Even with provincial surplus, CBRM & Rural NS Still Struggle...

The following letter was published today in the Cape Breton Post. Charles is spot on, as usual, in his challenging of the Provincial Governments use of equalization. Good luck to all our followers with Fiona.....We hope you all stay safe and dry with no property damages. Cape Breton Strong!!! Here is the Letter: LETTER: Even with provincial surplus, Cape Breton municipalities still struggling to get by Isn’t this again more witchcraft budgeting by the Tim Houston government to announce a surplus while five municipal units have dissolved and many others are struggling financially because of the province's grossly inadequate municipal financial capacity grant? This government’s extralegal manipulation of these yearly federal equalization transfers – $2.458 billion this year – continues the legacy of government noncompliance with an enshrined constitutional law – s.36 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Recall that a previous Nova Scotia Liberal government has provided the lesson plan for this black magic art of today’s government's extralegal budget practices regarding the federal equalization transfers. The one-time NDP government, too, fell into this practice without any sense of wrongdoing. The Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness (NSEF) group have accused both levels of government of non-compliance with the Constitution and have asked the RCMP to investigate the legality of the two governments’ management of these federal yearly equalization transfers. A couple points for consideration by the RCMP are: • Why is the federal government knowingly and illegally permitted to transfer these federal equalization payments unconditionally to the eligible provinces, which enables the provincial government to avoid a separate accounting for its expenditure, which prevents the citizens from being able to hold its government accountable? • Why is the provincial government constitutionally exempted – at present – from having to provide any evidence/proof to the federal government or to the citizens of Nova Scotia as to how it is complying with its constitutional obligation pursuant to s.36 of the Constitution Act, 1982? When former Nova Scotia Chief Justice Michael MacDonald ruled that the Cape Breton Regional Municipality's case is only actionable by the two parties who were privy to what is represented by section 36, the public was illegally disarmed of its obvious legal and democratic rights. With this unusual ruling, the courts acted to protect both governments’ noncompliance with our Constitution. From a jurisprudence perspective, his ruling overruled a prior 1950 Supreme Court of Canada’s unequivocal ruling that “The constitution of Canada does not belong either to Parliament, or to the Legislatures; it belongs to the country and it is there that the citizens of the country will find the protection of the rights to which they are entitled.” Why hasn’t the legal society and the government ministries of Justice, federally and provincially, intervened to challenge the “conclusion” in the 2009 Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruling of Justice MacDonald? With the RCMP investigating a complaint reported to the force by the NSEF, will the rule of law by government eventually become the order of the day? Charles W. Sampson Sydney Forks

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