You cannot make this stuff up. “No news, good news?” was the front page headline in Monday’s Cape Breton Post. Subhead: “Sydney port developer says he’s not prepared to reveal ‘secrets’ on proposed Novaporte terminal.” Reporter Chris Shannon actually spoke with the elusive Albert Barbusci: The CEO of Sydney HarbourRead...
Note: Polska Canada, the website cited in this article, has been offline since Wednesday. As noted in Part I of this “No Port News Is Good News” series, the Cape Breton Post reported on Monday that: [Albert Barbusci] is working with port marketer Barry Sheehy to secure the businessRead More
‘Many or several’ A Tuesday night CTV news report about the cruise industry in Cape Breton (opening line: “It seems their ship has come in, once again, for the cruise industry in Cape Breton”), sent me scrambling for my secondary sources. First, because it seemed to contain confirmation that theRead More
I have been trying to determine how, exactly, we decided to locate the new CBRM central library on the Sydney waterfront and as best I can figure, it happened like this: Architectural & Facility Planning In June 2011, the Cape Breton Regional Library (CBRL) Board initiated a study toRead More
Spring in this neck of the woods can mean robins and peepers and humming birds — they’re coming, don’t you know: It can mean heavy garbage (the tender has been issued) or the re-opening of the Tasty Treat (Frosty’s now, I guess). But it’s also the time for theRead More
“Hopefully, the [feasibility study by Chinese construction giant CCCC] will be completed by July and we will be able to fast-track construction for opening for business in 2019,” — Port of Sydney CEO Marlene Usher, April 2016 “If all goes well, we’ll be putting a shovel into the ground inRead More
Sister City A sharp-eyed Spectator drew my attention to an odd little fact in that terrible story of the Canadian sentenced to death in China. Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a 36-year-old from Abbotsford, BC, was arrested in 2014 and found guilty in 2016 of participating in a drug ring that soughtRead More
What better way to begin 2019 than by looking back at 2018 with CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke? Clarke appeared on CBC radio’s Information Morning Cape Breton on January 3 to reflect on the year just passed and the Spectator listened with interest. In particular, it listened to the discussion ofRead More
ServiCom There is absolutely no humor to be found in the announcement that 600 Cape Bretoners have lost their jobs three weeks before Christmas with the closure of the ServiCom call center. Even Mayor Cecil Clarke’s mixing of metaphors (he’s hoping the potential sale of the local ServiCom branch willRead More
Our port “developers” — Sydney Harbor Investment Partners (SHIP) formerly Harbour Port Development Partners (HPDP) — have been engaged in promoting the Port of Sydney as a “deep water, transshipment and intermodal mega hub” capable of handling Ultra-Large Container Vessels (ULCV) since 2014 (although we only made it official inRead More
