The stuff played by the the Highland regiments, and popularized around the world in competitions, is the British imposing their influence and regimentation on the old music and instrumentation of the Scots.

It was not imposed. It was entirely the creation of influential players within Highland piping who saw that adopting military discipline gave the music an opportunity for development and wider adoption. The British Army needed to be dragged kicking and screaming into the adoption of the Highland pipe. The results were a mixed bag, and they did drown out a lot of traditional music in the process, but you can't really fault them for seizing a historic opportunity. They were nobody's lackey.

Do North Americans really have to keep up that bizarre opposition of "the British" and "the Scots"? You would never hear that in Scotland, whether from a unionist or a nationalist, Highlander or Lowlander. It's just plain wrong.

In Scotland today, the "kitchen piping" culture is more vital than it has been for a long time, and manages to coexist with the competitive stuff, with players moving between the two. But if resources have to be prioritized, obviously Cape Breton needs to put them into preserving and developing the music that's uniquely its own. It doesn't really matter very much if the world loses a few competition pipe bands, there are plenty to spare.