FALL RIVER: The local councillor has said what many in District 2, and other outlying areas, have felt for quite some time – the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) isn’t concerned about anyone outside of Halifax.
Barry Dalrymple, who represents District 2 (Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank) of HRM regional council, was emphatic in saying HRM was solely focused on Halifax and nothing outside the city’s limits.
“Absolutely,” Dalrymple said. “It’s there every week (at council meetings). Every single week that’s exactly what it boils down to, trying to get some kind of reasonable fair share for these rural districts.”
He doesn’t feel the me-first attitudes from councillors who represent Halifax will be easily changed. He believes it will take work, something he and other rural councillors are determined to do.
“I think as long as there are way more urban councillors then there are rural suburban councillors we will always face this battle,” he added.
Dalrymple said it seems to be a difficult task each week to ensure his residents aren’t forgotten or passed over when deliberations are being made amongst his fellow council colleagues.
“When it comes to money, it’s an uphill battle, no question about it,” he said. “It’s there every week and you see that right now on the tax reform committee and the debates on tax reform that have been ongoing now for months. Urban councillors, for the most part, want to keep the status quo because they pay x amount of taxes and they get every single service the HRM provides. Out here we pay x amount of taxes and every single thing we want we have to area rate, use a Local Improvement Charge (LIC) or whatever, like paying for it ourselves.
“At the end of the day, we still don’t get most of the services the urban areas take for granted.”
phealey@enfieldweeklypress.com