Water

We Need To Talk About the Cruise Industry

We Need To Talk About the Cruise Industry

October 26, 2016 at 11:10 am

I’ll say it again: we need to talk about the cruise industry. We need to talk about its actual impact on our local economy, its environmental impact on our coastal waters,  its questionable labor practices and its crime problem. And we have to do it right now, before we pumpRead More

About That Second Berth…

About That Second Berth…

October 26, 2016 at 11:08 am

My first reaction to the 2014 Sydney Cruise Market Assessment Report was: why are we talking about spending $20 million on a second berth and not talking about our ground transportation problem? (My second reaction was—how do people who cannot actually write get into the report-writing business? Why would youRead More

Norwegian Majesty in Sydney, N.S. harbor. Norwegian Majesty in Sydney, N.S. harbor (Photo by freshfighter9, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Port Report: A Little Bird Told Me Sydney Was Cheep

September 21, 2016 at 1:31 pm

I have never bought into the notion of Barry Sheehy and Albert Barbusci as port “developers.” I remain sternly old school in these matters, insisting that to be considered a port developer you must, at least once in your career, have developed a port. But I’ve also been doubtful aboutRead More

Albert Barbusci signing papers.

Albert Barbusci Likes to Sign Things

September 5, 2016 at 11:28 pm

Albert Barbusci of Harbor Port Development Partners (HPDP) likes to write his name. More specifically, he likes to write his name on documents, preferably with some attendant ceremony. That those documents should be meaningful or open to public scrutiny or of some use in court would be nice, but notRead More

Cruise ship docked in Sydney, N.S.

Muskrat Fails and Jive Cruise Ship Math

June 29, 2016 at 6:26 pm

  Halifax Examiner publisher Tim Bousquet and CBC Newfoundland commentator Drew Brown are both saying things of interest to Cape Bretoners today. Bousquet’s Morning File responds to the Cape Breton Post‘s front-page love letter to our “one millionth” cruise ship passenger (an apparently nice lady from Florida who seems to haveRead More

I Went to Sydney Harbor Ports Day (So You Didn’t Have to)

I Went to Sydney Harbor Ports Day (So You Didn’t Have to)

May 20, 2016 at 3:40 pm

Sydney Harbour Ports Day 2016 was held in a large, windowless auditorium in the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion on Thursday, May 19. In nautical terms, it was the equivalent of traveling steerage. This year’s theme was “Thinking Big: A New Home on the East Coast for Ultra Large Container Vessels,”Read More

Greenfield site or Novaporte, if you prefer.

Welcome to Novaporte!

April 5, 2016 at 5:50 pm

Big news, fellow citizens of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality – no, Rodney MacDonald has not been re-elected premier, although you could be forgiven for thinking that, given the front page of today’s Cape Breton Post (11 February 2016):   The real news is tucked into the lower left handRead More

Does the CB Post know what ‘open’ means?

Does the CB Post know what ‘open’ means?

March 31, 2016 at 5:01 pm

  RANT & RAVE: For questionable business expenses. The Richmond County Council expense scandal, which involves charges for such goodies as airline ticket changes for a spouse, valet parking and liquor store charges, has now made its way to the Nova Scotia Ombudsman’s Office thanks to complaints issues by severalRead More

Sydney's ice-free harbor.

Port Governance (or the Lack Thereof)

March 20, 2016 at 1:43 pm

Governance is the process whereby societies or organizations make important decisions, determine whom they involve and how they render account.—Institute on Governance At the 17 February 2015 meeting of the CBRM Regional Council, Marlene Usher (in her new capacity as CEO of the Port of Sydney Development Corporation) and JimRead More

Got a minute? Get your Port Executive Certification

Got a minute? Get your Port Executive Certification

February 6, 2016 at 11:45 am

  I was very interested to read this profile of Abraham Somavarapha, the new business development manager at the Port of Sydney Development Corporation, in the January 22nd edition of the Cape Breton Post. I do not know Somavarapha nor do I have reason to think he is anything otherRead More