Golfing in the Park [Ben Cowan-Dewar] also cited golf courses in national parks — including Highlands Links in Cape Breton, Green Gables in P.E.I., Fundy National in New Brunswick and Banff Springs in Alberta — as other examples of competing land uses. “Is there a case where golf exists inRead More

Raymond Plourde, senior wilderness coordinator with Nova Scotia’s Ecology Action Centre (EAC), has, as you might imagine, some thoughts on the advisability of situating golf courses in protected areas of ecological importance. We spoke by phone last week about Ben Cowan-Dewar and his partner Mike Keiser’s plans to turn partRead More

This time last year, I was writing multiple articles (see here and here and here) about golf magnate Ben Cowan-Dewar’s controversial new course on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. Cowan-Dewar and partner Mike Keiser have not even completed that course (Sports Illustrated says Cabot Saint Lucia is scheduled toRead More

This week, I’m updating my Cabot Saint Lucia story with the reaction of critics of Ben Cowan-Dewar’s golf resort to the “unofficial” announcement that the Saint Lucian government planned to ensure beach access for locals and to cancel Cabot’s leases on coastal land known as the “Queen’s Chain.” As IRead More

Has Ben Cowan-Dewar hit one into the cat box in Saint Lucia? What I’m saying, for those of you not as familiar with the old golf lingo as I am since I googled it 10 minutes ago, is: has Cowan-Dewar actually run into an obstacle on his way to turningRead More

Re-reading my recap of Episode 10 of Annette Verschuren’s Bet On Me podcast, I realized I’d forgotten a couple of things I’d meant to cover, so I’m going to devote a little more ink to her conversation with Cabot Cape Breton owner Ben Cowan-Dewar. At one point, the two discussRead More

Annette’s Dream I listened to all 44 excruciating minutes of Episode 10 of Annette Verschuren’s Bet On Me podcast, “A candid conversation with Cabot Co-Founder & CEO, Ben Cowan-Dewar,” — more accurately a “fawning exchange” with her “dear friend” — but I’m going to begin with my favorite line, whichRead More

The last three months of 2021 found me, as always, following CBRM happenings — particularly around waterfront development and cruise news — but also looking further afield at stories with local angles or implications. In particular, I got interested in how some Saint Lucians were responding to the arrival ofRead More

Editor’s Note: This week, I’m focusing on the concerns that have been raised in Saint Lucia over Ben Cowan-Dewar’s latest golf development, Cabot Saint Lucia. First up: beach access.     Finola Jennings Clark says when she first heard that Cabot, the golf resort company founded by Torontonian Ben Cowan-DewarRead More

Readers! I know I promised Part II of my series on Cabot Saint Lucia — Mike Keiser and Ben Cowan-Dewar’s Caribbean golf and real estate resort — this week, but I’ve had the opportunity to speak to more people than I’d expected to, and while I’m delighted with this, itRead More