Since the commencement of new Council elected in November 2016, the word Equalization has been spoken within the CBRM public meetings approximately 165 times. From the chart above, you can see that it occupies a greater focus with several councillors. Deputy Mayor Eldon MacDonald and Councillor Bruckschwaiger tie for the most references.

Many of you will be familiar with the phrase "all talk, no action". Although it appears that very little proactive action has been taken, with the exception of Councillor Earlene MacMullin's recent successful motion to request a full provincial audit of the CBRM, I caution only that it takes more than frequently bringing up a topic to bring about change. It takes strategic action.

With Mayor Cecil Clarke currently moonlighting as both Mayor of the CBRM and a candidate for the leadership of the PC Party of Nova Scotia (as a premier hopeful), and two Liberal MLAs who had a bit of a scare in the last election, there's a real opportunity here.

I want to showcase some of the comments made at CBRM Council. However, first I'd like to give you two basic maneuvers that can help advance the Equalization fight, and one strategic call to action.

Maneuver #1

Mayor Clarke is abundantly aware of the Equalization shortchange. Although it's uncertain whether or not he can secure the PC Party leadership, nonetheless, he is actively campaigning. Council should move a motion asking Mayor Cecil Clarke to formally pledge - within his provincial PC leadership campaign - that he will take immediate action on Equalization if elected as Premier and forms the next Nova Scotia Provincial government. If he suggests there is a conflict in doing so, then he (as I've suggested repeatedly) should resign as Mayor. If he suggests that increasing Equalization is *not* the policy he supports (similar to when he was an MLA in the past), then we have a mayor who isn't our advocate whilst our municipality rapidly approaches insolvency. See below for my recommendation on what that action should be.

Maneuver #2
Make the political careers of MLA/Ministers Derek Mombourquette and Geoff MacLellan hinge on whether or not they change how Equalization is distributed, substantially increasing it, before the next election. And if either of them has designs on a mayoral run for the CBRM, make them realize the positions they've expressed (shown below in videos below) won't cut it. If they won't fight for us in ministerial positions, while key players in the current government, it's reasonable to expect that they won't do a thing about it if they were ever sitting in the mayor's seat. We don't need to be a soft landing for any more free-falling MLAs disillusioned with their jobs in Halifax.

Call to Action

The freeze on Equalization should be temporarily removed, increasing the current distribution by 100%. The freeze can then be reapplied, subject to review 2 years later. This will be an appropriate step after assessing how the funding was utilized and the impact it had in all Nova Scotian municipalities who benefitted by receiving twice their current proportionate distribution.

Now here are some things to keep in mind. Three fundamental stakeholders are currently weak on their Equalization stance:

• Mayor Cecil Clarke
• MLA Derek Mombourquette
• MLA Geoff MacLellan

The two MLAs are already at the provincial level and are doing nothing for Equalization. It's frozen and hasn't even been adjusted for CPI/inflation over several years. All the while, the Federal government has been sending the province hundreds of millions more.

If Cecil Clarke isn't committing to increasing it during his provincial campaign, you can bet he is never going to advocate for it should he make it to the Premier's position in Halifax.

With all three of these politicians' careers at risk in the next provincial election, the leverage is at our disposal now. It doesn't matter how many times CBRM councillors talk about it. It's about strategic action. If they don't take action, then they will be just as useful seated at Tim Horton's as they are at Council, complaining along with the rest of the folks they often are dismissive of.

Based on the frequency that Councillor Bruckschwaiger and Deputy Mayor Eldon MacDonald are using the term Equalization, we ask:

Gentlemen, when can we expect a motion to Council that takes tangible action? We know you want Equalization, now what are you going to do about it?

Note: Councillors who want to make excuses for the MLAs won't be very helpful in making things happen. In this case, Councillor George MacDonald wants to find a way to the Premier's office but somehow doesn't believe that the direct path there is by way of two of McNeil's key MLAs and ministers: Momborquette and MacLellan... We're not going to turn the CBRM around (or revitalize Glace Bay for that matter) by making excuses for the MLAs as we beg for breadcrumbs and then Fedex them back to Halifax.

NOTE: The views expressed above are my own and do not represent lokol (goCapeBreton.com). Read more