Residents to sue Antigonish county over consolidation plan

Ongoing tensions around a proposed consolidation in Antigonish has spilled into the courts.

The Municipality of the County of Antigonish was notified last week that a lawsuit on behalf of 27 residents will soon be filed in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

The group is hoping the courts will quash the county's decision to request the provincial government consolidate Antigonish county and town into one municipality.

"It's just so undemocratic and wrong," said claimant Anne-Marie Long.

The move happened in October, when both councils voted to consolidate under the county's existing name.The town voted 4-3 in favour of merging, while the county voted 5-3 in favour. Two of the county councillors recused themselves over concerns over possible conflicts of interest.

No public vote was held on the issue. A plebiscite was voted down by town council, and town Mayor Laurie Boucher has said a vote would be divisive so they usedpublic consultation sessions instead.

But Long said those public sessions didn't answer enough questions for her and many others in both town and county.

She questioned what the financial situation willbe ina merged municipalityand said therearestillmany unknowns about taxes and the future of Antigonish town's electric utility.

"We have all kinds of questions about the infrastructure needs of both the town and the county. And are those needs going to cause an unfair burden to one municipality or the other?" Long said.

"There's no way that we should be expected to buy a plan without any details."

Part of the argument for consolidation has been to pool resources, and better tackle tough issues like climate change, affordable housingand infrastructure "as one unit," Bouchersaidin October.

However, Long said both municipalities often work together on joint projects and the idea that consolidation will lead to more grants or provincial funding is "all smoke and mirrors."

The town and county's request for the province to create special legislation to allow the consolidation also goes against the Municipal Government Act, Long said, in an attempt to sidestep the usual process through the province'sUtility and Review Board (UARB).

The province took this approach in 2018 when itbrought in legislation to allow Windsor and the Municipality of the District of West Hants to move forward with consolidation but Long said "under no circumstances" is it the same situation.

In that case, citizens had already taken the unusual step of applying to the UARBfor a citizen-led amalgamationyears before West Hants Regional Municipality was created in April 2020 citing a "dysfunctional" relationship between the two local governments.

"It was a groundswell from the bottom up this is a top down without any consent," Long said.

Warden 'confident' in decision

Long added she's worried their situation could set a precedent where the province could start allowing consolidations to go ahead without a public vote and against community wishes.

County Warden Owen McCarron said in an email Monday he has not yet seen the proposed lawsuit, but is "confident" both councils made the right decision.

The claimants, alongside the community group Let AntigonishDecide, are holding public meetings about the lawsuit in the coming weeks to gather support and donations for their legal fund.

The consolidation issue has ignited tempers around both council chambers and in the public, with representatives for both the town and countyfielding threats and online "intimidation."

Mayor Boucher reported some of these messages and comments to RCMPin October, and the Mounties have confirmed they opened afile on the threats.