Is it time for the Northeast Avalon to become a Regional Municipality like Halifax?

[Offshore1]

Originally Posted by jjavman

Absolutely ... but I don't see it happening as petty municipal territorial
disputes will always compete against the greater good. This is largely a failure of successive provincial governments not willing to tackle the issue.

If you are a major international corporation looking for an Atlantic Canada base and you research Halifax and St. John's, you get Halifax at 439,819 pop. because of the HRM but St. John's at a paltry 110,525 pop. (2021 census)

Not to mention the economy of savings by elimination of duplicate services in the metropolitan area.

Absolutely. It could also make for consistent bylaws/regulations in what are now neighbouring municipalities (see Telegram article) and hopefully better planning with infrastructure.
https://www.saltwire.com/newfoundland-labrador/mount-pearl-chickens

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by jjavman

Absolutely ... but I don't see it happening as petty municipal territorial
disputes will always compete against the greater good. This is largely a failure of successive provincial governments not willing to tackle the issue.

If you are a major international corporation looking for an Atlantic Canada base and you research Halifax and St. John's, you get Halifax at 439,819 pop. because of the HRM but St. John's at a paltry 110,525 pop. (2021 census)

Not to mention the economy of savings by elimination of duplicate services in the metropolitan area.

I think this argument is seriously undervalued. When someone google’s the population of St. John’s, the top result is the smaller, city proper population, not the CMA population… yet when someone or some organization googles the population of Halifax, the first result is the larger, metropolitan population, not the city proper population, which sorta doesn’t even exist anymore.

Would love to see amalgamation go through in greater St. John’s as the SJRM, as that would really help make the case for greater Saint John, NB going with a different name than SJRM for ourselves if our politicians ever have the courage and foresight to push through regional amalgamation in the Saint John, NB region…

Having two SJRMs in the top 4 largest cities in Atlantic Canada would be seriously confusing.. so they'd have no real choice but to go with something other than SJRM

Y’all did have the “SJ” name first, so I think's it’s only fair that St. John’s, NL has dibs on the SJRM acronym! Hope St. John's can actually pull it off too.. sounds like a bit of a similar situation as what we have going on here in SJ, NB with our bedroom communities and outlying suburban communities not paying their fair share to the city at the centre of the region.

[jjavman]

What would it take to make this happen? What is the downside to having a greater SJRM municipality? Are there any, besides the small town mayors losing their jobs?

There could be a greater SJRM metro area with one mayor and deputy mayor and up to 20 councillors.
One SJRM Engineer. One SJRM City Manager. One SJRM Finance and HR dept. One public works department with depots spread across the region.

No need for liaison between municipalities to get projects done. Every regional area at the table. No fees paid to St. John's for services. One professional Fire Department with many stations. One SJRM public transportation system.

What is holding back an amalgamation that services the greater good? Petty municipal politics?

I don't think you'd find any resident of Halifax' HRM that would go back to the squabbles and roadblocks before that successful amalgamation.

Halifax area is a thriving consolidated amalgam that is becoming a super city.

[Offshore1]

Originally Posted by jjavman

What would it take to make this happen? What is the downside to having a greater SJRM municipality? Are there any, besides the small town mayors losing their jobs?

There could be a greater SJRM metro area with one mayor and deputy mayor and up to 20 councillors.
One SJRM Engineer. One SJRM City Manager. One SJRM Finance and HR dept. One public works department with depots spread across the region.

No need for liaison between municipalities to get projects done. Every regional area at the table. No fees paid to St. John's for services. One professional Fire Department with many stations. One SJRM public transportation system.

What is holding back an amalgamation that services the greater good? Petty municipal politics?

I don't think you'd find any resident of Halifax' HRM that would go back to the squabbles and roadblocks before that successful amalgamation.

Halifax area is a thriving consolidated amalgam that is becoming a super city.

I don't have any skin in the game as they say but I'd be all in favour of amalgamation. Surely it would simplify the provision of services, permitting for construction etc. I don't know what the tax rates are in the various NE Avalon municipalities now compared to St. John's but I suspect that may be one point in holding amalgamation back. You may be right concerning petty municipal politics.

[Tocchet22]

Originally Posted by Offshore1

I don't have any skin in the game as they say but I'd be all in favour of amalgamation. Surely it would simplify the provision of services, permitting for construction etc. I don't know what the tax rates are in the various NE Avalon municipalities now compared to St. John's but I suspect that may be one point in holding amalgamation back. You may be right concerning petty municipal politics.

This makes sense to me as well. HRM have already gone through the growing pains so sit down with them to discuss the potential issues to avoid. I can see Mount Pearl, with its large tax base from Donovans Industrial Park, being a sticking point on moving this forward. Time will tell...

[PoscStudent]

I’m pro amalgamation but when the city of St. John’s struggles to provide services to their current resident then it becomes harder to justify the city becoming responsible for 100,000 more.

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

I’m pro amalgamation but when the city of St. John’s struggles to provide services to their current resident then it becomes harder to justify the city becoming responsible for 100,000 more.

Maybe the salient point would be the inclusion of councillors from the greater NE Avalon, to inject some sense into the whole?

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Would y’all prefer a model like Halifax where the whole municipality becomes the St. John’s Regional Municipality… or something more like the “Peel model” where each constituent community remains separate, but tax revenue is pooled together under a single regional authority, along with a Supra-regional council?

[Offshore1]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Would y’all prefer a model like Halifax where the whole municipality becomes the St. John’s Regional Municipality… or something more like the “Peel model” where each constituent community remains separate, but tax revenue is pooled together under a single regional authority, along with a Supra-regional council?

I think the Halifax model, rather than Peel, is the way to go. I feel it would make for a more cohesive feel, after some growing pains no doubt. There'd still be the same communities/neighbourhoods of course, but working together as one large municipality would give more clout when dealing with other levels of government for a whole variety of reasons.

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by Offshore1

I think the Halifax model, rather than Peel, is the way to go. I feel it would make for a more cohesive feel, after some growing pains no doubt. There'd still be the same communities/neighbourhoods of course, but working together as one large municipality would give more clout when dealing with other levels of government for a whole variety of reasons.

Agree, any supercity retains it's former local areas as neighbourhoods;
i.e Toronto, NYCity, as an area you grew up in, specific culture or feel, etc.

People in HRM still say "going over to Dartmouth" for example.