Charter? What Charter? I was perusing the list of recently completed Nova Scotia Freedom of Information Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) requests, as one does, and discovered this one: All briefing notes, analysis and correspondence regarding the development of a municipal charter for Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Oh boy, oh boy,Read More

Note: Fast & Curious will be a new weekly feature in which The Spectator will take a brief look at a number of stories that piqued its interest during the week.   Oh Readers! Oh Lovers of Books! First and foremost, Spectator contributor Sean Howard has published a new bookRead More

Did you see that 28 October 2016 story by the CBC’s Paul Withers about the CBRM and its consultants? It was the oddest thing. The “news” was that the CBRM has no record of the work done for it by the first pair of consultants it hired to promote theRead More

It’s a facet of a healthy democracy that never fails to impress me: the final handshake. Two candidates who have fought a long, hard campaign shake hands — one graciously accepting defeat, the other graciously acknowledging victory. And then there’s what happened in the CBRM on Saturday night. As reportedRead More

Last March, a CBRM citizen decided he (or she, I’m not sure, so I’m just going to refer to him/her as “The Citizen”) wanted to know more about the expenses of Mayor Cecil Clarke, Port CEO Marlene Usher, CBRM Chief Administrative Officer Michael Merritt, the mayor’s executive assistant Mark BettensRead More

On 3 July 2015, I made a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) application to the clerk of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Deborah Campbell, requesting: Any communications between Mayor Cecil Clarke or his communications staff or CAO Michael Merrit [sic] and Barry Sheehy and/or Albert Barbusci and/or HarborRead More