Yesterday, during Halifax council’s debate over what to do with the St. Pat’s-Alexandra school, councillor Gloria McCluskey suggested that the north end community groups lack business acumen and are “not real business people.” Listen to her comments here:
The reality is that the North End Community Health Clinic and Mi’kmaq Friendship Centre have a long track record as fiscally sound organizations with professional staffs that have successfully attracted outside grants and investments, and have grown their organizations. And, before she went to seminary school, Rhonda Britton, the pastor at Cornwallis Street Baptist Church and the founder of the Richard Preston Centre for Excellence, received two business degrees.
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This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2012.
But they aren’t business people.
What is a Non-Profit Corporation?
Non-profit corporations are distinct from business corporations which are formed to make a profit and to distribute the profit to its shareholders. Business corporations are regulated by either federal or provincial laws.
They weren’t ‘real business people’ at Nortel
They weren’t ‘real business people’ at Bowater
and Lazaridis and Balsillie aren’t ‘real business people’ at RIM
And the board at the long defunct Atlantic Symphony orchestra were supposed to be ‘real business people’ but the ASO went bust about 30 years ago with a deficit of over $300,000 (1983 dollars)
Many ‘real business people’ run a business into the ground and leave without paying the property taxes owed to HRM.
Gloria is not a ‘real councillor’ because if the same situation arose in her district she’d be fighting like hell to support it just like she has fought to keep Alderney School open becuase it is in her district.
They’re “real business people” albeit shitty ones.
Well if real business leaders have to show profit & work within budgets etc. Gloria & all the rest of the council aren’t business leaders either. Yet there they are running HRM into the ground. Just look at the property tax assesment…eveyone pointing fingers …its not us , its not our job, the Hell it isn’t ! HRM quote”we’re not raising taxes…its just assesment going up” ! ! ! WHICH RAISES TAXES YOU DUMB #^(+$ . Your elected to run the city. To fix what needs fixing to SHOW LEADERSHIP ! I wouldn’t trust any of them to tie my dog to a fence…never mind actually do something important .
The “real business people” at Trade Centre Ltd are highly respected by most at City Hall (and the Province) yet they cost taxpayers $3+ million per year to subsidize the World Trade and Convention Centre’s (total) $43+ million operating deficit. $571,000 from the City and the rest from the provincial coffers.
This isn’t about how the rest have screwed up, which they have. Rather it is the fact that they aren’t business people regardless of their backgrounds.
“no disrespect, but—”
always a good way to start a sentence.
She should remove her foot from her mouth. A “business” person is someone who is involved in activities for the purpose of generating revenue. It doesn’t matter if the organization is operating with the purpose of achieving a profit or not. Nor does it matter where that revenue is coming from.
Another fruitcake. Politicians are NOT real business people either.