Editor’s Note: I thought I’d revisit a few stories I’ve covered this year to see how things have been coming along.   Blowin’ in the wind Capitalize Albany Corporation (which does not, sadly, exist purely to stamp out lowercase spellings of the New York State capital but is the city’sRead More

There have been some developments—none that could be considered good—in the Bridging Finance story. As you will recall, the local angle on this tale of a Toronto-based private debt lender in receivership is that Membertou Corporate borrowed $6.8 million from Bridging to invest in Albert Barbusci’s Sydney harbor container terminalRead More

Bridging burning There’s a big update this week on Bridging Finance, the private debt lender that extended Membertou a $6.8 million loan in January 2020 to invest in Novaporte, promoter Albert Barbusci’s proposed Sydney harbor container terminal project (and that took what Barbusci termed a small equity stake of itsRead More

Toll Road Hypocrisy alert: I literally just read an email from Amazon telling me I can expect delivery of my order on December 17. I try really hard to avoid using Amazon — I just checked my order history and this is the first time I’ve placed one since 2019Read More

I thought it might be time for an update on the Bridging Finance story but in case you’ve forgotten about Bridging, I’ll do a sort-of “previously on” recap. Bridging Finance is a Toronto-based “alternative lender” providing financing to projects considered too risky by traditional banks. It raises money through theRead More

As you may recall, the Spectator reported some weeks ago on the local implications of the scandal rocking Toronto-based private debt firm Bridging Finance Inc (BFI); namely, that Membertou First Nation borrowed $6.8 million from Bridging to finance its purchase of a stake in Novaporte, Albert Barbusci’s imaginary Sydney harborRead More

This was going to be a story about CBRM council meeting in secret with Albert Barbusci of Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP) yesterday and then, during the regular meeting last night, approving a three-year extension to Barbusci’s exclusive contract with the municipality. (I’ve removed the SHIP Exclusivity Countdown Clock fromRead More