August 31, 2025
Letter to the Editor
We Are In A Real Pickle, and The Ball Courts Just Aren’t Going To Cut It.
We, the population of Inverness County are ageing, and all indicators demonstrate that that our
health care needs are steadily increasing, while services are not able to meet those needs. It is
apparent that our best response to this pickle we are in is to do everything we can to keep
ourselves healthy. This means year-round exercise, therapies, social interactions, healthy
eating, and taking care of each other.
This is nothing new, and has been advocated by health care professionals and various levels of
government for decades. It has also been an expressed need and aspiration of the public as
shown in surveys, opinion pieces, and proposals. Here in Inverness County the health and
recreation needs and desires of the people were reflected in the Cape Breton West Aquatic and
Recreation Centre Feasibility Study and Community Survey (see the Cape Breton West Aquatic
Centre Society website), and also in the Inverness County Physical Activity and Recreation
Master Plan (currently unreleased by the County).
The above documents conclude that the health and recreation needs of our county are best
met by a year-round, indoor, centrally-located recreation centre, and those participating in the
research overwhelmingly support the inclusion of a swimming pool; the most popular
recreational activity in Canada.
The solution to our health and recreational needs is in the hands of Inverness County Council.
Both the federal and provincial governments have offered the majority of funds toward the
capital cost of a year-round indoor facility, if our Council would commit to owning and
operating such a facility. Other jurisdictions have taken advantage of such support. At the East
Hants pool, located between Truro and Halifax, there are year-round morning classes with
more than 40 senior women enjoying aquatic exercise. At the same time, mothers and infant
babies recreate in the kiddie pool. Many other skills-building and exercise programs benefit the
population of East Hants County.
Unfortunately, Inverness County Council has chosen to shun the Margaree Environmental
Association’s aquatic and recreational feasibility study; a study conducted by professionals,
with $75,000 in support from the provincial government. Unfortunately, Inverness County
Council has chosen to bury their physical activity and recreation master plan; a plan that cost us
more than $54,000, and that says that a year-round indoor aquatic and recreation centre
should be a priority of the county. Instead, Council has decided to fast-track the “Inverness
County Multi-Use Recreation Courts,” using a significant part of its capital budget for a seasonal
sporting facility in the town of Inverness.
This situation raises many questions.
All considered, we are certainly in a pickle; with health needs that are accelerating, and a
county council that holds all the cards, hides them from the public, but chooses to attend to
only a small portion of the recreation population. Rather, it is incumbent on Council to revisit all
of the best information available to them, and to design a strategy to best meet the year-round
health and recreation needs of its citizens.
Maria Coady; Secretary, Margaree Environmental Association; Secretary, Cape Breton West
Aquatic Centre Society