Golf course pitch for Cape Breton provincial park was ‘unreasonable,’ premier says

HALIFAX — A golf course developer’s controversial pitch to build in a Cape Breton provincial park is going nowhere, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told reporters on Thursday.

The provincial Department of Natural Resources decided Cabot’s proposal for an 18-hole course and golf shop in West Mabou Beach Provincial Park should not proceed to consultations, Houston said. The department came to conclusion in the last few days, he said.

“I think in the end, they just reach the conclusion that the asks were unreasonable and were not in the best interests of Nova Scotians,” Houston said.

“There’s really nothing to talk about,” he added.

Cabot was angling to build an 18-hole golf course and shop occupying up to 35 per cent of the land in West Mabou Beach Provincial Park, according to the company’s website. The rest of the park would be untouched, the site said.

The park encompasses about 2.8 square kilometres of sand dunes and beaches along the shore of the Northumberland Strait, in Mabou, Cape Breton. The park is home to more than a dozen rare and endangered species, and its trails and beaches are used by local residents and tourists.

Cabot owns and operates two 18-hole golf courses in Cape Breton, plus an 11-hole short course, three restaurants, a 72-room lodge and nearly 50 villas and homes, according to its website. Two previous efforts by the company to expand into the West Mabou park were unsuccessful.

Houston previously said his government was open to discussions about Cabot building in the park, citing the province’s $1.2-billion deficit and the need to encourage economic activity.

“We assess these ideas on the benefits for Nova Scotians,” Houston told reporters Thursday. “I’m intrigued by lots of ideas, and lots of them just don’t make it past the intrigue.”

Author Kate Beaton was among the many Mabou residents who spoke out against opening the park up for development. The provincial government did not tell the public it was in talks with Cabot until a CBC News reporter asked about it last month, she said.

“I don’t trust anything that Tim Houston is saying,” she said in an interview. “He hasn’t come to us with any kind of openness or honesty on any of this.”

The issue is painful for the community each time it arises, dividing those who would like Cabot to develop in the park and those who want it protected, she said. She wants the province to introduce stronger legislation that would protect provincial parks from private interests.

“It shouldn’t have to be up to us to keep protecting spaces that are designated as protected,” Beaton said.

Official Opposition NDP Leader Claudia Chender told reporters Thursday she’s pleased that Houston has put the issue to bed. However, she said it was “deeply unfair” that he did not promise to block any future private development interests in West Mabou Beach.

“I could have told the premier that Cabot’s (plan) was not in the best interests of Nova Scotians years ago, and yet he’s put the community through a tremendous amount of turmoil and hardship,” she said.

Chender said Mabou-area residents are not against development or good jobs. But they do believe “protected areas should be protected,” she said.

— Written by Sarah Smellie in St. John’s, N.L., with files from Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2025.