Councillor expected to announce mayoral run
SYDNEY — An outspoken Cape Breton Regional Municipality councillor is heading to the woods to livestream an announcement on her political future.
In a prepared statement released Thursday, Amanda McDougall said she will unveil her plans on Sydney’s Baille Ard Trail during a brief address to be livestreamed on her Facebook page. The event is scheduled for noon today.
The 37-year-old, who many expect will announce her candidacy for mayor, told the Cape Breton Post that she chose the location because it encompasses many of her personal values.
“When I think about the Baille Ard Trail, I think about a place that holds high value in our community and that is beloved and cherished,” said McDougall, councillor for District 8 which extends from the Glace Bay neighbourhood of Caledonia along the east coast to Louisbourg.
“I think about a place that brings people together to do things like volunteering, which is incredible, and I think about the future and about green infrastructure and the power of nature that is going to help us get through things like floods and climate change.”
Aside from her duties as an elected representative, McDougall is also the executive director of the non-profit ACAP (Atlantic Coastal Action Program) Cape Breton. The Main-a-Dieu resident is a graduate of Cape Breton University and would later work with her local community development association. She was also part of the group that pushed for the removal of the wrecked MV Miner from the Scaterie Island shoreline and she managed CBU's Rural-Urban Immigration Project for Cape Breton Island.
During her time on council, McDougall has called for more community consultation, espoused the need to set municipal priorities and has advocated for fair library funding.
If, as expected, McDougall announces her candidacy for mayor it would bring the number of declared candidates to three with Mayor Cecil Clarke expected to announce his bid for re-election next week.
Sydney resident Chris Abbass announced his candidacy last month. Abbass ran against longtime Sydney mayor Manning MacDonald in the 1990 election in which he garnered 31 per cent of the vote.
And Little Bras d'Or's Archie MacKinnon took to social media this week to announce that he is throwing his hat into the ring. MacKinnon, who served as a Sydney Mines town councillor prior to CBRM amalgamation, unsuccessfully ran as an independent in the riding of Sydney Victoria in the 2019 federal election. He finished fourth with 5,679 votes (14 per cent).