Jim Guy's letter to the editor of the Cape Breton Post talked about the old "come from away" topic again. He was reminded of it after hearing MLA Alfie MacLeod speak at the opening of a new Cape Breton business. I'll start by sharing a video of the problematic part of MacLeod's comments.

There are many of you out there, overflowing with a love of Cape Breton Island, who will agree with Alfie without thinking too deeply about how destructive a mindset that is.

He must intend this to only mean relatively recent history. Otherwise, unless you are a member of the Mi'kmaq First Nation, your ancestors are nothing but a wonderful bunch of come from aways. I'm not a history buff, but that one seems fairly straightforward.

His comment leaves me with so many easy questions that you might be able to help me answer.

How many men and women came to Cape Breton and helped build our mining and steel industries? If they weren't born here, is it true that we can't  even celebrate them as being Cape Bretoners?

Why does Whitney Pier have a monument called the "Melting Pot" and a festival to go with it celebrating the multicultural origins of the people of their community?

What would be the fate of Cape Breton University without our Chinese, Arabic, Caribbean, and other students enrolling from abroad? If they decide to stay here, could they ever consider themselves Cape Bretoners, or should they always be made feel less than someone else on the basis of a birth certificate?

Where does Alfie MacLeod think the doctors are going to come from when he positions himself as a crusader for Cape Breton healthcare? Would he be willing to sit in the recruitment interview and suggest to a "come from away" doctor about to set up practise here that being a "Cape Bretoner" is a "privilege" they'll never have?

Would he be willing to insist to the various Cape Breton agencies like this one and this one and this one to remind anyone they are recruiting that they'll never have the privilege of being Cape Bretoners?

Should we send him out to Cape Breton University to remind our new librarian from Texas that she moved her family here in vain if she thinks she'll ever have the privilege of being a Cape Bretoner?

Should we send him to Whycocomagh to tell the owners of Farmer's Daughter that those 200,000 "would-be Capers" they are getting inquiries from can't-be Capers?

The come from away attitude is destructive nonsense, and absolute blasphemy coming from the mouth of an elected official representing the island at the provincial level.

I was born in Ontario and moved her with my parents at around 1 year of age. Alfie's definition would dictate that I, therefore, do not have the privilege of calling myself a Cape Bretoner.

Here's a little bit of insight for anyone who suffers from the come from away attitude disorder:

If a person has an address in any part of Cape Breton, they're a Cape Bretoner. A sense of belonging or love of Cape Breton Island doesn't depend on what it says on your birth certificate.

The sooner people like MLA Alfie MacLeod internalize that, the better.

NOTE: The views expressed above are my own and do not represent lokol (goCapeBreton.com). Read more