'Secrecy' killed it: Two members resign from Three Rivers amalgamation talks after lopsided plebiscite

Members of the unincorporated areas of Georgetown fire districtsay they officially want out of amalgamation talks andare taking steps to remove themselves from the process.

John Walsh and Ray Brow, Georgetown fire district representatives on the Three Rivers steering committee, recently resigned from the amalgamation process following the resultof a communityplebisciteearlier this week.

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The results of that plebiscite which asked residents from unincorporatedareas of eastern P.E.I. whether they were for or against amalgamation showed94 per cent of voters, or1,174 out of 1,250, are against amalgamation.

"I'm resigning because the people spoke. They spoke very clearly what they want," Walsh said.

"That's very clear and as far as we're concerned we don't want to go any further."

Amalgamation process began several years ago

The process to amalgamate communities in eastern P.E.I.began several years ago but the official proposal came to light in October 2017.

Theproposal would seeMontague, Cardigan and Brudenelland other communities in eastern P.E.I. join togetherto create the Island'sfourth largest municipality with a population of at least 7,000 people.

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Walsh's resignation from the steering committee now means Georgetown's surrounding areas joins the town itselfin bowing out ofamalgamation talks.

He estimates the reason residents are overwhelminglyagainst amalgamation is due to the committee'slack of transparency.

"It was the secrecy that really killed it, people got to know what's going on," he said.

"The government or the steering committee . should come up with some different solutions because these certainly didn't fly."

Brian Harding, chair of the Three Rivers steering committee, says it was expected that Walsh and Brow would resign and that"it's not going to stop the process from going forward."

The steering committee saidthere will be public meetings held and an application must be made to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission.

IRAC would then present recommendations to government before any amalgamation can go ahead.

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