‘Disappointing’ turnout
Low numbers of Montague, Brudenell and Cardigan residents vote yes for Three Rivers amalgamation
The people of Montague have spoken in favour of amalgamation.
However, it appeared to be little more than a whisper with a turnout of only 31.7 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot.
Of the 952 voters in the town, 302 cast a ballot in Monday’s plebiscite with 220 (72.8) voting in favour of the proposed Three Rivers amalgamation and 82 (27.2) against it.
Mayor Richard Collins was one of several members of council who expressed disappointment with the low turnout.
“The result is the people’s choice and they spoke, but not enough of them spoke,” said Collins, referencing the required threshold of 50 per cent plus one to make the plebiscite binding. “We’re nowhere close to what was considered to be binding.”
Instead, Montague councillors will now have to take those results into consideration if they ultimately vote on whether to amalgamate with five other municipalities and several small unincorporated communities to create a new municipality.
Cardigan and Brudenell residents also had the chance to vote on amalgamation Monday and saw similar results.
In Brudenell, 40 residents were in favour of amalgamation while 19 were against it. The percentage of voter turnout was not available.
In Cardigan, 23 were in favour and 17 were against in a 20 per cent voter turn-out.
Coun. Wayne Spin, a member of the Three Rivers Steering Committee, said he was also disappointed with the turnout.
“But, I think the people that spoke, spoke volumes. They want to see Montague go ahead (with amalgamation),” said Spin. “At the end of the day, I’m glad that people got a vote and they spoke, as far as I’m concerned.”
Montague Coun. John MacFarlane, another member of the committee, also expressed disappointment.
“And I was somewhat surprised it was that high in favour of (amalgamation),” said MacFarlane. “I was kind of hoping (the turnout) would be higher. We traditionally have a round 70 per cent turnout for an election.”
Coun. Jim Bagnall said it appeared the people had spoken.
“Although we only had 31 per cent, two thirds of those people are saying ‘we want amalgamation’,” he said. “I think that’s a very resounding message for the council.”
Councils in Valleyfield, Lower Montague and Lorne Valley have yet to announce whether they will hold votes on amalgamation.
Collins said Montague council will “debrief” itself on the vote and then go from there, but he did not indicate any clear timeline.
“We do have some guidance, there’s no questions about that,” said Collins, who said he would like to see residents in unincorporated areas also have a chance to vote. “(They) also have a right to vote, and I think before this process is completed, everybody that’s involved should have a vote.”