It was Monday morning as I began writing this and I had just heard Damian MacInnis explaining to the CBC’s Steve Sutherland how his “social enterprise” — Rural Cape Breton Enterprises — is going to build affordable housing on Cape Breton Island. (Its Facebook page specifies “low to medium incomeRead More

I have an update on last week’s district energy study story, with some information gleaned from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). The full cost of the study was $175,400. The CBRM and Enwave Energy applied to the FCM for funding (with the CBRM as “lead applicant”) and received $74,700Read More

In a “classical” [private-public-partnership or P3], a government typically uses a consortium of private sector firms to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain some new physical public infrastructure. Despite the increasing use of [P3]s, evidence shows that many [P3]s have produced unsatisfactory outcomes, including high transaction costs and project bankruptcy.Read More

You probably just read Part I of this P3 Hospitals article, but in case you then took a juice break, or a yoga break, or a few minutes to breathe deeply or pound a couple of shots of tequila, let me remind you why, according to Premier Stephen McNeil, hisRead More

But seriously, where’s Cecil? Did it strike anyone else odd that the mayor wasn’t at that flood prevention press conference on Monday? Sydney-Whitney Pier MLA (and Energy Minister) Derek Mombourquette and Sydney-Victoria MP Mark Eyking both thought $2.5 million in additional federal disaster funding was worth coming to town andRead More