Here we go again. The town of Baddeck is the next victim of dissolution because of underfunding by the provincial government. When will the residents of rural Nova Scotia start to understand that they are the ones who are generating the total equalization Transfer for the province of over $2.315 billion? We need to stop being complacent and sitting back and allowing politicians to make the wrong decisions on our behalf. We have seen Finance Ministers from Halifax state in the past that the province had a $230 million surplus from equalization while towns like Baddeck, Canso, Bridgetown, Hantsport and Springhill had to dissolve due to a lack of funding. We have approached Baddeck in the past about the severe under-funding that they were facing and the fact that they had infrastructure issues that needed to be addressed and that is why equalization is provided. Ministers of Municipal Affairs and Premiers come and go in this province, but Mark Peck has many decades in the office of Municipal Affairs, and he was approached in the past to converse with our Charles Sampson about equalization and why Municipal Affairs was not interested in discussion on this topic. Who do they really work for? Like Charles Sampson stated directly to Mark Peck (another Cape Bretoner who turns his back on his island)……”If I was a municipal official in a financially struggling municipality and saw you coming down the hallway, I would view you as a municipal Grim Reaper” Here is the Cape Breton Post Article: Dissolving Baddeck village commission only solution to financial woes: Interim CAO Ian Nathanson | Posted: 22 hours ago | Updated: 19 hours ago | 5 Min Read The Baddeck Village Commission recently passed a resolution to request that the province's minister of Municipal Affairs dissolve the village and identify the merits of joining the Municipality of Victoria County. IAN NATHANSON • CAPE BRETON POST The Baddeck Village Commission recently passed a resolution to request that the province's minister of Municipal Affairs dissolve the village and identify the merits of joining the Municipality of Victoria County. IAN NATHANSON • CAPE BRETON POST - Ian Nathanson BADDECK — Financial and administrative woes that have sprialled in the past year left the Village of Baddeck no choice but to dissolve the 113-year-old organization, according to the commission’s interim chief administrative officer. “There’s a litany of different things that have occurred over the months that has prompted me to say this. But we know there’s a better (governance) model out there than what we currently have,” said Maris Freimanis, a retired CAO who took over the role for the village in October. On Friday, the village commission announced in a statement that it had passed a resolution to request that the minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing dissolve the village and identify the merits of joining the Municipality of Victoria County. A recent meeting of the Village Commissioners also approved to have a special “meeting of electors,” set for Dec. 2 in Baddeck, to authorize the dissolution request for that minister, John Lohr. “One of the particular points to review in terms of noting their finances is their financial statements,” said Mark Peck, the department’s associate deputy minister, during a visit to Sydney to attend a Cape Breton Regional Municipality council meeting. “And the commission hasn't filed a financial statement because of its circumstances in the last two years. That’s problematic in terms of knowing where they are.” CONCERN FOR GOVERNANCE ROLE While the village commission had previously pondered the future of its organization, Freimanis said a number of circumstances over the past few months prompted greater concern for its governance role. “It’s common knowledge that tax bills weren’t sent out on time, and they’ve gone out now to residents and we expect to have some revenue coming in from those bills. ”The water bills are in a similar drama; there’s a mix of bills that have gone out and some that haven’t. We’ve got a lot of suppliers who haven’t been paid and remittances not up to date. “And there’s some infrastructure and financial risks that also need to be addressed as we move forward.” Freimanis also noted that these risks were first raised at a July 2020 online meeting between village leaders, county council member and Municipal Affairs staffers, “but some of those risks have now come to fruition,” he said. “Now the village doesn’t have the administrative resources to address those risks: these could be segregation of duties, oversight, control issues, financial reporting, etc. “There have been no audits done for the past two years.” Mark Peck, associate deputy minister with the province’s Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing: Mark Peck, associate deputy minister with the province’s Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing: ROSY FORECAST 'MISGUIDED' Despite the commission painting a grim financial forecast of its future in mid-2020, compounded in part from the COVID-19 pandemic, by the fall of that year the village’s former CAO, Megan Cooper, reportedly offered a rosier financial outlook for the village. Asked what might have changed in the interim, the village’s current commission chair, Bill Marchant, believes that outlook likely was misguided. “She made that statement without having any access to financial reports, which she was supposed to be preparing,” he said. Neither Marchant nor Freimanis wanted to comment on the reasons for replacing the former CAO. Freimanis’s background included CAO work for the Town of Port Hawkesbury and Richmond County. Freimanis and Marchant said having the commission join Victoria County boils down to access to additional staff and resources. “Victoria County has resources; the village has one administrative person,” Freimanis said. “We’re closely related to the county anyway: We share the same building; we depend a lot on some of their resources; bills are paid at the front counter. “The Municipal Government Act is very explicit when it comes to dissolving a village. And really, it’s the only avenue to open up the doors with discussions and joining a municipal unit.” Victoria County Warden Bruce Morrison. CONTRIBUTED - ContributedVictoria County Warden Bruce Morrison. CONTRIBUTED - Contributed WARDEN AWAITS MEETING RESULTS County Warden Bruce Morrison said he’s experienced a great working relationship with the village and recognizes the many ongoing challenges the commission has faced. As for his thoughts on having the village join the municipality, Morrison said that would be up to the Dec. 2 electorate meeting. “We’ll wait for the recommendations of the ratepayers for direction,” he said. “If they decide to stay with the village, then it’s status quo. If they decide to dissolve, then we’ll be waiting to see what the results will be after having their village meeting and what the ratepayers have to say. And whatever recommendations come from that will have to go before council. That’s where we stand at this point.”