Whether or not the three municipalities of the Town of Westlock, Westlock County and the Village of Clyde amalgamate into one single entity will ultimately be up to their respective councils and voters.
We are not the ones to make that call; although we do have the audacity to make it known we favour that course of action.
With that in mind, we are pleased to see that the amalgamation topic has moved from simply being discussed by like-minded area residents to being formally discussed around the Westlock County council table.
Granted that formal discussion did not come to any concrete conclusions, as the motion to contribute to funding a comprehensive impact study was tabled.
But the fact the discussion happened at all means the possibility of merging the town, county and Clyde is being taken seriously.
In addition, reeve Charles Navratil’s open-minded stance that amalgamation is something that is worthwhile “if both municipalities are onside” speaks volumes.
Although Navratil is only one vote on council, the fact the reeve is coming out in conditional support of the creation of a single government representing all of Westlock means the notion is politically palatable.
Now, with two other municipalities still needing to be involved in the conversation, and one of those currently at risk of dissolving under completely different circumstances, having the county talk about it doesn’t really mean much.
And Navratil’s conditional support also does mean much, at the moment, because we don’t know whether he plans to run in this fall’s election.
Amalgamation needs to be discussed at Westlock town council, and to a lesser extent at Clyde village council. Around both those tables, councillors need to approach the topic with an open mind — they must not summarily dismiss the notion out of hand just because it would result in the disappearance of their own municipalities.
There are benefits and drawbacks to everything.
But it should become clear if and when proper studies are conducted, that having only one governing body taking care of nearly 14,000 people will make things easier for everyone.
There will be no arguing between municipalities over where new businesses are located. There will be no disagreements over who should provide services to whom. And the area will be able to speak with one strong voice.
