What if….CBI was a Province?
by Jim Morrow That Cape Breton Island is a province unto itself is a proposition that has been around longer than the province to which it is presently a part. There are those who are very seriously, looking at re-achieving the Island’s province-hood which they maintain was taken away and never rightfully returned. Mark MacNeil Chairman, CBI Province-hood Campaign, can provide chapter and verse on how the Island lost its legally granted autonomy dating back to 1713 and the Treaty of Utrecht. The legal and constitutional issues of that argument could fill volumes. As an exercise, however hypothetical it may or may not be, to wrap one’s mind around the idea of Cape Breton Island being an entity with full provincial powers is intriguing. The idea of province-hood raises any number of questions on governance. In this regard the question, “as a province do you see the Island being governed as other provinces?” was posed to Mr. MacNeil. His reply was, “Essentially the legislative model we wo
