Don’t be too put out by what you’re staring at right now. I didn’t hack Mayor Cecil Clarke’s vacation photos. What I did do was borrow Vince Vaughn's body from the movie Couples Retreat. And with the Photoshop skill level of the average 12-year-old nowadays, I digitally grafted our mayor’s handsome mug over Mr. Vaughn's.

Political topics draw partisan crowds. That’s just a snazzy way the stiff suits use to describe picking a team and rooting for it no matter what their record is (Montreal vs Toronto - or maybe Boston?). Same deal.

But this isn’t the playoffs. It’s life. As a struggling, declining island, losing as many as ~1,000 good folks a year to the exodus, we can’t afford to act like fans when it comes to electing community leaders.

1,000 Cape Bretoners a year. I know you won’t doubt those stats. You spent the last two days hearing from people devastated or angry by the news of the 17 schools they are closing.

It makes sense when you recall the CBC telling us we are losing as many as 500 enrolled students per year - and 40 much-needed teaching jobs were axed.

So I know some of you may feel the featured graphic is in poor taste. Just be glad I exercised enough restraint not to go with images of Couples Retreat’s Salvadore, the yoga instructor in the movie who had somewhat unconventional methodology. Google it at your own risk.

But there is a valid reason for creating this kind of visual perspective. If you think it has a sense of ridiculousness and poor taste to it, I agree.

However, I want to share something far more ridiculous, and in far more poor taste than this image. And if the image gets that conversation started, it will have done its job.

If you missed it, you need to check out Mary Campbell’s article on the Port of Sydney Development Corporation’s meeting minutes and their highlights... or as she suggests... the lack thereof: Nothing to See Here: Port of Sydney Publishes Meetings.

Today I’m going to ask you to focus on just one small snippet from the minutes of the port corp meeting back in June 2015. Mary alerted us to it in her article. And just so there’s no mystery in what I’m going to suggest today… here’s a spoiler:

I find it very concerning. Take a look for yourself:

Just as Mary told us, the minutes reveal one of the matters of interest - that Mayor Cecil Clarke raised during those port meetings - was:

Taking the board members on a retreat.

By the way, these are the same board members that aren’t supposed to be board members at all... as per the articles of incorporation. See here:

A Port Corp that Isn’t “Self-Sustainable” Now Wants to Go on a Retreat?

In the great piece written by Tom Ayers of LocalXpress.ca, the CEO of the port corp, Marlene Usher, is quoted as saying:

“So I wouldn’t describe us as self-sustainable now”

In a moment of actual off-the-cuff transparency, the CEO admitted that the port corp isn’t self sustainable. It’s actually not much of a revelation.

They are burning through leftover funds from the harbour dredge; they are not paying their lease to the CBRM and owe $1.4 Million+ to the citizens; and Usher’s $200,000 annual salary is paid for by the CBRM and ACOA. As an extra bonus, CBRM CAO Merritt is also kicking in an additional $100,000 of taxpayer money to keep them afloat.

So they certainly are not self-sustainable right now. And yet there is a certain level of grandiose poor judgement and disconnection when Mayor Clarke thought it was of enough importance to take the board (that shouldn’t be the board) on a retreat.

It’s time to talk about the children.

Do You Know What Else Isn’t Sustainable in Cape Breton?

There are seemingly so many answers to that question, you would have to try hard to get it wrong.

One third of Cape Breton’s children are living in poverty.

Repeat that line three times. Then try your best with goodwill and good conscience to agree that Mayor Cecil Clarke needs to be worried about going on retreats.

Again, don’t take my word for it. Let the CBC tell you here. They will remind you that for kids from infant to 6 years of age, that rate is actually 42.7 percent.

Almost half of our youngest babies and children are now living below the poverty line. If you really want to have your heart broken, think about how that acts as a pipeline to children finding themselves in the custody of Community Services, Child Welfare. The stresses and failings of poor and struggling families is sometimes much darker than people dare to contemplate.

We need assurance that there is some strategy in place to reverse it, a leader with the vision to do so.

“If not the port, then what?” - Mayor Cecil Clarke

Yes, that’s a quote from our mayor, speaking to CBRM citizens in a town hall setting.

If a port strategy yields some positive results, it can be anywhere from good to great for us. Yet, it’s far from a sure thing. Let’s go with italics on this next paragraph. How many of these did you already know about?

No committed shipping company; no committed port operator; no committed financial backers; no secured or upgraded rail line; an incomplete dredge; incomplete navigational aids; HPDP exclusive marketers with uncertain port experience; a main contracting/engineering firm in CCCC banned by the World Bank; an automation strategy that will be in direct opposition to the unions; a Port of Sydney Development Corporation board of directors lacking of the qualifications to be on the board; the same port corp in debt to CBRM taxpayers and described by its CEO as not self-sustainable; the same CEO having no known port management or shipping industry experience; and various government officials who are gateways to gov money claiming they don’t have enough information about the port strategy.

Now take a breath. That was a heck of a list to get through without a pause. 

Do you want to put your full confidence in a mayor that is telling us he doesn’t seem to have any other options?

That’s more than enough to be concerned about long before you discover that he’s been floating ideas about going on retreats.

We just can’t bet everything on a port strategy that has so many uncertainties, so many missing pieces, and a price tag that will likely exceed a billion dollars that we don’t have committed.

Yes, a billion or more when we can't even afford to run the heavy garbage pickup program.

That’s Donald Trump level money and the most we’re going to get out of him is a bump in tourism courtesy of the creative wit and incomparably great timing of Rob Calabrese.

Let the Mayor Know He Needs to Hold Off on Retreats Until Our Kids’ Bellies are Full

Share this article to your friends and colleagues on Facebook. Have a discussion. Demand more of your mayor.

The spa, the sand, or the sanctuary can wait until some major progress is made. 

But if Mayor Clarke or CEO Usher really need a vacation, they will be able to pay their own way. Clarke makes $100,000+ per year, quite enough for a bachelor to get by on in Cape Breton, don't you think? Usher is pulling in $200,000.

When they are doing so well financially in a community where most are struggling to just get by, is it unreasonable to ask them to exercise a little bit better judgement?

Mayor Clarke: If you don’t fully understand the needs of families in Cape Breton, and the experience of living in poverty for children, please adjust your schedule and make sure you show up for the national poverty summit:

Cities Reducing Poverty: When Mayors Lead

Our lives aren’t all about travel budgets and retreats. For families with children, sometimes the day to day challenges are focused on how to afford something to eat.