Province offers Antigonish town, county councils consolidation legislation

Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr has offered Antigonish town and county governments the introduction of special provincial legislation to consolidate them into one municipality.

The offer comes with a caveat – that the councils each pass a second motion asking for the special legislation.

Despite significant opposition both councils narrowly passed motions to consolidate in October 2022.

“With more than a year having passed since this resolution and now having the clarity of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision affirming the right of municipal units to make a request of the [rovincial government to introduce special legislation amalgamating your communities, I felt it prudent to follow up,” Lohr wrote to the two councils Wednesday in a letter obtained by The Chronicle Herald.

“The province is seeking confirmation from the Town of Antigonish and the County of Antigonish that your position remains that you wish to consolidate your municipal units. Given the decision and the clarity from the court, the considerable discourse and public engagement on the subject, and the time that has passed since the initial resolution, we would ask you to conduct an updated vote of council and provide us with an updated request.”

The legislature’s spring sitting will begin Feb. 27.

Antigonish Town Council is hosting an online emergency meeting on Tuesday to vote again on seeking the special legislation.

A letter written to councillors by outgoing chief administrative officer Jeff Lawrence recommended the virtual format.

“Based on the experience for both staff and council at the Oct. 20,2022, special meeting on consolidation, I am recommending that Tuesday’s meeting be held virtually,” reads the letter.

“A virtual meeting would eliminate the safety concerns I have for both staff and council. The environment in council chambers during the last meeting related to consolidation was intimidating and as an outgoing CAO I have a duty to protect the well-being of staff who would be present and councillors.”

 Some 150 people protested the consolidation motion at the Antigonish County council office in 2022, with a roughly equal number at Town Hall. There were loud chants of “Let us vote” and “Pleblicite” along with jeers and boos when the motions were passed.

Three Antigonish County residents, Anne-Marie Long, J. Therese Penney and Alicia Vink, took county council to court last summer over the motion. They argued through their lawyer, Donald MacDonald, that the town and county councils had overstepped their authority by seeking to bypass existing processes to amalgamation via the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.

The three plaintiffs are members of the concerned citizens group Let Antigonish Decide, which has advocated for a plebiscite by holding community meetings, protests and erecting signs around both the town and county.

Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Peter Gabriel ruled the councils acted within the scope of their authority in seeking the special legislation to consolidate.

“Should a municipal council, as described above, go ahead and make that request without a plebiscite or vote of the affected populations? That question is a profoundly political one,” reads Gabriel’s decision.

“For a court to even attempt to address it, in my view, would be inappropriate.”

A Mainstreet Research Poll commissioned last April by Let Antigonish Decide found that 70.4 per cent of residents believed the matter should go to a vote. The telephone poll had a 5.3 percentage point margin of error with 95 per cent confidence.

Antigonish Town Mayor Laurie Boucher and County Warden Owen McCarron have argued that joining in one municipality would create efficiencies and give the councils a larger voice when working with provincial and federal governments.

“This is not about me, I’m 60, this is about putting the community in a position where we’re relevant, sustainable on our own and won’t be victim to another level of government putting us in a position we don’t want to be in,” McCarron said after the October 2022 vote.