No man’s land
Trivers asks why premier’s brother’s land wasn’t included in proposal
An Opposition MLA is questioning how a 60-acre parcel of property owned by Premier Wade MacLauchlan’s brother was left out of a proposed amalgamation of three north shore communities.
During question period Tuesday, Trivers noted the land owned by Roger MacLauchlan is essentially in the middle of the proposed boundaries of a new amalgamated municipality proposed by North Shore, Pleasant Grove and Grand Tracadie.
However, it was the only area in the boundary that was not included in a map of the proposed amalgamation, which Trivers tabled in the legislature.
“This government, led by this premier, is going out across the Island. They put in a new Municipal Government Act and they’re saying that annexation is good for Islanders,” said Trivers.
“However, it appears that annexation is not good enough for the MacLauchlan family.” When answering Trivers’ questions, Premier MacLauchlan said the matter was being dealt with and would not hold up the amalgamation. MacLauchlan described the situation as an “anomaly,” and described how his greatgrandparents had originally purchased a farm in Stanhope in 1864.
No one had lived on the 60acre parcel of the land in question and as school districts were configured and later communities formed, the property was not included.
“This goes back to 1864, a long time before some people across the floor were around here. The question of incorporating that land in the amalgamation is indeed being dealt with,” said MacLauchlan.
While the property’s Geolinc details describe it as being in Pleasant Grove, a spokesperson for the province said the property is not part of the three existing municipalities that submitted the proposal. The spokesperson said similar situations exist in other areas of the province.
The spokesperson also said the owner has stated they would be “agreeable” to being included in the amalgamation if the proposal is amended.
Trivers was unsatisfied with the answers from question period, later noting that other areas currently in the amalgamation process have included unincorporated areas.
“It’s pretty simple... whether it’s part of any of the existing municipalities or not, when you do a restructuring as per the (Municipal Government Act) you annex pieces of land and make it part of the new municipality,” said Trivers, who also questioned whether the property had been owned by the family since 1864.
“We still don’t have an explanation and we’d be asking these questions regardless of whether it was the premier’s brother that owned the property. Regardless of who owns it, it’s still weird it’s not part of the proposal.”