New group brings fisheries heritage centre closer to reality
CANSO — With a registered name, non-profit status and formal board of directors, the group behind Canso’s proposed fisheries heritage centre has passed a major marker on its course to bring an important new addition to the historical landscape of this coastal community.
“We now have the wind in our sails,” Harold Roberts, president of the Canso and Area Development Association (CADA), told The Journal in an interview last week, noting that the formal status of the Canso Peninsula Fisheries Heritage Society (CPFHS) establishes the legal, administrative and even fundraising apparatus necessary to advance the project to the finish line.
Added Bill MacMillan, a member of CADA’s board and president of the Canso Historical Society, in a separate interview: “We’re definitely building up a head of steam. It’s not just two guys from CADA driving this project anymore.”
Specifically, CPFHS, received its non-profit status from the Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stock Companies on May 29. Apart from Roberts (director) and MacMillan (registered agent), its new board members and officers include area residents Shane Richard (president), Mark Haynes (vice-president), Ginny Boudreau (secretary), Kenny Snow (treasurer), Matthew Cook (director), Lindsay Marshall (director), Kerry Prosper (director) and Paul Ehler (director).
Roberts said Mike Feltmate, a member of the Guysborough District Business Partnership’s board, has also agreed to sit as a director for the new organization. Meanwhile, Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) District 8 Councillor (Canso-The Tickle) Fin Armsworthy was expected to be confirmed an ex-officio board member at the July 17 regular meeting of MODG council.
According to Roberts, the new board is “a broader representation – including three Indigenous members – providing broader input from those who want to move this forward. Also, the [non-profit status] opens the door for federal or private funds to be donated.”
MacMillan agreed. “It has been baby steps, but we’ve also had to move fairly quickly,” he said. “We want to populate the board with at least another two or three people from within the community once we start having public meetings... We’ve really needed a larger group of people to drive the project. With having a new [president] and [vice-president], we have to give these people an opportunity to exercise their legs.”
There is, indeed, still work to be done. When CADA conceived the project as a true cultural centre to anchor Canso’s waterfront, the idea was to create “much more” than a simple museum, Roberts told The Journal last November. Referring to the initial conceptual work – completed by Fathom Studios of Dartmouth, with $31,000 from CADA, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the MODG – he said: “It will have artifacts, but it will [also] have multifaceted functions... good for a variety of things, including for bringing in tourists. There will be space in this facility for a small café [and] for the harbour authority, as well. There will be space for community access, such as a multipurpose room.”
With the new board structure in place, work will now focus on formalizing the “business case, along with an economic impact [statement] that can be built into one document,” Roberts said. “We’re [also] planning a series of community meetings [in] September and October. Parks Canada will be the lead tenant... Beyond that... we’ll be looking for capital.”
In an email to The Journal last week, Parks Canada spokesperson Adam Young stated: “[We] look forward to continuing to work with the Canso Peninsula Fisheries Heritage Society on future plans for the Canso Fisheries Heritage Centre on the Canso waterfront.”
Alec Bruce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Guysborough Journal
