“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign. Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind.”
When I pass the now-shuttered provincial visitor information centre in Port Hastings, the lyrics from my favourite protest song from the early 1970s ring in my ears.
The song by the Five Man Electrical Band is a welcome diversion, because singing is preferable to screaming, and that’s what I’d otherwise be doing as I pass by the ridiculous Cape Breton University sign that’s been erected at the entry to the former centre.
The sign has stirred a lot of controversy since its erection in late September, and you can count me among those who just see it as another slight to the local residents – many of them volunteers – who work so diligently to promote tourism on Cape Breton Island.
The province announced back in February that it would be closing visitor information centres (VICs) in Port Hastings, Yarmouth and the Halifax airport, and that the VIC in Amherst would transition to seasonal operations. Add to that the closure of the VIC at Peggy’s Cove, widely recognized as the single most visited tourist attraction in the province, and one had to question the logic in removing these key information centres at the most vital entry points in the province.
In Cape Breton, justification of the provincial government’s budget-cutting measure rang particularly hollow, as bureaucrats explained that the original provincial VIC model was intended to help visitors to the region book their itineraries, but that most travelers are now doing the majority of their trip planning online.
But while that justification might sound good in a Halifax board room, on the ground in Cape Breton the reality is a bit different, as many of the people working to promote the island know only too well that many travellers think they can plan their visit once they’re here, and are perplexed when poor cellular service in these parts makes that an incredibly hard thing to do.
Add to that the fact that Cape Breton punches well above its weight when considering its contribution to the overall benefits of tourism to the province. Although it accounts for only about 13 per cent of Nova Scotia’s population, Cape Breton captures a disproportionate 20 per cent of tourism visits to the province.
When one combines these closures with provincial funding cuts to the arts, a major cog in the island’s tourism successes, one can be forgiven for feeling just a little bit slighted by the Houston government.
This was the same administration that, in its pursuit of a second majority government in the 2024 provincial election, announced the removal of tolls on the Halifax bridges, replacing a seemingly fair user-pay system with one that put the bridges’ sustainability squarely on the backs of provincial taxpayers from Meat Cove to Cape Sable Island.
February’s short-sighted announcement prompted a reasonable response from Destination Cape Breton, which rallied the island’s five municipalities to put up the funding to reopen the Port Hastings. But the province was having none of it, announcing instead in July that the centre and the adjacent gift shop would be demolished within two years as part of the Port Hastings roundabout project slated for completion in 2029.
I’ve got nothing against Cape Breton University, but while it’s clear that people on this end of the province are trying to make the best of a bad situation, it might have been considered a welcome gesture for the province to use this new sign to promote some aspect of tourism in the region, and not a university.
That would have made sense, right?
I have a hard time seeing the sign as anything other than an additional indignity, on top of the province’s announcement in February, but the region is fortunate that many have chosen to instead roll up their sleeves and do what they can to counteract the effects of these closures.
The Strait Area Museum, which sits directly across the Port Hastings roundabout from the closed centre, will soon be wrapping up its one-year pilot project to provide the same services to visitors that had previously been provided by the centre across the road.
With nine student staffers having finished up at the museum at the end of August, Angie MacIsaac, the museum’s executive director, and the Port Hastings Historical Society, which sustains the museum, have been providing training to volunteers to extend their services into the critical shoulder season.
When others might be tempted to throw up their hands in response to the short-sightedness of our provincial representatives, in typical Cape Breton fashion, thankfully, the response here has been anything but.
And if singing a little protest song helps take the sting out of decisions that are beyond your control, then I guess that doesn’t hurt either.