The following letter was printed today. Father Maroun and the NSEF believe that the CBRM should be doing much more to fight for equalization. There is too much party politics at play (as you can see in the picture for this posting) and that is why our elected municipal officials do not rock the equalization boat. They are looking after their own political futures. It is time to show this provincial government that we matter in the CBRM, and we are not going to allow any government to break our constitutional rights with regards to taxation and equalization. It is also time to call a general meeting at Center 200 and invite the Premier and our MLAs to attend. There is also much more that our municipal government can do. Here is the letter: CBRM’S FINANCIAL PAIN HITTING HOME 25 Apr 2024 What is upsetting to me these days is the financial pain people are feeling in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM). Every day it seems there is something in the media about high taxation and people are now going to be faced with wastewater charges on top of their water bills. New Dawn also received an outrageous tax bill recently and many new homeowners did as well. Most Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness members have always felt that the CBRM’s hands are tied because of the lack of funding and revenues that the municipality must access. Over the past few years, however, I have changed my stance on that. Now I feel that our municipal elected officials are simply not doing enough to fight for our fair share of equalization. The CBRM is now forced to pass its lack of “fight” onto residents to raise the funding needed to run the municipality. Imagine $3.284 billion coming to Nova Scotia in equalization and it comes so we are not overtaxed and can live to a Canadian standard. The constitution says so and for some reason CBRM officials ignore that. Some in the community chastised former mayor John Morgan for spending $500,000 on lawyers to fight this more than a decade ago and it was unfortunate that a former Sydney resident, Justice Michael MacDonald, made a bizarre ruling and ignored prior law that states the constitution belongs to the people of Canada not the Legislatures or the Parliament. Either way Justice MacDonald made sure that the equalization issue did not get before a judge in this province. So folks, as the excessive tax bills, new wastewater charges and other nickel and diming of the residents by the CBRM starts to hurt your finances, remember that five PC MLAs from Cape Breton voted recently to see us receive less equalization in legislature on Bill 340. The Liberals did the same thing when they were in power, and I was disgusted to see them fight for a better deal this time around. The MPs are just as much to blame for not making sure the federal funding is being used for its intended purpose. Shame on all of you! There is simply no transparency or accountability by the elected officials today whatsoever. As elections roll around soon, remember these words and challenge each and every one of them on the equalization issue. If they don’t promise to fight like hell for equalization, don’t vote for them. We cannot afford to raise taxes here any further without seeing masses of people losing their homes. Rev. Dr. Albert Maroun Sydney (on behalf of Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness)