Long-awaited Statements of Public Interest could undermine authority of local councils
When Tantramar finally gets around to reviewing, updating, and consolidating its municipal plans, there could be a new set of province-wide principles to follow.
At the end of June, the province released draft Statements of Public Interest to help steer municipalities when creating and amending their community plans. Brand new Local Government Minister Glen Savoie says the new statements will help accomplish, ”consistent standards for land-use planning to be effective in the province.” A feedback period on the statements ends this Friday.
The draft statements cover five topics: settlement patterns, agriculture, climate change, flood and natural hazard areas, and natural resources. (Scroll down to read the statements, or find the draft in PDF form here.) The document reads like a sort of value system for municipal planning, though an unprioritized one, including things like development of natural resources and environmental protection, without guidance on what should take precedence.
The New Brunswick Association of Planners has been advocating for New Brunswick to adopt Statements of Public Interest, or SPIs, for over ten years now, according to president Andrew Smith.
“New Brunswick is one of the last provinces in Canada to implement SPIs,” says Smith via email. “Although the proposed [statements] are generalized and aspirational in nature, they set out the initial basis for this much needed provincial policy framework for New Brunswick,” he writes.
But politics professor and former municipal councillor Geoff Martin sees the potential for the vagueness of the proposed SPIs to result in an uneven implementation of the principles.… Continue
Hefty raises on the way for new Tantramar mayor and council
There are big changes ahead for how mayors and municipal councillors are compensated in New Brunswick.
In the new town of Tantramar, the salaries for mayor, deputy mayor and seven town councillors will be roughly triple that of current salaries for Sackville town council. That’s according to numbers published recently by the department of local government.
The new mayor of Tantramar, to be elected on November 28, will make about $47,000 per year, that’s a $32,000 raise compared to the current Sackville mayor, who gets about $15,000 per year.
Councillors in the new town will get $23,650 per year, an increase of $15,000 over the current rate of compensation for Sackville councillors, which is about $8,000.
Tantramar’s deputy mayor, elected by the new council sometime after November 28, will make just over $28,000. That’s roughly $19,000 more than the current Sackville deputy mayor.
Tantramar is larger than Sackville both by population and physical size. The new municipality has a tax base of just over $1 billion. The 2021 tax base for the town of Sackville was about $662 million.
While the province has ultimate authority in all municipal matters regarding the new town of Tantramar, the recommendation to triple salaries came from the local elected officials advisory committee, which is made up of:
- Sackville mayor Shawn Mesheau
- Sackville town councillor Matt Estabrooks
- Dorchester deputy mayor Robert Corkerton
- Dorchester mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell
- Pointe de Bute LSD representative Mary Ellen Trueman
- Pointe de Bute LSD representative Greg Martin
- Sackville LSD representative Chris Milner
- Dorchester LSD representative Matt Beal
So far, all but Mary Ellen Trueman, Chris Milner, and Matt Beal have put their names forward as candidates for November 28 elections.… Continue