I needed three electronic devices and one notebook to follow last night’s CBRM council proceedings from home. I tuned into the livestream on my phone and cast it to my television, but the image was flickering so badly I was afraid it might trigger a light-induced seizure, so I openedRead More

In the wake of the federal government’s decision to legalize cannabis (which happened on October 17), CBRM Council asked staff to produce an Issue Paper considering “the implications of the CBRM introducing more stringent provisions regulating the consumption of cannabis in public places than the Province imposed with its amendmentsRead More

Constance Backhouse spoke during a brunch sponsored by the Ally Centre of Cape Breton and the Cape Breton Inter-Agency on Family Violence on Friday. Backhouse is a legal scholar, historian, author, professor, activist and the sort of feminist I remember from my ’70s childhood — that is, an unabashed one.Read More

Equalization Nation Estimates put turnout for an equalization protest in front of the Provincial Building in Sydney on Wednesday at upwards of 600. Protest organizers, members of the advocacy group Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness, have to be happy with those numbers — their message is finally starting to resonateRead More

Equalize this Developments on the equalization front this week must be gratifying to the stalwart members of Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness (NSEF), a CBRM-based advocacy group that has been meeting monthly to discuss the issue of municipal financing for 15 long years. Against the backdrop of budget discussions, whichRead More

Mayor Clarke I have been critical of CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke’s high-handed style of governing, his penchant for secrecy and his preference for springing deals on council at the last minute, forcing them to digest reams of information and vote on important motions without adequate time for deliberation. I haveRead More

Resign to Run? Resign to run laws are pretty self-explanatory: if you hold public office and wish to run for another public office, you must first resign the office you hold.  Five US states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii and Texas) and several cities (including Dallas, Philadelphia and Phoenix) have them.Read More

Editor’s Note: In a shining example of cooperation between independent news sources, the Spectator is pleased to present a story from this week’s Victoria Standard. If you like what you read, consider subscribing — you can even get a paper version.   With federal legalization of recreational cannabis less thanRead More