Town of Barrhead Council recently made a motion to start amalgamation talks with the County of Barrhead.
Unfortunately, the Town forgot to inform the County of their decision to move forward. Instead, they elected to contact the Minister of Municipal Affairs first and force the County to the table.
To be honest, I agree with the Town that amalgamation is the right way to go for the two municipalities but I cannot condone going about it the way the Town did. How can the Town expect the County to be willing negotiating partners when they meet for amalgamation talks the very first time? Town of Barrhead Mayor Gerry St. Pierre addressed that very concern.
“Some of the County Councillors will probably be belligerent the first time we meet with a mediator to discuss amalgamation talks but I am okay with that. I didn’t take this job to make friends with everyone. Hopefully, I can, but that wasn’t my objective. If it means having an abrasive relationship to begin with fine but I know after doing that (going through the process), eventually relationships will improve. I am not here campaigning for next election; I am here to get things done.”
If you drive into any small municipality in Alberta, most of the municipalities are discussing inter-municipal negotiation and cooperation along with amalgamation. The Town certainly hasn’t made many friends among the County Councillors after forcing them to the table but unfortunately, amalgamation is more than likely the right way to go.
Over the past two years, I saw the amalgamation process firsthand. Suffice it to say, it was very interesting. Whether or not Municipal Affairs chooses to bring in a mediator to help the two local municipalities, it is going to be a very long road. There will be some heated discussions regarding what is right or best for the region and its residents as well as debates about how the new governing body will be set up. For instance, would the new government have one Council of eight people elected at large with one mayor, as St. Pierre thinks is best or will it be some other concept or idea.
The first thing the Town and County have to agree on is if amalgamation is the right way to go and based on the early signs, it will take both parties a couple of years just to agree on that. If they do agree, then the two municipalities will bring in a third party to complete a Regional Collaboration Study, which is designed to provide three to five different scenarios regarding amalgamation. Once the two municipalities agree on the different options that could be explored, the third party will conduct a series of open houses with residents across the area. After the open houses are completed, the third party will gather more information, bring that information back to the Councils, and then finally hold another series of meetings with residents.
If there is an overwhelming consensus of what should be done as it relates to amalgamation and it is not a drastic change, the two Councils will vote on it and however the vote goes, will be the answer. If there is a consensus that is drastic, there will be a plebiscite in each municipality and finally, the provincial government will need to give their approval before any drastic form of amalgamation becomes reality. These are just some of the next steps the two municipalities have to look forward to now that the Town has taken the first step.
As I have said earlier, I believe amalgamation is the right way to go for both the County and the Town for one reason. In other areas of the province, when amalgamation is brought up, a fight begins because one municipality doesn’t want to lose an industry out of their area into another. For example, if a municipality has all of the oil and gas in their area currently and they don’t want to lose it, they will always say no to amalgamation. But if they amalgmate they would have to share all of the profits from that industry.
The Town and County don’t have that issue because there is not one big industry in the area to fight over. It makes more sense to amalgamate because amalgamation will combine two tax bases, two municipal resources, and provide residents with one governing body with one, united voice.
If the Town brought amalgamation to the forefront for any of these reasons I applaud them. If they brought it to the forefront because they thought it would help them get a pool completed, think again. All they have done is postpone a pool for the next 18-24 months.
