For thousands of years, the diverse marine life in the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence prospered as the waters of the Atlantic Ocean mixed with those of the Gulf. The ebb and flow of huge volumes of salt water brought food and myriad whales, fish, lobster, crabRead More

Trainspotter Looking for illustrations for my rail-related articles this week, I ran across something great: a trove of train photos by a photographer named Roger Puta. I didn’t have time to learn anything more about him on Wednesday, I just snaffled up those lovely photos of a CN engine inRead More

By a strange confluence of events, I had already decided to cover the subject of rail this week before I read the Scotia Rail Development Society editorial in Saturday’s paper. The editorial simply served to spur me on (no pun intended). Barry Sheehy and Albert Barbusci of Sydney Harbour InvestmentRead More

In putting a timeframe of 1 December 2013 to 29 June 2015 on my access to information request, I’d hoped to cast my net wide enough capture the earliest communications between port promoters Barry Sheehy and Albert Barbusci and CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke, and if I haven’t done so, I thinkRead More

Ahem… Back in May of 2019, I wrote a story with the headline, “This is what a REAL port announcement looks like,” in which I contrasted what was happening at the Port of Québec — which had announced a deal with CN and Hatchet Ports to build and operate theRead More

Editor’s Note: Rick Grant, who keeps an eye on all things port, attended a rare Open House at the Port of Halifax on Friday and offered to report on what he saw for the Spectator. I accepted, although Halifax is usually beyond the scope of my reporting, because Grant andRead More

Beggaring belief So, it’s done — Albert Barbusci of Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP) has completed his work and all that stands between the Port of Sydney and a multi-million dollar terminal for ultra-large container vessels is our decrepit railway. Barbusci told the Cape Breton Post‘s David Jala (who describedRead More

Sea to Sky Did you see the story about the cable of the Sea to Sky Gondola in Squamish, British Columbia, being cut a second time? Just as in August 2019, the cable was cut during the night, sending dozens of cars crashing to the ground. Fortunately, no one wasRead...

The pier, dear Premier Stephen McNeil officially opened Sydney’s new $20 million docking pier Thursday amid a gathering of politicians from all levels and stripes. McNeil said he’s confident the cruise industry will bounce back and that the new infrastructure, to be called Liberty Pier, will also help attract otherRead More

It’s toady time! I confess: I find Anthony Marlowe — CEO of MCI, savior of the Sydney Call Centre — fascinating. So much so that whenever things are slow, or I’m in need of distraction, I tune in to his Twitter stream to see what he’s been getting up to.Read More