New Brunswick grassroots poverty reduction networks will be folded into the 12 regional service commissions as part of the province’s ongoing overhaul of the local government system.
As of Jan. 1, the number of municipal entities in the province will be slashed from 340 to 90 and regional service commissions (RSCs) will take on an expanded role in delivering services. The 12 RSCs, which mostly handled solid waste collection in the past, will now be responsible for tourism marketing, economic development, transportation and poverty reduction across their respective regions.
In order to help with the latter two responsibilities, Community Inclusion Networks (CINs) will be transferred from the Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation to the RSCs.
Executive director of Economic and Social Inclusion Stéphane Leclair says the transfer will come with staff, funding and subject matter expertise.
“All of a sudden, they have a tool with some capacity which has been working in that sector for 12 years and will join their team that they already have within the RSCs,” he said.
In 2022, the budget spread across the 12 CINs was $561,826. The grassroots organizations were set up to implement the nine priority areas of the province’s poverty reduction plan at a community level and run a variety of different programs, mostly based around transportation. Leclair said expertise will be crucial as RSCs develop a mandatory plan for regional transportation next year.
But, concerns over the transfer of the programs remain.
Green Party leader David Coon said he worries that the CINs may not be as effective in providing the sort of supports they believe are needed in the community.
The programs provided by CINs vary from community to community. The capital region runs a navigator program to help at-risk youth get access to therapy, helping to remove barriers and provide timely access to help. In the Restigouche, for example, CIN provides health eating training and connects people with sport and leisure programs.
Coon said he worries the focus on the needs of individual communities could be lost when the networks are folded into the regional bodies that will be guided by municipal representatives from around a given region.
“I’m concerned that the provincial government is sort of predetermining what local governments want to see happen with the CINs, they’re supposed to be grassroots based and grassroots led organizations to address needs identified in local areas,” he said.
“That shouldn’t be predetermined. If they are going to be to rolled into the RSCs, let the mayors and their councillors and the citizens they consult with determine how best to use those dollars to benefit those living in poverty in their region.”
As the RSCs prepare to take on their new mandates, concerns over cost have been expressed by many. The government will phase out the core funding grant over the next five years, with those amounts going towards the RSCs, but the Union of Municipalities said it worries it won’t be enough to cover the increased costs of providing the new services expected of RSCs.
“As part of municipal reform, Regional Service Commissions will be mandated to offer new services in the areas of economic development, tourism and community development, items which have historically been the province’s responsibilities,” UNMB executive director Dan Murphy said in a statement earlier this month.
“Under the government’s proposed changes 26 communities, ranging in size from the Town of Riverview to the Village of McAdam, will see a net loss.”
Local government minister Daniel Allain has maintained that the province has given municipalities adequate fiscal capacity to handle the shift in funding by allowing them to set a separate property tax rate for non-residential properties.
But Coon said the changes are part of a pattern where the provincial government is increasingly downloading the responsibilities for services to municipalities and may mean that municipalities in different regions aren’t able to offer services equitably.
However, Leclair said RSCs won’t be alone as they look to tackle poverty, rather the changes ensure that they have a formal seat at the table.
“The RSCs aren’t getting the full mandate, they’re getting a mandate to collaborate and bring partners together at the regional level,” he said.
“They’re not all going to be responsible for housing tomorrow.”
The change will formally take place at the start of 2023, when the new municipal entities across the province will come into effect.