I am from Cape Breton. I live on Cape Breton. Actually I should say… I “barely” live on Cape Breton. This place is beautiful. The scenery is wonderful and the people are good people… however… the majority of us younger people can’t stay here to make a living. It is disgraceful. No gainful employment to be had. Sure… a person can work at a call centre… they are always hiring. Sure… a person can get work at a fast food outlet or coffee shop… they are always hiring too… but as far as gainful, decent paying employment… forget it. It doesn’t matter if you have a good education or a great work ethic. There is no decent paying jobs around here. So… we leave. I don’t know what the solution is… or if it can ever be fixed… but it is a pathetic situation. No wonder many people from other parts of the province and country look down on Cape Breton. What else are they gonna do… look up to us? Unless there is oil or gas extracted from the ground around here… It is not going to get better. This makes Cape Breton a shit hole… a fucking shit hole… and I am pissed off about it. So are a lot of other people. So fuck you Cape Breton. Fuck you. —Pissed Off Cape Bretoner
This article appears in Nov 22-28, 2012.
You might as well say Nova Scotia as a whole OP. Halifax isn’t any better, in fact its worse. Halifax being an urban setting, has some possibilities, people with money do come here to try and create things; there are opportunities for economic growth but the commies who seem to get voted in over and over are very good at saying “no” and very bad at finding alternatives. Unless it means dumping millions we dont have into failing towns and industries. Even if there was oil or gas you know the fucking idiots who rule our lives out here would find their reasons to say no to that too. Fuck Nova Scotia. We need a revolt before its too late. Who’s with me?
i can be revolting, i’m in
A Shit hole, eh? Well, now you’re not the only pissed of Cape Bretoner! Grrr!
c.b. is like any other place on earth, nice to look at, but to live there, NO. i have been just about all around this mud ball planet, and have not found any one spot that would take my breath away. the hanging gardens of babylon, and the imperial gardens in japan, are two exceptions.
there are a zillion places that contend for adulation of people, but in reality, they are only places that loo nice. and most of the time, you can’t live in them. be grateful for where you are, or where you come from. as there are shit holes on this planet, that should be paved over.
and as to employment, go west young man, go fucking west.
you revolting painy, never , you cute lil pixie.
Interesting take… considering there’s no known documentation to presume the hanging garden even existed.
OP, I would have to agree…. since NS = shithole… and CB is a subset of NS… CB = shithole!
this is same topic i remember when i first tripped over the bitch column on my way to the restaurant reviews. OP, what is your training? what are your skills? what experience do you have? what kind of job do you consider ‘decent and gainful’ and do you have the qualifications to land that kind of job anywhere? do you have a master’s in european history? partial grade 11? welders ticket?
Dartmouthy,
Things are so much better in HRM than they are in CB that its laughable to state otherwise. The unemployment rate in CB is almost 3x what it is in Halifax, and theres way more here to entice people to stay than there is in CB.
GD Molly, It wouldn’t matter if ob had all those skills, they are useless in CB. How could anyone get any kind of experience in CB, other than what ob mentioned?
There is nothing there. That is one of the less pressing reasons that I left.
“Decent and gainful” employment would probably be considered anything more than what welfare or EI gives you, or enough to pay the bills, eat, and get a case of beer and smokes, if you want. There isn’t much to do there, either, so beer helps.
Beautiful place to visit, but to difficult to eek out a living there.
Plus, we’re all crazy, too, so that helps, as well. Don’t knock it til you try it…
hey KM! lucky you being from such a gorgeous place. i just got back from a vacation there, and visiting my new inlaws. i questioned his rant because the people i know who live there are all employed and some own their own successful business. i know the unemployment level is high, but what kind of job is he looking for?
it was my first time to cb, and i was impressed with the varied geography of the place, the beauty and the people. i had discounted cb as my next place to live. no more. ( meat cove knocked my socks off, who knew it was so beautiful??)
i saw poor looking homes, but also saw a lot of fine, new places. huge road construction going on in sydney. i know the unemployment rate is high, but i guess i took exception to the place being called a shit hole just because he couldn’t get a job. and wondered whether he was expecting the impossible – some people are just going to be miserable no matter where they are, but place the blame on externals.
re: the craziness, oh yes! delightfully crazy & quirky. i met the nicest crazy people.
and re nothing to do. i suppose it depends on what you like doing. i would never run out of trails to hike, beaches to roam and back roads to explore up there. music to listen to, old tales from old people about the mines. to me, cb is filled with things to do. but to each his own.
I was born in CB … & I agree with those who’ve said its all about what you do.
In what I do there is much more opportuinty here in this area, not that I don’t travel for work , I do. But the amount of times I have had to go & shoot in Cape Breton is less than 4 times in 10 years. Pretty hard to make a living if you do what I do & want to remain in the area.
Maybe the Newfoundland ferry service is hiring …that way you get to travel & live in the Sydney’s ~;p
It’s not just a CB thing…it’s a Nova Scotia thing! This province is going to hell!
Beautiful styles, I am neither unemployed or lazy. I haven’t suffered from incest, as you allege, nor am I a leach. But thanks for that wonderful display of your true colors. Generalization makes people look really uneducated and not very nice.
GD Molly, I couldn’t agree with you more. It is gorgeous, and I spent most of my childhood and adolescence exploring it. There are just not enough job opportunities there, but there are those who own businesses, and work. It’s a good place to retire, or on the flip side, to bring up kids, if you have the income. And Capers are some of the kindest, craziest people in the world. We would give the shirt off our backs for a stranger, that’s why is peevs me off when ignorant people try to paint us all with one brush.(FS)
Thank you Kontee! I’m glad you’re standing up for us Islanders. I don’t have enough time in the day to fight off all these Negative Nancy’s
Cap’n Leebob, why do you care what a bunch of assholes think ? There’s no reason to argue with those who have their blinders on & have no idea what they are talking about !
Although no matter how beautiful down home is, you can’t eat beautiful vista’s , really nice scenery doesn’t pay the bills !
But as to everyone being unemployed, I have a lot of family still there, they are nurses, teachers, 2 are police officers another one is a prison guard, & yes some of them work in the Service Industry, an uncle & my 2 cousins are fishermen … I have another Uncle owns a taxi service … everyone isn’t unemployed by any stretch, but it is an area that could definately use more industry & just like here, (in Elmsdale lol)more jobs & opportunity for young people couldn’t hurt.
True Story, More. It’s one thing to say that there’s no jobs and it’s tough to make a living, but to go out of your way to call the place a shit hole… not cool.
I too have a lot of family living in Cape Breton, and they’re all employed. I had a younger brother who moved home for a summer and he had no trouble finding work.
So, maybe it could use an industry boost. But so could Halifax
I think Cape Breton is beautiful and most of the nicest people I’ve met here are from Cape Breton.
Pet Shop Boys. Go West! Although anyone I’ve met from CB are great people. That means you too Earl. What a friggin’ rig you are.
I’m from Toronto. I came here to live better & no I’m not old. Was sick and tired how expensive everything is in Ontario. Plus, Ontario isn’t what it used to be. Nova Scotia could be the driving force of the Atlantic region. Solution: shut your old people up & don’t elect old councillors. For instance: I cannot believe these old farts killed the Sky Halifax project & this while businesses go bankrupt in downtown. Where the hell are you supposed to put up skyscrapers, if not in the heart of downtown? Perhaps in the middle of a cornfield? You have to make it easy for people to build and set up businesses here. People and immigrants will come. Right now immigrants don’t stay here.
Cape Breton…Newfoundland’s retarded little cousin. The only jobs in Cape Breton are blow jobs, for only an oxy and a smoke and you can have one.
Holy Shit! I gotta get me some smokes and Oxy and call it a weekend.
ABanderas, I’m not sure what part of Toronto you’re from but it must have been pretty horrible for you to come here from there to live better.
My brother owns a condo in downtown Toronto and he visits once in a while and couldn’t believe how expensive Halifax is compared to Toronto.
I know someone in Calgary who said the same thing. Also I lived in Edmonton and it was the same thing. So far from my travels and people I know who live in other places, to me Nova Scotia is the most expensive place to live. In Edmonton $40 worth of Groceries used to last me 2 weeks. Here I’m lucky if a $100 does! And I don’t eat a lot.
This is what my brother asked: “How do you people afford to eat here”. He wouldn’t be saying that if he didn’t have a reason.
if there is no industry there, it sounds like it’s a niche market for someone with a bit of business savvy. If there is nothing, then there is no competition.
Start something that doesn’t exist. Make it an online startup to minimize cost (such as advertising).
Assuming you have the talent or skill to do these things. Without education or knowledge, a job anywhere is hard to come by.
Nova Scotia is a joke and always will be. Backwards politics and Cape Breton sucks up to hHalifax so counselors can keep their lousy jobs. My counselor does nothing for my district and I would throw him off my step if he came around. Nicest people around but nooo.. motivation. Residents and government blow off great corporations that could change this island within 5 years but they than complain why there is no work. Politics my friends. Always was and always will be the least desirable place to live. VISIT yes. I love the landscape and the climate. Too bad the young people have to leave because of a lazy non motivated municipality who cannot make one decent decision. Shame on you. Good day!
I just moved here from Ontario and it’s fucking shit hole so I googled Cape Breton shit hole and this came up. Easily most exciting thing to have happened to me here in three months. Still looking for work and theres nothing to do.