Municipal Affairs
March 31, 2009
The following statement was issued by
the Honourable Dianne Whalen, Minister of Municipal Affairs. It was also
read in the House of Assembly:
Government Continues to
Invest in Regional Co-operation
I rise today to talk about our efforts to
encourage regional cooperation, a key initiative in our department.
Creating sustainable municipalities is a
critical issue. Many communities in rural areas are finding it a
challenge to provide quality services to residents. Regional
co-operation is a way of securing improved services � such as snow
clearing, waste management, or fire services � by coming together.
This government has committed to increase
regional co-operation initiatives and assess regional service delivery
opportunities throughout the province.
We allocated $1 million in Budget 2008 to
facilitate such co-operation initiatives and more than 18 groupings
involving over 40 municipalities have expressed interest in exploring
such ventures.
I am pleased to report that under Budget
2009/10, we will continue to promote regional co-operation in an effort
to sustain our communities. We will again invest $1 million this year to
eliminate barriers to regional co-operation, such as disproportionate
debt loads, and to dedicate resources to facilitate discussions and
negotiations.
I was extremely proud to be in attendance
for the official amalgamation of the new town of Roddickton-Bide Arm in
January. This successful merger has further ignited an interest
throughout the province in co-operation ventures.
I commend the people of Roddickton and
Bide Arm for taking the initiative to investigate and pursue the concept
of regional co-operation. They wanted a better quality of life for the
people of their communities and took the steps necessary to make it a
reality.
The residents of Roddickton-Bide Arm will
see many benefits from the merger. They will have a stronger local
voice, less service duplication and greater economy of scale. Most
importantly, they will have improved services particularly road
upgrading and the expansion of older water and sewer systems.
And on the Avalon, we are assisting the
communities of North River, South River, Clarke�s Beach, Cupids and
Mackinsons to form a regional fire protection service.
Regional co-operation is indeed the way
of the future. I encourage other municipalities to explore how they too
could benefit from co-operating with their neighbors.
2009 03 31
2:00 p.m.
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