On  7 November 2011, to great fanfare, the Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment (CSEE) was officially opened at Cape Breton University (CBU). A prominent participant in the ceremony, and key partner in the venture, was Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons manufacturer. Tom Digan, then presidentRead More

Before writing a word about the workplace conditions of Nova Scotia teachers, there is something I need to say: everything I know about the Nova Scotia school system is based on having passed through it as a student in the 1970s. In other words, I know bupkis (to borrow a termRead More

This Content Is Not Sponsored Running a fledgling online news operation on a subscription basis is not without its challenges but it has some big benefits — I don’t have to fill my pages with “sponsored content,” my entire front page will never be given over to an advertisement and IRead More

We’d all do well to start over again, preferably with kindergarten. – Kurt Vonnegut The education system in Cape Breton needs a lesson plan. The P-12 system is in chaos, NSCC faculty are more than two years without a contract and the CBU Board of Governors has placed its presidentRead More

This week I checked the Nova Scotia Tender Notices website and discovered the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) is in the market for a number of things, including external auditors. The lucky winners will get to audit the CBRM, the CBRM Water Utility and — what fun! — the PortRead More

Nova Scotia Auditor General Michael Pickup released his Fall 2016 report today (November 30), focusing on childcare centers, capital planning for schools, critical infrastructure resiliency and the AMANDA software used to manage licenses and permits. (Interestingly, the day the AG’s report dropped found Premier Stephen McNeil on his way to theRead More

In February of last year, I arrived back in Cape Breton after 10 years away. The first evening home, I picked up a newspaper from my sister’s kitchen table and saw a publicity photo for the Boardmore Theatre’s production of The Pillowman. The play, a celebrated and controversial black comedy,Read More

Those of you who have long wished to get an inside look at how the Catholic Church elects a leader (the short line is to the left, or is that the right?) need wait no longer now that Robert Harris has written Conclave: The Power of God, The Ambition ofRead More

Construction of Sydney businessman Marty Chernin’s mixed-use apartment building on the Sydney waterfront has been postponed again—Chernin told the Post  he now hopes to break ground in Spring of 2017. Chernin’s Harbour Royale Development intends to build on the harbor side of the Esplanade at the foot of Dorchester Street.Read More

Repo Man I took a taxi from the airport recently (did I mention I was in Quebec? Quebec and Ottawa for 10 days in October). I got in late and didn’t like to ask anyone to take that drive out Grand Lake Road at 12:30 a.m. to pick me up.Read More