Toronto businessman eyes golf development in Little Judique Ponds

Another rural community in Cape Breton is being considered for a golf development that could offer players ocean views while out on the greens.  

Over the past year-and-a-half, several properties were purchased in the area of Little Judique Ponds, which overlooks the Gulf of St. Lawrence and is nestled between Port Hood and Creignish in Inverness County. 

All of those properties were purchased by Toronto-based businessman John Robert Fraser. Together they make up roughly 120 hectares of mostly wooded or brush-filled land, including 11,000 feet of ocean frontage, according to Nova Scotia property records.

Fraser, who grew up in Port Hawkesbury and attended Strait Area Education and Recreation Centre, confirmed to CBC News that he is considering building a golf course at the site, and that multiple golf architects from around the world have visited the property.

Fraser declined a recorded interview and provided few details on the project. But he said he's keeping an open mind on what to do with the land. 

Fraser is co-CEO of G3 Capital Corp., which he said is a private firm that invests in both private and public markets. The company's LinkedIn page describes it as an asset manager that operates "within the hedge fund, venture capital, and merchant banking areas."

Fraser said he's also one of three owners of an 18-hole facility known as the Oviinbyrd Golf Club in the Muskoka region, which is a two-hour drive north of Toronto. Golf critics tout the club as ultra-exclusive — even its website is password protected and accessible to members only.

Neighbours who live in the greater Judique area say they started hearing rumours about an investor buying up property and were later invited to an afternoon of meetings with Fraser at the Chestico Museum in Port Hood. CBC News reached out to the woman who arranged the meetings for Fraser, but she said the developer would be best suited to answer questions about the proposal.

Local residents contacted by CBC News said they were either unaware of the project or did not wish to comment, as they did not know enough about it.

Jamieson Chisholm lives across the street from Fraser's properties and said work to clear some of the land has already begun. He attended a September meeting with Fraser and said that while environmental impacts of the project must be considered, as an avid golfer he's enthusiastic about the possibility of having a golf course within view. 

"I'm excited about it, very excited," Chisholm said. "We're in a region in desperate need of economic development. And when an investor is throwing around an idea of spending millions of dollars in your area, I think that's exciting."

Bonny MacIsaac, the warden of Inverness County, said she had not heard of the proposal and did not wish to comment. A phone call to the local councillor for the area was not returned.

Inverness County Chief Administrative Officer Keith MacDonald said lands in Little Judique Ponds that are owned by Fraser are not zoned and therefore would not be subject to any approvals from the municipality.

The Department of Environment said although it does not regulate or approve golf courses, certain activities such as sewage disposal must follow the Environment Act and the department's regulations, guidelines and standards.

A spokesperson with the department said an environmental assessment would only be required if a proposed golf course impacts more than two hectares of a wetland, and the province does not have any applications related to such activity on the site in question.

John Ouellette, president of the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce, said he's heard chatter that someone is interested in the Little Judique Ponds site, although the business development organization has not been contacted about a proposed golf course.

Ouellette said the chamber typically offers support to private golf course operators if they meet environmental requirements, have consulted with First Nations, and have met local and provincial permitting requirements. 

The chamber has thrown its support behind a controversial proposal put forward by the developers of the Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs golf courses in Inverness County, pending those same stipulations.

Partners involved in the Cabot Cape Breton are trying for a second time to create an 18-hole golf course on part of West Mabou Beach Provincial Park. They have not yet applied for approval from the Nova Scotia government, but have circulated a proposal outlining their plans to apply for a Crown land lease.

The golf developers are seeking to occupy one-third of a 215-hectare park located about 20 kilometres south of the company's existing Cabot Links course. But they need permission from the province's Natural Resources Department to move ahead with their plans.

Fraser said he knows the Cabot golf partners, but there is "no tie in" between their proposal and what he's contemplating in Little Judique Ponds.