Top court rejects CBRM equalization appeal
But mayor says issue with Nova Scotia government not over
Last Updated: Thursday, December 17, 2009 | 2:06 PM AT
CBC News
The highest court in Canada will not hear the Cape Breton Regional Municipality's complaint about equalization money, effectively ending its $500,000 legal fight to get more money from the province.
The Supreme Court of Canada announced Thursday it has dismissed the municipality's appeal. No explanation was given.
The CBRM claims the Nova Scotia government is not giving it a fair share of the equalization money coming in from Ottawa. Two courts in the province have rejected the case.
Mayor John Morgan is disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision.
"The issue, though, I don't think can really end for the region. If you look at what the bigger picture is here, the region is on a course that will see continued dramatic declines in population, continued dramatic implosion of the infrastructure and finances," said Morgan.
'I look at a waste of taxpayers' dollars on this'—Coun. Ray Paruch
"As long as the provincial government continues to treat this region as a Third World region within this province, that's an attack on all of the citizens of Cape Breton Regional Municipality."
In a lawsuit last year, the CBRM accused the province of underfunding it by $20 million since 1995, when Sydney and neighbouring communities were amalgamated into one municipality.
It argued that under Sec. 36 of the Constitution Act, the province has an obligation to provide a reasonably comparable level of service to residents for comparable taxation. The CBRM claimed it's not getting enough money to close the gap with other Nova Scotia communities.
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court agreed with the province that the CBRM's complaint is about economic policy and therefore not a legal matter for the court.
The CBRM appealed but that was rejected earlier this year. The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruled that agreements governing equalization payments were between the federal government and the provinces, not individual municipalities.
The municipality has spent more than $500,000 in legal fees on this battle.
Time to negotiate
Several councillors said they'd prefer to negotiate with the province rather than litigate.
Coun. Ray Paruch said he became lukewarm to the idea of the lawsuit when he realized that all it would produce was a mandate to negotiate with the province.
"I look at a waste of taxpayers' dollars on this. I look also [at] a waste of political capital that we invested here," said Paruch.
Paruch agrees with Morgan that the battle with the province isn't over, but he insists that fight will now take place at the negotiating table rather than in the courts.
