Following are the remarks Antigonish town councillor Sean Cameron made at a town emergency meeting Jan. 30 when a vote was called on whether to merge the town with Antigonish County. The vote passed at both local government councils.
Sean Cameron In His Own Words:
I remain committed to this town and to the citizens of Antigonish in my belief that this vote should be by the people of Antigonish, and not just decided by four elected town councillors.
I will be voting ‘no’ to the question that has been presented tonight.
It should be noted that the motion, does not accurately reflect the actions of this recommendation. The town, with all its history, assets, and staff, will cease to exist if this planned amalgamation goes ahead. I do call it an amalgamation because that is exactly what is happening. There was no formal vote by councillors to accept the position claimed that to avoid the RCMP additional costs, the town would be dissolved and that we would continue to exist as a ward of the Municipality of the County of Antigonish.
There is no formal letter from the RCMP to advise us of that as fact. We were presented with a legal opinion. The transition team continued the process and engaged the services of Iris Communications to continue to sell the idea. Not a council decision.
The consultants that were originally hired, Brighter Communities, even presented in their final report, which was finished the same day of the first vote on this topic, stated that trust was lost with the very people that elected us all to serve. Even Justice Gabriel stated in his ruling that a plebiscite should happen.
This is not the democratic way. Democracy only works when information is freely presented, and people can make informed decisions.
Taking away the democratic rights of the citizens is not a path that I choose to take. The backroom politics, that not all councillors were privy to, around this have created a split in both councils.
It has created an even bigger split in our community.
If this does pass at this table, I hope that Premier Tim Houston will be true to his words of Feb. 27, 2018: “Any change to our governance structure should start with the people – what the people want. It shouldn’t finish there… the minister just reiterated that he will not dictate terms or force amalgamation on Pictou County or any jurisdiction in this province.”
I now place my hope in the provincial government to have our citizens’ voices heard in a plebiscite or to pause this rushed agenda and wait for the October general election.
