By John McLeod
The Daily News

Business, government and academia had a chance to discuss and debate the challenges facing Nova Scotia yesterday morning as the first of three sessions on the economy unfolded in the Sobey Conference Theatre at Saint Mary’s University.

This columnist and two other panelists — Steve Parker, chairman of the CCL Group and Jacquelyn Thayer Scott, president of the University College of Cape Breton — had the fun of nearly two hours of debate with an audience of about 75 community leaders.

Lively audience participation is the strength of the annual debates organized by NovaKnowledge, and is likely to continue at March and April sessions in which the likes of Bill McMullin of InfoInterActive, Ken Rowe of IMP Group and Bernd Christmas of the Membertou reserve band council will talk about goals and plans of action by the business community and government.

If there was a theme to yesterday’s discussion it was that we all should quit “planning to do” whatever and get on with it, whether it be dealing with government, getting more political representation for metro Halifax or fixing the dismal air travel service in so many parts of the province outside of the capital.

Some examples:

• Air service was called “a disgrace” by Parker and “really terrible” by Thayer Scott, and both agreed the problem would only be fixed through community action as opposed to counting on government. “In Cape Breton,” UCCB’s president declared, “we’re determined to fix it with a service that will be designed to serve our future business needs.”
• Nova Scotians are “well ahead of their leaders” in terms of willingness to change, but some still face the barrier that they are afraid to act. “CCL has learned that we can compete, and we win a lot of business with that attitude,” Parker said. “Nova Scotia’s major impediment to moving ahead is not wanting to reach too high, and we have to get over that.”
• Cape Breton is looking to new opportunities in such things as a perception after Sept. 11 that the region is safer than many large cities, and thus more appealing. It’s also overcoming a poor image in the media that Thayer Scott declared is “not deserved.” The community, she said, is looking at “tremendous opportunities for business in the longer term” instead of looking back. “We’ve got a go-ahead attitude,” she said. “Neat things are happening in Cape Breton.”
• Parker worried that we don’t have representative government in Nova Scotia, because urban areas like metro Halifax are “not fully represented” to mirror their population growth compared to population declines in rural areas. “Government doesn’t represent the people of Halifax adequately,” he said, with electoral boundaries commission chairman Colin Dodds listening from the back row. “We have to fix that first.”
• Thayer Scott said the province needs “a more progressive immigration policy” to attract more entrepreneurs. “We need new blood in this country, and we’re not doing a good job of attracting new immigrants,” she said.
• There was widespread agreement that we shouldn’t be sitting around waiting for government to do something, but instead look to the wider community for leadership. “Our challenge,” said one participant, “is to mix and match the pieces of what we’ve got, and get on with it.” Said another: “Let’s stop focusing on government and what’s wrong with it, and look at the opportunities that are out there for business.”

Good crowd, with good ideas. It was fun to be part of it.