Cape Bretoners asked to attend equalization fairness rally

There are a lot of people who voted for John Morgan not once, but twice for mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and believed in his struggle to get more money for this area.

Many still believe, incorrectly, that he lost the case for increased equalization payments in the Supreme Court of Canada. We did not lose in court as the court refused to even hear our case.

Our struggle continues as this island continues to deteriorate. As Cape Bretoners, we tend to complain about the state of our roads, our declining population, health care – it goes on and on. And no matter how much we complain it hasn’t gotten us anywhere.

Now I am asking people for just one day in your life to do more than complain. Would you like to see a vibrant and prosperous Cape Breton for your children and grandchildren to live in years from now?

If so, I’m calling on Cape Bretoners to join our protest and shame this province into spreading its equalization money fairly. Do that and your children and grandchildren could someday say that their family members went out and protested to make things better for us. After all, this money was intended to go to the poorer parts of the province, not to Halifax.

On Monday (tonight), from 6-8 p.m. at New Dawn Centre (formerly the Holy Angels School), Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness (NSEF) will be holding a large rally in the gym. At this time our protest date will be announced.

NSEF is not affiliated with any political party. Please join our protest and let’s make future generations proud that we fought for them. This is a wake-up call. Terry Charlene MacKay Sydney

I am beyond sick and tired of the misguided notion that Cape Bretoners are whiners, welfare recipients and a drain on the province.

I believe the provincial government uses the economic disparity in Cape Breton and rural Nova Scotia to garner as much of the equalization transfer as possible.

The intended purpose of this transfer is to alleviate economic disparity in these communities (Cape Breton and rural Nova Scotia), yet the province distributes only about 26 per cent of the equalization transfers to where it should be intended.

It has become abundantly clear to me that our continued poverty maintains the current “have-not” status of our province.

I am NOT whining. I am NOT looking for a hand out. I am NOT on welfare. I AM a hard-working, overly taxed Cape Bretoner who would like the opportunity to live and work outside of the “Almighty HRM” and have a comparable standard of living, taxation, infrastructure, etc. I have no desire to follow Bridgetown, Canso, Parrsboro or Springhill into dissolution.

I am ashamed of my fellow Nova Scotians who think so poorly of us. We did not generate this fiscal disparity but have been forced to endure it for more than 20 years.

It has become increasingly difficult, almost impossible in fact, to want to be part of a province that views us and our First Nations neighbors with such contempt, who speak out against us with a litany of derogatory commentary and underfunds us to poverty. If you look closely, you will see the truth of the situation is this, the HRM prospers from Cape Breton’s poverty by the billions.

As Senator Dan Christmas of Membertou stated, “it is time to start the conversation” for independence and self-governance separate from the province. Although mainland Nova Scotia might think that sounds great, the provincial government will fight against it. They have a 20-year addiction to our money, usurping it, using it however they want and answering to nobody. It wouldn’t take long for Nova Scotians to come to the realization that Cape Breton wasn’t the problem after all. All we ever wanted was to be treated equally and fairly. Instead, we have received ridicule and scorn for trying to stand up for ourselves.

I am ashamed of our politicians who, for 20 years, have refused to stand up and represent their voters. This issue should have been rectified a long time ago. In any other capacity these politicians would have been fired for not doing what they are paid to do. Instead, they will get a pension, a pat on the head and a job well done.

What a pile of crap.

Brenda Matheson Sydney