The following email was sent today to the Premier for clarification. How can the province exclude the struggling municipalities from these important negotiations? We will only get what they decide to give and not what we need! We have a constitutional commitment under section 36.2 so we are not over-taxed as Canadian citizens and can live to a Canadian standard. Premier Tim Houston: Regarding the promised M.O.U. negotiations involving the equalization federal transfers and the serious issue of the underfunding of the financially struggling municipal governments in this province, the mayor of the CBRM, Amanda McDougall, was quoted in yesterday’s Cape Breton Post (May 12th) that she has not yet received notification from you or your government about when these meetings are to be held. Her concern is that the municipalities’ input must not be just an “afterthought” and excluded from these important negotiations. In view of this development, are the municipal governments going to be directly involved in all these proceedings? And when are these meetings scheduled to happen? Will citizens’ advocacy groups also be allowed to participate in these proceedings? It was you Mr. Houston who stated to the media that the municipalities had one year to re-negotiate a new M.O.U. from the time the CBRM received the extra funding that you provided. Seven months have already passed, and no negotiations have taken place. A response would be appreciated on this particularly important matter. Regards, Rev. Dr. Albert Maroun & The Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness