Flaherty was in Cape Breton Saturday to hold an economic roundtable with officials from Cape Breton University’s Shannon School of Business as well as local business leaders. He also took part in a ceremony honouring his aunt, who played a key role in the early days of the university.
The hour-long discussion mainly focused on business education in Cape Breton, what has been accomplished to date at the university and what the business school hopes to achieve, Flaherty said in an interview.
“It’s very ambitious and very much-needed, not only for Cape Breton but for the whole country,” he said. “I think they know what they’re doing, quite frankly. They have direction, they have momentum, they have funding.”
Flaherty noted the campus building that now houses the Shannon School of Business was constructed using entirely private-sector funds, which he called impressive.
What school officials have requested of Flaherty is assistance as they look to fund research chairs.
“That’s important to get strong professors here, including in the area of aboriginal business education,” he said.
The school and the university overall are important tools for Cape Breton and they help create a positive economic environment, Flaherty said. There is innovation there, he said, noting CBU expertise in areas including the reclamation of contaminated sites such as the Sydney tar ponds.
Small and medium-sized businesses and innovative startups are the main job creators in Canada, Flaherty said, noting the Conservative government will soon unveil details of a $ 400-million venture capital fund.
“That will be open for participation certainly here because of the advanced state of the education opportunities here and the expertise, this is all going in the right direction in terms of creation of good well-paying jobs,” he said.
Also Saturday, Flaherty took part in a ceremony honouring his aunt, Sister Margaret Harquail. The garden space between the Verschuren Centre and the Shannon School of Business was officially named Harquail Gardens.
Harquail was the founder of St. Francis Xavier College’s school of business, Sydney campus and established the school of business administration at the University College of Cape Breton. Harquail also helped establish the College of Cape Breton as a university.
“She was a pioneer, particularly in the education of women in business in Cape Breton and started off teaching above a garage in Sydney teaching accounting and basic business courses,” Flaherty said. “The culmination is this fabulous Shannon School of Business. She was ahead of her time and she was responsible for a lot of women getting educated in business here.”
