WESTERN MANITOULIN—The concept of Gore Bay amalgamating operations with other Western Manitoulin municipalities is a dead issue, at least for now.
“The consensus of the other three municipalities is that their councils and members of their communities do not have any interest in amalgamating,” said Gore Bay Mayor Ron Lane after a Shared Services meeting with the mayor and reeves of Billings Township, Gordon/Barrie Island and Burpee and Mills township on June 4. “The issue of amalgamation was on the agenda, along with other items. We wanted to talk informally, and all three said they are not interested in amalgamation, although they all expect that someday the provincial government will require small municipalities to amalgamate as cost saving measures.”
“It was a very constructive meeting, and we will be meeting again in the fall,” said Mayor Lane. “We talked about the new dental office, upgrades the town is proposing for the medical centre, doctor recruitment, the arena and several services we share among all four municipalities. We also discussed the concept of a new recreation facility as our arena is not going to be around forever to serve Western Manitoulin.”
He pointed out the town is going to be spending almost $200,000 this summer to keep the Gore Bay arena open, “and this is only some of the things that need to be done.”
Billings Mayor Bryan Barker said, “it was a good meeting. Just exploring ideas. We are not in favour of amalgamation based on the feelings of council, staff and the community.”
“I think these meetings are important,” said Mayor Barker. “We share a lot of the same issues. And it is always good to work together. We share some of the same problems and work together positively to resolve them.”
“At the meeting we shared information on all the services that we share currently,” said Lee Hayden, reeve of Gordon/Barrie Island. “Ron (Lane) chaired the meeting, and we went through all the things that we all share the costs and services on like the nursing home, medical centre, doctor recruitment. We had a brief discussion about amalgamation and we reported we heard from council members and constituents that no one is in favour of amalgamation, even remotely. Then we moved on.”
“We are still going to review services, and got an update on arena costs and the work the town is going to be doing on the arena this summer,” said Reeve Hayden. “Communication is also a good thing. In the past we were left in the dark and then asked to contribute without knowing what it was for.”
Mayor Lane said, “It was a very constructive meeting, and we will be meeting again in the fall.”
“Amalgamation was just an idea and after our discussion, as far as we are concerned, it is a dead issue,” stated Mayor Lane. “Everyone has their own challenges to keep their heads above water and keep tax rates down. It came across strongly that if mandated by the provincial government (amalgamation) would be more than four municipalities on the Island.”
