Push for Inverness airport project will resume, but not quickly

The co-owner of the Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs golf courses is pressing ahead with a proposed new airport for Inverness County, N.S.

However, Ben Cowan-Dewar saidit hasn't been long since the federal government rejected a funding application for the airport, so he's not rushing into it right now.

"We picked up the baton from the community of Inverness who had sought golf for long before, many decades before I got there, and I think we'll continue to think about paths forward to create commercial air access for Cape Breton Island," he told reporters on Thursday.

Cowan-Dewar had just finished meeting with Inverness council for the first time since news of the airport proposal broke in June.

Late last month, federal Rural Economic Development Minister Bernadette Jordan rejected a request for $18 million to fund the airport idea.

She said the department needs more details on the possible benefits for the region.

Consulting widely

Cowan-Dewar said he is consulting widely before resubmitting a funding application, and he was starting with Inverness council.

"I believe the minister's statement said before it would be reconsidered, it would need to have greater community benefit," he said.

"We're two weeks now since that announcement and we're digesting it and I think thinking about what that looks like, and I think that's part of me being before you today."

Cowan-Dewar said he will resubmit an application, but he's not yet sure what new data may be needed, so it won't happen before the fall federal election.

Inverness councillors welcomed Cowan-Dewar, but several expressed disappointment at not beingconsulted on the initial proposal.

Coun. Jim Mustard, who represents the town of Inverness and surrounding areas, said he was initially opposed to the airport idea, but he's open to getting more information.

"I think Ben did a good job of just listening, and I think he now has the ball in his court and we are ready to be partners on that consultation," said Mustard.

Councillors asked why Cowan-Dewar didn't meet with council or informthem of the airport proposal.

The golf course owner said he consulted Inverness County council over the years about previous airport proposals, and council voted a few years ago against providing any capital or operating money for an airport.

Cowan-Dewar said that's why he came up with a new proposal that didn't require any municipal money.

Outside the council chamber, several Inverness residents confronted Cowan-Dewar about what they said were inequities.

Anton Selkowitz told Cowan-Dewar the golf courses helped spark business growth in the town, but he said the golf courses were built on low-cost town land, and could afford to provide more financial return.

He said the golf courses pay the Inverness Development Association $1 for every round of golf played, which amounted to about $12,000 last year.

"You should have said to the town, 'Look, we're doing so well, we're going to pay you $5 a round, or $15 a round,'" said Selkowitz.

Cowan-Dewar did not respond to that, and left.

Selkowitz later told reporters the golf courses are profiting from the town's generosity, while the community continues to suffer from a lack of housing, employment and infrastructure.

Both Mustard and Warden Betty Ann MacQuarrie said those problems aren't a result of the golf courses.

MacQuarrie said the golf courses have already helped Inverness, and a new airport would be welcome.

"We are benefitting through the commercial tax base, for one, and the growth in tourism and the growth in more businesses," she said.

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