What to make of that? I just attended Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) Mayor Cecil Clarke’s special pre-budget meeting with the business community. I would estimate attendance at 40, including press, council members and “facilitators”—Mistress of Ceremonies Eileen Lannon Oldford of Business Cape Breton (BCB) and keeper-of-the-microphone Christina Lamey. TheRead More

I’ve just waded through 811 pages of documentation received as a result of an access to information request to Parks Canada on the subject of the Never Forgotten National Memorial (Mother Canada, to you) and I have two things to report: By businessman Tony Trigiani’s own account, it was CapeRead More

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

  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

Guys, I’ve figured out what’s wrong with the Cape Breton Regional Municipality: it’s the Council. There’s one exception: District 6 Councillor Ray Paruch. He tries to bring more transparency to proceedings but it’s like trying to make Lady Gaga wear pants. It all became clear to me at the PortRead More

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

  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

Tucked into the F.A.S.T. Furniture flyer in the Saturday, 2 January 2016 edition of the Cape Breton Post was an eight-page update on the Port of Sydney. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend the graphic on the inside cover page: It shows the silhouettes of a number ofRead More

  And…he’s off! CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke has fired his starter’s pistol and burst from the gates like a lone horse on a winter racetrack, taking a commanding lead in the 2016 mayoral election by beginning his run in 2015. He informed the public of his decision to re-offer byRead More

Port of Sydney Development Corporation CEO Marlene Usher has donned a new cap – that of “maritime historian” – for the first of what she promises will be a series of Cape Breton Post columns sharing “her thoughts” on the Sydney port development project. My first thought, on reading this,Read More