May 13, 1999
(Municipal and Provincial Affairs)

The following statement was issued today by Lloyd Matthews, Minister of Municipal and Provincial Affairs. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

It will be my pleasure later today to introduce - for first reading - a bill to create a new Municipalities Act for the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The new act will give municipalities greater freedom, flexibility and autonomy to effectively manage their own affairs and to eventually become masters of their own destinies.

The Municipalities Act is the enabling legislation for the province's 287 towns, its single regional council and 175 local service districts. This new legislation reflects the broad based views of all key stakeholders, including our municipalities, the Federation of Municipalities and the Association of Municipal Administrators.

The introduction of this legislation is an important milestone for my department. Over the past several years the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs has focused on ensuring that municipalities have the necessary tools in the way of legislation, financial, administrative and communications supports to respond to challenges and effectively serve their residents. The new Municipalities Act is the most significant component of this 'toolkit' approach of providing support in fostering self-reliance and independence among local governments. It will be accompanied by a substantial training initiative as well as an education and awareness campaign.

Development of the new act has been subjected to an extensive review and consultation process for the past several years. It has taken into account a number of emerging issues such as the need for greater autonomy for municipalities, the changing role of the Department of Municipal and Provincial Affairs and the economic realities of administering local governments in addition to dealing with inadequacies in the existing legislation. This review and development process has enjoyed the involvement and cooperation of municipalities, the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities and the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Municipal Administrators.

In the meantime, a number of substantial amendments have been made to the existing legislation in order to provide municipalities with the benefits identified during the ongoing review process. These included several financial and tax-related amendments that were approved in December of 1998 to allow municipalities to incorporate the benefits in their 1999 budgets.

There will be ample time during debate to speak about the more significant provisions of the act, however, I would like to briefly highlight some of them today for honourable members.

This new legislation removes many of the restrictive provisions that are contained in the current act. It increases municipal autonomy in administration and financial management; it expands taxation and collection capabilities; it provides authority for economic development; and, it expands as well as provides new authorities for service delivery and municipal controls. In addition, the new act is organized in a way that it is much easier to use.

This act will greatly support municipalities as they strive to meet the current and future challenges of local government.

This government recognizes that the future growth, development and prosperity of the province as a whole will depend, to a large extent, upon strong and vibrant municipalities. I believe this new act will help to ensure that our municipalities are structured in such a way as to enable them to more effectively deliver the type of services that people will require - and are able to afford - in the years to come.

1999 05 13 2:15 p.m.