I tuned into last night’s CBRM council meeting just in time for the singing of the national anthem (done a capella, I presume due to technical difficulties) and so missed the roll call and am not sure why Mayor Amanda McDougall-Merrill was not present—I know only that it was DeputyRead More

CBRM Council held a relatively brief meeting on Tuesday morning that included a presentation from the municipal Water Utility on a proposed water rate hike. CBRM’s Water Utility, according to this handy description provided by the Utility and Review Board (UARB) back in 2017, is: …comprised of seven distinct areas,Read More

Emera The Cape Breton Post is reporting changes to Nova Scotia legislation that will lift restrictions preventing foreign investors from holding more than 25% of voting shares in Emera, the parent company of Nova Scotia Power Inc (NSPI). The other change “reinforces Emera’s existing commitment to maintain its head officeRead More

I have been keeping a jaundiced eye on the Cape Breton coal trucking story since the 1980s when my friend Leo Evans was shining a public spotlight on the decision by Devco to “rubberize” a part of its coal transportation system.   Made no sense then – makes no sense now.Read More

The Sydney Subdivision of the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia Railway (CBNS) must be the most studied stretch of unused track in the country. The Subdivision was the subject of three different reports (with a total price tag of $152,600) in 2015. It’s to be the subject of a $460,000 studyRead More

This week, in our ongoing exploration of property taxes in Nova Scotia generally (and the CBRM in particular), we’re going to look at exempt properties, payments in lieu of taxes (or PILs) and  stuff I forgot to tell you last week, not necessarily in that order. We’re doing this becauseRead More