Municipal Affairs and Environment
May 2, 2017
The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Eddie Joyce, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment.
Jurisdiction of Citizens’ Representative Expanded to Provide Increased Oversight
Mr. Speaker, I rise in this Honourable House to highlight an amendment to the Schedule of the Citizens’ Representative Act. This amendment will allow the Citizens’ Representative jurisdiction over regional service boards and ensure that residents, municipalities, and businesses have a mechanism to address concerns they may have with the boards.
Regional service boards are independent entities established under the Regional Service Board Act to provide waste management services. They are responsible for setting rates for those services based on cost recovery. This amendment provides the Citizens’ Representative the authority to assist the boards in addressing complaints or grievances from stakeholders.
Mr. Speaker, by enabling the Citizens’ Representative to become more involved in addressing the concerns of individuals in a timely manner, we are promoting greater accountability and transparency in the operations of the regional service boards. This will improve satisfaction with waste management services among residents throughout our province.
I encourage anyone who has questions about this new development, or would like to avail of the Citizen’s Representative’s assistance, to call the Office of the Citizen’s Representative at 1-800-559-0079, or e-mail citrep@gov.nl.ca.
Thank you.
2017 05 02 2:00 p.m.