The journey of 1,000 miles begins with a first step.
For years, via editorials and columns in this newspaper, we’ve spoken about the need to at least begin looking at the possibility of forming a single municipality that would include the town, county and village. But talk is cheap.
Finally, the first step toward that union played out at the Westlock Inn last week.
On July 18, more than 30 people attended a meeting organized by a local group which is interested in pursuing amalgamation.
Guest speakers Lac La Biche mayor Aurel Langevin and Ward 3 Coun. Guy Piquette talked about the process and answered questions from the crowd, which included four county councillors and two town councillors. The former Town of Lac La Biche and Lakeland County joined in 2007 to form Lac La Biche County — the Village of Plamondon had already dissolved to become a hamlet within the county a few years before.
“Amalgamation works,” Langevin said. “It works very very well.”
Granted the circumstances and economics in Lac La Biche and Westlock are entirely different.
In the case of LLB, you had a town which seemed to teeter on financial ruin, due to a lack of assessment, and a county whose coffers were overflowing from oil and gas money.
Combining the two made sense — ultimately county residents voted 53 per cent in favour while 93 per cent of town residents agreed to the marriage.
In the case of Westlock, neither the town, or county, are sitting on a pot of gold. There isn’t billions of dollars in oil and gas assessment in the county, nor is there a mega factory in the town that boosts its bottom line.
Both are, relatively speaking, poor — especially in comparison to municipalities like Lac La Biche or Strathcona County.
And as reeve Charles Navtratil stated, amalgamation won’t solve the area’s money woes.
So, should they join? That’s a question no one can answer until more facts are on the table.
Ultimately the committee is going to begin pursuing an amalgamation study — another initial step in this 1,000 mile journey.
Kudos to the group for starting the march.
