Equalization payment ‘scam’ needs overhaul

Obviously troublesome for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s sustainability all these years is that our elected councillors, MLAs and MPs continue to ignore the economic downward compounding effect of the blatant political manipulation involving the federal equalization payments.

The federal government provides approximately 25 per cent of each yearly equalization payments (approximately $1.7 billion) because of the fiscal deficiency of our many economically disadvantaged municipalities to raise sufficient revenue from their tax base to provide for comparable public services at the national standard.

Councillors, MLAs and MPs have been made aware of this fact, yet do not attempt to rally the taxpayers’ support in demanding answers as to why the money provided by the federal government to the provincial government is not distributed to the affected municipalities as calculated by the federal government.

Why?

A provincial election campaign is now in progress. The question is: Will any of the candidates claiming they want to represent constituents expose this unfair political manipulation by both the federal and provincial governments? Or will many Nova Scotians continue to be disenfranchised from their constitutional and federally calculated and provided share of equalization monies?

The question for voters is: Are you going to hold the current provincial incumbents accountable for their silence on the equalization payments scam?

If not, what economic miracle do you see coming to this municipality that will reverse its decline? Charles W. Sampson Sydney Forks