Albert Barbusci of Harbor Port Development Partners (HPDP) likes to write his name. More specifically, he likes to write his name on documents, preferably with some attendant ceremony. That those documents should be meaningful or open to public scrutiny or of some use in court would be nice, but notRead More

Did anyone else search Page 3 of the Saturday 27 August edition of the Cape Breton Post for the notice, “This message has been approved by the campaign to re-elect Cecil Clarke?” I searched in vain, assuming there could be no other explanation for the non-story that occupied most ofRead More

Sydney Harbour Ports Day 2016 was held in a large, windowless auditorium in the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion on Thursday, May 19. In nautical terms, it was the equivalent of traveling steerage. This year’s theme was “Thinking Big: A New Home on the East Coast for Ultra Large Container Vessels,”Read More

Big news, fellow citizens of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality – no, Rodney MacDonald has not been re-elected premier, although you could be forgiven for thinking that, given the front page of today’s Cape Breton Post (11 February 2016):   The real news is tucked into the lower left handRead More

  RANT & RAVE: For questionable business expenses. The Richmond County Council expense scandal, which involves charges for such goodies as airline ticket changes for a spouse, valet parking and liquor store charges, has now made its way to the Nova Scotia Ombudsman’s Office thanks to complaints issues by severalRead More

Tucked into the F.A.S.T. Furniture flyer in the Saturday, 2 January 2016 edition of the Cape Breton Post was an eight-page update on the Port of Sydney. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend the graphic on the inside cover page: It shows the silhouettes of a number ofRead More

Port of Sydney Development Corporation CEO Marlene Usher has donned a new cap – that of “maritime historian” – for the first of what she promises will be a series of Cape Breton Post columns sharing “her thoughts” on the Sydney port development project. My first thought, on reading this,Read More

CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke has sneaked off to China without so much as a by-your-leave. It’s odd — most political leaders make hay out of their trips to the People’s Republic (some make operas) but our mayor prefers to steal away under cover of darkness after asking his deputy toRead More

  “[Cecil] Clarke is calling for greater transparency on the port development file by making all reports, documents and other correspondence on port issues, in particular the marketing of the municipally owned greenfield site, public at the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Civic Centre and posted to the CBRM’s website,” CapeRead More

On 3 July 2015, I made a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) application to the clerk of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Deborah Campbell, requesting: Any communications between Mayor Cecil Clarke or his communications staff or CAO Michael Merrit [sic] and Barry Sheehy and/or Albert Barbusci and/or HarborRead More