“The comments that I am about to make are entirely my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of my fellow council members.” A Layman's guide to amalgamation Dear Editor, I would like to take up a few lines of type in order to inform your readers as to the state of affairs with the provincial government's proposed plan for mandatory municipal amalgamation. The comments that I am about to make are entirely my own opinion and do not necessarily reflect the views of my fellow council members. Section 92 of the Constitution of Canada lays out the division of powers between the federal and rovincial governments. One of the exclusive powers of the provinces is the regulation of municipalities. As most ratepayers are aware, the premier has announced his intention to invoke this power and bring about unilateral and radical reform of the municipal level of government in this province. It would be reasonable to presume that some compelling motive would be at play which would require this unprecedented action however the reasons for it have been embarassingly thin. Stories put forth by various ministers in favour of municipal amalgamation are:larger municipalities wuold be able to borrow more money, too many municipalities have not claimed their gas tax from the feds, municipalities would save vast sums of money by eliminating administration offices through amalgamation, an unknown study from 1964 recommending amalgamation, declining populations, too many municipalities, too many councillors, etcetera, yet the net benefit of amalgamation to the Province will be 0-. The reason for this is that municipalities are mandated under the Municipal Act to operate in a position of surplus and therefore require no funding for their operations from the province. So it makes no difference to the finances or operations of the province whethers there are 200 municipalites or, as in the case of Saskatchewan, 900. Originally written in the 1880's, the current Municipal Act was proclaimed in 1966, and contains several sections, the most contentious of which is Sec. 4. That section deals with municipal amalgamations and simply requires any newly formed (ie. Merged) municipality will have a base population of at least 1,000 residents. As with most legislation there is wiggle room proided in the form of exceptions, so it is possible that an amalgamation can occur with less than 1,000 residents and the requirement amounts to more of a guideline. The current government is proposing to introduce an amendment to Sectiont 4 which would fundamentally alter the previous intent by establishing the 1,000 person threshold for an amalgamation as a statutory minimum requirement for any municipality to actually exist. This provision would trigger automatic amalgamation of some 92 of the 197 municipalities who do not meet the population requirement as determined by the 2011 National Census of Canada. In addition, every subsequent five year census would make future forced amalgamation a very real possibility, since populations change and the figure of 1,000 residents will be non-negotiable under the proposed legislation. In the past there have been a small handful of amalgamations, all combinations of two municipalities and all done with the consent of both parties. The proposed legislation would see combinations of two, three or more municipalities being amalgamated, some in hostile circumstances. Ironically, one of the previously merged municipalities will not meet the 1,000 resident minimum requirement and therefore will be merged yet again. We are indeed entering into uncharted water, and keep in mind if the process turns out to be a disaster there will be little hope of turning back. For the past 130 years, the municipal and provincial branches of government have operated as a partnership with a good deal of success. In fact, it was so successful that the subject of wholesome amalgamation of municipalities had never been broached with the membership of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM). Customarily, changes of this magnitude would be preceeded by a combination of a compelling need for change, likely consultations between affected parties, the striking of a commision to issue some sort of feasibility study or at least a report on future demographics followed by the formulation of a coherent plan of action. In this case, nothing, simply an ultimatum issued out of the blue in the throne speech. Municipalities who are unable to negotiate terms with their neighbours, or refuse to participate in the process will be arbitrarily forced together by provincial fiat. It may seem like a simply thing to view a map of the 200 municipalities in this province and casually begin to erase boundaries and create new entities based on mere number. However, unless proposed partnering municipalities are already heavily integrated, amalgamating them can be a very complex and therefore lengthy process, hence the reason only a few have been attempted. Over the past 50 years a bewildering spider's web of inter-municipal agreements for various large projects have sprung up across the province. Amalgamating two or more municipalities would create a lot of havoc with local agreements since the old days of every municipality operating in its own little bubble are long gone. Certainly there are examples where amalgamation makes sense, however the arbitrary method being employed now does not. Most ratepayers are oblivious to the mundane day-to-day operations of the municipality in which they live. Those of us who conduct those operations are always looking to the future and doing our best to divine what may be coming down the road so as to make major decisions based on what may or may not happen. Part of the process is the fact that we have a stable environment in which to operate. If we are to embark on a path whereby municipalities cannot predict whether or not they will even exist after the next census makes formulating long-term plans, budgeting for major investments and forging inter-municipal agreements exceedlingly difficult if not virtually impossible. In municipal life, as well as in real life, times change. There has been a lot of tinkering with the municipal act over the years and a lot of it done with the mutual consent and to the mutual benefit of both the provincial government and the AMM. Throughout 13 decades of immense social and economic change, the municipal form government has retained its relevance and for better or worse is the best alternative we have, the other being that it should be abolished and our daily lives run from Winnipeg by the province. If ratepayers and their councils feel that merging with another municipality is in their best interests, then so be it. It is after all the democratic way, therefore I am not opposed to amalgamation per say. What I am not opposed to is the unfocussed, crazy shotgun approach being proposed now. If something isn't broken, why fix it? Respectfully, Brian Pollon, RM of Minto councillor 867-7141