Municipal amalgamation

New Brunswick towns will merge. But only if the province agrees.

Our government received a report today entitled Local Governance Report: Building Stronger Local Governments and Regions. The report, referred to in the MSM as the Finn Report (named for author Jean-Guy Finn.

In a lengthy article, CBC notes that Premier Shawn Graham has put amalgamations on the back burner, saying that dealing with the economy is more important right now.

I think Graham's (public) reasoning is flawed. The report on Municipal Governance is meant to help create cities and communities that better serve citizens and create a tax and regional management structure that is more fair and efficient.

My guess is that Graham and his advisors know that municipal boundaries die hard. He likely knows that merging some communities with their neighbours won't make the Liberal Government too popular in some areas.

I will have to look at the report in more depth over my Christmas vacation, but what I see seems reasonable. I think the recommendation to merge Rothesay and Quispamsis is the most notable idea for the Saint John area. The merger would make the KV towns (along with a part of Norton, a part of Westfield and the Kingston) one municipality. If that municipality existed in 2006, it's population would have been 30,894 at the time of the census.

A map of Regional Service District 9 also shows some changes to the City of Saint John; Saint John would be merged with a portion of Westfield, a portion of Lepreau, a portion of Simonds and Musquash. If I'm reading the map correctly Mispec would be part of the city after the merger.

This proposal excites me.