Task force recommends amalgamation for small N.B. communities

The head of a local service district in New Brunswick says amalgamation of small municipalities and local service districts makes sense.

Amalgamation of smaller communities was among the recommendations in the latest report from the Self-Sufficiency Task Force, released Friday. The force was established by Premier Shawn Graham as part of his plan to make New Brunswick self-sufficient within the next two decades.

Neil LeBlanc, chairman of a round table looking at amalgamation of Grande-Digue, Shediac Bridge and Cocagne, said forming one rural community would give people more control over development in their area.

LeBlanc is getting a lot of feedback from people in his community, and many don't share his enthusiasm for amalgamation.

"The number one thing they're afraid of is taxes going up," he said. "They look at what you pay on property taxes in the city and they say, 'Well we can't afford that, and we don't want them to go up that high here.'"

Taxes will only go up slightly, LeBlanc said, but he tells people that the more they want for their community, the more they'll have to pay. He tells them it's a trade-off: a rural district with a mayor and councillors gives communities control over services, zoning and development.

"The trend today is people leaving the cities and moving to rural communities, either with cottages or permanent housing," LeBlanc said. "In our area, we don't have the land divided into commercial and residential, so in that case, we should be looking at doing it. That's one of the first things we have to do, if we become a rural community, is set up the zoning areas."

Most peopleagree that it's really hard to get things done as a local service district, LeBlanc said.

"When you go to a minister and try to get something for your own area, he's got to talk to 265, so you're getting very little of his attention," he said.

LeBlanc's round table is planning a series of public meetings at the end of May, then it will hold a plebiscite in late June.

He says he is prepared to take no for an answer, but he thinks the province will force the issue eventually, on the advice of the task force.