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

Municipal Affairs Says… I couldn’t help noticing the Cape Breton Post picked up my story about port marketer Albert Barbusci and his reports to CBRM council. The Post‘s take is very much “nothing to see here folks” — the article makes the point, not once but twice (first in a statement,Read More

The Sydney Subdivision of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway (CBNS) must be the most studied stretch of unused track in the country. The Subdivision was the subject of three different reports (with a total price tag of $152,600) in 2015. It’s to be the subject of a $460,000 studyRead More

While on the subject of the Sydney Subdivision of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia (CBNS) Railway, which I seem to be again this week, I’d like to take a moment to consider the state of said line. As the Spectator reported in the April 26th edition, the Port ofRead More

The only thing more expensive than running a railway, apparently, is not running a railway. That’s the justification offered by Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) — owners of the Cape Breton & Central Nova Scotia Railway (CBNS) and its all-but-defunct Sydney Subdivision — for the high fees they charge landowners needingRead More