ADVOCATING AMALGAMATION
Municipalities leader says time is ripe as local revenues crater
Gordon Barnhart has a controversial opinion, one he knows could make him a pariah across much of Saskatchewan — even in communities he represents: Municipal amalgamation.
While consolidating towns, villages and rural municipalities has long been a politically fraught issue, the Municipalities of Saskatchewan president said the current situation is becoming untenable.
“I might be run out of town, but, to my mind, I think we’re starting to get close to crisis proportions, where these communities are really needing help to survive and thrive,” he said. “Without that, it’s really holding back the economic development of the province.”
Saskatchewan has 774 local governments. Barnhart said many rely on small — and shrinking — tax bases, some smaller than 100 people, that make providing services a major financial challenge.
Others have been shown to have significant governance issues.
Barnhart expects the COVID -19 pandemic, which has blown holes in operating budgets at every level of government, to amplify the difficulties facing small communities.
He envisions combining towns, villages and rural municipalities into “municipal districts,” which he believes would save money and make better use of existing resources.
“There would be savings in terms of their capital costs. Does everybody have to have a swimming pool? Does everybody have to have a grader and a garbage truck?” he said.
While amalgamation would force communities to give up some autonomy, Barnhart said it would be important to preserve their identities — names that date back decades.
There would be challenges, including taxation and representation. Barnhart proposed a unified council for each district, with a phased-in plan to get all residents on the same tax scheme.
Another difficulty would be resistance to change. He acknowledged there would likely be fear of losing control, but suggested that could be counterbalanced with larger municipal districts.
When asked how many municipal districts he would like to see in the province, Barnhart said he does not have a “magic number” but that it would be less than 774.
Regional co-operation has been proposed as an alternative by people who favour the status quo. Barnhart said that is a possibility, and has been shown to work in some areas of the province.
“If you look at municipal districts along with regional co-operation, I think there might be a solution there,” he said.
This is not the first time amalgamation has been proposed.
In 2000, a report commissioned by then-premier Roy Romanow’s NDP government suggested 1,006 local governments be consolidated into 125 districts, similar to what Barnhart is suggesting.
The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) and many people living in rural
Saskatchewan attacked the report; its author, Joe Garcea, was booed at SARM’S convention that year.
Garcea envisioned municipal districts that allowed for modest cost savings and for municipalities to pool their resources, improve service delivery and spur economic development.
Romanow’s government ultimately shelved the proposal — one of his cabinet ministers pronounced amalgamation “DOA (dead on arrival)” — and avoided a politically dangerous situation.
The governing Saskatchewan Party has combined health regions to form the new Saskatchewan Health Authority, but it has also opposed municipal amalgamation, which is seen by some as a threat to the party’s rural base.
Shortly before he was chosen to lead the Saskatchewan Party, Premier Scott Moe said he had not heard support for amalgamation and does “not support forced amalgamation.”
The provincial government did not provide a comment on Friday.
While Municipalities of Saskatchewan has not advanced a formal plan, Barnhart said he has had informal conversations about the idea with the provincial government.
“I think people are seeing that there is a problem. It’s whether they are prepared to take that political risk to actually do something about it.”
I might be run out of town, but, to my mind, I think we’re starting to get close to crisis proportions ...