Other News

CBRM Council: Library News

CBRM Council: Library News

February 8, 2023 at 10:53 am

I was debating just launching into my CBRM council coverage a week late without explanation but decided that would be the coward’s way out so instead, I will confess that I missed the memo about the January 31 meeting. In my defence, the last Tuesday in January is not theRead More

CBRM Council: Rapid Housing

CBRM Council: Rapid Housing

February 8, 2023 at 10:51 am

Alyce MacLean, project manager for housing development with New Dawn Enterprises, appeared before CBRM council on January 31 to ask the municipality to transfer surplus municipal property to her organization for the construction of supportive housing for people struggling with mental health and addictions issues. (If you are wondering whyRead More

Imaginary Money

Imaginary Money

February 8, 2023 at 10:49 am

Over the past few months, I have been following various stories about crypto currencies with a mix of incomprehension, incredulity and interest. What will be the next crypto exchange to fail? Will another crypto titan mysteriously disappear or die in suspicious circumstances? But with the collapse of FTX, and theRead More

Letter to the Premier: About That Golf Course…

Letter to the Premier: About That Golf Course…

February 8, 2023 at 10:47 am

Dear Premier Houston: We would like to bring your attention to the West Mabou Beach Provincial Park controversy and our concerns in that regard. West Mabou Beach is an ecologically sensitive area that forms part of the mere 5% of Nova Scotian coastline that is legally protected. We are adamantlyRead More

Gardening Tips: Dishing the Dirt

Gardening Tips: Dishing the Dirt

February 8, 2023 at 10:45 am

Editor’s Note: This column first appeared on 1 February 2017.   What to do this week: When you think about what seeds need to germinate, the main thing is soil, obviously. You want your soil to hold water, but not too much. Roots need air too, just like us. SoRead More

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

Fast & Curious: Short Takes on Random Things

February 2, 2023 at 12:16 pm

Working from home I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about this week and then I discovered that Craig Boudreau, head of  J. Francis Investments, vice chair of the Cape Breton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Sage of Charlotte Street, had once again taken pen in hand to shareRead More

Canadian Healthcare: Creeping Privatization

Canadian Healthcare: Creeping Privatization

February 1, 2023 at 12:08 pm

Last week,  in Part I of my article on Canada’s healthcare system, I cited the Canadian Encyclopedia entry on “health policy” written by the late Toronto Star medical reporter Marilyn E. Dunlop. In my initial draft, I noted that the Canadian Encyclopedia is kind of wacky (see the “David Dingwall”Read More

Cartoon of the MacCormack family's backyard rink by Jack McCann

Rooted in Whitney Pier

February 1, 2023 at 12:06 pm

The year before I started school in 1960, there was a field at the bottom of Matilda Street in Sydney with a path that led to the back door of an old house on the next street over, Dominion. One of my earliest memories is of escaping the backyard ofRead More

The Sound of War

The Sound of War

February 1, 2023 at 12:04 pm

If the dull hum of a nuclear warhead ever mutates to a deafening and life-ending roar of a nuclear explosion, humanity will be extinguished—Tom Unterrainer, END Info 30, Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, March 2022   In 1935, retired US Marine Major General Smedley D. Butler (1880-1941), a veteran of AmericanRead More

Encounters with an Actual Cruise Junkie

Encounters with an Actual Cruise Junkie

February 1, 2023 at 12:02 pm

As someone curious about the cruise ship experience but with zero desire ever to board a cruise ship, I was delighted to discover the existence of Emma Le Teace, a 28-year-old from the UK who took her first cruise at the age of 11 and now cruises professionally—as in, hasRead More