Canada/Sooning a new municipality on the Port-au-Port peninsula

After years of waiting, there will soon be a new municipality on the Port-au-Port peninsula in western Newfoundland.

The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Chris Tibbs, indicates that the Wakeham Cabinet is on the verge of amalgamating La Grand'Terre and Trois-Cailloux, two French-speaking villages that have been requesting amalgamation since 2022.

I'm very pleased with the Minister's decision," says Timothy Collier, a member of the La Grand'Terre Local Service District (LSD), who says he had a very productive meeting with Minister Tibbs on December 10.

This will enable us to improve services in the community," he explains. For me, the most important thing is to make sure that the community can stay here and remain sustainable for years to come.

Years of effort

The two LSDs, which are home to around 500 people, are trying to merge and create a new municipality so that they can obtain provincial subsidies, improve the quality of infrastructure and have access to the services they need.The two LSDs are trying to merge and create a new municipality so that they can obtain provincial subsidies, improve the quality of infrastructure and have more political clout, while a wind turbine developer is proposing to build more than 150 wind turbines on the Port-au-Port peninsula.

An independent consultant recommended the creation of the municipality in October 2023, but the former Liberal government never made a decision. In the last election, however, the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, who won on October 14, promised to move forward as quickly as possible.

The new premier, Tony Wakeham, is MP for Stephenville - Port-au-Port, the riding in which the two LSDs are located.

We'll get there

A letter sent to the two LSDs by the Ministry on December 4 raised questions about the financial viability of the new municipality.

However, Timothy Collier reports that Minister Tibbs and members of both LSDs met six days later to discuss deterrence. After modifying certain aspects of the municipal budget, in collaboration with the LSD consultants, the Ministry gave the green light to the new municipality.

All the assessments are complete," Chris Tibbs told VOCM radio on Monday. We're going to get there.

The minister explained Monday that cabinet approval is still required, but he promised that the new municipality will be created soon.

Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/