CBRM council pledges half a million dollars toward university's capital campaign
Money could be spread out over several years, or could come from possible year-end budget surplus, says mayor
Cape Breton University's capital fundraising campaign is getting a nearly half-a-million-dollar boost from Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
CBRM councillors made the pledge Tuesday to help the university pay for buildings and infrastructure, as well as student scholarships, through its Forever CBU campaign.
Mayor Cecil Clarke said it's not unheard of for council to provide large gifts for the good of the community.
"Previously, council had made a donation to the hospital foundation for $500,000 over multiple years," he said in an interview. "That carried over during my first term from the previous administration, so it's not like council has not made community investments in the past."
CBU president David Dingwall asked for a donation of $5 per person based on CBRM's population, and council unanimously agreed.
In 2023, Statistics Canada reported CBRM's population had reached nearly 105,000. At $5 a head, that would be at least $470,000.
Dingwall said CBU is more than half way to its goal of raising $205 million.
Coun. Steve Gillespie told council that improvements at CBU under Dingwall have been "astounding," especially with the coming medical school that will train doctors locally.
"The Cape Breton medical campus is probably the most important one," he said.
However, Gillespie questioned how CBRM would be able to make such a large contribution.
Clarke said the money could be spread out over several years, or it may be funded out of an anticipated budget surplus that could be more than $1 million by the end of March, if there are no last-minute snowstorms.
"If the rest of this month Mother Nature stays kind to us, it may help us find some extra resources," he said.
Staff have been keeping a list of spending priorities over $25,000 for council to consider if the surplus materializes, and Clarke said the CBU donation is now being added.
"It will be part of a bigger list of things, and again I hope that the year-end surplus may be enough that we can accommodate this and other priorities."
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