SYDNEY, N.S. — Lorne Green is happy to be back on municipal council so he can represent both his district and Black Cape Bretoners.
The first African Nova Scotian elected to Cape Breton Regional Municipality council (1997-2000), Green said over the past few years representation wasn't very diverse and him being elected will change that.
"What it will do is bring to light that we do exist. We do have a Black community in the CBRM and we need to understand that," said the former chair of the former Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board.
"I think before we didn't have that representation and that meant some things weren't brought up. Out of sight out of mind. Nobody was there representing us."
In some ways, Saturday's municipal elections in Cape Breton resulted in more diversity on council. Particularly in gender.
The Town of Port Hawkesbury and the CBRM both elected female mayors. In Richmond County, two females were elected and in Inverness County three were. Victoria County also elected three women, something Cape Breton University political science professor Tom Urbaniak believes has never happened before.
"Having different perspectives in a deliberative body is important because part of what a healthy council is supposed to do is make some fundamental policy choices for the community (like economic development or immigration strategies)," Urbaniak said.
"This is actually why you don't just elect one person to run a municipality, why you need a deliberative body. And it becomes a little bit of a problem and we've seen this in Richmond County, where the council gets too small where no matter whom you elect you won't have a diversity of perspectives on the council."
In the CBRM, eight new councillors were elected and the youngest is 27-year-old Cyril MacDonald, who upset incumbent Esmond (Blue) Marshall in District 3.
His youth is something MacDonald believes attracted voters to him.
"I didn't go knocking on doors, but when I was talking with people, what they were telling me was that they needed change and some youth perspective," said MacDonald, who also ran in the 2016 election.
"I think I bring the youth perspective and I can connect with a different population than some of the older councillors ... I think it might be more appealing for someone my age to call someone who is younger."
Urbaniak also said the different perspective a council member under 30 would bring to the table is beneficial.
"Any person elected to council is called upon to represent the entire population of their districts. People of all backgrounds, of all ages," he said.
"But people also come to council with their own life experience and perspectives. Their own contacts and social networks. And that's why it's important that a council be demographically diverse."
Hopeful having a female mayor in the CBRM will make more diverse candidates comfortable to run in future elections, Urbaniak said municipal councils need to keep working on increasing their demographic diversity.
"Let's remember that a council is not just administering a business. A council is making choices about values. That's why you need a diversity of perspectives, life experience, gender, people with different cultural backgrounds," he said.
"When you make it easy and exciting for new people to step forward as candidates, almost inevitably the diversity of your candidates and ultimately your councillors increases ... There is definitely more work to do encouraging people to step forward as candidates."
