Realistic renewal for Cape Breton
Senator Dan Christmas says he wanted to “shake things up and get people thinking about Cape Breton” when he suggested in a public lecture last week that the Island should consider becoming a separate province as a way of reversing population decline and of improving its economy.
Well, mission accomplished on the shake-up front. Raising the idea of provincial status has grabbed a lot of attention and stirred up instant debate on the pros, cons and odds of achieving Island independence.
Engaging people in debating their future is always good. But we have to respectfully disagree that provincehood is a productive focus of debate for Cape Bretoners.
As a hot-button topic, it diverts attention from many things Cape Bretoners are doing now to take charge of their future, attract immigrants, create a new economic base and be self-reliant — the core of Senator Christmas’s message. It risks wasting energy chasing a political status that Ottawa and other provinces would surely veto.
Seven provinces representing 50 per cent of Canada’s population would have to agree to Cape Breton becoming a province. It’s highly unlikely this majority would set a precedent that encouraged their own regions to separate. And why would they want more provinces sharing the same pool of federal equalization funds?
For Ottawa, too, creating a new province with only 130,000 people makes no sense. Proponents believe a Province of Cape Breton would prosper by making better use of equalization funds it received directly. But Ottawa does not want equalization to be an incentive to spin off smaller provinces with weaker tax bases and higher operating costs than the existing equalization-receiving ones. They would require even larger equalization payments to bring them up to an average standard of services.
We support the senator’s desire, as he told the Cape Breton Post’s Elizabeth Patterson, to stir Cape Bretoners to ask, “Is our future better being responsible for ourselves?”
How to take charge of renewing their economy should be debated and decided by Cape Bretoners. Senator Christmas brings a lot to that debate, as a member of the team that transformed the Membertou First Nation economy.
But being part of Nova Scotia is not deterring Cape Bretoners from being self-reliant, trying their own renewal ideas and having success. They are doing that now.
In Celtic Colours, they’ve created one of the most impressive music festivals anywhere, with events spread all over the Island. They’ve hosted the East Coast Music Awards and will host the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2019. Island tourism has the province’s best growth figures in a boom year and a second cruise ship berth is coming. The seafood sector is doing well and poised to do better with freer EU trade. Business startups compare well with other parts of the province. CBRM’s downtown is bouncing back with a waterfront development, new businesses, thriving restaurants and cultural attractions. Cape Breton University attracts foreign students with innovative offerings. Clearly, Cape Bretoners are not resigned to decline.
The Nova Scotia government can do a better job of supporting these self-renewal efforts and should. And there will be setbacks, as with Donkin mine. But let’s focus on an achievable partnership of all Nova Scotians, not on the mirage of Canada balkanizing into new equalization-receiving provinces.