An investigation by Nova Scotia Auditor General Kim Adair has revealed “gross mismanagement” of public funds in excess of $1 million by Island Employment Association (IEA), the now-defunct Cape Breton third-party employment services provider whose chief funder was the Department of Labour and Advanced Education (LAE), now Labour, Skills &Read More

CBRM council agreed unanimously on Monday to apply for contribution funding under the federal government’s $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). I missed the council meeting during which the application was discussed (I’d hoped to be able to watch it before press time, but the video has yet to beRead More

  Estragon: I can’t go on like this. Vladimir: That’s what you think. Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot   Part II: Four Ways to Change the Local World   Proposal #1: A CBRM Citizens’ Assembly on COVID-19 & Post-Pandemic Recovery “Watershed periods in history,” Mikhail Gorbachev declared in 1992, “mayRead More

TV News I decided to write something about Eastlink dropping 34 channels owned by Corus Entertainment because, although I do not have cable TV myself, I know someone who does—and who probably watches HGTV and Food Network, both slated to go as of June 27, more than anything other thanRead...

…revolution is, in fact, always unimaginable. R.F. Kuang, Babel   Part I: We Can’t Go On Like This!   In March 1985, a 54-year-old Mikhail Gorbachev realized he was likely to become the next general secretary of the Communist Party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and thusRead More

CBRM council met on May 10 for a “Strategic Vision” workshop that, despite it’s rather vague title, actually had a clear—and important—purpose: councilors met to discuss quality of life, family recreation, public transit and affordable housing and homelessness. I’m going to focus on the latter because I think ensuring accessRead More

Editor’s Note: This week’s Fast & Curious is less random than usual because all the items relate to sharing, whether ownership or living space. The random part is that I didn’t set out to research the subject, I just happened across each of these items individually this past week whileRead...

Everett Knickle of Cossitt Heights Development Limited appeared before CBRM council on Tuesday, a delegation of one asking the municipality to change the terms of the 2012 purchase and sale agreement under which the company bought the 120-hectare Cossitt Heights Industrial Park on Sydney’s Upper Prince Street with the statedRead More

Last week I wrote, briefly, about calls from local merchants (as reported in the Cape Breton Post) for more surveillance cameras in downtown Sydney, noting that “literally every merchant interviewed” already had CCTV cameras on their premises and they didn’t prevent any of the incidents described. This week, I thoughtRead More

Confessions of an inadvertent foodie I accidentally bought a $6 bag of popcorn last week. I didn’t find out the price until I got to the cash and by then I felt compelled to go through with the purchase (it’s ridiculous, I know, but it’s me). I bought it becauseRead...