ServiCom There is absolutely no humor to be found in the announcement that 600 Cape Bretoners have lost their jobs  three weeks before Christmas with the closure of the ServiCom call center. Even Mayor Cecil Clarke’s mixing of metaphors (he’s hoping the potential sale of the local ServiCom branch willRead More

Spin Class I like following the CBC’s Jean Laroche on Twitter precisely for moments like these, where he captures something about the way our political system works that you don’t get to see unless you happen to hang out in the halls of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly: ThisRead More

I missed it the first time I looked at the front page of the today’s Cape Breton Post, but then again, it wasn’t exactly given big play: just a sidebar next to the headline stories about flood mitigation and recovering policemen. Eventually, though, I saw it: Yes, the mayor’s “political”Read More

Welcome to this week’s installment of “Where’s Cecil?” my ongoing effort to keep track of Mayor Cecil Clarke’s campaign appearances to judge just how much time he’s taking from his day job to travel the province in pursuit of the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. I’mRead More

Welcome to this week’s installment of “Where’s Cecil?” my ongoing effort to keep track of Mayor Cecil Clarke’s campaign appearances to judge just how much time he’s taking from his day job to travel the province in pursuit of the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. I’mRead More

I am trying to keep track of Mayor Cecil Clarke’s campaign appearances to judge just how much time he’s taking from his day job to travel the province in pursuit of the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. I’m focusing on events scheduled for weekdays during businessRead More

B’Spoke Apparel The most interesting “recently awarded” tender I ran across in my recent plunge into the Nova Scotia tenders page is one I almost didn’t write about, it seemed so anodyne. The CBRM has awarded a two-year contract to B’Spoke Apparel for Transit employee clothing. To be more precise, itRead More

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality, having survived into the early years of the 21st century without a communications person, suddenly needs two of them. Mayor Cecil Clarke, who made history (and by-passed municipal hiring rules) by tapping Christina Lamey as his own personal “Communication Advisor” now wants to hire a second flak forRead More

On 8 June 2016, at a “special” CBRM Council meeting, Mayor Cecil Clarke surprised councilors with the announcement that the CBRM had withdrawn from Regional Enterprise Network (REN) 6, an economic development organization incorporated in October 2014 and including the CBRM, Richmond County, Victoria County and Inverness County. CBRM councilors,Read More

You may have heard that the Spectator locked horns this week with Christina Lamey, whose LinkedIn profile describes her as a “Communications Advisor at Cape Breton Regional Municipality – Mayor’s Office.” Lamey has a habit of ignoring my emails and when I confronted her about it at Saturday’s port meeting,Read More