Merging municipalities benefits everyone for strong future

Richard Froese,
Smoky River Express

Small rural towns and municipalities want to have a prosperous future for their residents and taxpayers. With declining population, even here in the Smoky River region, what is the best way to sustain the long-term futures of our municipalities and communities? Amalgamating municipalities is the only answer, according to a story in the Edmonton Journal newspaper. Who knows whether hundreds of people will flock to this region in the oil boom that has recently simmered. Don’t count your chickens before their hatched. Rural municipalities have only one option. “In what could signal things to come for rural Alberta, residents of Lac La Biche and Lakeland County will vote this month whether to merge the two municipalities,” states the lead in the story in the Edmonton Journal on April 7 written by Bill Mah. Lac La Biche has a population of 2,758, according to the 2006 Census, down just one half a per cent from the 2001 Census. Lakeland County has 6,365 residents, a 20 per cent increase from five years ago. A political scientist says Albertans can expect to see more mergers of town and country. “My hunch is that municipal consolidation, in a variety of ways, is inevitable across the province,” says Jim Lightbody, who specializes in municipal politics at the University of Alberta. Towns face rising costs and falling tax bases as land-intensive industry moves to rural counties and municipal districts. “In the absence of some creative thinking on revenue sharing, the only solution is municipal consolidation,” says Lightbody. Both municipalities have been discussing amalgamation for several years. “It’s a big issue throughout the province right now that the urban centres are thinking they’re not getting their fair shake in the assessment that’s in the rural counties because they’re supplying all the services,” says Lac La Biche Mayor Tom Lett. Overall the population in the Smoky River region is declining, according to figures of the Census 2006, to under 4,975 people. Amalgamated, Lac La Biche and Lakeland Country would have a population of just over 9,000, almost twice as many people as our population. If municipalities in the Smoky River region aren’t currently discussing steps to amalgamate, what are councils and administration waiting for? For many years, local councils have met together several times a year at their regional meeting, to discuss issues, projects, and programs with a regional focus and benefit. Already, municipal councils in the Smoky River region have developed several regional programs and commissions, such as dealing with water and waste management. With municipal elections this October, lets make regional amalgamation a focus and theme for the campaign. As the experts predict, municipal amalgamation is inevitable. Let’s take the steps now to plan for a voluntary and locally-developed and locally-supported amalgamation, rather than a municipal merger that is imposed by the Government of Alberta. Most of our small local municipalities cannot afford to have everything and all the amenities without digging deeper in the pockets of taxpayers. Do we want to do what’s best for the region and take the steps for a smooth transition? Or do we want to wait and hide our heads in the sand and have government-imposed amalgamation? When school divisions and health regions were amalgamated by the provincial government in the past 10 to 15 years, people were outraged. Let’s all work together to do what’s best and affordable for everyone in the Smoky River region.