Quote:
Originally Posted by TitleRequired
Do we actually understand the root cause of the discontinuity between SJ and the suburbs?
While amalgamation is interesting; I could argue that SJ with specific application of some of the Rothesay policies regarding nuisances and detrimental social behaviours could surpass the bedroom communities.
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Discontinuity and disparity are two totally different things. I was talking about the disparity between the Saint John and it's bedroom communities, not the discontinuity, as you're absolutely right, a big reason for the discontinuity in terms of social issues, nuisances, and cleaner neighbourhoods has to do with governance. However, don't discount how much of Saint John's issues are caused regional disparity and economic inequality between the city and surrounding communities. Moreover, the continued demographic flight of Saint Johners to the surrounding communities, especially Quispamsis, Rothesay and Grand Bay since the 1990's left the City of Saint John underfunded and financially unstable.
Around 50% of the Saint John CMA now lives to the north of this line city limits, but the region very much remains a cohesive entity. Around 75% of the highest paid people working in Saint John live to the north of this line. Also, many of the top positions relating to the governance, economic leadership, and social development of the City of Saint John are held by people who live outside the city limits, and they don't want their Kennebecasis riverboat fantasy to end.
It's not just Envision Saint John that is mainly run by people who live outside the city, it's the City of Saint John bureaucracy too, and people in the provincial government who make decisions relating to Saint John,
the most obvious of of which is Premier Higgs himself, a resident of Quispamsis. Someone who made millions working in Saint John, but living in Quispamsis... who went as far to write a letter to the province opposing amalgamation with the City of Saint John, when he just a lowly finance minister. He's always been opposed to KV paying their fair share to the region as a whole, as are many rich, powerful, and influential people who live in KV... some of whom still consider themselves Saint Johners.
What Sailor said is also true. While, I personally think the stuff about the fog is mostly overblown bullshit, but I don't
not believe that people believe in that bullshit either, because they clearly do. People also love to justify their rationale for their decision to move outside the city limits. Unfortunately, these justifications have morphed into something incredibly pervasive and negative, where many people in the Saint John Region and other New Brunswickers engage in stereotyping The City of Saint John as an overtaxed, foggy, smelly, dismally bleak city that no one would ever want to live in.
Stereotypes are usually based on some sort of truth, but the one part of the truth many don't want to admit the success of KV has mostly been at the expense of KV. There's a whole lot of social and economic externalities that have been foisted upon Saint John by such a large % of the tax base deciding to move 20 minutes down the highway to pay slightly less taxes in less foggy communities.
The other thing Sailor mentioned was poor municipal governance and he's absolutely right about that too! However, a big part of why the municipal governance has gotten so bad, especially relating to the city council and mayors office, is because so many of the highly educated, highly experienced residents of Saint John moved to the bedroom communities... you have to live in Saint John to be on council, or run for mayor, so it's no surprise that Saint John's common council's and mayors office has gotten progressively worse over the years, as more and more of the most highly educated and experience people in the Saint John region could no longer run for mayor or city council.
I'd say there's a pretty direct correlation between the demographic rise of Saint John's outlying communities, and the deteriorating levels of good municipal governance in Saint John. So talk about a reason FOR amalgamation, not only would it give the urban core of the CMA a boost to funding, it would enable a far wider group of people to run for council or mayor.
Saint John went through an initial demographic implosion during the 1970s, but also a second demographic flight to the suburb which is more to blame for the current divide between Saint John and the bedroom communities today. The Government of NB has been well aware of the huge flight to Saint John's suburbs for decades, it's been a problem since the 1970s, but both parties have essentially done nothing to get at the root of the economic, social, and political disparities between The City of Saint John and its suburbs. The Liberals and PC's in the past have used amalgamation, and also, opposition to amalgamation to woo voters both inside and outside the city to win seats in the provincial legislature. While more recently, all major parties have avoided avoided amalgamation like the plague, at least in terms of it being an election issue. Municipal amalgamations remains the purview of the provincial government, and in the case of Saint John, the lack of regional amalgamation is not not just holding the city back, but the entire region... people are getting their nice, cushy lives in suburbia, but the region overall is absolutely being held by the lack of action on amalgamation or serious solutions to get to the root of the economic, social, and political inequality which is holding back our growth potential. Saint John: Small City, Big Brain Drain.
There'd be no gripe about this geographic and demographic reality if the bedroom of communities amalgamated with Saint John, and formed a new regional municipality, like countless other cities in Canada... there would, of course, still be continued economic, social, and political disparity between the city and suburbs, but at least the entire CMA would be set up for a more sustainable and equitable future... it would take a blatantly unfair demographic situation and make it at least more fair.
Susan Holt's Liberals seemingly want nothing to do with the issue of amalgamation at the moment, but would she and her party really have anything to lose? The Liberals don't really have a chance in hell to win Rothesay, Quispamsis, or Grand Bay seats as is. The Liberals coming out in favour of amalgamation for The Saint John Region from Grand Bay to Quispamsis would greatly increase their chances of winning seats in Saint John, without risking John Herron's chances to beat Faytene for the Hampton seat.
Amalgamation done right would look something like this:
#1) A new name for the newly created Regional Municipality
#2) A strategy to give autonomy to communities within the RM
#3) Savings, Profits, and increased levels of economic growth and development
Saint John would still exist at the centre of this region, but it would have less power and less influence, as the real power would reside in the Regional Municipality. There's a lot in a name, and I'm sorry to say, but Saint John has a bad reputation. Moreover, the "Saint John" name causes a distinct branding and marketing challenge, because of its extreme similarity with St. John's, NL the slightly bigger, substantially more notable city within the same region of Atlantic Canada. Keep the Port Saint John name, but rename the airport. Keep Uptown Saint John, but bring back Lancaster. There's so many big opportunities for improvement with amalgamation and a new name for said entity, we just need political leaders in this province with the vision and foresight to see the benefit, and the courage to actually get it done.
I think Susan Holt's Liberals have a unique opportunity to win an extra seat or two in Saint John, by supporting what might be the
ultimate anti Higgs policy position: regional amalgamation in the Saint John region. The notion that promising regional amalgamation for the Saint John region, would lose the Liberals any seats in the suburbs of Moncton and Fredericton, is asinine, as the Liberals could make it clear that amalgamation would only apply to Saint John (which was left out of the round of regional amalgamations conducted by the Higgs government in 2021).
If anything, successful regional amalgamation in Saint John, would get the suburbs of Moncton and even Fredericton calling for it too due to FOMO. I know New Brunswick is resistant to change, but if we really want to take advantage of the recent demographic growth trend, we need to embrace the notion that bigger is better... and regional Amalgamation in the Saint John Region is the logical place to start. We need to wake up and smell the seaweed... most immigrants don't want to move to small cities. We'll be able to attract more immigrants, and better immigrants by amalgamating and inflating the population totals these people find when looking up where they want to immigrate to in Canada. A population of 150,000 looks and sounds a lot better than 80,000, not just for immigrants from other countries, but also for internal immigration.
The question is, is regional amalgamation really not happening because it's a bad idea? Or is it not happening because Rothesay, Quispamsis, and others suburbs of Saint John wield power and influence far disproportionate to their populations? I think it's pretty clearly the latter, and very much a case of not seeing the forest through the trees. Until amalgamation is realized it should be an election issue every election. It baffles me why more Saint Johners don't seem to try and make it a bigger election issue... I guess many have simply given up on it, but they really shouldn't. I remain hopeful it will happen in my lifetime, and remain convinced it would be an overwhelmingly positive change for the entire region.
Sorry for the rant, I'm not trying to argue with you, just trying to explain my take on the regional situation as someone who moved to Saint John and really got my eyes open regarding the dynamics between the city proper and its outlying suburbs. It's like the freaking Sringfield vs Shelbyville dynamic on the Simpsons... or a microcosm of Detroit and it's suburbs. I love Saint John, and think the surrounding region is great too, but I really feel like the dynamic and division between SJ and KV is one of the worst aspects of living here. Also, I think the negative aspects of this divide are far more apparent to outsiders that have moved here, than to people who were born and raised here and just consider it normal. Imo, this situation is
not normal, and it is what
truly stinks here in the Saint John Region.
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and 2. a long line of inept municipal governments in Saint John.
Regional Disparity in The Saint John Region: A Kennebecasis Riverboat Fantasy
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