A New Path Forward
When we look around today, it’s clear that the CBRM has changed. There is a sense of optimism and hope: people arriving here for the first time, people coming home, provincial infrastructure construction, new businesses opening, and increasingly diverse schools and neighbourhoods.
As a community, it is a moment of great importance.
A Turning Point
For more than two generations, our population was in steady decline, with a thousand people leaving each year.
Today, that is no longer the case thanks to the unprecedented number of newcomers who are discovering the beauty and opportunity of Cape Breton.
That we are all still here to witness this turning point is a credit to those who have stayed and prevailed against the odds.
The second reason for hope is our unemployment rate. At times, it’s been twice the national average. Five years ago, it was 16 percent.
Today, it’s at 8 percent, closing in on the national average of 6.4 percent.
These two factors – population stabilisation and a falling unemployment rate – taken together mean that for the first time in generations we have the bedrock on which to build a modern, sustainable economy.
Leadership to Address Challenges
If we are going to turn these many opportunities into ongoing prosperity, we’re going to have to do things differently, and we’re going to have to address two very critical challenges.
The first is housing. We all know the CBRM is facing a housing shortage. In the 2023 provincial assessment of housing in the CBRM, Turner and Drake identified a deficit of more than 2500 units.
If we aren’t able to provide affordable, quality housing for all our residents, we can’t continue to grow our tax base and build on the progress we’ve made as a community. We can’t have students living in Halifax and driving to Sydney for classes. We can’t have families living in unsafe apartments or defaulting on their Nova Scotia Power bill to be able to pay the rent.
The municipality must take the lead on this. As mayor, I will invite CBU, NSCC, the province, the federal government, developers, and non-profit organizations to work with the municipality to ensure that development begins and continues to meet the documented housing needs of the community and that other levels of government play their part in ensuring safe and adequate housing for all in the CBRM.
The second challenge is money – we don’t yet have enough of it. As our population and our employment rate continue to increase, our tax base will grow, allowing us to provide comparable services at a comparable tax rate to the rest of the province. We’ll get there. But, faced as we are at this moment with a significant infrastructure deficit – one that we see every day in the underfunding of roads and municipal services – we can’t get there alone.
As mayor, I will invite all levels of government to join the CBRM in charting a new path forward, investing in the short term growth and stability of our community without further burdening taxpayers.
Priorities for a New Prosperity
One of the most important jobs for the municipality is to clearly articulate a manageable and well-researched list of municipal priorities to the provincial and federal governments and then to commit to advancing these with every ounce of energy available to us.
At this moment in time, the priorities that require participation of other levels of government include: housing, roads, a new central library, the climate resilience of our communities, and child poverty. We must be clear, we must prioritize, and we must be relentless advocates until the outcomes we know to be possible are achieved.
We are at a crossroads as a community.
We mustn’t allow ourselves to go backwards.
Leadership has never been more important than it is at this moment.
Our communities have seen so much change. They have endured where others wouldn’t have. On the one hand, things have never looked more promising. On the other, many in our community are struggling more than ever.
We have been handed the opportunity to create the kind of prosperity that has, until now, felt out of our reach. We must commit ourselves to it being a sustained prosperity and one that doesn’t leave anyone behind.
It isn’t hard. It just takes a lot of work.
I’m Rankin MacSween and I’m ready to work.
Housing
The Provincial Housing Needs Assessment identified a deficit of 2,550 units (homes or apartments) in CBRM.
Housing is essential for any community that wants to grow and prosper. Healthy communities have an adequate supply of housing and a spectrum of different housing types to meet the diverse needs of the people who live there: supportive housing, affordable housing, rental housing, and home ownership.
In a housing crisis, multiple parts of that spectrum are lagging behind and, as a result, we see more people who are unhoused, more people living in unsafe or unsuitable places, more people being taken advantage of, and more people in crisis when they have to leave their rental unexpectedly and struggle to find somewhere to land. Housing crises tend to disproportionately affect people living on low-income, many of whom are seniors, people with disabilities, single-parent families, L’nuk and other Indigenous peoples, and newcomers.
While housing is not formally a municipal responsibility, it is in every practical way the key tool of any municipality that aims to grow and diversify its population and economy. The municipality must play a leadership role when it comes to convening key partners and stakeholders, setting the direction and priorities, educating and organizing constituents, and advocating to other levels of government and holding them accountable for their role. No other level of government is going to take responsibility for identifying the unique challenges that exist in the CBRM housing market and crafting their solutions. Either the CBRM does this or we continue to flounder.
As Mayor, I will:
- Take the lead on housing. No one is going to do it for us. And no other level of government understands the unique challenges in the CBRM housing market.
- Convene all stakeholders (CBU, NSCC, provincial and federal government, non-profit organizations and developers) to determine — together — how we fill the 2,550 unit gap. The meeting will be public, live-streamed, and open to the community.
- Work in partnership with other levels of government to ensure fulfillment of their role and ensure the CBRM gets its fair share of federal and provincial housing dollars.
- Measure progress publicly against the 2,550 deficit.
Roads & Infrastructure
The CBRM has an annual infrastructure deficit of $23 million (for roads and underground infrastructure alone) and the current municipal finance model has no path to address this critical shortage. Decades of decline have resulted in depleted services and crumbling infrastructure that cannot meet the needs of the community’s population growth and demographic diversification.
The CBRM needs an open, public, modern, professionally administered, competitive process for municipal infrastructure projects to ensure projects are prioritized and completed in a timely and transparent way. A strategic plan to improve and maintain existing municipal infrastructure is critical to providing municipal services for residents, particularly in light of predicted increases in extreme weather (more frequent and severe storms, extreme temperatures, risk of flooding and erosion due to increased precipitation and sea level rise, etc.) for the region as a result of climate change. Without this strategic plan, we can expect continued and escalating municipal infrastructure failures like we saw with the water main break in Glace Bay this summer.
As Mayor, I will:
- Complete the unfinished J-class roads list in the first two years of my term.
- Post the list of roads requiring paving/repaving on the CBRM website in the order they will be completed. There are currently 123 local roads, 59 collector roads, and 15 J-class roads.
- Post the list of development projects and their progress on the CBRM website (as is done in Truro). While necessary, development work (like the reconstruction of Charlotte Street) can be highly disruptive for businesses and the community deserves to track contract milestones, delays, and outcomes.
- Oppose “betterment charges”, an additional financial burden on taxpayers and one that allows wealthier neighbourhoods who will pay some share of the road work to jump the queue. Proposals for Betterment Charges were raised in the last sitting of Council.
Municipal Finance
In many ways, the CBRM is doing better today than it ever has – population stabilization, declining unemployment, the opening of new businesses, and growing municipal revenues via income such as the deed transfer tax (collected by the CBRM whenever a house is sold). These positive changes, along with increased housing, will allow the CBRM to grow its tax base, enabling us to provide comparable services at a comparable tax rate to the rest of the province. We’ll get there.
But, faced as we are at this moment with a significant deficit – half the tax revenue we need even though we pay some of the highest taxes in Nova Scotia – we’re not there yet, and we can’t get there alone. Rather than asking other levels of government to pour into a leaky bucket, we must work with them to bridge the gap between where we are right now and the financial sustainability that is within sight for the first time ever. We need other levels of government to help ensure that, in the short term, residents of the CBRM have access to comparable services and infrastructure for comparable taxes by investing in the growth and stability of our community without further burdening taxpayers.
As Mayor, I will:
- Articulate a list of critical municipal priorities to the provincial and federal governments and lay out a plan for how all three levels working together can achieve these priorities without additional property tax burdens on CBRM residents. This list includes housing, roads, a new central library, the climate resilience of our communities, dependable infrastructure, and child poverty.
- Commit to advocating for and advancing these priorities in every phone call, meeting, and conversation until they are achieved.
Modern Government
Modern governments are those that have the right people, policies, and processes for the times, challenges, and opportunities they confront. They are consistent, transparent, and communicate well and regularly with residents. They are able to adapt and respond to the needs and assets of a changing community. They have the courage to make the bold and necessary decisions required to move the community forward.
As Mayor, I will:
- Ensure that the development of the greenfield site (and so the Port of Sydney) is publicly tendered when the current contract expires in November 2024. Transparent, fair, public tendering of contracts for the development of municipal assets is a hallmark of modern government.
- Set out a clear and reasonable process for the construction of a new central library. The first study on the need for a new central library was published in 2007 – 17 years ago. In this time, Halifax, Truro, Antigonish, New Glasgow, and Pictou have all built new libraries. Building a new library does not need to be this hard.
- Ensure that the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) has an up-to-date job description and that there is a mechanism for evaluating performance. In businesses and the non-profit sector, performance evaluation of key employees helps ensure the success of both the individual and the organization. The CAO is the sole employee of Mayor & Council.
Our Rural Communities
Our rural communities are too often left behind in discussions about municipal programs and services, capital spending and infrastructure renewal, partnership with other levels of government, and a vision for the future of our rural communities. Over 52% of the tax base in the CBRM is contributed by citizens of rural CBRM, and yet CBRM spends very little of its annual capital budget in rural communities. We need to look at creative and practical ways to address issues of clean, safe source water and sanitation, rural emergency response, while building housing, supporting our community fire departments and halls, and protecting our coastlines, rivers, and lakes.
As Mayor, I will:
- Ensure that rural communities are part of our housing plan — housing for families, seniors, and newcomers who want to choose our rural communities.
- Implement a Vulnerable Persons Registry. Our neighbours, our volunteer firefighters, and our community halls are on the front lines of responding to extreme weather. A Vulnerable Persons Registry will support them in this life saving work and provide comfort, dignity, and security to those who can’t as easily leave their homes.
- Invest in Volunteer Fire Halls and Departments. They are our community cornerstones, gathering places, and rural emergency response.
Downtown Sydney
Addictions and mental health crises — made worse by COVID and compounded by a housing crisis — have led to an increase in visible homelessness, something we’re not that familiar with in the CBRM.
We are not alone. Large and small cities across Canada are dealing with the same and trying to craft solutions to challenges we’re still working to understand. Our police forces and hospitals are overwhelmed and ill-equipped. Neither were designed to be the response to mental health, addictions, and housing crises. We need short-term and long-term approaches that are compassionate, effective, and sustainable.
As Mayor, I will:
- Meet with the CEO of the Health Authority and Minister of the Office of Mental Health and Addictions, Brian Comer, to establish a mobile crisis response team, like what exists in HRM to respond to calls related to mental health and addictions.
- Ensure that we have adequate needle disposal units throughout the CBRM and that these are maintained and replaced as needed, and emptied regularly. We can’t — in this moment — put an end to intravenous drug use. We can put the tools and culture in place to ensure safety for all.
- Work with service providers to understand the kinds and locations of supportive housing needed to end homelessness in the CBRM. Permanent, supportive, affordable housing is critical and will form part of our plan to eliminate the CBRM housing deficit. The right kinds of housing are the best cure for homelessness.
When we look around today, it’s clear that the CBRM has changed. There is a sense of optimism and hope: people arriving here for the first time, people coming home, provincial infrastructure construction, new businesses opening, and increasingly diverse schools and neighbourhoods.
As a community, it is a moment of great importance.
A Turning Point
For more than two generations, our population was in steady decline, with a thousand people leaving each year.
Today, that is no longer the case thanks to the unprecedented number of newcomers who are discovering the beauty and opportunity of Cape Breton.
That we are all still here to witness this turning point is a credit to those who have stayed and prevailed against the odds.
The second reason for hope is our unemployment rate. At times, it’s been twice the national average. Five years ago, it was 16 percent.
Today, it’s at 8 percent, closing in on the national average of 6.4 percent.
These two factors – population stabilisation and a falling unemployment rate – taken together mean that for the first time in generations we have the bedrock on which to build a modern, sustainable economy.
Leadership to Address Challenges
If we are going to turn these many opportunities into ongoing prosperity, we’re going to have to do things differently, and we’re going to have to address two very critical challenges.
The first is housing. We all know the CBRM is facing a housing shortage. In the 2023 provincial assessment of housing in the CBRM, Turner and Drake identified a deficit of more than 2500 units.
If we aren’t able to provide affordable, quality housing for all our residents, we can’t continue to grow our tax base and build on the progress we’ve made as a community. We can’t have students living in Halifax and driving to Sydney for classes. We can’t have families living in unsafe apartments or defaulting on their Nova Scotia Power bill to be able to pay the rent.
The municipality must take the lead on this. As mayor, I will invite CBU, NSCC, the province, the federal government, developers, and non-profit organizations to work with the municipality to ensure that development begins and continues to meet the documented housing needs of the community and that other levels of government play their part in ensuring safe and adequate housing for all in the CBRM.
The second challenge is money – we don’t yet have enough of it. As our population and our employment rate continue to increase, our tax base will grow, allowing us to provide comparable services at a comparable tax rate to the rest of the province. We’ll get there. But, faced as we are at this moment with a significant infrastructure deficit – one that we see every day in the underfunding of roads and municipal services – we can’t get there alone.
As mayor, I will invite all levels of government to join the CBRM in charting a new path forward, investing in the short term growth and stability of our community without further burdening taxpayers.
Priorities for a New Prosperity
One of the most important jobs for the municipality is to clearly articulate a manageable and well-researched list of municipal priorities to the provincial and federal governments and then to commit to advancing these with every ounce of energy available to us.
At this moment in time, the priorities that require participation of other levels of government include: housing, roads, a new central library, the climate resilience of our communities, and child poverty. We must be clear, we must prioritize, and we must be relentless advocates until the outcomes we know to be possible are achieved.
We are at a crossroads as a community.
We mustn’t allow ourselves to go backwards.
Leadership has never been more important than it is at this moment.
Our communities have seen so much change. They have endured where others wouldn’t have. On the one hand, things have never looked more promising. On the other, many in our community are struggling more than ever.
We have been handed the opportunity to create the kind of prosperity that has, until now, felt out of our reach. We must commit ourselves to it being a sustained prosperity and one that doesn’t leave anyone behind.
It isn’t hard. It just takes a lot of work.
I’m Rankin MacSween and I’m ready to work.
Housing
The Provincial Housing Needs Assessment identified a deficit of 2,550 units (homes or apartments) in CBRM.
Housing is essential for any community that wants to grow and prosper. Healthy communities have an adequate supply of housing and a spectrum of different housing types to meet the diverse needs of the people who live there: supportive housing, affordable housing, rental housing, and home ownership.
In a housing crisis, multiple parts of that spectrum are lagging behind and, as a result, we see more people who are unhoused, more people living in unsafe or unsuitable places, more people being taken advantage of, and more people in crisis when they have to leave their rental unexpectedly and struggle to find somewhere to land. Housing crises tend to disproportionately affect people living on low-income, many of whom are seniors, people with disabilities, single-parent families, L’nuk and other Indigenous peoples, and newcomers.
While housing is not formally a municipal responsibility, it is in every practical way the key tool of any municipality that aims to grow and diversify its population and economy. The municipality must play a leadership role when it comes to convening key partners and stakeholders, setting the direction and priorities, educating and organizing constituents, and advocating to other levels of government and holding them accountable for their role. No other level of government is going to take responsibility for identifying the unique challenges that exist in the CBRM housing market and crafting their solutions. Either the CBRM does this or we continue to flounder.
As Mayor, I will:
- Take the lead on housing. No one is going to do it for us. And no other level of government understands the unique challenges in the CBRM housing market.
- Convene all stakeholders (CBU, NSCC, provincial and federal government, non-profit organizations and developers) to determine — together — how we fill the 2,550 unit gap. The meeting will be public, live-streamed, and open to the community.
- Work in partnership with other levels of government to ensure fulfillment of their role and ensure the CBRM gets its fair share of federal and provincial housing dollars.
- Measure progress publicly against the 2,550 deficit.
Roads & Infrastructure
The CBRM has an annual infrastructure deficit of $23 million (for roads and underground infrastructure alone) and the current municipal finance model has no path to address this critical shortage. Decades of decline have resulted in depleted services and crumbling infrastructure that cannot meet the needs of the community’s population growth and demographic diversification.
The CBRM needs an open, public, modern, professionally administered, competitive process for municipal infrastructure projects to ensure projects are prioritized and completed in a timely and transparent way. A strategic plan to improve and maintain existing municipal infrastructure is critical to providing municipal services for residents, particularly in light of predicted increases in extreme weather (more frequent and severe storms, extreme temperatures, risk of flooding and erosion due to increased precipitation and sea level rise, etc.) for the region as a result of climate change. Without this strategic plan, we can expect continued and escalating municipal infrastructure failures like we saw with the water main break in Glace Bay this summer.
As Mayor, I will:
- Complete the unfinished J-class roads list in the first two years of my term.
- Post the list of roads requiring paving/repaving on the CBRM website in the order they will be completed. There are currently 123 local roads, 59 collector roads, and 15 J-class roads.
- Post the list of development projects and their progress on the CBRM website (as is done in Truro). While necessary, development work (like the reconstruction of Charlotte Street) can be highly disruptive for businesses and the community deserves to track contract milestones, delays, and outcomes.
- Oppose “betterment charges”, an additional financial burden on taxpayers and one that allows wealthier neighbourhoods who will pay some share of the road work to jump the queue. Proposals for Betterment Charges were raised in the last sitting of Council.
Municipal Finance
In many ways, the CBRM is doing better today than it ever has – population stabilization, declining unemployment, the opening of new businesses, and growing municipal revenues via income such as the deed transfer tax (collected by the CBRM whenever a house is sold). These positive changes, along with increased housing, will allow the CBRM to grow its tax base, enabling us to provide comparable services at a comparable tax rate to the rest of the province. We’ll get there.
But, faced as we are at this moment with a significant deficit – half the tax revenue we need even though we pay some of the highest taxes in Nova Scotia – we’re not there yet, and we can’t get there alone. Rather than asking other levels of government to pour into a leaky bucket, we must work with them to bridge the gap between where we are right now and the financial sustainability that is within sight for the first time ever. We need other levels of government to help ensure that, in the short term, residents of the CBRM have access to comparable services and infrastructure for comparable taxes by investing in the growth and stability of our community without further burdening taxpayers.
As Mayor, I will:
- Articulate a list of critical municipal priorities to the provincial and federal governments and lay out a plan for how all three levels working together can achieve these priorities without additional property tax burdens on CBRM residents. This list includes housing, roads, a new central library, the climate resilience of our communities, dependable infrastructure, and child poverty.
- Commit to advocating for and advancing these priorities in every phone call, meeting, and conversation until they are achieved.
Modern Government
Modern governments are those that have the right people, policies, and processes for the times, challenges, and opportunities they confront. They are consistent, transparent, and communicate well and regularly with residents. They are able to adapt and respond to the needs and assets of a changing community. They have the courage to make the bold and necessary decisions required to move the community forward.
As Mayor, I will:
- Ensure that the development of the greenfield site (and so the Port of Sydney) is publicly tendered when the current contract expires in November 2024. Transparent, fair, public tendering of contracts for the development of municipal assets is a hallmark of modern government.
- Set out a clear and reasonable process for the construction of a new central library. The first study on the need for a new central library was published in 2007 – 17 years ago. In this time, Halifax, Truro, Antigonish, New Glasgow, and Pictou have all built new libraries. Building a new library does not need to be this hard.
- Ensure that the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) has an up-to-date job description and that there is a mechanism for evaluating performance. In businesses and the non-profit sector, performance evaluation of key employees helps ensure the success of both the individual and the organization. The CAO is the sole employee of Mayor & Council.
Our Rural Communities
Our rural communities are too often left behind in discussions about municipal programs and services, capital spending and infrastructure renewal, partnership with other levels of government, and a vision for the future of our rural communities. Over 52% of the tax base in the CBRM is contributed by citizens of rural CBRM, and yet CBRM spends very little of its annual capital budget in rural communities. We need to look at creative and practical ways to address issues of clean, safe source water and sanitation, rural emergency response, while building housing, supporting our community fire departments and halls, and protecting our coastlines, rivers, and lakes.
As Mayor, I will:
- Ensure that rural communities are part of our housing plan — housing for families, seniors, and newcomers who want to choose our rural communities.
- Implement a Vulnerable Persons Registry. Our neighbours, our volunteer firefighters, and our community halls are on the front lines of responding to extreme weather. A Vulnerable Persons Registry will support them in this life saving work and provide comfort, dignity, and security to those who can’t as easily leave their homes.
- Invest in Volunteer Fire Halls and Departments. They are our community cornerstones, gathering places, and rural emergency response.
Downtown Sydney
Addictions and mental health crises — made worse by COVID and compounded by a housing crisis — have led to an increase in visible homelessness, something we’re not that familiar with in the CBRM.
We are not alone. Large and small cities across Canada are dealing with the same and trying to craft solutions to challenges we’re still working to understand. Our police forces and hospitals are overwhelmed and ill-equipped. Neither were designed to be the response to mental health, addictions, and housing crises. We need short-term and long-term approaches that are compassionate, effective, and sustainable.
As Mayor, I will:
- Meet with the CEO of the Health Authority and Minister of the Office of Mental Health and Addictions, Brian Comer, to establish a mobile crisis response team, like what exists in HRM to respond to calls related to mental health and addictions.
- Ensure that we have adequate needle disposal units throughout the CBRM and that these are maintained and replaced as needed, and emptied regularly. We can’t — in this moment — put an end to intravenous drug use. We can put the tools and culture in place to ensure safety for all.
- Work with service providers to understand the kinds and locations of supportive housing needed to end homelessness in the CBRM. Permanent, supportive, affordable housing is critical and will form part of our plan to eliminate the CBRM housing deficit. The right kinds of housing are the best cure for homelessness.