Concerns outlined
Opposition MLAs advocate for communication, leadership on Municipal Government Act
A vocal opponent to Prince Edward Island’s new Municipal Government Act received support this week from two provincial opposition MLAs as he contends that there are problems with the yet-to-be proclaimed Act. Dave Pizio, chairman of the Greenmount-Montrose Community Improvement Committee, hosted a public discussion on the new Act, Wednesday night, attracting a dozen local residents as well as three MLAs and the acting director of the Department of Municipal Affairs and Provincial Planning, Christine MacKinnon.
A vocal opponent to Prince Edward Island’s new Municipal Government Act received support this week from two provincial opposition MLAs as he contends that there are problems with the yet-to-be proclaimed Act.
Dave Pizio, chairman of the Greenmount-Montrose Community Improvement Committee, hosted a public discussion on the new Act, Wednesday night, attracting a dozen local residents as well as three MLAs and the acting director of the Department of Municipal Affairs and Provincial Planning, Christine MacKinnon. Pizio raised concerns about the costs to small municipalities for implementing the Act, including the requirement to have an administrator in an office for at least 20 hours a week, and needing to hire a consultant for financial and land-use planning.
He suggested the government already has a mechanism in place for planning through the Regional Economic Advisory Councils it’s creating.
He also suggested the demands of the Act will require residents of small municipalities to pay higher taxes without receiving any actual additional benefits. Pizio said smaller communities will have to decide whether they continue to go it alone, amalgamate with other municipalities, annex neighbouring communities or dissolve. Pointing to a requirement in the Act that municipalities have 4,000 people and an assessed value of $250 million, he suggested dissolving might be their only option. Minister of Rural and Regional Development, Pat Murphy, reminded the meeting the Minister of Communities, Robert Mitchell, has indicated he will not force amalgamation or annexation on any community.
Green Party leader Peter Bevan-Baker said he supports the Small is Beautiful philosophy, but he said he has concerns with the status quo, noting he has seen rural P.E.I. wither and decay.
“Without land-use planning, bad things can happen. You’re opening yourself up to problems,” Bevan-Baker said
“I would like to sustain; I would like to strengthen rural areas, and I think it is possible we can do that with a wellcrafted and well-implemented municipal government plan, and that will require a far more inclusive, collaborative consultation than has happened thus far.”
If the Act is to move forward, Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Brad Trivers suggested government should do the work, figure out the boundaries and then take a plan to the people. MacKinnon said expectations have changed over the years. People’s desire to know how their municipal taxes are spent is leading to the requirement for an audit, and their concern about not being able to get to an election meeting is leading to the requirement that municipalities, big and small, hold all-day elections, she said.
“It’s that challenge of balancing how we’ve always done it with the expectations now,” she acknowledged.
“In the old days, we had playgrounds all over the place, and people built them themselves,” she said as a comparison, “but now, you need liability insurance and you have to have your playground inspected so it’s safe, and the way the requirements have changed for playgrounds is similar in terms of a municipal government: the requirements have changed over the years.”
Pizio followed up on her example: “The thing is, who has the expertise to see about that playground, but right now, it’s provincial, Access P.E.I. and all of those things.
Yes we get that, but we are going to have to go back to Ac- cess P.E.I. anyway, because they have the expertise,” he said in arguing the MGA is creating duplication and expense by inserting an extra layer of bureaucracy.