The documents I received last week reveal some very interesting details about the 2015 McKeil deal, which saw the CBRM purchase land in the Sydport Marine Industrial Park to lease to Ontario-based marine services company McKeil Marine. The transaction was a very contentious piece of municipal legerdemain that troubled theRead More

Editor’s Note: John Whalley, the former Economic Development Manager of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) is suing the CBRM for constructive dismissal. The case finally came to trial from 20-24 August 2018 and the Spectator was there. We’re presenting our coverage in a series of articles because the trialRead More

Editor’s Note: John Whalley, the former Economic Development Manager of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) is suing the CBRM for constructive dismissal. The case finally came to trial from 20-24 August 2018 and the Spectator was there. We’re presenting our coverage in a series of articles because the trialRead More

You’ve got to love the free market. Look at the wonders it produces when simply left to its own devices: an Ontario-based shipbreaking outfit suddenly realizes it should be busting up old naval ships in Sydney harbor, so moves here and starts hiring.   Although, as the Cape Breton Post explainedRead More

Marine Recycling Corporation of Port Colborne, Ontario has landed a third federal government contract to dispose of a ship — this time the HMCS Athabaskan. The Iroquois-class destroyer will join the HMCS Preserver (a naval auxiliary oiler replenishment vessel), the CFAV Quest (a former research vessel) and the MV PrincessRead More

Back in August, I read that Point Edward Marine — a company majority owned by McKeil Marine — was subletting its land in the Sydport Industrial Park to Heddle Marine (another Point Edward Marine partner, in the news lately for its spot of bother with the federal government over theRead More

I begin with a caveat: I watched the CBRM Council livestream from 4:35 yesterday afternoon to 9 PM last night, at which point, I surrendered and switched to Netflix. I consider this a sign of weakness on my part — but I also blame whoever scheduled the economic planning andRead More

There I was with my many questions about shipbreaking in Sydney harbor and all I had to do was ask my local member of parliament. That would Mark Eyking, MP for Sydney-Victoria, who invited me to go to Sydport last Friday and take a picture of him standing next toRead More

Port of Sydney CEO Marlene Usher will speak on Monday, September 26, at a Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon (tickets $35). Her subject? What else, the Port of Sydney Project. Here’s the description from the chamber’s web site: The newly dredged harbour for the Port of Sydney isRead More