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SYDNEY, N.S. — Armed with freshly made placards, members of the Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness say they’re ready to march so Cape Breton can finally get a bigger slice of the equalization pie.

They’re asking fellow Cape Bretoners to show up on Wednesday, between the hours of 4-6 p.m., to march with them in front of Sydney’s Provincial Building on Prince St.

According to group member Russ Green, there’s good reason for everyone to join the protest.

“(The province) receives almost $2 billion a year in funding for equalization and they give us $15 million of it down here,” said Green. “HRM (Halifax Regional Municipality) does not qualify for any equalization money. Their taxes are too low, their infrastructure growth is too high — they have too much growth in their city and down here we’re failing, our taxes are too high. The equalization money is designed to lower taxes and built infrastructure and create jobs for depressed areas. It’s not designed to build convention centres and new hospitals in Halifax.”

In addition to Wednesday’s protest, there will also be a meeting on Monday at 6 p.m. at the New Dawn Centre for Social Innovation and everyone is welcome to attend.

According to the group, Nova Scotia will receive $1.838 billion this year as an equalization payments from the federal government yet will only distribute $32 million to its municipalities. While the Cape Breton Regional Municipality collects $15 million of that, Nova Scotians for Equalization Fairness says that’s less than one per cent of the $239-million payment the CBRM deserves.

“We’d like people to show up and show firmness and that we’ll fight for our rights and that we have a just cause,” said Father Albert Maroun, one of the founders of the group. “Even in my time I’ve seen a deterioration of this municipality — the roads, the businesses and they’re closing this, they’re closing that, schools are closing — this should never have happened.”

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