Learning from past mistakes is vital
so I am at a loss as to why the conversation continues. It’s dangerous on too many fronts than we realize. The positives of having it, however, are life changing in even more ways.
That brings me to another important quote: “A rising tide floats all boats.” As a fishing community, we know just how true that is. When the tide comes in, all boats rise. That is true of every community in the province. When one wins, we all win. The province wins. Let’s remember that.
Everything is connected in one way or another. When I go to a restaurant and see a lineup and a one to two-hour wait when the place used to be nearly empty, that’s a huge win.
Restaurants are now full. To run at full capacity, they need employees. The need for employees means jobs are created. When jobs are created, people can pay their bills. When the bills are paid, the businesses can stay open. They can hire more staff. Their staff can pay bills. You get the picture.
Remember 10 years ago when shops were closing because the ferry disappeared? One horrific decision and it took a decade of gruelling work to bring us back to some semblance of normalcy.
Another positive is investment is higher than ever. When the ferry is here, business confidence is way up. Folks who are thinking about starting a business actually do just that. We still have some empty storefronts, as does every city and town in Canada, but much less than we had. We have cool coffee shops, breweries, local shops, restaurants - all of them opening because the ferry is here and they know that between the tourists and locals, they will survive. Without the ferry, all that disappears, as do the jobs and people. Read that last line again. It should hit home. We can’t go backwards.
Municipal units throughout Nova Scotia – towns, rurals, villages, regionals – have been slogging through some of the toughest years in history. We are on the ground, fighting for our communities, understanding fully that whatever growth we experience, the province benefits from. Population increases don’t happen outside of communities. Period. Taxpaying businesses open – in our communities. People far and wide see our success and move to our communities.
The Town of Yarmouth’s population increased by well over five per cent, which is important to note because there hasn’t been an increase since 1994. Hundreds more people are here because we’ve pushed, we’ve worked, we’ve fought to be here. There are 49 municipal units, many of which have had increases because of the work done at the local level. That’s why the population of Nova Scotia is increasing – great communities.
The work is hard, gruelling, but oh so rewarding when we flourish, our people happy and hopeful, and folks flocking to live the off-the charts quality of life we offer. How do they know what we offer? Most of them come via the ferry, not only from the American seaboard, but from Ontario, Quebec and beyond. They love what they see and are purchasing homes at a rate the likes of which we’ve never seen. It’s as it should be. Growth.
But remove the ferry and that disappears. No bus. No plane. No train. Our one international highway is on the water. Cutting it off would be like cutting off Highway 104 and telling folks “stay away.” In Yarmouth, we know, because we ask tourists. That makes us happy because we know each community they travel to will give them an experience that will surely cause them to either return or stay permanently, which is the goal. People who stay purchase properties. Property owners pay taxes on top of adding to the richness of who we are. Taxes pay for things like roads and health care and education – and we know each of these can use more funding. Quite simply, the ferry is critical to local and provincial growth.
Don’t let history repeat itself. The ferry needs not only to stay, it needs full support, less negative chatter and not to be thrown around like it’s the main scoring item in the CFL. Write a letter to the province and your MLAs.
Let them know where you stand.
Now I’m going back to twirling because aside from this, life is tremendously good here and we need to continue the business of community – and provincial - building!
From the Mayor’s Desk is a regular column from Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood that serves to inform residents and celebrate community.