The department of municipal affairs announced on Thursday that Bill 407 — the Antigonish Consolidation Act — will not be proceeding.
The province scrapped plans to consolidate the town and county of Antigonish following a town hall meeting attended by Premier Tim Houston at which hundreds of area residents voiced concerns on the issue.
“It became clear from speaking to people that there was a very broad sense in the community that they didn’t have enough information,” Houston told media Friday.
“So, as I say, when I get more information, I can change my mind.”
N.S. Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr said that the province respects the work that went into the plans by councils, the mayor and warden, but there was a significant amount of public pushback.
“It’s a very divisive issue in the community, and we didn’t feel that it had broad public support,” Lohr said.
The change came as a surprise to Antigonish’s town mayor and county warden, as the premier strongly supported the viewpoint of the municipalities only days prior.
“If we’re going to believe in the strength of our democracy at its core, then we have to respect the decisions of elected people, even when we don’t like them,” Houston said at the town hall meeting on Tuesday.
However, the premier said Friday that the large, engaged and informed crowd earlier this week made it clear that the province needs more information before deciding on amalgamation.
“He very clearly articulated that this here was the decision of two municipal governments that voted, both voted two times, to consolidate by majority vote, and that he was not going to stand in the way of that,” said County Warden Owen McCarron.
“But it appears to me that the province unilaterally shut us down based on pressure from an activist group.”
That point was reiterated by Town of Antigonish Mayor Laurie Boucher, who was “shocked and dumbfounded” by the premier’s phone call on Thursday morning to let them know that the bill wouldn’t be going through.
“We’ve done everything we could, that we were asked,” Boucher said. “We opened our books to each other, we opened our books to the public.”
Both Antigonish leaders said they feel strongly that the area would have been better off as one municipality.
“We’re confident that this would have saved our taxpayers a lot of money, would have made us more competitive on a provincial level and just having us in-sync would have been much better,” Boucher said. “But it’s not meant to be this time around.”
Members of the group Let Antigonish Decide were excited by the premier’s change of heart after two years of voicing their concerns.
“He listened to the people, he heard the people and he respected that. So, for that he gets our respect,” said group member Terry Penny.
She said this change shows that the voice of the little person can make a difference.
“I think that’s what we demonstrated so strongly — this community did — that yes, you can make a difference when things are wrong,” Penny said.
Now that the bill will no longer proceed, Penny believes the community can begin to heal from the ordeal and focus on moving forward.
“We fought for information and the citizen’s right to have a voice. Give us that, and we’ll see where consolidation goes.”
The Utility and Review Board (UARB) financial analysis that had previously been ordered by the province will no longer convene as a result of these changes.