Pick a lane? I live in the North End of Sydney and on a day a week or so ago when there were three cruise ships in port, I had a sudden vision of the area as a pedestrian-only district. It sounds crazy, I know, because at the moment, theRead More

There was—even cynical old me has to admit it—good news on the CBRM Central Library file during last night’s CBRM council meeting. In a memo to Council and staff, Mayor Amanda McDougall explained that the old Cape Breton County Courthouse in Sydney’s Wentworth Park (otherwise known as 70 Crescent Street)Read More

The CBRM is “considering how to best address temporary signs within CBRM and whether to regulate them.” Under consideration are those signs “commonly displayed as black roadside signs with interchangeable lettering” Back in 2015, Halifax passed a temporary sign by-law dealing with these — and other types of — temporaryRead More

A district energy system proposed for Downtown Sydney has undergone a significant metamorphosis since the last time it was on my radar, in January 2020. This scheme — one of a number of initiatives arising from a partnership between CBRM and Efficiency Nova Scotia that dates to 2015 — hasRead More

Here are the important takeaways from this morning’s CBRM special council meeting on the proposed new CBRM Central Library:   Aurevoir, HRDL? Council took a major step toward ending the agreement that has given a private developer, Martin Chernin’s Harbour Royale Development Limited, control over the proposed new library. AtRead More

Something absolutely wonderful happened Tuesday night. I’ve been following CBRM council for four years now and have been highly critical many times and I’ll stick to my guns on that. Last night, I watched an absolutely beautiful form of democracy from a well-oiled machine (mayor and council), considering they wereRead More

The McNeil Show As I write this morning, I’ve been watching Premier Stephen McNeil set a land-speed record for opening and closing a session of the Nova Scotia legislature. In addition to worrying about the Lieutenant Governor (who sounds like he ranks among those at highest risk from COVID), I’veRead More

Editor’s Note: I didn’t have time to cover council properly this week, so today’s short takes will focus on random things from the most recent meeting of the Cape8 Breton Regional Council.   Dress Code District 5 Councilor Eldon MacDonald had himself gift-wrapped for Tuesday night’s meeting: This works inRead More

Briefing There was no press briefing today (they’ve been reduced to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays) but press releases sent out over the weekend noted some grim statistics: eight additional COVID-19-related deaths at the Northwood long-term-care facility (LTCF) in Halifax (two announced Saturday, six on Sunday) plus another death announced onRead More

“We need firstly some very basic things happening. We need access to portable toilets in our communities, so people can at least go to the bathroom, with wash stations so they can sanitize.” — Janet Bickerton, Ally Centre of Cape Breton, 30 March 2020, CBC interview   As noted above,Read More