Re: the debate over whether taxpayers should fund the construction of an airstrip in Inverness.
Ben Cowan-Dewar and Michael Keiser have built something that has international recognition for its integrity and quality. Everything about Cabot Links is first class, including the people who run it. They have recognized the extraordinary beauty of Cape Breton, taken enormous risk and are succeeding beyond the wildest dreams of most people outside of their visionary prism. In fact, they are defying odds for success on multiple levels.
Western Cape Breton has not had a private-sector company employ hundreds of people since the coal mines closed decades ago. According to Statistics Canada, Cape Breton’s population has decreased from 101,619 in 2011 to 98,722 in 2016, and our unemployment rate continues to compete with the highest jobless rates in the country.
We need to make important investments in the most enduring economic driver in Cape Breton — tourism. I believe that Allan J. and his staff would have been all over this idea. They would have carefully weighed the economic benefits and consequences and concluded that their responsibility was to the greater community and that tourism in Cape Breton and Cabot Links are worth investing in.
David Graham, president, Atlantic Development Inc., Halifax