Conception Harbour mayor miffed by Province’s rejection of regionalization

By Mark Squibb \ May 5, 2023

In February of 2022, representatives from Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL), the Professional Municipal Administrators of Newfoundland and Labrador (PMA), and the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs, released the Joint Working Group Report and Recommendations, which recommended that “a regional governance structure be implemented as soon as possible.”

Last Wednesday, Municipal and Provincial Affairs Minister Krista Lynn Howell announced government will not be following through on that recommendation, arguing the province’s large geographic area and lack of population density makes such a policy unfeasible.

Howell said most parts of the province could not provide the necessary tax base to support an additional layer of government as proposed by the report.

The Working Group recommended the province be divided in 25 municipal service regions. Government announced it will instead provide $500,000 for initiatives to address service gaps, review the Regional Services Boards Act to determine if there is a renewed role for the boards to improve access to services and service delivery, and offer all communities a self-assessment plan to identify gaps and opportunities for collaboration.

Conception Harbour Mayor Craig Williams was none too pleased with the news, saying the decision to forgo the recommendations pushes responsibility back onto municipalities.

“After today’s announcement on regionalization, I don’t want to say its dead in water, but I’m not happy with it,” Williams told his colleagues during last Wednesday’s public council meeting.

Williams is one of four Conception Bay Centre mayors who have gone all in on regionalization in recent years.

Back in 2019, the mayors of Harbor Main-Chapels Cove-Lakeview, Conception Harbour, Avondale, and Colliers signed a regionalization memorandum of understanding (MOU) that was good for two years. Following its expiration last year, the four mayors signed a new MOU, this one good for five years.

Through collaborative efforts, the four communities have been able to cost share regional firefighting costs and hoped to collaborate on other services.

Williams said he would be meeting with the other mayors later in the week to discuss the matter further.

“We’ll have to look at the changes and see how we continue from here,” said Williams. “It kind of took the wind out of my sails.”

He added the communities had asked government for help on how to tender regional waste collection and were referred to a model used by regions in Nova Scotia.

“I think we can probably still continue on with some aspects of our regionalization plan, like our sharing of services,” said Williams. “Our communities are 11 kilometres apart. Our recreation commission is already doing it. Our fire departments are already doing it, they’ve been doing it for years. I think it goes back to Roncalli Central High. We all went to the same school.”