Hired guns CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke’s executive assistant Mark Bettens (he of the exorbitant travel expenses) and spokesperson Sheilah MacDonald have taken paid vacation to work on Clarke’s re-election campaign. I confirmed this with CAO Marie Walsh this week. There’s nothing to stop them doing this — other than theRead...

Last week marked an anniversary I’m going to lay odds none of you celebrated: it’s been one year since the Nova Scotia solid waste-resource management regional chairs committee presented a proposal for Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging and Printed Paper (EPR for PPP) to Environment Minister Gordon Wilson. If youRead More

CBRM reopened the Spar Road dump in late April because somehow, although most retail stores were closed and our consumption — one would think — had been reduced, CBRM residents were still managing to “overwhelm” garbage collectors with the sheer volume of trash they were putting out. As municipal managerRead More

I have long prided myself on my conscientious recycling and composting habits. Anything that is recyclable goes into my blue boxes, and anything that is compostable goes into my green bin. Consequently, while I often put out more than one blue box on garbage day, I usually have only aRead...

Chinese itineraries CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke has yet to publish an itinerary for his November 30-December 6 trip to China on which he was accompanied by CAO Marie Walsh, Economic Development Manager John Phalen and his executive assistant Mark Bettens. As it happens, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was inRead More

What does $160 buy you?  Nova Scotia’s Liberal government has promised an average $160 tax cut for half the province’s population, in a surplus budget that seeds the ground for an election campaign that may begin within days. — Globe & Mail, 27 April 2017 So, if I’m a middle-class NovaRead More