Operating on the “better late than never” principle, I thought I’d discuss the Nova Scotia government’s decision to continue subsidizing the disused Cape Breton portion of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia (CBNS) short-line railway. In case you’ve just tuned in to this soap opera, the province has beenRead More

The Spectator has got it hands on a message sent in early April by CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke to councilors and select CBRM staffers: Dear colleagues: I received a call from Albert Barbusci this morning with a heads-up to confirm that Novaporte has signed an agreement with a global financeRead...

The voyage is apparently over for One Ocean Expeditions (OOE). The Polar cruise specialist founded by Westmount native Andrew Prossin, which had been canceling this season’s voyages one by one, has sent a letter to passengers stating it “will enter a formal process of business re-structure in accordance with CanadianRead More

One Ocean Expeditions (OOE), the Squamish, BC-based cruise line founded by Westmount native Andrew Prossin in 2007, has canceled eight of this season’s cruises, leaving angry customers — some of whom have paid as much as (or more than) $20,000 for their tickets —  in its wake. I’ve heard recentlyRead More

Can you believe 2019 is almost over? I can’t — and do you know who else probably can’t? Martin Chernin of Harbour Royale Development Limited (HRDL) and Albert Barbusci of Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP). Why is that, you ask? Well, because each of them faces a big deadline forRead More

Any port in a storm? Lisa Raitt was a guest on Canadaland’s OPPO podcast this week (OPPO is sort of like Crossfire for millennials, pitting left-of-center reporter/pundit Justin Ling against right-of-center reporter/pundit Jen Gerson to discuss Canadian politics.) You can listen to what Raitt had to say about why sheRead More

The executive of the Port of Sydney Development Corporation (PSDC) board has quit and I have to thank them for making that information public because if they hadn’t told us, we probably wouldn’t have noticed until next year’s AGM. The executive — chair Lucia MacIsaac, vice-chair John Khattar, treasurer JohnRead More

Chief Paul responds… The press release Albert Barbusci issued last week announcing his plan to establish a waste plastic-to-fuels plant in his “logistics park” in Edwardsville included the following quote from Membertou Chief Terry Paul: As active partners in SHIP, the reduced carbon footprint of our facilities is key toRead More

I know I said I was going to hang this week’s content on “recent developments” in stories I’d already covered but this story is an exception: I’m hanging this one on the fact that there have been no recent developments in a story I’ve covered extensively (some might say obsessively)Read More

On 9 August 2019, the Nunavut sheriff’s office, acting on a statement of claim and warrant from the Federal Court in Halifax, “arrested” the Royal Canadian Geographic Society (RCGS) Resolute — a cruise ship operated by One Ocean Expeditions (OOE). The incident was made public on August 19, by CBCRead More