YOU SAID IT
“I think there’s a whole lot of things we’ve got to do differently.”
— Mayoralty hopeful Rankin MacSween has revealed what steps he would take to improve the economy of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, which he believes is the most important issue in the campaign.
“It’s the foundation of everything. I think there’s a lot of important pieces but the foundation of it is the economic piece,” he said in an interview Wednesday.
“We’re a community in decline. This decline has gone on for over four decades. What this campaign is about is we’ve got to turn this around, we’ve got to do things differently. I know how to do that, and that’s why I’m running for mayor.”
MacSween said the region needs a more collaborative government, adding he believes modern leadership is about organization and teamwork. A good leader should put together the best team possible and tackle an issue. He noted the region has undergone a significant transition away from being an industrial economy. The fact that the region has done that as well as it has is a credit to its people, he said, but added it’s time to try to turn the corner.
“I think there’s a whole lot of things we’ve got to do differently,” he said.
Saying the municipality has to be pro-development, MacSween has outlined five main economic priorities — expanding the economic development function of the municipality, establishing a community investment fund, capitalizing on the strength of Sydney harbour, marketing the CBRM globally and establishing a mayor’s advisory council on the economy.
MacSween is the longtime president of New Dawn Enterprises, a not-for-profit community development corporation. He noted that body has been able to raise about $8 million in the community for community investment funds to support local ventures, and he believes it’s something the CBRM should also undertake to lead to growth in the small business sector. It would also involve partnerships with the provincial and federal governments. The fund could support the startup of five to 10 businesses each year.
Up to $100 million leaves the region every year in investments, pensions and RRSPs, MacSween noted, saying the CBRM needs to hold some of that so that its residents can invest in themselves.
“The reality is there’s nobody coming to save us. This is our responsibility to turn this place around and we can do it,” he said.
Expanding the economic development of the CBRM would be done with existing resources and no additional staff, MacSween said, saying his approach has always been seeing how to do things “skinny.” The CBRM is not positioned to spend any more money, but it needs to become the municipality most preoccupied with the economy, he said.
The recently-dredged Sydney harbour and the greenfield site have great potential.
“I give my commitment to the people of this community. I will make it happen, and the second commitment I will make is whatever happens, the primary benefit of it will flow back to this community,” he said.
The region should also reach out to local successful businesspeople and those who have gone on to success in other areas to serve as ambassadors in marketing it globally, he said.
MacSween intends to reveal his platform on other priority areas over the next several weeks, including engaging youth, poverty and the environment.
The only other candidate to have declared he intends to run for mayor is Owen Fitzgerald, executive director of Unama’ki Economic Benefits Office. Former MLA Cecil Clarke is expected to announce his campaign today.