In my first article, where I called for the resignation of CBRM Councillor Saccary, a commenter drew my attention to something confusingly named: Destination Louisbourg Society.

I started out focusing on how Saccary was using the Cape Breton Post to burn down the Synergy Louisbourg development project for the town. It was my opinion that he had done enough damage to his own district that he should have conceded his inability to fairly represent it as councillor from that point onward. And I arrived there even without realizing what else was going on.

The rabbit hole went deeper than I initially thought.

I addressed the underhandedness of the Destination Louisbourg Society registration in my follow up articles, two and three. Saccary had become the Director of a newly registered society that appeared to be squatting on a key element of the market branding for Synergy Louisbourg.

It was the "Destination Louisbourg" project after all, minus that sneaky little "Society" bit tagged onto the end. It was funded by ACOA and the CBRM, and had the backing of major partners like Parks Canada. And it was discussed at multiple CBRM meetings with Saccary chiming in.

He wasn't just interfering with a local town economic development group. He was interfering with projects sponsored by our biggest government investors.

Do you know how many times Councillor Saccary talked about his role at the Destination Louisbourg Society?

If we're referring to council meetings on the topic, the answer appears to be: Never.

And to my knowledge to date, there has never been any indication of what exactly he was up to when getting himself into one heck of a Wednesday Whopper of a conflict of interest - with extra onion.

Is He Backtracking Now?

As I indicated, during video recorded council meetings Saccary never talked about the Destination Louisbourg Society, what it was established to do, why it was using a Synergy Louisbourg brand, or why he was moonlighting as a Director.

For someone so loose lipped and off the cuff in the Cape Breton Post, he adopted a somewhat different persona before council. He wasn't less underhanded, but he was certainly less overtly so on most occasions.

Instead of calling the Synergy Louisbourg representatives "shady" as he had in the CB Post, he just implied it instead. It's worth sharing this video once again to give you a sampling of that performance:

Just a few weeks after my last article, something changed.

If it's positive correlation or coincidence, we shall have to take our best guesstimate and leave it at that. As I note below, it may have been the direct result of a goCapeBreton contributor that followed up on the matter.

What's most important is what changed:

The Destination Louisbourg Society Was "Struck Off"

To be "struck off" basically means that someone decided the business or society needed to be terminated. They are striking away its ongoing existence from the Nova Scotia business registry. A shut down: Destination Louisbourg Society.

The effective date of dissolution is listed as May 16th, 2016.

So it's not clear why it was created back on February 12th. But it is clear that it was done smack dab in the middle of Synergy Louisbourg's active presentations to the CBRM council where they were gaining support and had secured (what appeared to be initially) a commitment to advancing the project.

And just three months later, after the public had a chance to learn what was going on, it was struck off.

With the exception of Councillor Kevin Saccary and one other CBRM employee who had a role with the newly registered society, everyone else participating were good community members of Louisbourg.

If they had objections to Synergy Louisbourg and wanted to organize through some official society, they certainly were in the clear to do so. Of course, the squatting on the brand would still have been an issue they would eventually needed to resolve.

Note: In my last article, I openly requested that it be renamed and that Saccary resign from the society and apologize. I haven't heard mention of any apology, but the striking off certainly will be a good step in resolving this conflict.

Without the Apology It Seems More Like Backtracking Than Transparent Resolution

The Synergy Louisbourg Project was damaged. Their vision to capture more than the disheartening 5% of all visitors to the Fortress of Louisbourg is at risk. And it's the local businesses that will miss out on the opportunity to make the core of the town the first stop for all visitors.

The extent that Saccary's influence was the cause of CBRM starting to back away from its commitments or impose hurdles to Synergy Louisbourg is uncertain. However, there is certainly very little about his behavior that can be described as intent on moving everything forward without obstruction.

So that brings about the curiosity as to why the society is suddenly struck off, and how much of that decision related to Saccary's involvement? It certainly has the appearance of some backtracking.

Complaints Relayed Directly to Mayor Clarke About Saccary's Conflict of Interest

We're in an age of transparency and accountability. The voice of the community should not be underestimated. Just over a week ago, goCapeBreton contributor and close associate of the Harbour Port Development Partners, Tim Menk, discussed the topic with myself and others here. 

Tim expressed similar concerns. But he went a step further. As you can see from the copy of his comment below, Tim made contact with several elected officials including Councillor Doncaster; MLA Alfie MacLeod; Mayor Clarke's communication assistant; Christina Lamey, and Mayor Clarke himself (during Port Days).

His communications were very close in time to the actual date of effective dissolution of the Destination Louisbourg Society. So Tim may well have been the advocate that finally got things moving to have this major conflict resolved. 

If that is the case, then I'm very thankful to Mr. Menk for making sure his concerns - which many of us share - were heard and acted upon. That's community in action.

Official Statement of Apology

I think the next step for Councillor Saccary should be a formal written public apology to the people of his district, and particularly those of the town of Louisbourg.

Further, if he wants to demonstrate a commitment to resolving all conflict, he should be the first to step forward and resign his position on Port of Sydney Development Corporation. Sydney is not the district he represents and he, like all other elected officials, has no business being on the board - as per the corporate articles.

Councillors are community leaders. And I think there is an opportunity to show some integrity and leadership prior to entering October's municipal election.

I don't know how much more will be forthcoming. The actual Destination Louisbourg project is now at risk. But at least there is one less interfering factor working against them. So if Saccary is backtracking to any degree, let's hope he goes back so far that he's completely out of the way of Synergy Louisbourg.

Councillor Saccary: Now good community people are working to save the town's school. Please give them a wide berth. No more uninvited meddling. No more tripwires, please.