MLA Andrea Anderson-Mason of Fundy-the-Isles Saint John West says municipal reform is long overdue in New Brunswick, but she still wants residents of her riding to have their concerns and questions heard in Fredericton now that the ambitious municipal reform plan that will seem the amalgamation of many communities has been unveiled. 

"All parties have been committed to municipal reform for 25 years because this has been plaguing the province," said Anderson-Mason. "What the province did when we determined new entities is that they looked at the school catchment and community identities. For instance, in some areas of the province where two neighbouring communities--one is primarily francophone and one is primarily anglophone--they didn't merge those even if they are geographically close. 

While Anderson-Mason believes the times is now for muncipal reform, she still thinks New Brunswickers deserve the opportunity to weigh in on how the plan affects their regions now that there's a blue print available. 

"I would like to speak about municipal reform from my position as a back bencher in the legislature," said Anderson-Mason. "I do want to give praise to the Local Government and Local Governance Reform Minister Daniel Allain on the efforts that his office has made regarding municipal reform and their consultation process in the midst of a pandemic. However, COVID-19 has hampered what I would have been happy with for consultation. They did a decent job but, as a back bencher, and as a person who needs to see something in my hands to understand it--and as a back bencher I didn't get that opportunity--I now have questions. I would encourage people who also have questions to reach out to me so I can bring those questions back to Fredericton."

Anderson-Mason's riding stretches across southwest New Brunswick in both urban and rural areas and across to islands and the isles. Municipal reform will affect parts of her riding drastically while leaving other parts of the region virtually unchanged. Many questions and concerns are pouring in from areas like St. George and Blacks Harbour that will amalgamate into one community by November 2022, which will require a full municipal election despite just having a municipal election in May of 2021.

"My riding is really neat because I stretch all the way to Saint John, and my area in West Saint John isn't overly affected by municipal reform. Then there's Musquash-Le Preau. They are going to become their own rural community, and there seems to be general satisfaction with this merger because they share a lot of common ground. The big controversy seems to be in Eastern Charlotte--on a few different levels. And then there's this new rural entity that includes Bocabec, which people are asking a lot of questions about." 

Anderson-Mason encourages residents of Fundy-the Isles-Saint John West to reach out to her regarding municipal reform so that she can be their voice in Fredericton.