Barbarians at the Gate

Will the Cape Breton Ski Club(Ski) survive the perils of climate change (and I don’t mean the weather)?

The Ski AGM is scheduled for Thursday June 27, 2019 at 7pm at the Ben Eoin Marina, a venue that I am not sure can accommodate the numbers that need to show up to keep the club alive and operating under the plural society model. If you want to ski for an entire season for the price of a few games of golf, show up to preserve the future.

It is rumoured that there is a plan to dismiss the present board due to wrongful acts in reference to the operation and handling of the issues surrounding the Ben Eoin Golf Ltd. (Lakes) affair. If there were truthfully wrongful acts surrounding the handling of the business relationship with the Lakes, then the society should seek out what insurance is in place for the financial burden that was caused by the directors for the past 10 years that we have been associated with the Lakes.

As members of Ski, we must protect the main asset, that being the property owned by the society under the Sun Mountain Development Ltd entity. Ski, a member of the Plural society, has strong volunteer committees and board, some individuals volunteering for the 52 years we have been in operation.

Ski, a group that has achieved operational success and a track record of paying off major investments in infrastructure, must survive this latest challenge. Business guru, Henry Mintzberg, defines the Plural Society as neither private nor public, and in the case of the Cape Breton Ski Club, it is membership-driven. If you have a season pass, you are a member, and can vote regardless of age.

Ski has faced off with private entities in the past that wanted to take over the operation of the facility. It is in these dark days we must gather together and ward off these "Barbarians at the Gate."

An important lesson is provided by the insolvent Ben Eoin Golf Club (Lakes). The Lakes was started with investments by many local business people, professionals, and many working class folks, and one would have assumed that casting such a wide net would have achieved success both financially and advancement. Unfortunately, under the operational entity of a for-profit corporation and not a volunteer society for the advancement of their sport, the Lakes did not succeed due to at least in part to the sense in the community that it was orchestrated due to various reasons, not least of which the rumour it was orchestrated by certain individuals’greed over a series of years.

Unlike the movie Barbarians at the Gate where the inside group was unsuccessful in retaining the assets of RJ Nabisco, let us not find ourselves on the outside looking in and wondering how that happened. 

If you care about the future of Ski Ben Eoin, attend the AGM and make yourself heard. 

Sincerely,

Scott Mac Lean

Cape Breton Ski Club Member