Cape Breton Day a success, says chair
OTTAWA, Ont. — The chair of a delegation that visited Ottawa for what’s known as Cape Breton Day, said the event exceeded his expectations.
Richmond County Warden Steve Sampson was headed home to Lower L’Ardoise on Thursday, after attending various meetings with federal bureaucrats in Ottawa.
“We were able to participate in a number of discussions on a number of topics with various senior federal officials, including many cabinet ministers,” said Sampson. “(We were) united to give a message that we are one Cape Breton Island working together to attempt to achieve desired results.”
Sampson could not say exactly how many people made up the delegation of community and business leaders who descended upon Ottawa on Wednesday for meetings with federal staffers and elected officials from the country’s three main political parties.
The delegation included municipal politicians from the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, along with representatives from Richmond, Victoria and Inverness counties.
“Prior to going, many of the municipal units identified the people or issues to which they would have liked to meet with the ministers and/or senior staff,” said Sampson.
For Richmond County, the focus was on presenting its tourism strategy to Rob Moore, Minister of the Atlantic Coastal Opportunities Agency.
In addition to scheduled meetings, there was also a social mixer held Wednesday evening, that was attended by at least a dozen cabinet ministers.
“We got to meet with the minister (Moore) and at our event (Wednesday) evening, some of his staff were there and it was an opportunity for us to pitch it as well,” said Sampson. “We showcased our businesses and our hospitality.”
Sampson said the only commitment received in Ottawa was to continue discussions with municipal officials regarding their priorities.
“The experience was overwhelming,” said Sampson. “It not only meet, it exceeded our expectations. The opportunity — where would we get that again? To be able to meet so many people and to have such a strong endorsement.”
Sampson also couldn’t disclose the average cost of sending a municipal politician to Ottawa for the day, but said that it was well worth the investment. For business leaders who attended, the cost of footing the trip was theirs.