I apologize for this somewhat lengthy letter, but it is important to describe in detail the past, present, and future.
First, I would like to thank all Cape Bretoners who welcomed me into their communities since I immigrated from Germany in 1987. Over the years, I have tried my best to contribute to the fabric of Canada on an economic and cultural level. On an economic level, I have been able to bring approximately $180 million of investment to Cape Breton, and on a cultural level, I started the Friends United Initiative, which globally promotes Canada and its Indigenous culture.
I am proud to be able to live in Cape Breton and I am just as proud that my children have been able to grow up here. Cape Breton and our people are, in my view, filled with incredible hospitality, knowledge, and potential. I love Cape Breton Island and I care deeply about its future. It is for these reasons that I felt compelled to write this letter.
I have been following the discussion about the potential golf course in West Mabou, and I feel that I might be able to contribute another view, which could potentially give people more insight.
For those who know me, they are aware of the fact that I came to Cape Breton with virtually nothing. After I arrived, I lived in a very old mobile home in Broad Cove, Inverness County. In the late 1980s I worked at Evans Coal Mine as a labourer, as a pulp cutter and tree planter in Margaree, and as an interpreter in Sydney. Life was not easy in the 1980s for a newcomer in the Inverness area and I would like to elaborate on this and how things evolved since then.
As a newcomer, I could initially not figure out why it was called Inverness County because, Inverness did not appear to be the hub of the county. I was told that Inverness was actually a very important and thriving place at one time. When I moved there in the 1980s, not much appeared to be going on.
There were many hard times since I had no capital, no business education, and no experience. I was a farmer and car mechanic by trade, and was very lucky to meet some great people who helped me. I will forever be indebted to them. They were Joe and Kay MacFarlane and family from Gillisdale, Leo Coady and his family from Coady Road, and Georgina and Henry Lewaskewicz from Broad Cove, to name a few. They were very friendly people and gave me much advice and help as did many others such as Buddy Timmons from Inverness, and Norman Peterson from Scottsville.
I am writing these facts for the reader to understand that I am somewhat familiar with Inverness and the surrounding communities. Many people, at that time, could only find employment for 10 weeks of the year and then collected unemployment benefits.
I learned that the “work stamp” had many meanings. One stamp per week meant that with 10 stamps you could collect unemployment. This was certainly very generous by the government, but over the long term, not sustainable for the people who collected unemployment insurance, nor for their fellow tax paying citizens. I collected unemployment for only one year as a start.
I lived in Broad Cove for a few years and then in North Lake Ainslie with my wife. While we loved it, we did not see how we could make a living. This is why my wife, who was from Canada, wanted to move to Port Hawkesbury. The reality was, in the 1980s, that Port Hawkesbury seemed to offer a lot more than Inverness. Once we moved to Port Hawkesbury and started land development on an international level, things became a lot easier. Looking back, it was the right decision. There were a lot more opportunities in Port Hawkesbury and area compared to Inverness at the time, especially with regards to the education of our children.
Over the years, Inverness and its development was not top of mind for me with a growing family and business. This was, of course, until Cabot’s golf courses were opened, and Inverness began turning a corner. Even the Port Hawkesbury Airport, which was virtually unused before the golf courses were built, suddenly saw hundreds of planes and thousands of people landing every year.
I felt so happy for Inverness and the surrounding areas as this finally brought a lot of employment, investment, capital, and opportunities. Finally, someone had realized the incredible potential of the area. Now, when I drive through Inverness, I often see new development. Much of this can be attributed to the golf courses.
From what I read in the papers, the owners of the Inverness golf course now wish to build another one in West Mabou. Given that the golf course is likely to be similar to the courses in Inverness, I would think that this is a very good idea. However, I have also read about concerns for the environment and wildlife protection as the potential Mabou golf course site would be on provincial park land.
I do not know much about golfing but I know land, and as such, I would like to provide you my view as a developer.
I am very much for preserving nature and having the least impact possible on same. In fact, I published many wildlife books with my children as I am an outdoor enthusiast. When our companies move forward on a development, we always make sure that we adhere to environmental protection laws and guidelines. Our clients, who usually have recreational cottages, produce little to no pollution. If anything is developed in West Mabou area, there is no question that the developer would have to adhere to all regulations and attempt to have the least impact on wildlife. This makes sense, not only from an environmental point of view, but also from a business point of view. People come to experience clean and intact nature.
A golf course would not only create a lot of employment, but major taxes for the municipality, province, and federal government. We need taxes to function as a society. Everyone wants a quality education system for our schools, kindergartens, universities, and community colleges. We also want good roads, snow removal, good health care, a good justice system, good transportation, police protection, and the list goes on. The reality is we need to pay for this. If not, we will indebt our future generations at a very irresponsible level, which would almost certainly see services cut. If anybody can tell me a better way than to build a world class golf course, which will have a minimal impact on the environment while at the same time creating such vast tax revenue, I would love to know. It worked in Inverness and it can work in Mabou.
The largest purchasers of land and the biggest owners of land in our province are the Government of Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada. They are constantly buying land either for forestry or wildlife reserves, and parklands to make sure that the human impact on Mother Nature is as little as possible. They make sure that all species survive as best as possible with the acquisition of new crown land.
I, myself, would prefer to see a green golf course rather than heavy industry given their environmental impacts. From what I have read, it would also seem to me that many of those opposing a golf course may also oppose forestry, farming, and light industry. What would be left if we took all previously mentioned out of the equation?
The reality is that the land for the proposed West Mabou golf course is a very small acreage compared to the annual acquisitions that the Crown adds to its acreage each year for parks, protection, wildlife reserves, etc.
One should also be very aware of the fact that the many tax revenues which a golf course creates are, and will be helping the province to pay for acquiring more land that can then become parkland and then be protected. In other words, the golf course in West Mabou, given the tax revenue it will ultimately help generate, will enable the government to acquire significantly more land for wildlife reserves than is being used for the golf course construction. The resulting additional tax revenue will also lead to the government being able to provide more to the daily services which all of us require.
Therefore, I can come only to one conclusion after evaluating the facts; we should welcome and thank the people who want to build the golf course and not obstruct their development. If we want to secure a good future for our children and ensure environmental protection, then say yes to the golf course. With more taxes we can grow our province and still provide even greater protection to the environment. Let’s make sure that our children and grandchildren don’t have to move away to find employment elsewhere, like my family had to.
On a final note, I should say that I do not play golf and that I do not know the owners of the golf course. This said, they should be thanked for putting their faith in Cape Breton and its people. We stand to gain a lot more than we can lose from this potential development. This is especially true for our future generations.
A Cabot Golf course will bring outside investment from across the world to Cape Breton that would otherwise never take place. Cape Breton is without question one of the best islands in the world. We all know this. In, order, for others to experience our island’s beauty, we need to get the people here to see it first. Another world class Cabot golf course in West Mabou will help to unlock this great potential.
Ultimately, the government will make sure that this coastal development is being done in a very respectful manner.
Rolf Bouman
Cleveland