Another step forward

Two days of intense, top-secret meetings regarding port development must have made Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) councillors feel like they were back in school preparing for final exams during the past week.

So much information to pour through. So difficult to know for sure whether approving an agreement between the municipality and the developers of Sydney Harbour’s proposed container port was the right call.

In the end, and by a near-unanimous vote (12-1), council approved a motion that, in part, sees CBRM enter into an ‘Option and Development Agreement’ with Sydney Harbour Investment Partners Inc. (SHIP). Bottom line? SHIP, which already held the exclusive rights to market the Port of Sydney, is now free to negotiate and make deals for container port development.

The agreement, which culminates 18 months of negotiations, also includes the condition that when a ports project deal is inked the developer will be required to make a $10 million payment to the CBRM.

And here’s one more key piece of information that councillors were able to ponder before casting their ayes or nays: multinational professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers managing director Richard Deslauriers told them that the agreement “meets CBRM’s goals and is a low risk approach to encouraging economic development.”

Sounds to us like a no-lose situation for CBRM, and to a larger extent Cape Breton and Nova Scotia.

Of course there will be those who will criticise this arrangement. Those who can’t fathom the idea of super-sized container ships from around the world dropping their goods at the proposed Novaporte container terminal at the Greenfield site. The proposed Novazone logistics park located next door is a head-scratcher for those who don’t like to think big or outside the box as well.

But what this council has done is clear the way for private enterprise to drive what could prove to be Cape Breton’s most significant project of the 21st century. It’s one that could eventually lead to thousands of jobs, stem out-migration, improve the commercial and residential tax bases, help fill schools, provide more shoppers for local businesses and so much more.

Government involvement in the form of water, sewer lines, services, fire or police protection, etc., will only come about when contracts are signed and that funding would only come through SHIP’s $10 million payment to the CBRM.

Improvement of the rail line from Sydney to St. Peter’s Junction will also be required but if the container terminal becomes a reality the provincial government is bound to be on board. With goods moving through the province from the super-sized container ships arriving in port there will simply be too much potential money at stake not to make it happen.

There are still several more steps to go in order for the container terminal to become a reality but the moving parts are slowly falling into place.

Council has done its job and it should be commended for the vision it has displayed.

Now the ball moves to SHIP and we struck by the words of its CEO Albert Barbusci who told the Post: “We are committed to this and we will deliver, this is going to happen – this is really, really exciting.”

Sounds like someone who is confident about Cape Breton’s future. We are, too.