District 10 includes Dominion, plus parts of Gardiner Mines, Glace Bay, Grand Lake Road and Reserve Mines. I know I have already drawn this comparison (see: District 12) but District 10 is also shaped like a bat. (Or maybe I really do have a Halloween obsession.) The district is homeRead More

District 11 encompasses the former town of New Waterford plus all or part of the communities of Lingan, Gardiner Mines, New Victoria, River Ryan, Scotchtown and Victoria Mines It’s shaped kind of like a bloated Florida. There is no incumbent is this race, not because the former councilor decided toRead More

Editor’s Note: We’re reaching into Michelle’s Smith’s archives for posts as useful now as when they were first published.   What to do this week You might need a garden shovel or something similar in the next month or so, who knows, but generally, this is the time of yearRead More

Briefing Premier Stephen McNeil and Dr. Robert Strang held one of their now-rare COVID-19 briefings on Tuesday at 1:00 PM. Strang began with the numbers — Nova Scotia has 3 active cases (including an essential worker who continues to be in ICU), all of which are related to travel outsideRead More

Catch 22 “There was only one catch, and that was Catch-22.” Did you happen to watch the CBC-sponsored CBRM mayoral candidates’ debate on Wednesday night? I watched the whole thing and, given my obsession with all things port, was struck by Mayor Cecil Clarke’s assertion that the province was preparedRead...

District 2 consists of most of the former town of North Sydney, plus all or part of Bras d’Or, Dalem Lake, Florence, Georges River, Groves Point, Hillside Boularderie, Little Bras d’Or, Mill Creek, Millville, Southside Boularderie, Point Aconi and Upper North Sydney. It is, like most CBRM districts, very oddlyRead More

Hired guns CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke’s executive assistant Mark Bettens (he of the exorbitant travel expenses) and spokesperson Sheilah MacDonald have taken paid vacation to work on Clarke’s re-election campaign. I confirmed this with CAO Marie Walsh this week. There’s nothing to stop them doing this — other than theRead...

“It’s God will” is a statement so often heard that when one personally decides s/he no longer accepts it as reasonable, practical, or —  let’s face it — believable, a statement from a high-ranking clergyman in the Catholic Church endorsing such a view, especially with regard to COVID-19, has toRead More

Editor’s Note: We’re reaching into Michelle’s Smith’s archives for posts as useful now as when they were first published.   What to do this week I think we had better talk about planting garlic. It’s getting to be that time. I know it doesn’t feel like it because it’s warm, butRead...

Debate debacle I tried to watch the Ripple FX TV mayoral debate (by which I mean, the video of it the morning after the actual debate) but couldn’t get past the first few minutes during which both Mayor Cecil Clarke and candidate Chris Abbass were KICKED OUT. Clarke, who wantedRead More