Happy New Year, spectators! I have entered this year in possession of a wood stove and a drinks table, so you know things are looking up. Not that all I see is shiny and new—CBRM council, for instance, stuck with tradition and held its first meeting of 2023 in camera.Read More

Low-rent Davos Last week found me feeling hopeful about our municipal government, reporting on CBU Prof. Tom Urbaniak’s suggestions for streamlining agendas and shortening meetings and involving the community on committees. And then, this happened: The Cape Breton Regional Municipality is readying a new strategic plan for the next fourRead More

Municipal Affairs Says… I couldn’t help noticing the Cape Breton Post picked up my story about port marketer Albert Barbusci and his reports to CBRM council. The Post‘s take is very much “nothing to see here folks” — the article makes the point, not once but twice (first in a statement,Read More

Remember when Harbor Port Development Partners (HPDP) changed its name to Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP) and pressured CBRM council into extending its contract with the municipality for five years? It was last December, seven months ago, when the port file was so hot, what with terminal operator Ports AmericaRead More

There will be a mayoral race in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality this fall and I for one, am glad. That’s partly because acclamations are no fun—who wants to watch incumbent Cecil Clarke debate himself?—but mostly because I don’t think they’re particularly healthy for a functioning democracy. Instead, Rankin MacSween,Read More

  “[Cecil] Clarke is calling for greater transparency on the port development file by making all reports, documents and other correspondence on port issues, in particular the marketing of the municipally owned greenfield site, public at the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Civic Centre and posted to the CBRM’s website,” CapeRead More