4 Steps to Fix Cape Bretoners

Christian Murphy Follow Me

Posted this 2015-12-12 8:37 PM AST (updated 2015-12-16 8:43 AM AST)

Ouch! Did he just say that? Cape Bretoners need to be fixed!

Sorry to offend your sensibilities but I have real issue with the problems Cape Breton has and the recycling of the same ideas to fix them. That is our fault and ours alone.

Outward migration, aging population and child poverty are huge issues. But these are symptoms. They are the result of a greater problem and not the problem.

Here’s a thought, can we as a community fix it?

The short answer is yes, but we have to fix ourselves first. It will take time, it won’t be easy, there will be successes and failures, but it can be done. So here are my 4 Steps to fix Cape Bretoners and Cape Breton!

Step One - Accept the Reality:

This is a hard one; it means recognizing that government cannot lead us out of this situation. I appreciate this appears an oxymoron; we elect these people to lead, thus our expectation is that they will lead. Unfortunately this isn’t the reality and recent history has proven it.

Understand, governments are built on hundreds of years of laws, rules, and processes. This unwieldy organism consists of politicians, bureaucrats, agencies, divisions, authorities and unions all vying for a piece of an ever shrinking pie. They can’t help us! Hell, they can’t help themselves!

We have to accept that the role of government has changed. Please hear me, Government is no longer about leading the people; it’s about managing the people (and getting elected) and in Cape Breton that equates to managing our decline.

Step Two - Embrace the New World Order:

I’m certain this sent a shill up your spine! What imperialistic rhetoric is this? But it’s quite the opposite. There is a new world order but it’s not what you think. The internet has changed everything. It has resulted in the rise of the Sharing Economy, Minimalism and much more. People are sharing towards both the common good and personal gain, consumerism with a conscience.

The result is a slow decline of centralized control over, well everything. The traditional hierarchies are slowly crumbling and people are helping people succeed creating upheaval in business and culture. Never before has it been easier to share ideas and those who once controlled the flow and support of these ideas are finding it more and more difficult to maintain their grip. This has resulted in a fundamental change in perspective; and where there’s turmoil, there is opportunity.

Step Three - Local Startups are our Future:

What a concept, businesses creating jobs. Yes my friends, I will say it, I know it’s hard to believe but Governments don’t create jobs; businesses do! I’m certain I may be stealing that line from somebody, but it’s a good one. Understand, by their very nature, startups are more important to economic security than anything else in Cape Breton. If we are to accurately gauge the Cape Breton economy we need to place Business Starts above Housing Starts.

Only locals have a true connection to our community; therefore, creating local entrepreneurial capacity is an imperative. We are scraping the surface right now, Cape Breton has to scale this up dramatically if we are to turn our community aka economy around, and it is incumbent on us not government. See Step One.

Step 4 - Fixing Cape Bretoners is Fixing Cape Breton

Yes my friends and neighbors, we need to fix ourselves and become part of the Solution. Here it is! You and I have to develop a “Vested Interest.” What does that mean, well it’s quite simple, make a conscious effort to support your neighbors. Time and time again, Cape Bretoners rise to the occasion to support any number of worthy causes. It is time now to focus our efforts on the disease not the symptoms.

Symptom: Child Poverty – Solution, create jobs.

Symptom: Outward Migration of our Youth – Solution, create jobs.

Symptom: Aging Population – Solution Attract people to our community by creating jobs.

Disease: No Jobs – Solution support Local Entrepreneurs

We have been waiting for more than 40 years to see someone lead us out of this black hole and to be quite honest, all previous attempts have failed. There exists a real need to have the residents of Cape Breton support the launch of new businesses and make Startups part of our conversation, buy from local businesses and where possible, invest in these companies. Our future depends on it.

So if you agree or disagree with these steps or would like to add to them, I want to hear from you. Please email me at [email protected] I would like to discuss. If you read this and would like to actually do something about it, check out the Cape Breton Christmas Challenge.

https://capebreton.lokol.me/cape-breton-christmas-challenge-in-3-easy-steps

Posted by Christian Murphy
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Joe Ward Follow Me 2015-12-13 11:29 AM AST Reply 0 0 Just a few quick comments: > I think gov is still a leverage-able asset. I wouldn't write them off completely. They can be steered, and the funds they recruit can be utilized. Likewise, if we don't "keep them honest", they could create major problems that our economic engines might have a very hard time turning around. > Local people alone won't get us there in the startup realm. Development will take too long. UIT is doing great things, and yet it's not scaling fast enough. It's 10 people in that program this year. It needs to be 100 if we want to create a pipeline of entrepreneurship in the software startup space. Note: Brian Best of Phased.io (UIT alum, and top tier Spark Cape Breton winner) is actually a come from away (Ontario) who is developing roots here through his startup, and is one of our most promising young entrepreneurially minded software developers, with a very balanced skill set including leadership abilities. He's the sort of hybrid that does great in the startup sector. > I'm generally not sure that "support" is specific enough. Probably the biggest thing startup folks locally need is startup capital. We might consider the New Dawn fund as the closest thing to that form of support - but that is in place. > There are also a large segment of Cape Breton that doesn't see any sense of urgency in doing things differently, because they have stable employment or successful businesses (or active social lives that keep them distracted) and are relatively insulated from political or economic issues that impact others. Christian Murphy My Post Follow Me 2015-12-13 12:06 PM AST Reply 0 0 Hi Joe, Yes, government is an asset that can be leveraged, I'm simply pointing out that they are incapable of leading. Local people are the first stop, they have the most to win. There is more to Cape Breton than tech....I forget that at times myself. Let's focus on idea generation and execution. Support starts with awareness, awareness is followed by identification, identification is followed by commitment, commitment will be translated into specific support given the vehicle. This is because the message is delivered in a way that neither inspires nor encourages. That will be changed.
madeline yakimchuk Follow Me 2015-12-13 12:09 PM AST Reply 0 0 yep, I like it.
Bill Macintyre Follow Me 2015-12-13 2:11 PM AST Reply 3 0 Yes local start-ups are the future. I agree with your statement that government doesn't create jobs to the extent that local business does however how much of a wage will a local entrepreneur pay? If they pay minimum wage, lets say $10.10 for a 40 hr week then their take home pay after taxes would roughly be $340, how can you live off of that and feed a family? Thats taking into account a 40 hr work week "full time work" which most jobs in Cape Breton are not. So the employee makes even less. Lets start by creating an atmosphere of entrepreneur friendly tax breaks with a higher wage subsidized by both government and employer? Lets start training our young people in trades within the high school system, " the trade school/high school system really does work, look at how many people graduated from memorial high school with a trade and have gotten work from it?. Let the entrepreneurs create their business ideas and let the tradesman build the infrastructure, let the businessman/project management run the daily workings. Create the ideas, create fair paying jobs, develop a workforce/business class here in cape Breton and soon prosperity will follow. Most important/ crucial aspect of this whole thing is to create a culture of can do attitude, a culture of positive outlook without negativism. Lets show the government and the country what our talents really are. Christian Murphy My Post Follow Me 2015-12-14 7:44 AM AST Reply 0 0 Hi Bill, I will point out that not all jobs created by startups are minimum wage positions. Yes, some retail and tourist related positions are not top payers, however this in not the norm. Your position that governments can create a business friendly environment is correct. I often hear and watch and hear people use the phrase, "what's government going to do about our situation. Well, the point is, nothing. Yes their will be small inputs here and there based on the agenda of the day. Over the next while it will be programs to support youth and immigrants. That fits the agenda. If we want to be successful, we have to be inclusive and I mean all inclusive. Embracing the diversity of perspective in our community. We have to build on what we have. I am a big fan of the trades. What's great is the fact that trades people are geographically required. I mean the work has to be done onsite. Tradespeople generally benefit from capital projects. That requires that we scale capacity, build our community from the bottom up....small becomes large and large require space and tradespeople build the space. A simplified example. Bill, this statement of yours is powerful. "Create the ideas, create fair paying jobs, develop a workforce/business class here in cape Breton and soon prosperity will follow. Most important/ crucial aspect of this whole thing is to create a culture of can do attitude, a culture of positive outlook without negativism. Lets show the government and the country what our talents really are." In my mind it exemplifies both the frustration and hope that many of us feel. Together we can build on it.
James MacKinnon Follow Me 2015-12-13 2:14 PM AST Reply 2 0 1) I agree with Joe that the impact of government makes it is both an asset and liability to be managed. However, the core concept that government can't provide a complete solution is true. View them as a business associate or connection that can provide unique resources, but not a parental figure responsible for our well being. Governments have limited resources/influence to work with, so it's much easier for them to lend their full weight to projects with existing momentum, rather than being forced to bootstrap. I don't think you would have seen the same support for pushing programming/tech in Nova Scotia education if not for ventures like Brilliant Labs, UIT, C@P, etc. 2) Technology has been our double edged sword; helping to democratize the flow of ideas, but also the harvesting/manipulation of data to entrench existing power. It would be naive to assume the natural progression of culture will automatically displace the 'powers that be'. Those who seek power/control will always find a way to leverage current resources to best suite their goals. Thankfully, so will those expounding freedom. As a municipality spread out somewhat geographically, discussion on goCapeBreton and Facebook have helped keep discussion on local matters active and put pressure on the mayor and council to be accountable. Promotion of local business and events is much easier to spread via online word of mouth where trying to blanket the CBRM in posters would be very costly as well. 3+4) Very true in the case of Cape Breton. Out small population and limited influence means a solution will require ongoing local support to remain sustainable. Making the effort to help your neighbours and the community can be difficult but is a long term investment that can benefit yourself as much as others. Doktor Lukes vs Tim Hortons, The HAT vs Cineplex, Patty Wagon vs McDonalds, CBRL booksale vs Coles. Small choices, sometimes less convenient, contributing to a better future. Joe Ward Follow Me 2015-12-13 5:00 PM AST Reply 0 0 Re: (2) This is a good point. Those with the greatest resources and organizational depth (corporations and gov) will naturally be able to invest more and faster in information technology, like everything else. I just think in the case of information technology, we are narrowing the gap. There is a shift of power. Ideas that used to dissipate at the water cooler, the local bar, or the kitchen table now have longer half lives. They survive and may even perpetuate (sometimes virally so). The cost of information dissemination is very cheap, and we even get startups like Twitter that to some extent have a philosophy designed to give voice back to individuals. Through crowdsourcing, we're even able to achieve organizational units similar in capability to corporate entities. As a proof of concept, think of how torrent networks are able to defeat billion dollar corporate intellectual property interests (software, music, games, movies, etc). Though this isn't exactly a positive connotation for the power of crowdsourcing, if we realize that each of these forms of intellectual property are simply information, then: 1. Those networks have become highly organized at conveying this information, and 2. Large corporate or government interests have not been wholly successful at shutting these networks down (though they do get some occasionally) Bitcoin and digital encrypted currencies are another rapidly evolving example with some very large implications (out of scope here). There are apps out there that are even designed to handle message sharing if the Internet was disabled (more a factor for politically volatile countries). They transmit by chaining messages through Bluetooth connections from smartphone to smartphone until it arrives at its intended destination. The speed of our new communication lets us accelerate the dissection of information, and even assembling (flashmods, organized protests marketed/coordinated through social media, etc). Christian Murphy My Post Follow Me 2015-12-14 8:08 AM AST Reply 1 0 When I mused about the "fall of empires" Bitcoins are an example of the attack on the financial services sector. The financial collapse and occupy Wall Street movement taught us that we can't trust the big banks to act in our interests. Uber and AirBNB are examples of the fall of established hierarchies and they don't own a room or a car. Oh yes, the Arab Spring! Well they are trying to crush that. Not only because of ISIS but because of what it represented ideologically. What if they succeed? What will that mean for every other established Hierarchy? Fear of setting a precedence maybe....conspiracy theory alert! The point is, there are social/political shifst that we can fight or embrace. I say embrace and we don't need anyone's permission to do it. James MacKinnon Follow Me 2015-12-14 9:59 AM AST Reply 0 0 Do distributed developments like torrenting and crypto-currrencies balance the scales when compared to corporate/government capabilities like privacy invasion and loss of civil liberties in the name of finding 'terrorists and child pornographers' online? Don't get me wrong, I try to stay an optimist at heart, that good people will find ways to help humanity with technology faster than bad people can corrupt it. My concern is while they "Can't Stop the Signal", they can keep the speaker and listener locked down. Does the free flow of information retain it's power if we lose the ability to act on it? Christian Murphy My Post Follow Me 2015-12-14 10:15 AM AST Reply 0 0 "Knowledge is power, power corrupts, learn and be evil." Not certain who said it, but as long as we are on the Good Side of the Force we can make a difference. Stole that from a good friend. Joe Ward Follow Me 2015-12-14 8:04 PM AST Reply 1 0 They are definitely shifting the scales. I think it's the transparency and accountability era we're entering - but not because they (gov, big business) are volunteering to participate... but, instead it's because technology is making it too difficult to escape. I definitely want terrorists and child abusers caught. We just have to carefully vet new laws to ensure they are well thought out (implications). The elimination of Cyberscan in Nova Scotia was a good idea. It was written like a high school law project.
Carl Jessome Follow Me 2015-12-15 12:39 AM AST Reply 0 0 What about bca holdings and investment? [word deleted by admin] and pillaged for long enough. New dawn and Wentworth condominiums! Come on you rich and privileged [word deleted by admin]. Stop leeching and bleeding this island. Be honest and true and really invest in the future by not [word deleted by admin] the present.
Christian Murphy My Post Follow Me 2015-12-15 8:53 AM AST Reply 0 0 I am conducting a small social experiment. Nothing grandiose, simply a test of our commitment to our local businesses. https://capebreton.lokol.me/cape-breton-christmas-challenge-in-3-easy-steps I have placed a modest goal of $20,000 injected into our local community. It will be interesting to learn if our frustration is equal to our commitment to act.
Gary LeDrew Follow Me 2016-04-16 9:13 PM ADT Reply 2 0 We need new people immigrants refugees retirees. People mean money and new ideas we need all we can get. Joe Ward Follow Me 2016-04-17 2:51 PM ADT Reply 0 0 We definitely need ways to bring people back. I think a 10-year, 100% housing tax rebate on anyone that moves here to build a new home would be a great program. Primary residence only, tax filing in NS. But we really have to focus on retention as well. Because you don't want to keep pouring water into a bucket with 1/2 dozen bullet holes in the bottom. It goes out as quickly as it comes in.
Gary LeDrew Follow Me 2016-07-15 9:08 PM ADT Reply 0 0 We need people. They bring money and jobs. Capers are going to have to learn to accept immigrants and comfromaways as assets. They will bring new ways and new ideas and we need them all.
John R McLellan Follow Me 2016-08-22 1:54 PM ADT Reply 0 0 I suggested working with what you already have, at least temporarily, coal and people say no. So now I ask what their solution?