The NSEF has sent the following letter to Premier Tim Houston and Minister of Municipal Affairs, John Lohr. We will update you when we receive an answer..... Here is the letter: Dear Premier Houston and Minister John Lohr: The NSEF or Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness is interested in the negotiations of the new M.O.U. We were wondering if Minister Lohr could answer a few questions. First, we wanted to know what the role of Municipal Affairs is, along with the N.S.F.M. in negotiating a new M.O.U. Premier Houston was very clear on the fact that we had one year from the time the extra funding was provided to the C.B.R.M. to negotiate the new M.O.U. According to our office, the extra $15 million that Premier Houston provided, was sent to the C.B.R.M. very early in November of 2021. Now that almost 4 months have passed, our Mayor, Amanda MacDougall, has stated that the process of negotiations has not started yet, and this was her recent statement; “At this point we have not received the details on when the process to engage in the Municipal Capacity Grant will commence.” Premier Houston and Minister Lohr, when will this process begin and is it the Department of Municipal Affairs who will initiate this process? Are the public and advocacy groups allowed to participate in the process and provide input? Should the process also include the equalization of taxation, like it states in the Canadian Constitution in section 36.2? For the first time in many years, Cape Breton feels that we now have a government that is looking at our situation and hopefully providing solutions for our many problems. We hope that Premier Houston along with the newly formed government, will recognize that the trust that Cape Bretoners had in our system of government had dwindled due to unfairness and a lack of transparency. We have been told, while presenting to other towns and municipalities, that a high-ranking, long-term bureaucrat in the Municipal Affairs Department has commented that “The NSEF is dangerous”. Is demanding transparency and accountability from government being dangerous? We look forward to hearing back from you both soon because the C.B.R.M. officials feel that it is not their place to answer questions or be accountable to the people of the C.B.R.M. and that is just not acceptable moving forward. The N.S.E.F. and other advocacy groups in the C.B.R.M. consists of tens of thousands of supporters who all want answers. Please show us that we matter in the Province of Nova Scotia. The N.S.E.F. is merely seeking answers to government actions and behaviors as it pertains to its own data, keeping in mind that N.S.E.F. has not produced any of its own data. We use the governments numbers only. Regards, Rev. Dr. Albert Maroun Charles Sampson & The N.S.E.F. Board Members.