Black on why it’s not a good idea to give Minister Daniel Allain veto power over municipal by-laws
In today’s Tantramar Report we talk to Tantramar mayor Andrew Black about his concerns with the provincial government’s new Bill 45, which critics say gives Minister Daniel Allain too much power over municipal by-laws. We also check out the Environmental Trust Fund awards that will go towards projects in the Tantramar region, including another year of funding for Tantramar’s climate change coordinator. Plus more news briefs…
‘Be part of this historic initiative’: Allain tries to drum up more candidates for municipal elections
There is just one week to go for candidates to nominate themselves for municipal elections in New Brunswick, and so far there are just eight candidates registered with Elections NB for the new town of Tantramar.
Tantramar Candidates according to Elections NB unofficial list
Mayor
Shawn Mesheau
Ward 1 (Dorchester) – One councillor seat available
Debbie Wiggins-Colwell
Robert Corkerton
Ward 2 (West Sackville/Rockport) – One councillor seat available
None
Ward 3 (Sackville) – Four councillor seats available
Mike Tower
Josh Goguen
Allison Butcher
Ward 4 (Upper Sackville/Midgic) – One councillor seat available
Matt Estabrooks
Ward 5 (Point de Bute/Aulac) – One councillor seat available
Greg Martin
Current Sackville councillor Sabine Dietz says she will be running in Ward 4 (Upper Sackville/Midgic) though she has yet to register.
Two current Sackville councillors have informed CHMA they will not be running: Bill Evans and Ken Hicks. Others are expected to declare candidacy soon, including Andrew Black and Bruce Phinney.
Counting Dietz as a candidate, there are just two actual elections guaranteed to take place in Tantramar, with no contest so far for Mayor, councillors in Ward 3 (Sackville), and councillor in Ward 5 (Point de Bute). There are no candidates whatsoever for councillor in Ward 2 (West Sackville).
There are also no candidates for the elected advisory committee for the new Southeast Rural District which is spread over eight distinct areas of the region, from north of Midgic to the Canaan Bog to the edges of Fundy National Park.… Continue
Tantramar to pony up about $60k of starter $1.5 million budget for new mandated regional services
Economic development is the biggest ticket item in the list of new mandated services to be delivered by regional service commissions in New Brunswick, at least in the southeast of the province.
As part of Minister Daniel Allain’s local government reform plan, commissions such as the South East Regional Service Commission (SERSC) will expand the number of services they provide, for which municipalities like the new town of Tantramar are required to pay.
Currently, the SERSC operates Eco360 and Plan360, handling garbage disposal and planning services for the municipalities in the region. But as of 2023, the commission will expand to include regional economic development, social and community development, regional transportation, tourism, and regional recreation infrastructure.
Earlier this month, chief financial officer Stephanie Thorne presented the commission’s draft budget for 2023, including an additional 1.5$ million ‘starter’ allocation for the new mandated services. The town of Tantramar portion of those costs will be about $59,000 in 2023, but that cost is expected to grow considerably in future, once the new services are defined and start to be delivered.
“It’s a prudent budget, we didn’t want to jump all in on the new mandated services,” Thorne told Sackville town council. “We really want to take this year to build strategies and figure out where the gaps are that we can fill.”… Continue
The future of Entity 40 full of unknowns, says Sackville CAO
By this time next year, the town of Sackville won’t exist as a legal entity, and a new, larger municipality will govern locally.
The province announced in December it will go ahead with plans to amalgamate Sackville, Dorchester and surrounding areas into a new municipal unit, despite protest from both Sackville and Dorchester councils. In December, Mayor Shawn Mesheau sent in a counter proposal to the department of local government, suggesting that it leave the town of Sackville as is and amalgamate Dorchester, Port Elgin, and surrounding areas into an even larger municipality. The proposal was developed at an in camera meeting of council, so the discussions were not recorded and remain outside public scrutiny.
In an email, department spokesperson Anne Mooers says her colleagues reviewed the Sackville proposal and “determined that the best way forward to benefit the area for the next generation was to bring the two local governments [Sackville and Dorchester] together.”
“We look forward to working through the transition with them and supporting them,” writes Mooers.
But just exactly what that transition will look like is still largely unknown outside Mooers’ department.
CHMA spoke to Sackville CAO Jamie Burke last week to find out what he knows so far about the process.