Followup on the Commonwealth Games bid cancellation

Picking up the paper this morning, I was hardly surprised to see the torrent of criticism targeted at Nova Scotia (and NS politicians in general) that we're backwards country bumpkins. One of the Chronicle-Herald columnists, Steven Maher, suggested that (among other things) that the bid was cancelled to maintain 'good graces' with the elderly in the province, and that the Commonwealth Games bid was unpopular only with the elderly. Nothing could be further from the truth. So, I ended up sending this letter to the editor:

With regard to the torrent of criticism that Nova Scotians are backwards country bumpkins, Stephen Maher (March 10th) seems to assume that the games bid is unpopular only with the elderly.

That's 1.7 billion, Mr Maher. With a 'b'. If the objective is to promote sport, then build a stadium for $120 million, spend that much again on sports, and pocket the difference?

This province needs money for roads and highways, schools, and tuition. As a university graduate repaying a large student loan, I can only imagine what goes through the heads of the starving students when they read of so much money casually 'tossed into the ring'. This province has the highest tuition in the country, and yet suffers the worst effects of the 'brain drain'.

Instead of unwisely spending billions on the bid, can we not invest in schools (secondary and post-secondary), and booming fields such as the tech industry -- not call centers – to bring jobs *here*.

Nova Scotia is hardly the high-tech capital of Canada, but if we can stop the hemorrhaging of our youth, at some point we might not be labeled 'backward' when refusing to unwisely spend billions.

If this letter gets published, I'm sure it will itself generate a storm of controversy. But it's the truth, or at least the truth that can be compacted into less than 200 words. Even so, I tried to use (and abuse) the 'Here: $BLATHER' spiel as much as possible.

My favorite outtake (which was in my notes, but didn't make the final cut for the letter) was:

It must be nice to be from the land of Ottawa, where spending money ineffectually isn't just a choice, it's an entire career. But HERE, we don't have that luxury.

I would have liked to expand the final paragraph into something like:

We need to invest in areas that will bring jobs to the region. Nova Scotia has a high number of universities per capita: we may as well put them to use. Investing in the biological sciences, health care, and high-tech (all are areas where we have the facilities, and where world-class research is being done), our schools, and rural broadband so we can make this province attractive to outside investment and provide an environment where the booming job field is *not* call centres. Providing a surfeit of *good* jobs is critical to stopping the hemorrhaging of our youth. Nova Scotia is hardly the high-tech capital of Canada, but perhaps at some point in the future we can not be instantly labeled 'backwards' when we choose not to unwisely spend billions of dollars.

If someone asks, I'll do a HERE parody ad of 'backwards country bumpkins'. I think it would make a nice sticker if someone would be willing to print them.