I recently had an experience with my first ever FOIPOP [freedom of information/protection of privacy] request, made in regard to the “Annual Condition Defects Report” which, according to Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (TIR) documents, is required to be formulated by November 30th of each year by eachRead More

Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien says the Sydney container port project promoted by Albert Barbusci of Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP) has a 90% chance of success but “sometimes you don’t succeed,” so whatever happens, his reputation as a prophet is guaranteed. Chrétien spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the ThinkRead More

Eating (some) crow I received a detailed response to last week’s Fast & Curious from CBC Cape Breton Information Morning panelist Stephen Tobin of the Horizon Achievement Centre. He took issue (see what I did there?) with my critique of his list of Nova Scotia mayors who remained in office whileRead More

I have been keeping a jaundiced eye on the Cape Breton coal trucking story since the 1980s when my friend Leo Evans was shining a public spotlight on the decision by Devco to “rubberize” a part of its coal transportation system.   Made no sense then – makes no sense now.Read More

Editor’s Note: The following article was produced with the Halifax Examiner, via our Joint Investigative Fund.   Upgrading the Sydney to Truro rail line to make it capable of handling double-stacked containers won’t come cheap, according to a study just completed for the Port of Sydney Development Corporation, but the fixRead More

Marconi Campus I’m not sure when announcing that you’re going to do a feasibility study into the possibility of doing something became as good as actually doing something in this province, but that seems to be where we’re at. The latest example is Premier Stephen McNeil traveling all the wayRead More

FOIPOP Follies For the record: I received the response to my freedom of information/protection of privacy (FOIPOP) request to the NS Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal (TIR) for an “unedited” copy of Neil MacNeil’s rail fees report. I got bupkis. There are a couple of additional emails not includedRead More

Back in May, I reported that the provincial government had contracted consultant Neil MacNeil to look into the situation of property owners along the disused Sydney Subdivision of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia (CBNS) short line, which is owned and operated by US-based Genesee & Wyoming (G&W). MacNeil’sRead More

Shovel-ready Wednesday marked a momentous day in the history of Sydney port development: two First Nations Chiefs and a Montreal property developer came together to shovel…something. Part of me is ashamed at my inability to grasp the importance of Wednesday’s event, but part of me thinks that since neither BarryRead More

When governments and public bodies are proud of the deals they’ve brokered or the progress they’ve made on sticky issues or the money they’re allocating for studies and reports, they climb onto the roof of the tallest building they can find and sing their triumphs to an admiring world. WhenRead More