Chapter Three of the Interim Report of the Nova Scotia Electoral Boundaries Commission is tittled, "Interpretation of the Terms of Reference." It might more honestly be called, "Decision to Disregard the Terms of Reference." That's what seven members of the commission decided to do: overrule the Terms of Reference set down in law by the elected representatives of Nova Scotia. They did so in response to a vociferous lobby by Acadians and African Nova Scotians, anxious to retain the four seats exempted from rep-by-pop to encourage the election of MLAs representing those ethnic groups. The seven members  — Chair Teresa MacNeil,* Johnstown,...

In the last few years, I've made several business trips to the Faroe Islands, a rocky archipelago that rises spectacularly from the North Atlantic, about halfway between Iceland and Scotland. The population of 48,917 is about one-third of Cape Breton's; the land area of 1,399 square km barely tops that of Richmond County, NS. Search Google Images for "Faroe Islands," and you'll turn up dozens of photos far more beautiful than the snapshot below, of a rocky point known as Tinganes that sticks into the harbour at Torshavn, the country's* largest town. Tinganes sits two blocks from the hotel where I...