A local MP says a proposed Inverness airport would be good for the province and the island, but he understands concerns about the impact on the Allan J MacEachen Port Hawkesbury Airport.
Rodger Cuzner, MP for Cape Breton-Canso, tells The Hawk, Inverness would benefit greatly from the tourist income, and says the Ivany Report made it clear that Nova Scotia requires tourism income.
“As a province we have to grow our tourism revenues, not necessarily the number of tourists, but tourism revenues, and we’ve got lighting in a bottle on the west side of the island right now,” says Cuzner. “We’re bringing in the tourists that every market in the world is looking for, when you’re looking for affluent tourists, with disposable, discretionary income.”
Cuzner says one of the biggest advantages of the proposed Inverness airport would be scheduled commercial flights, which is something the Port Hawkesbury airport doesn’t do.
He says the Port Hawkesbury airport handles private flights, but says 80% of golf tourists fly into the Halifax Stanfield International Airport, and drive the 3.5 hours to the Inverness County golf courses.
He says it would be negligent for the federal government to ignore an important economic development opportunity.
Cuzner says federal money helped to build the Allan J MacEachen Port Hawkesbury Airport over 40 years ago when Port Hawkesbury was going through its industrial boom, and he doesn’t see why Inverness shouldn’t be give the same opportunity.
“This is their cluster, this is their opportunity to seize an investment, and grow an industry that’s really blossoming.”
He says golf tourism has played an important role in reducing unemployment in the region.
Cuzner says unemployment dropped from 25% to full employment since he became an MP and says the golf tourism industry has played an important role in that improvement.
He says the Cabot golf courses have changed Inverness for the better.
“You can sense it in the people, there’s a pride of place, there’s a swagger in their step, there’s a sense of growth and optimism that certainly wasn’t there when I started 19 years ago.”
