Support for protest movement encouraging

Thank you to all the passing cars, transfer trucks and even city buses that constantly honked during our two-andone-half hour protest for equalization fairness in Sydney last week.

Those honks indicate more and more support from the public as this movement is growing by leaps and bounds.

This is not one of those protests that will be forgotten by election time as most politicians are hoping for. We are not going away. As a matter of fact we are just getting started.

Many of our Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) councillors and Cape Breton Centre MLA Tammy Martin are now supporting us.

Many other politicians are afraid to support us now for fear of risking their jobs. Former Finance Minister Graham Steele, while speaking in Sydney last week, confirmed what most of us have always thought: “In the mind of every politician as he is speaking to an individual is – will this person vote for me?”

If Cape Bretoners make equalization the main issue in our next election our representatives will have to get on board or be voted out. It’s as simple as that. This is not just a CBRM issue, but fair equalization will benefit all areas of Cape Breton and its people.

In closing, I believe this issue will create an almost impossible dilemma for CBRM Mayor Cecil Clarke. In order to get the votes he needs from Cape Breton he has to get us more money in his run for premier. On the other hand, he has to keep the power brokers in Halifax happy. It’s a complete juxtaposition and quite a challenge for the man everyone likes to call a career politician. Time will tell. Terry Charlene MacKay Sydney