When asked, 61% of CBRM residents called for real change in city hall, highlighting the fact that most residents are sick of struggling while their elected officials do little to make things better.
The housing vacancy rate is a startling 0.8%, among the lowest in Nova Scotia, meaning the municipality has a shortage of 1000 housing units as of Fall 2023. The lack of housing units has put a strain on the housing and rental markets, causing skyrocketing prices. In response, the CBRM has added transit lines so that residents can live further away from downtown, but all that does is put added pressure on the already strained transit system rather than addressing the root cause of the problem: lack of affordable housing.
Accessing health care isn’t much easier, with the Cape Breton Regional Hospital having the longest average wait times in the province—a whopping 5.2 hours. This wait time means that patients
often leave emergency departments without being seen, either getting help elsewhere or simply going without. Provincially, 10% of emergency department patients leave unseen. In the CBRM, it’s 19%, among the highest in the province. Years of underfunding and understaffing have made the health care system buckle under the strain, and we’re seeing that in the CBRM very clearly. Our hard-working health care workers can only do so much with a lack of funds and staff to help them.
More broadly, the residents of the CBRM are unable to keep up with the cost of living. The provincial minimum wage of $15.20 does little to keep up with the living wage of $24.00 for Cape Breton. This has resulted in a skyrocketing child poverty rate of 27.6%, well above the provincial average of 20.5%. Cape Breton is also home to 9 of the 10 Nova Scotian communities with the highest energy poverty rates—with some as high as 87% compared to the provincial average of 43%. Provincially, food bank usage has gone up 26%, but in Cape Breton, it has gone up 50%, with usage in Sydney jumping to 75-80%.
The residents of Cape Breton, and in the CBRM in particular, are struggling. We need a council that understands that and fights tooth and nail to fix it.
That could be you.
Registration to run for the CBRM council is open until September 10th. Consider running, consider raising your voice to help your fellow Cape Bretoners, consider fighting for change.
For more information, visit: https://www.cbrm.ns.ca/elections-candidates.html