Town without the name

Tignish looking to change its municipal status

Tignish could be a town in the making. Tignish Community Council chair Allan McInnis reported during the community’s annual meeting Monday night that council has made application to the Department of Municipal Affairs for town status.

“We have sewer and we have water; we have more than what communities usually have. We have town status without the name,” the mayor-in-waiting explained to residents.

The motion to apply for town status was made during a special meeting following the February monthly meeting. McInnis told residents he hoped a decision on the application would have been made in time for the annual meeting. That didn’t happen. He is expecting it will be discussed during next week’s provincial cabinet meeting.

As a hub for several surrounding communities, McInnis said Tignish already acts like a town and is regarded as a town by other municipalities. “The time to move on it is now,” he said. Changes are coming to the Municipalities Act which would require communities to have 4,000 residents before applying to town status. Tignish has just under 1,000 residents.

McInnis noted that Tignish would not incur additional costs because of the change.

“It is a good thing,” said former Tignish councillor, Ed Gallant. “One thing it will show you is the community has a little bit more status as a town.” Without a change in status, under the proposed changes to the Municipalities Act, Tignish would become the Rural Municipality of Tignish.