In the days leading up to the provincial election, all the usual suspects sharpened their pencils, marshaled their tired little troop of “facts” and wrote the editor of the Cape Breton Post in support of Albert Barbusci’s Novaporte project. Port Fest ’21 was kicked off at the end of JulyRead More

Bridging Update In case you’re wondering what’s happening with Bridging Finance Inc (BFI), the private debt firm that lent Membertou First Nation $6.8 million to buy a stake in Albert Barbusci’s Novaporte container terminal project, here’s the latest: David Sharpe, the founder and former CEO of BFI, who was firedRead...

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...

Editor’s Note: Sydney’s casino turned 25 this summer and to mark its quarter-century, Rob Csernyik has been taking an in-depth look at the promises — and realities — of casino gambling in Cape Breton. In this fourth and final piece, he contrasts the CBRM with a community (within its ownRead More

Status quo Membertou voters are apparently content with the council they have — yesterday’s vote saw Chief Terry Paul and 10 councilors re-elected. And one of the “new” faces on council — Anthony (Ike) Paul —  served as a councilor previously (for 28 years, according to his bio). Electoral OfficerRead More

Membertou First Nation goes to the polls to elect a new chief and council on Thursday, October 22. There are only two candidates for chief — incumbent, Terrance Paul, who has held the office for 36 consecutive years, and challenger Edwin LaPorte — but there are 66 candidates vying forRead More

Tri-Council Meeting Let’s see if I have this straight: once a year, the elected councils of the CBRM, Eskasoni and Membertou meet…in private? These “tri-council meetings” have been going on for a number of years now, and I have never seen a pre-meeting announcement or agenda, just post-meeting reports likeRead More

I’ve been going through old photos from the Cape Breton Highlander and decided to share some of them with you in this last Spectator issue of 2017. Many of them are the work of photographer Ray Doucet. I asked John Campbell, who was the editor of the Highlander (and isRead More

Maureen Googoo’s Ku’ku’kwes News, an “independent indigenous” online news organization, has been providing extensive coverage of the hearings of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) in Membertou, Cape Breton, this week. In addition to live-blogging the sessions, which took place on Monday and Tuesday andRead More

Three days of listening to the wide array of speakers at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Call to Action Symposium in Membertou from 12-15 September left me feeling hopeful for continued efforts and commitments to change in this province. As Chief Sidney Peters of Glooscap First Nation said, “WeRead More