-oiled machine (mayor and council), considering they wereRead More

Why are Canadian universities charging unconscionably high tuition fees for a virtual online education? It is bad enough that Canada, unlike the Western European Nations France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland, does not offer free tuition to her beleaguered young citizens but Canadian universities (e.g. Dalhousie) areRead More

On Thursday, September 25, in St. Peters on Cape Breton Island, Gilbert Boucher, president of the association that represents fishers in southern Cape Breton, commented on the Potlotek First Nations intention to begin a moderate livelihood fishery. The Chronicle Herald quoted him as saying “They are just exercising their right,”Read More