This is not the best moment to be erecting a wall of any sort but the time has come to put a paywall — neither huge nor beautiful — around new content on The Cape Breton Spectator. My stats show me that there are enough people reading the Spectator eachRead More

The numbers connected to our cruise industry are as slippery as a quarterdeck in a Nor’easter (okay, I promise, no more nautical similes). It starts as the season opens and the Port of Sydney trumpets (in the Cape Breton Post, which has never met an economic impact number it didn’tRead More

Don’t ever say I haven’t done my bit for transparency on the cruise file. I made an access to information (ATIP) request to Parks Canada to find out how much the Fortress of Louisbourg, the Alexander Graham Bell Museum and the Cape Breton Highlands National Park have made from cruiseRead More

My loyal readers (both of you) may be wondering why the Doctor stopped gracing the pages of this most valuable online news endeavor. The fact is, I was so busy planning my mayoralty coronation that I only now discovered that I lost the election. I am still shocked: my PierRead More

Note: Fast & Curious will be a new weekly feature in which The Spectator will take a brief look at a number of stories that piqued its interest during the week.   Oh Readers! Oh Lovers of Books! First and foremost, Spectator contributor Sean Howard has published a new bookRead More

I recently received a batch of documents from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) as a result of an access to information request about the Ben Eoin Marina (Those of you who like your source material straight up will find it all here.) I didn’t learn much that was newRead More

I recently received a batch of documents from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) as a result of an access to information request about the Ben Eoin Marina. (Those of you who like your source material straight up will find it here.) I didn’t learn much that was new becauseRead More

If I were the editor of the Cape Breton Post, which [SPOILER ALERT] I totally am not, I guess I would call what I’m about to write a rave/rant or a rant/rave (there isn’t even a good portmanteau word for that—all you’d get would be “rant” or “rave” which wouldRead More

Dongcheng, the Eastern City, is a district in the center of Beijing. Its 40 square kilometers are home to nearly 1 million inhabitants and some of the main historical landmarks of the city. Spectator contributor Filip Noubel, who spent 10 years there, recounts a recent return to what he remembersRead More

As you no doubt recall, when ECBC ceased to exist and its employees were absorbed by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) in 2014, its properties went to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) to be sold, following Treasury Board guidelines that say the federal government should own only propertyRead More