ONGOING DISCREPANCIES

‘CBRM’s commercial tax rate is over 66 per cent higher than the HRM and our residential rate is 87 per cent higher’

Post columnist explains why Charter offers valuable opportunity for CBRM.

Here we go again!

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) council is grappling with ongoing discrepancies of funding to CBRM by the Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs. As we all know, this is not breaking news. Municipal Affairs is fully aware that the CBRM has a significant property tax revenue weakness.

Because of this our local government cannot provide comparable levels of public service to its residents. Our declining tax base coupled with glaring distortions in tax rates across the province sets the stage for understanding the decline and challenges of the CBRM.

The adequate delivery of municipal services to residents was the basic premise behind the development of equalization as a federal public policy in 1957. It was and is embedded as a constitutional expectation under sec. 36. Unfortunately, both the federal and provincial governments ignore constitutional directives because they believe the public is generally unaware of them.

We’ve lost sight of the intent of this original federal policy delegated to the provinces to administer. No part of the country should drift away from the advantages developed in the national economy or become a statistical deviation from that national standard.

Being a Canadian should be a relatively similar and comparable experience, no matter where you are in the country. Can we still say that about life in Cape Breton? CBRM’s commercial tax rate is over 66 per cent higher than the HRM and our residential rate is 87 per cent higher. It’s like we are living in a different province, let alone a different country.

Where is the incentive for families to settle or stay in a community with such a high tax burden, high unemployment and declining population? We are aware of the alarming statistics of population decline and its harsh impact on our schools, university and business environment.

This level of depopulation can point to the inevitable death of a community. Bridgetown, Canso, Hantsport, Mulgrave and Springhill are examples of communities on our rural death row. But, in fact, they are the consequences of misappropriating the equalization transfer, originally intended to enable provinces to sustain their traditional communities.

In theory, tax laws are supposed to level economic advantages as well as spread the tax burden ‘fairly’ across an economy. They are supposed to provide the revenue needed to sustain local government. Nova Scotia’s current tax regime, as it impacts municipal revenues across the province, creates an enormous economic advantage for the capital region over all other regions.

So, with over 40 per cent of the province’s population intensely concentrated in the capital region, do not expect to hear many Haligonians demanding fairness for Cape Bretoners at their expense. That’s where the audit function of the federal government and the province should be called to task. But don’t hold your breath. Halifax is growing dynamically while rural Nova Scotia is declining insidiously.

If Nova Scotia is more than the province of Halifax, then there is a pressing need for municipal tax reform right across the province. That reform must be initiated and legislated by the provincial government. So does this government really have the political will to design a fairer tax system at the expense of Halifax. Pardon my skepticism.

There is a cluster of reforms only doable by the provincial government that must be resolved before the CBRM can move forward on its beleaguered budget problems. Some of those reforms can be positioned in a Charter negotiated by the CBRM with the provincial government.

A Charter is a necessary step in the modernization of our local government. It provides a rare opportunity to reset our fiscal and monetary relationship with the province. There is no question that we need to clarify our funding pathways with the province if we are to move forward. It is the last platform available to us for self-determination.

Otherwise we will sustain this noblesse oblige, hand-me-down political approach to our economic development. A Charter should transfer specific powers from the province to enable council to make independent decisions in the interests of our amalgamated communities. These powers should include local economic development, leasing and land sales, and planning.

But a Charter is an opportunity to clarify our equalization entitlement and to renegotiate the amounts CBRM annually transfers back to the province for services in education and housing which are actually designated provincial responsibilities.

It is also an opportunity for us to formally declare in a Charter our partnership with Mi’kmaq residents and their leaders as inclusive communities within the CBRM. The future of our municipal government is intimately tied to that relationship.

“Both the federal and provincial governments ignore constitutional directives because they believe the public is generally unaware of them.”