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Cecil Clarke and Rankin MacSween face off in CBRM mayoralty debate

Cecil Clarke and Rankin MacSween face off in CBRM mayoralty debate

Mayoral candidates Cecil Clarke and Rankin MacSween debated and tackled questions posed by audience members Thursday evening in the race to become mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.

CBC News live streamed the debate, which started at 7 p.m. AT.

MacSween, who is the head of economic development agency New Dawn Enterprises, was expected to be on the attack. He has been critical of Clarke's record, saying the incumbent has failed to live up to commitments made during the 2012 campaign such as a city charter.

A charter would allow the municipality more flexibility to change some of its own rules.

'Shamefully high rate' of child poverty

Earlier Thursday, MacSween said he's focusing on reducing taxes for residents and has set his sights on ending the "shamefully high rate" of child poverty. Attracting immigrants is high on his list of objectives and he also wants to substantially increase spending on road repairs.

Clarke, the incumbent, is running on a platform that contains suggestions for continued debt reduction and municipal support for various community projects.

His campaign also stressed what he's termed "the biggest public works season in CBRM history," referring to millions of dollars in investment that came this year from upper levels of government for water, sewer and transit in the municipality.

Clarke has indicated he also wants to tackle child poverty by partnering with the United Way.

Port development issue

One area that was expected to spark some heated debate was port development. MacSween has said Clarke has not been able to capitalize on his political connections to bring business to the municipality, while Clarke says the commercialization of the harbour is still a real possibility, along with a sorely needed second berth for cruise ships.

The debate was moderated by Information Morning Cape Breton host Steve Sutherland, and most of the questions came from the audience.

The debate was organized by CBC, the Cape Breton Post and the Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce.

Municipal and school board elections will be held on Oct. 15. The advance polls are open from Oct. 5 to Oct. 12.