CBN joint council calling for regionalization
By Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Olivia Bradbury
The Joint Council of Conception Bay North wants to meet with Municipal Affairs Minister Barry Petten to discuss regionalization.
The topic was added to the September 24 joint council meeting agenda by Cupids Mayor Rod Delaney, who was unable to attend in person. Delaney’s suggestion was that members of the joint council meet with the minister in person during the Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador conference in St. John’s in November.
Delaney and two other representatives from the joint council attended the MNL’s Avalon and Eastern Regional Meeting in September. Delaney said they gained a consensus that the Province must restart discussions on regionalization.
“Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province in Canada without some form of county system — the only one out of 10,” Delaney wrote. “During the roundtable session there was a great deal of support by all that this topic must become an ongoing concern… Regionalization is not amalgamation, regionalization is about shared services. It is about creating efficiencies for continuing services. It is about creating affordable options and alternatives that deliver tremendous advantages for our residents.”
Delaney said pooling resources and planning for emergency services, capital works projects, roads and development, would be improved with a shared approach.
“The Province must take the lead on this immense undertaking,” said Delaney. “We need the Province to establish what the framework would look like, and this can only be realized if it starts engagement with municipalities in good faith… The very survival of rural Newfoundland and Labrador has been in peril for quite some time. This is about asking for policy for investing in the future of Conception Bay North, and for that matter all rural Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Delaney’s motion was seconded by Harbour Grace Mayor Terry Barnes. Joint council chairman Geoff Seymour, who is mayor of Bay Roberts, then opened the topic for discussion.
“If we don’t go with regionalization we are going to have to look at our own communities and ask where we’re going to be in five years,” said Victoria Mayor Sharon Penney. “We have fire departments that are astronomically expensive to run. In many cases, we have a duplication of services within a very small area. We are now finding ourselves with the additional problem of anything that we need for our council to do some of its major work is going to come with tariffs attached. Those things will all have an economic impact on our communities that we, as small towns, will not be able to absorb.”
Penney added many towns are not compliant with federal wastewater management and water and sewer requirements and have been given deadlines by which they must be in compliance.
“The only way that those topics and those massively expensive projects are going to be able to be realized is through a regionalized structure,” said Penney, noting the joint council has a bigger voice than any individual town.
“To protect ourselves, to protect our communities and the families within our communities, we need to realize that regionalization is our only option,” said Penney.
All present voted in favour of requesting a meeting with Petten to discuss regionalization.