Residents of Antigonish town and county, it’s time to have your say.
Following years of inquiries, both municipalities recently launched a public engagement process to invite input from residents on a possible consolidation.
“… we took a real serious look at it and looked at the possibilities and what it could do for our community,” says Town of Antigonish Mayor Laurie Boucher.
During the past few years, the town and county have partnered on many projects such as hosting the National Special Olympics, construction of the Antigonish Skatepark, community dog park and physician retention that have proved fruitful for the entire community.
“We realized that we can do a lot more by working together …,” says Boucher. “Collaboration with your neighbours is very important.”
Reaching out to Nova Scotia Municipal Affairs and consulting areas that have been consolidated for 25 years, the town and county have been doing their research.
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“We’ve watched some successful consolidations over the years; Queens and Liverpool come to mind,” says Antigonish County Warden Owen McCarron. “With half the population of Antigonish town and county, they’ve done many wonderful things in their community — a lot of infrastructure and built a great relationship with other levels of government when advocating for programs within their community.”
Having one municipal government in the Antigonish area would allow for even more collaborative efforts and leverage more opportunities instead of competing for funding from other levels of government and investment opportunities. Consolidating may also be a more efficient use of existing resources (water and sewer) to provide a high level of service to residents living in Antigonish’s urban and rural areas.
“If we became one unit, we would certainly be looked at more favourably from the other levels of government when it comes to infrastructure and doing things that would enhance the growth of our community,” says McCarron. “The benefits of development and planning then accrue to everybody.”
But what does everybody think? That’s what the town and county want to know before making a decision — which will not be a plebiscite affair.
“We’ve seen in the past that plebiscites can be very divisive here in the town and county and we don’t have the appetite to do that,” says Boucher. “We’re making a very extended attempt to reach everybody that wants to have a say in the process and we believe that will serve the community much better than a plebiscite.”
Public consultations began in early April and will continue for about the next three weeks. Attempting to hold 18 sessions, Antigonish town and county will host talks in every municipal district and the town. Pop-up events at locations like the farmers’ market and virtual sessions will offer more opportunities.
The response, so far, has been good, says Boucher.
“We’ve had some really good questions from the community. People have concerns but then we have other people that are very optimistic as well,” says Boucher.
She adds the sessions also provide an opportunity to dispel myths surrounding the adverse effects consolidation could bring. One common concern is taxation.
Have your say
A news release from the Town of Antigonish offers the following ways to participate:
- Go to Antigonish.ca or check out the insert in the County Connect magazine.
- Anyone can leave feedback or comments by calling toll-free at 1-833-563-2786 or 1-833-563-2787 and leaving a voicemail for staff, who will follow or emailing questions and comments to [email protected].
“There’s no indication that consolidation will have a significant change in taxes — that’s one thing people are a little bit relieved about when you can show numbers and prove it to them,” says Boucher. “Of course, there’s no way to predict the future; all you can do is make an educated forecast with what’s happened in the past. But, both municipalities are very strong financially ...”
Maintaining the respective identities of each district under one municipal government is also important to residents.
“One of our guiding principles going through this process is to make sure that our individual communities remain very vibrant,” says Boucher.
McCarron adds, “each community has a rich cultural background. They’ve lasted for hundreds of years and will continue to last. We’re too steeped in tradition to lose identity.”
A joint council is expected to decide on consolidation in June. If a decision to proceed with consolidation is made, the town and county will approach the province for support with special legislation and transition funding with an aim to create a joint municipality in April 2024.
If the decision is not to proceed with the merger, the municipalities will continue to exist in their present form.
Boucher notes information is readily available via staff and counsellors, a website dedicated to the consolidation process (Antigonish.ca), a discussion platform called Howspace, and a phone number residents can call to leave voice messages.
“Whether you’re in favour of consolidation or have concerns with consolidation, we want to hear your voice,” says Boucher.
Boucher and McCarron said they ultimately want to best serve their communities.
“I want progress and a sustainable future,” says Boucher. “We have a beautiful community filled with great people. I want it to grow, provide more services, attract business and people to live here and maintain a vibrant, healthy community.”
“This is more about looking 20 or 30 years out so we can look back and say, hopefully, that it was a good decision because we remained a very strong community,” says McCarron. “It’s not necessarily about today; it’s really about the future.”
