Rants &Raves
We discuss coal barging, increased enrolment and more
RANT: For barging coal in a fishing zone. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Kameron Collieries, operator of the Donkin coal mine, wants to build a wharf in Morien Bay and use small barges to load and transport coal 8.8 kilometres to a big ocean barge in Mira Bay. It’s the cheapest route to get their product to market – by as much as 50 per cent when compared to rail. But tell that to local fishermen who, not surprisingly, are very concerned about how all this loading, transporting and offloading will impact their livelihood. Geotechnical testing to see if the seafloor is even viable to build a loading facility is set to get underway but the real issue will come if and when Kameron Collieries applies to construct the facility. At that point, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will conduct a review of the project’s impact on fish and the fish habitat, and their report is bound to make one side of this growing controversy extremely unhappy.
RAVE: For increased enrolment. Who knew that the number of international students at Cape Breton University would jump by more than 50 per cent this semester – from 900 last year to an estimated 1,400 this month? That’s fantastic and a huge shot-inthe-arm for a university which would be faced with some tough decisions if it was still primarily reliant on drawing students from CBRM. Much of the international enrolment growth has been fueled by students from India who are drawn to such programs as the engineering transfer program, bachelor of engineering technology program and the public health program. Hopefully, these students will spread the word to others back home, sparking continued growth in CBU’s international enrolment. It’s important, however, that the area can provide accommodations for similar jumps in enrolment.
RANT: For high taxes. OK, sounds like a broken record? But for anyone who read Cape Breton Post business columnist Adrian White’s article this week the numbers were a sobering reminder that downtown Sydney is a tough place to make a buck. In case you missed it, White reported that the commercial tax rate for the downtown is around $5.45 per $100 of assessment, which makes it the highest commercial tax rate in Atlantic Canada and the third highest in the country, after Toronto and Vancouver. That’s shocking and we wholeheartedly endorse White’s call for council to pressure municipal senior staff to come to the table with some ideas on how to lower the commercial tax rate. If not, most potential investors are going to continue to take a pass on coming here.