Acting on a tip from a reader, who seemed to think that CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke, his executive assistant Mark Bettens and (the now former) economic development manager John Phelan were doing an unusual amount of traveling on the public dime last fall, I sent a request under Section XXRead More

I have been debating how to mark Open Government Week in Nova Scotia (May 7-11). Sitting in the graveyard behind St. Patrick’s Church in the rain with a 40-ouncer of Captain Morgan was my first idea, but I don’t like watery rum and frankly, I always knew the week wouldRead More

Nancy King at the Cape Breton Post has been trying to pin down the component costs for the CBRM’s second cruise ship berth. King FOIPOPed the NS Department of Municipal Affairs asking for the breakdown of costs submitted by the CBRM in its request for provincial funding. The answer toRead More

Paying for Information Maybe public information in Nova Scotia is of a slightly better quality than public information elsewhere. Maybe Nova Scotia Land Registry documents are carefully stored and aged and contain undertones of citrus and hints of oak that set them apart from generic land registry documents. Maybe theRead More

The agenda for Tuesday night’s Cape Breton Regional Council meeting included the proclamation, sponsored by Deputy Mayor Eldon MacDonald, of September 25-October 1 as Right to Know Week, the purpose of which is to “raise awareness of an individual’s right to access government information, while promoting freedom of information asRead More

In the world of the start-up digital publications, $3,000 is a lot of money. Had I $3,000 burning a hole in my pocket, I could walk into Connors Basics on Charlotte Street and come out with a new desk, a new office chair, a lifetime supply of roller ball pens,Read More