Changes to the laws regarding how municipalities govern themselves will be reviewed in a much more timely manner as the New Brunswick government plans to revisit the Local Governance Act after a seven-year time frame.
READ MORE: Sweeping changes coming to New Brunswick municipalities, community planning acts
The Municipalities Act, originally enacted in the 1960s, has been recently updated by the Local Governance Act which is designed to bring laws regarding municipal level governments to current standards.
“We always said right from the start this is a modernization from the act not a reform, so it gives flexibility if something was overseen,” explained Environment & Local Government Minister Serge Rousselle at a committee meeting. “It was never our intention to do a complete reform in that regard.”
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Rousselle indicates updating the years old laws were a high priority for his government in this mandate, but the process isn’t over and won’t be even past the next four year legislative term.
The new act will go through a seven-year review period at which time stakeholders will be able to voice their opinions to the minister responsible.
“When you are making such major changes in an act,” Rousselle said. “It should be a necessity that after a couple years there be a complete review.”
Fredericton South MLA and N.B. Green Party Leader David Coon believes a review is a good idea, but moved to amend the act so that the entire legislative assembly be responsible after the time frame expires.
“If it’s the legislative assembly then we have particular procedures, but if it’s the minister then it seems to me if it were to go that way the nature of that review needs to be prescribed by regulation,” Coon said in the meeting.
His motion was defeated, however Rousselle assures the legislative assembly as a whole will still have their say in seven years time.
“The legislative assembly will receive the report after the review and then the legislative assembly will be able to do whatever it sees fit to improve this act,” Rousselle explained.
Still Coon raised questions about wording in the act that he doesn’t think are properly defined and could be too vague.
“Right now there’s no direction to what kind of review other than comprehensive and that’s kind of a subjective modifier here,” Coon said. “So it’s wide open.”
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