Provincial Green Party leader David Coon suggests a specific way to involve the public in the upcoming overhaul of the Municipalities and Community Planning Acts.
He says since the changes will be sweeping, it’s critical to get as much public engagement as possible.
Coon says the government should issue a White Paper that outlines the planned changes.
“So people ahead of time have the opportunity to reflect on what’s going into these bills and be able to comment on that prior to them landing on the floor of the Legislature and then simply having to deal with them after the fact,” says Coon.
Coon says the changes are a much needed modernization of this legislation, and includes rebalancing of authories but the scale is so large that it requires significant public engagement.
He says it’s important to avoid reintroducing old inequalities like giving municipalities the ability to reduce or eliminate property taxes for businesses or industry as was possible before 1963 when the Byrne Commission stripped municipalities of that power.
“That is exactly what used to exist and it was one of the elements that created the kind of inequality that existed across the province at the time,” says Coon. “To open that door, I think, would be a big mistake.”
Coon says while he doesn’t know the Gallant government’s plans for including the public, he wants to make sure municipal reform is done the right way.
